OT: Installing Debian (was Re: Latest GNAT version)

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic.brenta@tiscali.be>]

Randy writes:
> I have an extra drive that I can make into a linux system.  If you
> don't mind helping me set it up I will set my system to dual boot
> and learn more about it.  What do you say?

I don't mind helping, but it may be difficult from a distance.  Most
installation problems are related to hardware support and initial
configuration.  There are also many questions that I cannot answer.

If you are a total newbie and have never installed an operating system
before, I suggest you find the Linux User Group nearest to you[1].
Send them an email, and go to their next scheduled Linux Copy
Party/Install Party with your computer and a couple of blank CD-Rs;
they will be more than happy to assist you and provide answers.  They
might even do the installation for you.

[1] http://www.linux.org/groups/index.html

For example, here in Brussels[2] we have a LCP/IP every 4th sunday of
the month at the university.  The Brussels LUG is quite heavily biased
in favour of Debian; this may or may not be the case of your local
LUG, but do insist on Debian or one of its derivatives if you want to
do Ada.

[2] http://www.bxlug.be

If you are more advanced, feel free to download the net-install CD-ROM
(100 Mb) and install yourself; this is not very difficult if you know
your hardware well and take the time to read the installation manual.
General help with installation and usage of Debian can be obtained in
vast quantities and for free on debian-user@lists.debian.org.

Once you have your base Debian installed, you will want to install the
Ada-related packages.  In Debian, one command does it all: "apt-get".
To install packages X and Y, you type: "apt-get install X Y" on a
command line, and apt-get takes care of the rest.

To begin with, you will most probably want:

gnat             3.15p-12                 The GNU Ada 95 compiler
gnat-doc         3.15p-1                  Documentation for the GNU Ada compiler
gnat-gdb         5.3.gnat.0.0.20030225-8  Ada-aware version of GDB
gnat-gdb-doc     5.3.gnat.0.0.20030225-8  Documentation for the Ada-aware version of GDB
gnat-gps         2.1.0-4                  The GNAT Programming System - advanced IDE for C and Ada
gnat-gps-doc     2.1.0-4                  The GNAT Programming System - documentation
libcharles0-dev  0.0.20050217-1           Data structure library for Ada95 modelled on the C++ STL

For more advanced or specific usage, additional packages available in
Debian include:

adacgi              1.6-6      Ada CGI interface
asis-programs       3.15p-4    Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS) example programs
gnade-dev           1.5.1-2    Develoment files for the GNat Ada Database Environment
gnade-doc           1.5.1-2    Documentation files for the GNat Ada Database Environment
gnat-glade          3.15p-7    Distributed Systems Annex for GNAT (GNU Ada 95 compiler)
gnat-glade-doc      3.15p-4    GNAT Distributed Systems Annex documentation
libadabindx-dev     0.7.2-4    Ada binding to the X Window System and *tif
libadasockets0-dev  1.8.4.7-1  bindings for socket services in Ada
libasis-3.15p-1-dev 3.15p-4    Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS) headers and libraries
libaunit-dev        1.01-1     AUnit, a unit testing framework for Ada
libaws-dev          2.0p-4     Ada Web Server development files
libaws-doc          2.0p-4     Ada Web Server documentation
libflorist-3.15p-1-dev 3.15p-4 POSIX.5 Ada interface to operating system services
libgtkada2-dev      2.4.0-4    Development files for libgtkada2
libgtkada2-doc      2.4.0-4    Documentation for libgtkada2
libopentoken-dev    3.0b-1     OpenToken lexical analysis library for Ada
libtexttools-dev    2.0.3-1    Ada and C++ library for writing console applications
libxmlada1-dev      1.0-2      XML/Ada, a full XML suite for Ada programmers

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.