Hi, I'm a relatively new user of Linux and have since yesterday, migrated from SuSE 7.1 to a boxed version 1.0 of Progeny Debian. I chose Progeny because of my perception that Progeny would be easier to install and get running than the non-commercial Debian.
However, the progeny users site is extremely slow moving, and since I'm unable to register on that site for some unknown reason, I'm hoping that I might find some answers here. Question 1 : -> Is there a simple blow by blow description on how to install a deb package which is currently in a directory on my hard-drive? .. or is anyone able to help me as I appear to be lacking a basic understanding here. The reason : -> I'm trying to install Opera and understand that I need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list . I've inserted an entry "deb file:/home/downloads opera non-free" but know that this is wrong, because when I run "apt-get update" it tells me that it can't locate the file. If I run apt-get install /home/download I get "W:couldn't stat source package list 'file:/stable/opera/packages ... and " You may want to run apt-get update to correct missing files" Question 2 : -> What do you think of Progeny? Is it really "not a separate distribution as Mandrake is to Red Hat"? The reason : -> Debian's social contract. It states (if I understand it correctly) that Debian will *always be 100% free ... as in free beer! This means that there can never be a Debian that is driven by a desire for commercial profit. As soon as this happens (the commercial pursuit of profit) the distribution has changed from Debian. Question 3 : -> Why not make Debian easier to install and to operate with basic functionality (ie setup Internet access etc) to encourage non-techie users to get their feet wet? The reason: -> It appears that this is what Progeny is trying to do ... but they are also pricing themselves beyond SuSE distro's and from a commercial point of view and on face value, I believe SuSE still has the edge with regard to simplicity of setup and availability of tools, at half the price. I like Debian, the more so that I have access to a local ftp site with sub 200 ms ping rates ... which means I will be able to reasonably perform online updates. This is for me, one of many compelling reasons to eventually go *pure Debian. The other compelling reason is a gut feeling that I'm on to something worthwhile :). Cheers Krisno
