Re: Anybody know why aptitude is not installed by default in Sid?
On Mon, 2 Nov 2015 23:58:24 -0700
Glenn English <ghe@slsware.net> wrote:
> > On Mon, Nov 02, 2015 at 08:45:27AM +0000, Joe wrote:
> >> Not in the base system, no, but I'd expect it to be included in any
> >> system which might be used by newcomers to Linux.
>
> One reason is that the Aptitude semi-GUI hauls in a lot of libraries
> and dependencies and stuff. That fills up the 5MB ST-506 disk Debian
> was designed for :-)
That's why I said 'not in the base system'. It is the merest drop in
the ocean in a desktop system of a few GB, which is what a newcomer
would be comfortable with.
>
> But 'apt-get install aptitude<CR>' as root at a terminal/console will
> get it for you. If you don't have apt-get, something went wrong in
> the install. Try it again.
As I said, I've been doing that for some years now, when working up
from a minimal stable netinstall. Sudo isn't there to start with,
either. I was a beginner once, and I've been a beginner at many things
over the years. I've always been glad of all the help I could get on
that first ascent of the foothills of the learning curve.
>
> I spent quite a while in RPM-hell before I learned enough to install
> Debian, and I've still got lots to learn. Hang in there. It's worth
> the trouble.
>
> But stay away from Sid, aka GuaranteedBugs. Stable is (probably) what
> you need. Stable doesn't have the bells and whistles and bleeding
> edge software that Sid does, but it works good. A newcomer doesn't
> need 'surprises'.
>
I do indeed use stable for my server, and wouldn't consider anything
else. But on my desktop and mobiles, it's unstable, and has been for
more than a decade. Somebody has to help clean up the next stable, and
I can live with the occasional 'beyond repair' hiccup, as I have other
computers and all my data is on my server. With backups, before anyone
puts finger to keyboard.
--
Joe
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