<quote who="Doug Stalker">
> Not quite what I was after, but hopefully man apt-cache will tell me
> something. :)
Certainly not a Debian manual, but you can get all of that sort of
documentation at the website. I was just giving a pointer to the best
sources of information on a Debian system... Where to find the cool stuff.
> So lets assume for a moment I want to get X windows working, preferably
> with Helix Gnome.
>
> Where do I start?
First off, run either:
a) tasksel, and choose the "X Window System" task, or,
b) apt-get install task-x-window-system
Then, to install Helix Gnome, you need to add the Helix Gnome repository to
your /etc/apt/sources.list file (you'll find the appropriate line on the
Helix Code website) and then run:
apt-get install task-helix-gnome
Or, if you don't want all of the extra applications and such, just:
apt-get install task-helix-core
> I need to install the SVGA server - I'm sure it's on one of the three CDs,
> but how do I get it off there? Man Xfree86_SVGA won't tell me how to
> install it in the first place.
You just need to learn how to install packages under Debian - the same could
be asked about Red Hat... "I can see the RPMs, but how do I get them on
here?"
Read the above stuff on X, and look through "apt-cache search"... Lotsa cool
stuff. "Just add water."
The best bit is that it's all anally packaged, and ready to go as soon as
you install it. It's all standard, and it all makes sense.
> I need to configure the server once it's installed - how is this done
> under debian?
I'm familiar with debconf, which is a standardised configuration system for
Debian packages, and is mostly a woody (the version after potato) thing. It
will make life incredibly easy.
Potato includes some debconf things, but I'm not entirely sure what for. X
is certainly configured as it's installed.
> Does debian have a central configuration thingy I can use?
Like linuxconf? You can install Linuxconf if you want... I can answer your
question when you tell me what you want to configure. :)
> What if I don't have a network connection? Having the system update
> itself over the net is great, but I wan't to be able to burn stuff to CD
> at work and take it home to install.
Gah. This is a common misunderstanding of Debian.
Okay, so Debian has the best network-based updating system of any
distribution. That *doesn't* mean that you *need* a network connection to
update it. It doesn't even mean that you need to update it at all! :)
It's the same as your average Red Hat machine... You have to download
updates if you want to up date at all, it's just that Debian makes it ten
gazillion times easier and smarter. :)
It also happens to have a brilliant CD system, and I recommend that you
research the mirroring and CD-imaging software in place to do *just* what
you've asked for.
I'm "blessed" with a 56k modem at home, so I can't really mirror the entire
x86 woody tree, so you may want to post these questions to the list, or read
the documentation for mirror and apt-cdrom.
- Jeff
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