Installing Sarge Debian Net install

[megah0]

Lets get this out of the way, I am a linux noob, I know little, mostly I know how to put in a knoppix CD and then not touch ANYTHING

Today, as i am home sick from work (damn infections) I decided to install debian on my spare cube.

With a bit of prodding (ok more like being hit repeatedly with a broken branch) from resident linux demi-omg Directhex i settled on the Sarge net install.

110mb download from here

Burn it to a CD and boot it.

Go through the basic options before using apt to get the window managers.

So far I am pretty impressed with how easy it has been (in part due to the expert help from Directhex and the chaps on #debian on quakenet)

Will update thread when its all working/on fire

[Daymonkey]

the chaps on #debian on quakenet)

Yeh i installed it ages ago and im impressed, that channel also rocks nice chaps aswell (i idle there all the time).

[mike_w]

Funny you should make this thread - I'm just reinstalling Debian now! Only problem is that I forgot to make a backup of some of the packages, so I'll have to download them again.

[megah0]

Its taken a couple of hours so far to download the packages. Only on 512k though, reckon there is about a gig for the environments etc.

Its text based but simple and straightforward

Looking forward to using it

[mike_w]

I've just done x-window-system, moving onto gdm and gnome-core now. I'm on 512k as well, but hopefully it should still be fairly quick!

[megah0]

Well, its up and running, posting this from my Debian install.

Once again, massive thanks to the guys on IRC and directhex of course.

[megah0]

Last night it took about 3.5hrs to download the packages i needed using apt-get.

Today i updated the Kernel to the latest version and updated all my programs to the latest versions, this took about 20 mins.

So far I am very impressed with how simple it is to use, if there is an option the guide explains what each does, and makes a reccomendation.

Going to tackle wireless networking later which should be interesting.

Just want to re-iterate how easy apt-get is to use, also everything just works, no configuration so far.

[megah0]

Had a wrestle with it today.

Have customised the interface so it looks pretty, I am on Gnome, looks nice

Installed a few mozilla apps, firefox and thunderbird and managed to get my bluetooth mouse working, no keyboard yet but its a priority as the current Thermaltake keyboard is minging.



Ignore the monitor, yes its old and horrid, but the machine will eventually run through the TV.

Got Gaim going so can chat to all my MSN contacts, there is lots to learn but Mr Directhex has earned my eternal respect for how much he knows and his patience.

[DaBeeeenster]

That's good to hear. Debian has always been perceived as a tricky distro to install. I guess it depends what you want to get out of it. If you dont want to understand the guts of your system install Ubuntu or Fedora. If you want to learn some, install Debian, and if you want to spend hours a month tearing your hair out and crying, install Gentoo!

[megah0]

There is no pretty gui to guide you through the install, this is true, but i found the process to be bearable, that may well be due to the guiding influence of directhex. I did have a small hiccup with the graphics card driver, VESA is the default and my onboard VGA did not like it, switched the driver to the SIS one and its perfect.

I have played with mandrake in the past, very briefly and its much more grapical during the install.

[Steve]

and if you want to spend hours a month tearing your hair out and crying, install Gentoo!

So far that's the ONLY distro to successfully install onto my laptop, and I'm no Linux guru.

[megah0]

Well, Struggling still to get wireless networking going. I have a D-Link DWL122 usb adaptor with a prism chipset. Installed the (hopefully) relevant drivers but still it fails to connect. Bluetooth is a similar tale of woe. Will continue trying though.

[megah0]

still no luck with either of the above, but a major sucess story with my happauge tv card, unlike my experiences with XP, this just works, using TVtime it installs with zero fuss and worked straight off.

I can really see myself replacing windows entirely on both of my machines at this point.

Score one conversion for directhex

[ajbrun]

I've just done debian too (we're all coming out of the woodwork now ), and it'd all gone OK(ish). Just one major problem from the start - I had to install some nvidia drivers, so thank you directhex for that . I'm slowley getting there, but I wish more things would be compatable with linux - steam isn't for example (without paying anything).

[directhex]

I've just done debian too (we're all coming out of the woodwork now ), and it'd all gone OK(ish). Just one major problem from the start - I had to install some nvidia drivers, so thank you directhex for that . I'm slowley getting there, but I wish more things would be compatable with linux - steam isn't for example (without paying anything).

complain to valve, they're the only ones who can change that

ditto any other games or apps you want linux versions of. complain to the manufacturer. in the case of games, point them at icculus.org/~icculus/resume.txt and tell them to pay that guy a few quid to do it

[Daymonkey]

well ive seem to have got things like steam working, only problem at all has been the ati drivers which are poop (as we know) they really need to up there standard to the height that nvidia has got theres too
.