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

[randhol@bacchus.pvv.ntnu.no (Preben Randhol)]

Ludovic Brenta wrote:
>At yesterday's Linux Copy Party, I installed Debian on yet another IBM
>ThinkPad (a refurbished T20) using my trusted Sarge net-install
>CD-ROM.  No problems whatsoever.  The user, who was migrating from
>Fedora Core, didn't understand why the Debian installer has such a
>reputation of being difficult to use.  Just because it's in text mode
>doesn't mean it's "for experts".

No, it is the aftermath I'm thinking of... Debian lacks something like
YAST.

>Personally, I have never really understood the need for derivatives of
>Debian.  This is perhaps a matter of taste.

I like the derivatives because they use the same foundation (the package
system) but they target different areas. Also Debian makes specialised
distros.

Default Debian installation of X, for example, assumes that the
machine is a server. You have to handedit the gdm config file (if you
use gdm) to get it to stop asking for root password when shutting down
and restarting the machine. I have suggested that one should be able to
choose between server setup and desktop setup in debconf, but I don't
think it was thought as a good idea at the time. Perhaps I should
suggest it agian... The default setup is also quite basic and
not so much eye-candy which is good from a server perspective, but less
so from a desktop user's perspective. So I think it is healthy that there
are derivatives specialising in different areas. I mean I find that XFCE
is a much better desktop than gnome (I have limited experience with KDE so
won't compare this) and that it is nice that the XFCE people are
"competing" with gnome for the desktop and not "giving up"...

Preben