From 5841e79b1fddb4e7aa340328a4df587398317d06 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Daniel Baumann Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:40:43 +0100 Subject: Dropping etch support. --- .../etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html | 961 --------------------- 1 file changed, 961 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 includes/etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html (limited to 'includes/etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html') diff --git a/includes/etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html b/includes/etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html deleted file mode 100644 index e0403cc09..000000000 --- a/includes/etch/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-choosing.en.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,961 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - - - -The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - Choosing a Debian distribution - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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- -
- -

-The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ -
Chapter 3 - Choosing a Debian distribution -

- -
- -

-There are many different Debian distributions. Choosing the proper Debian -distribution is an important decission. This section covers some information -useful for users that want to make the choice best suited for their system and -also answers possible questions that might be arising during the process. It -does not deal with "why you should choose Debian" but rather -"which distribution of Debian". -

- -

-For more information on the available distributions read How many Debian distributions are there?, -Section 6.1. -

- -
- -

3.1 Which Debian distribution (stable/testing/unstable) is better for me?

- -

-The answer is a bit complicated. It really depends on what you intend to do. -One solution would be to ask a friend who runs Debian. But that does not mean -that you cannot make an independent decision. In fact, you should be able to -decide once you complete reading this chapter. -

- - - - - -

-The following questions (hopefully) provide more detail on these choices. -After reading this whole FAQ, if you still could not make a decision, stick -with the stable distribution. -

- -
- -

3.1.1 You asked me to install stable, but in stable so and so hardware is not detected/working. What should I do?

- -

-Try to search the web using a search engine and see if someone else is able to -get it working in stable. Most of the hardware should work fine with stable. -But if you have some state-of-the-art, cutting edge hardware, it might not work -with stable. If this is the case, you might want to install/upgrade to -unstable. -

- -

-For laptops, http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ -is a very good website to see if someone else is able to get it to work under -Linux. The website is not specific to Debian, but is nevertheless a tremendous -resource. I am not aware of any such website for desktops. -

- -

-Another option would be to ask in the debian-user mailing list by sending an -email to debian-user@lists.debian.org . Messages can be posted to the list -even without subscribing. The archives can be read through http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/ -Information regarding subscribing to the list can be found at the location of -archives. You are strongly encourage to post your questions on the -mailing-list than on irc. The mailing-list messages -are archived, so solution to your problem can help others with the same issue. -

- -
- -

3.1.2 Will there be different different versions of packages in different distributions?

- -

-Yes. Unstable has the most recent (latest) versions. But the packages in -unstable are not well tested and might have bugs. -

- -

-On the other hand, stable contains old versions of packages. But this package -is well tested and is less likely to have any bugs. -

- -

-The packages in testing fall between these two extremes. -

- -
- -

3.1.3 The stable distributions really contains outdated packages. Just look at Kde, Gnome, Xorg or even the kernel. They are very old. Why is it so?

- -

-Well, you might be correct. The age of the packages at stable depends on when -the last release was made. Since there is typically over 1 year between -releases you might find that stable contains old versions of packages. -However, they have been tested in and out. One can confidently say that the -packages do not have any known severe bugs, security holes etc., in them. The -packages in stable integrate seamlessly with other stable packages. These -characteristics are very important for production servers which have to work 24 -hours a day, 7 days a week. -

- -

-On the other hand, packages in testing or unstable can have hidden bugs, -security holes etc., Moreover, some packages in testing and unstable might not -be working as intended. Usually people working on a single desktop prefer -having the latest and most modern set of packages. Unstable is the solution -for this group of people. -

- -

-As you can see, stability and novelty are two opposing ends of the spectrum. -If stability is required: install stable distribution. If you want to work -with the latest packages, then install unstable. -

- -
- -

3.1.4 If I were to decide to change to another distribution, Can I do that?

- -

-Yes, but it is a one way process. You can go from stable --> testing --> -unstable. But the reverse direction is not "possible". So better be -sure if you are planning to install/upgrade to unstable. -

- -

-Actually, if you are an expert and if you are willing to spend some time and if -you are real careful and if you know what you are doing, then it might be -possible to go from unstable to testing and then to stable. The installer -scripts are not designed to do that. So in the process, your configuration -files might be lost and.... -

- -
- -

3.1.5 Could you tell me whether to install testing or unstable?

- -

-This is a rather subjective issue. There is no perfect answer but only a -"wise guess" could be made while deciding between unstable and -testing. My personal order of preference is Stable, Unstable and Testing. The -issue is like this: -

- - - - -

-But there are times when tracking testing would be beneficial as opposed to -unstable. The author such situation due to the gcc transition from gcc3 to -gcc4. He was trying to install the labplot package on a machine -tracking unstable and it could not be installed in unstable as some of its -dependencies have undergone gcc4 transition and some have not. But the package -in testing was installable on a testing machine as the gcc4 transitioned -packages had not "trickled down" to testing. -

- -
- -

3.1.6 You are talking about testing being broken. What do you mean by that?

- -

-Sometimes, a package might not be installable through package management tools. -Sometimes, a package might not be available at all, maybe it was (temporarily) -removed due to bugs or unmet dependencies. Sometimes, a package installs but -does not behave in the proper way. -

- -

-When these things happen, the distribution is said to be broken (at least for -this package). -

- -
- -

3.1.7 Why is it that testing could be broken for months? Wont the fixes introduced in unstable flow directly down into testing?

