Debian iso installation incorrectly sets sources.list
Hello,
This is a bug report. I tried to use the reporting system, but it did not
seem to be appropriate. So, I will give a narrative:
This is what happened.
I decided to install Debian on my small machine (Asus eeePC 900A, 1GB
ram, 4GB storage). So I selected debian-9.3.0-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso and
put it onto a flash memory stick. Installation went ok, but
later on when I did "apt install gcc", the installation program
requested the insertion of the installation disk in the drive
/media/cdrom. Why?
Examination.
The /etc/apt/sources.list file had "deb: cdrom:[<installation>..." as
the first entry, and was not commented out. My installation medium
was wrong!
Solution.
Comment out "deb: cdrom:[<installation>..." in sources.list.
Discussion.
There are 2 problems:
(1) Installation should not put the installation medium in the
sources.list, at least not without asking the user,
since the medium may be reused.
(2) Installation should keep track of the installation medium;
if necessary by asking the user.
(2) reflects a wider problem: Debian has a legacy of
assuming CD or DVD installation. But much is now done by
flash memory sticks. Debian should change to reflect this.
For example, the iso file names might be "large" (or "full")
or "small" (or "base"), not "DVD" or "CD". References
to "CD" or "DVD" should be replaced by reference to the
"installation medium", unless "CD" is actually necessary. Etc.
Regards,
John Hosack
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