Re: Installing from live
On Sep 17, 2018, at 10:36 AM, Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup@gmx.net> wrote:
> "netinst" is supposed to be used by more people for installing than
> "live", and it is the much smaller download.
Indeed, the fact that it is a smaller download is the main reason why netinst is preferred. It’s a good thing to minimize the load on the official Debian FTP servers by shifting the bandwidth to the network of mirrors. It also avoids downloading packages that you don’t actually need for your particular installation.
That’s the most common use case, and so it’s the most commonly recommended approach.
However, there are lots of use cases where that argument doesn’t work.
For example, if your home has limited Internet bandwidth, but you can drive to a library (or your place of work) where the bandwidth is better, it might be better to use the DVD or BD (blue-ray) install image on a USB stick. In this case, you probably want to download the install image with jigdo or bittorrent, since they distribute the bandwidth requirement over the network of volunteer servers and so minimize the load on the official Debian FTP servers.
As another example, if this is your first excursion into Linux-land, you probably want to download a “Live” image that you can experiment with. You can then run jigdo or bittorrent on the “live” setup to download the CD/DVD/BD install images you need for your first permanent installation. If the “Live” image also supports installing to your hard drive, that might let you avoid downloading a second install image at all.
Hope that helps!
Rick
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