Quoting dkphoto ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
I am trying to download a basic package for the 68K Mac from the Debian
ftp site and could use some help please.
Files seem to be spread all over with no rhyme or reason. As a result I
can't be sure what I need or where to find it (and I've installed Debian
once before and BSD once too). There seems to be a basic package that is
not clearly labeled as such (just Debian) and is, to my way of
thinking, way too small to be a full basic install. (About 14 megs
stuffed, including the Base2.1gz file which of course was somewhere else
on the ftp site. WHY?WHY?WHY?).
I think you might have missed the installation guide in
debian/dists/slink/main/disks-m68k/current/mac/install.txt which
tells you which files you need to get started, viz.
* mac/install.sit.hqx (StuffIt archive of the installation files),
or
* mac/Debian-m68k-2.1-Mac.img.hqx (DiskCopy 4.2 image of the 'rescue'
floppy), and
* mac/resc1440.bin ('rescue' floppy image)
* mac/drv1440.bin ('drivers' floppy image)
* common/base2_1.tgz
base is in the common/ directory because all the other m68k machines
use it too.
The minimalist information on the web
site also seems to suggest very strongly that there are no man pages
included with the above package, but that the man pages must be
downloaded separately, also difficult to make sense of, from a separate
page.
If you look in common/, you will see that people who are installing
from floppies have to download 7 (or 13) more floppies. Were the
man pages included, this number would increase dramatically.
The installation uses a bootstrap principle, where the first
rescue disk contains enough to run a linux system on a file system
in memory, which builds the small linux system on disk, which can
then download the packages (by ftp, CD etc.) you need to build the
type of system you want.
The multiple pages, or directories, are designed to keep the huge
number of package files organised into manageably-sized directories,
by distributions, licence categories, chip architectures, etc.
The packages page took me a couple of hours to find at all, then
when I did, it made little sense. I opened the X windows page and found
everything in there EXCEPT X windows!!! Unless the Debian folks have
performed a Guiness class miracle in compact software design, Xwindows is
certainly not contained in the Debian package, it also isn't in the X
folder of the ftp site, so can anyone give me a clue as to where it might
be?
I'm not sure what you mean by the X windows page or the Debian package
or the X folder. The X packages are in
debian/dists/slink/main/binary-m68k/x11/ but using dselect (which the
installation process automatically starts) avoids your having to type
all that.
Why on earth can't they put together some basic packages and clearly
label them?:
1. minimal system install
2. full system install
3. full system + Xwindows install
4. all the other stuff you might need or want thrown in a box
If the installation dialogues are the same for macs as x86, you
will be asked for a machine profile just before entering dselect,
though it's not obligatory to choose one.
Do they really think that someone wanting to install Linux might not want
the man pages? Is that why they are off in some other corner of the web
site?
See above. What appears to be a corner is the right place for
dselect to find it, according to your chosen distribution, architecture,
etc.
I can accept the argument, Linux is difficult to install. I can
also accept the argument that, Linux is difficult to learn. But I find
it hard to accept the argument that, Because they're Linux files, it is
difficult to clearly organize and label them on the ftp site.
The labelling is via the Packages files which are designed for
programs like dselect to read and present to the user.
Thanks for letting me blow off steam. And TIA for helping me make sense
out of this gibberish.
So the intention is not that you peruse the directories (though you can
do that if you're familiar with them), but to get the disks-m68k files
you need, and then use the tools as they present themselves.
Good luck.
Cheers,
--
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 1908 653 739 Fax: +44 1908 655 151
Snail: David Wright, Earth Science Dept., Milton Keynes, England, MK7 6AA
Disclaimer: These addresses are only for reaching me, and do not signify
official stationery. Views expressed here are either my own or plagiarised.
