Re: [TCLUG:16986] upgrading Debian

[Daniel Taylor <dante@plethora.net>]

Debian net-install is annoying if you have _any_ hardware that isn't on
the base disk (that %$#& 3MB drivers.tgz download...). A properly built
Debian CD can be much more pleasant to install from than RH, Caldera, or
<shudder> Corel. I have encountered very few properly built Debian CD's.

I continue using Debian at all because the package management is so solid.
Not just for installing new packages, lots of package managers get that
right, but for *REMOVING* software that I am done with (or seeing if I am
actually done with a piece of software).

1. Enter [S]elect
2. /package-name
3. Mark the package for removal
4. If there are any packages that depend on the package just marked for
   removal, dselect pops up a sub-selection menu including those packages,
   any alternatives, and alternatives for the package being removed.
5. On this (usually much smaller) menu make your package selections to
   get to what you really wanted.
6. If you are happy with the new status, <return> and [I]nstall/[R]emove
   to commit and implement, otherwise Q to quit out of the selection menu
   and discard the changes.

Yeah, a bit clunky, not at all pretty, but AMAZINGLY powerful.

I love it.

Try doing the same thing with glint and you have to backtrack all the
depends by hand, and you don't really get a good idea of the full extent
of a large set of changes until you are halfway through it.

 On Mon, 1 May 2000, Kevin R. Bullock wrote:

> On Mon, 1 May 2000, Daniel Taylor wrote:
> 
> > Hi. Debian's installation sucks, but dselect (with apt as backend) is the
> > _best_ package management tool I have ever used. The interface is clunky
> > as anything, but it does things (like handle dependencies on removing
> > packages) that I have not seen any other package management program even
> > attempt to do.
> 
> I'd have to disagree. I think the installer is wonderful -- it lets me do
> *exactly* what I want to the installation. Granted, it's not good for
> first-time linux users, and it bugs me that it still kicks into dselect to
> install packages. But still, it does exactly what I want it to.
> 
> Comparing it to other installers: well, Mandrake's failed for me (the
> Linux4Win BS... gotta try that one again). Can't comment on RedHat's until
> the end of the week or so -- the 6.2 CD is coming in the mail :)
> 
> I just tried SuSE earlier this week (6.3 using YaST2), and for a somewhat
> dumbed-down installer it works pretty slick. The only problem I had with
> it was figuring out how to make DHCP work -- YaST2 sets the DHCLIENT
> variable in rc.config to "no" by default without asking. Annoying when
> YaST1 tries to enable a DHCP interface and it doesn't work. But even so, a
> quick search on SuSE's web site got me a fix. YaST also seems to do a nice
> job of managing packages. (Except I can't find SSH -- can anyone help?)
> 
> Pacem in Terris / Mir / Shanti / Salaam / Heiwa
> Kevin R. Bullock
> 
> 
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