[vox-tech] anyone have debain woody installation cds?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Jared Duncan (bitterangelmusic@yahoo.com):

> I have DSL, and I have looked into doing a net install
> but am kind of unclear as to how that would actually
> work.  i've downloaded a minimal-cd (image) from
> http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/debian-cd/

That's an unofficial Debian mini-image from a guy named Chris Lawrence,
which will install a fully functional but minimal Debian system without
needing Internet access.  (That is not the same as the "netinst" images,
which need Internet access to pull down the Debian Base set.)

> ...so when I boot up with that cd does it just automatically detect my
> connection and download the rest of what it needs from there? 

Lawrence's CD furnishes (by itself) your selection out of about a
couple of hundred packages.  Afterwards, your can fire up your choice of
package-browsing/selection tool (such as "aptitude"), and let Debian
grab the newest versions of those for whichever branch you want to
follow, from the Internet.

The Debian mirrors have about 8,000+ packages (each) for the
Debian-stable and Debian-testing branches.  Compare that against the
couple of hundred you get access to from Lawrence's mini-CD.

> I want to make sure that I don't have to be a linux guru to pull it
> off (not quite there yet; still a newbie) and don't hose up my machine
> in the process.

I recommend that people new to Linux specifically _not_ attempt Debian.
Get used to Linux on some other distribution, and _then_ try Debian once
you're basically comfortable working in Linux.

What you could do is install Libranet, play with that for a while, and
then make a tiny adjustment to /etc/apt/sources.list to cut over to 
Debian (since Libranet is based on Debian and is highly compatible with
it).

On the other hand, if you want to take a running leap at Debian, more
power to you.  It's just that a lot of newcomers arrive at Debian with
exactly the wrong instincts, get in trouble from that, and have a bad
time because of it.

My Debian tips file:  http://linuxmafia.com/debian/tips
(Obligatory warning:  It's a mess, with newer stuff basically thrown
onto the bottom of the file over time.  Accordingly, it's best read 
more-or-less from the bottom up.)

-- 
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