> newbie? Is the slackware version more > stable/user-friendly/complete/popular? There doesn't seem to be too > much articles concerning debian at comp.os.linux.*, how come?
Slackware is certainly more popular then Debian right now. Slackware has been out for a long time, and is considered a very good setup. In our favor, most people who see Debian will comment on how much better our installation tools are. Our packages are also a lot better then Slackware, take the smail (a replacement for sendmail) setup -- asks you questions for common setups, and bang! You're set to send and recieve mail without any hassle. A friend who used Slackware on his work machine (connected to the net), had lots of problems getting everything networked properly. I've never had problems hooking up our 4 Debian PCs to the net. While we don't yet have as many packages as Slackware, we still have a lot, and have some Slackware is missing. I happen to think our TeX setup is a lot better then Slackware's (or at least the one I saw). > Where is the `debian/disks' directory referred to by > http://www.rahul.net:80/perens/Debian/InstallationNotes.html? Check out http://www.debian.org, or ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian. > Before I do this I would like to try linux out, is this possible > without repartitioning my current hard disk, i.e. just setting up a > small experimental linux? I believe you can, but I'm not an expert. I think some other people on this list have done so. But be warned that the default file system for Debian is ext2fs, the most stable of the file systems available. > What size hard-disk should I get? My main interest is actually to > learn how to administrate a unix system. It will be on a isolated > (excepting modem) single 486 PC and I will be the only user. I will > mostly install things that I think are fun, like emacs and nethack. To > be comfortable, do I need more than 540MB? I have 171 packages installed, and they take up a little less then 160 megs. I think you should be fine with a 540. I work on a 500 and a 300 meg, and I have taken to using the 300 meg exclusively for /usr/src because my 500 isn't half full yet. If you use Debian, and make nethack for your machine, please consider making it into a Debian package! :) > In the same note, is 8 MB of memory comfortable? Oh yes, I have no When I had a 486sx25 w/ 8m, it was usable in X, but not comfortable. One has to wait awhile for Netscape and Xterms to load up, etc. But if you don't use X, 8m should be fine. > facilities whatsoever for backing up my hard-disk(s), is this a > major worry? That's not really something anybody can answer for you. You have to decide what things you need backed up, you have to decide how valuable your time is if you have to do a reinstall. Jim
