Author Topic: Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!  (Read 615 times)

wizzard

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« on: 26 June 2003, 17:02 »
After years of happily running my Windows Me computer, with 98lite and no IE and StarOffice, and Netscape Communicator (Mozilla later on) I decided to go to the "next step" and install Linux! So after carving a portion of my hard drive out for Linux I noticed a computer magazine I read had the latest version of Debian bundled with it - perfect! Anyway, I've now got LILO installed with a Dual Boot between Windows and Debian.

Now for the problem - I've been trying to update various components of Debian, including Mozilla to version 1.3.1, and Installing OpenOffice 1.0.3, and updating SAMBA ... all these things were handily on another CD that came with my computer magazine, so I mounted the cdrom from the terminal (Can anyone tell me how to do this from KDE?), then I ran K-Package and tried to install the files from the CD. I tried updating Mozilla, and I ask K-Package to 'test' the installation and it always tells me about errors if I were to install it, why? I then tried to install Netscape Communicator 4.77 which is on the same CD, and I got errors with that too! Any help with this would be very appreciated... I know it's just probably a little thing I got wrong. Also, Debian says it has KDE 2.2.2 installed, anyway update that to 3.1?

Many thanks!

-Jarrad

JH

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #1 on: 26 June 2003, 17:59 »
Try using apt-get. At least it will say something making scence. (Don't mount your CD-ROM).

If it doesn't work, start dselect (which is ugly) and make sure if you can see your packages at all. Perhaps you need to rebuild your package database.

Copperhead

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #2 on: 26 June 2003, 22:57 »
You need to use either apt-get ot dpkg to install packages on Debian. KPackage , I believe, is for RPMs. Since Debian uses a different database for packages than RPM, you are going to get errors when trying to use a package manager like KPackage.

apt-get is very easy to use.  The first thing you will want to do is load up a file called /etc/apt/sources.list with a number of sources for packages that you want. Since you are using the Woody (stable) version of Debian, it added all the packages to apt off of the CDROM that you have. I know that the Woody CDROM contains the most stable and tested versions of packages for when Woody became an official stable release of Debian. (KDE 2.2, Mozilla 1.0, Open Office 1.0, etc.) To get more recent versions of certain packages, you need to tell apt where to get them from. To do this, you edit /etc/apt/sources.list.

Here is what my /etc/apt/sources.list file looks like:


# Official Debian

  deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
  deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free
  deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free

# Open Office

 deb http://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.vpn-junkies.de/openoffice/ woody main contrib

# KDE

 deb http://download.us.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/Debian/ woody main

# Blackdown JAVA

 deb ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/java/debian woody main non-free

# VideoLAN

deb http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian $(ARCH)/

# Mplayer

  deb http://marillat.free.fr stable main

# Debconf/helper/backport of sid stuff

 deb http://people.debian.org/~aurel32/BACKPORTS stable main

# Lame

 deb http://dijkstra.csh.rit.edu:8088/~mdz/debian woody lame

# K3B

 deb http://www.planet-moll.de/debian woody main

# WINE
 
 deb http://www.fs.tum.de/~bunk/debian woody/bunk-1 main contrib non-free

# Backports to Woody

 deb http://www.jarre-de-the.net/computing/debian/ stable main

# FilmGIMP

 deb http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~alau/debian/ ./

# QT

 deb http://klokan.sh.cvut.cz/~medon/debs/ woody/

# GNOME 2.2

 deb http://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/mirrors.evilgeniuses.org.uk/debian/backports/woody/ gnome2.2/

# Mozilla 1.3

  deb http://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/mirrors.evilgeniuses.org.uk/debian/backports/woody/ gnome2.2/mozilla-1.3/

After you add any sources to /etc/apt/sources.list, you have to run apt-get update:

$ apt-get update

This will update your package database with the most recent versions  of any packages that are defined in your sources. To test it out, try to get Mozilla 1.3:

$ apt-get install mozilla

That should download and install Mozilla 1.3.

If you want to add a CDROM source to apt, you first put the CD in the tray, close it, and DO NOT MOUNT IT. Then you run this command:

$ apt-cdrom add

This will mount your CD, and scan it for packages, and put that CDROM into /etc/apt/sources.list. Then, you just install packages like normal:

$ apt-get update

$ apt-get install packagename

A nice tool to get first is a package called synaptic. This is a graphical front-end to apt which lets youjust point and click your way to installing packages, and upgrading packages. It tell you what packagges you have installed, and gives you the entire list of packages availible to you that are defined in your sources:

$ apt-get install synaptic.

To find sources for apt, you can take a look at this site: http://www.apt-get.org. You can scan the listings to see if there is anything in there that you want. Just make sure that you only use sources for Woody (stable.) If you start mixing sources for Sarge (testing), and Sid (unstable), you WILL run into problems later on.

For further reading, you might want to read up on apt here: http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/index.en.html

Faust

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #3 on: 26 June 2003, 23:06 »
I would not recomend Debian for someone new to linux.  I love it, and it is my favorite distribution but it does not tailor to well to a new user...  If you are prepared to stick with it, the "debian ways" will probably piss you off a bit at first.  I think most Debian users will agree though, it's worth it in the end.  ;)

Oh and would this magazine be Australian Personal Computer magazine?  I know this months issue has a Debian CD on it...  Good rag that.
Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that
 -- http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/error-haiku.html

Faust

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #4 on: 26 June 2003, 23:15 »
Copperhead has posted some good advice there btw...

For a start though I would stick to the default woody sources, the only "non standard" woody debs im using are X free / open office.  Maybe I'm just weird, and as the whole Free Software thing is about  personal choice it's up to you.  By the way, good work on getting Debian installed with KDE,  it took me quite a few (too many to list...) attempts to get it up and running with X windows.

Oh and Mozilla is better than Netscape...  Why do you want netscape?  :confused:

Oh and you may be able to find a Debian mirror closer to you as well...  Especially if you live on a University campus.  I personally use debian.anu.edu.au....  Or sometimes an ISP may have a Debian mirror, so a google search here for "your isp"+debian+mirror could give you some very nice results.  ;)
Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that
 -- http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/error-haiku.html

wizzard

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #5 on: 27 June 2003, 02:46 »
Ah! Thanks so much everyone :)! It all works perfectly now, aside from some minor errors that I'm getting with Samba. Yup, that mag is APC, my favourite magazine. One last quick question.. is it worth updating to KDE 3.x? or is 2.2 fine?

JH

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Help a newbie with Debian Linux 3.01r1!
« Reply #6 on: 27 June 2003, 13:31 »
quote:
One last quick question.. is it worth updating to KDE 3.x? or is 2.2 fine?


It's up to you  ;)  

Mainly if it works fine for your tasks and you don't need to install some package that requires an updated version and there's no seriouse security bugs than what for? It's not only about KDE.

Newer software doesn't mean better software. Extra features might be unnecessary for your tasks. You may have some problems with other packages or/and some different problems with the updated package. Sometimes it's better to have the old problems you have adjusted to or solved on your own.