- -

-The bug fixes and improvements introduced in the unstable distribution trickle -down to testing after a certain number of days. Let's say this threshold is 10 -days. The packages in unstable go into testing only when there are no RC-bugs -reported against them. If there is a RC-bug filed against a package in -unstable, it will not go into testing after the 10 days. -

- -

-The idea is that, if the package has any problems, it would be discovered by -people using unstable and will be fixed before it enters testing. This keeps -the testing in an usable state for most period of the time. Overall a -brilliant concept, if you ask me. But things are alwasy not so simple. -Consider the following situation: -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-The situation can get much more complicated, if say, XYZ depends on 4 other -packages. This could in turn lead to unusable testing distribution for months. -The above scenario which is artificially created by me, can occur in the real -life. But such occurrences are rare. -

- -
- -

3.1.8 From an administrator's point of view, Which distribution requires more attention?

- -

-One of the main reasons many people chose Debian over other Linux distributions -is that it requires very little administration. People want a system that just -works. In general one can say that, stable requires very little maintenance -while testing and unstable require constant maintenance from the administrator. -If you are running stable, all you need to worry about is, keeping track of -security updates. If you are running either testing or unstable it is a good -idea to be aware of the new bugs discovered in the installed packages, new -bugfixes/features introduced etc. -

- -
- -

3.1.9 What happens when a new release is made?

- -

-This question will not help you in choosing a Debian distribution. But sooner -or later you will face this question. -

- -

-The stable distribution is currently etch; The next stable distribution will be -called as lenny. Let's consider the particular case as to what happens when -lenny is released as the new stable version. -

- - - - - - - - - - - -
- -

3.1.10 I have a working Desktop/cluster with Debian installed. How do I know which distribution I am running?

- -

-In most situations it is very easy to figure this out. Take a look at the -/etc/apt/sources.list file. There will be an entry similar to -this: -

- -
-     deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib
-
- -

-The third field ('unstable' in the above example) indicates the Debian -distribution the system is currently tracking. -

- -

-You can also use lsb_release (available in the -lsb-release package). If you run this program in an unstable -system you will get: -

- -
-     $ lsb_release  -a
-     LSB Version:    core-2.0-noarch:core-3.0-noarch:core-3.1-noarch:core-2.0-ia32:core-3.0-ia32:core-3.1-ia32
-     Distributor ID: Debian
-     Description:    Debian GNU/Linux unstable (sid)
-     Release:    unstable
-     Codename:   sid
-
- -

-However, this is always not that easy. Some systems might have -sources.list files with multiple entries corresponding to -different distributions. This could happen if the administrator is tracking -different packages from different Debian distributions. This is frequently -referred to as apt-pinning. These systems might run a mixture of -distributions. -

- -
- -

3.1.11 I am currently tracking stable. Can I change to testing or unstable? If so, How?

- -

-If you are currently running stable, then in the -/etc/apt/sources.list file the third field will be either etch or -stable. You need to change this to the distribution you want to run. If you -want to run testing, then change the third field of -/etc/apt/sources.list to testing. If you want to run unstable, -then change the third field to unstable. -

- -

-Currently testing is called lenny. So, if you change the third field of -/etc/apt/sources.list to lenny, then also you will be running -testing. But when lenny becomes stable, you will still be tracking lenny. -

- -

-Unstable is always called Sid. So if you change the third field of -/etc/apt/sources.list to sid, then you will be tracking unstable. -

- -

-Currently Debian offers security updates for testing but not for unstable, as -fixes in unstable are directly made to the main archive. So if you are running -unstable make sure that you remove the lines relating to security updates in -/etc/apt/sources.list. -

- -

-If there is a release notes document available for the distribution you are -upgrading to (even though it has not yet been released) it would be wise to -review it, as it might provide information on how you should upgrade to it. -

- -

-Nevertheless, once you make the above changes, you can run aptitude -update and then install the packages that you want. Notice that -installing a package from a different distribution might automatically upgrade -half of your system. If you install individual packages you will end up with a -system running mixed distributions. -

- -

-It might be best in some situations to just fully upgrade to the new -distribution running apt-get dist-upgrade, aptitude -safe-upgrade or aptitude full-upgrade. Read apt's and -aptitude's manual pages for more information. -

- -
- -

3.1.12 I am currently tracking testing (lenny). What will happen when a release is made? Will I still be tracking testing or will my machine be running the new stable distribution?

- -

-It depends on the entries in the /etc/apt/sources.list file. If -you are currently tracking testing, these entries are similar to either: -

- -
-     deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main
-
- -

-or -

- -
-     deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ lenny main
-
- -

-If the third field in /etc/apt/sources.list is 'testing' then you -will be tracking testing even after a release is made. So after lenny is -released, you will be running a new Debian distribution which will have a -different codename. Changes might not be apparent at first but will be evident -as soon as new packages from unstable go over to the testing distribution. -

- -

-But if the third field contains 'lenny' then you will be tracking stable (since -lenny will then be the new stable distribution). -

- -
- -

3.1.13 I am still confused. What did you say I should install?

- -

-If unsure, the best bet would be stable distribution. -

- -
- -

3.2 But what about Knoppix, Linex, Ubuntu, and others?

- -

-They are not Debian; they are Debian based. Though there are many -similarities and commonalities between them, there are also crucial -differences. -

- -

-All these distributions have their own merits and are suited to some specific -set of users. For more information, read the information of software distributions based -on Debian available at the Debian website. -

- -
- -

3.2.1 I know that Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?

- -

-These distributions are Debian based. But they are not Debian. You will be -still able to use apt package tools by pointing the -/etc/apt/sources.list file to these distributions' repositories. -But then you are not running Debian, you are running a different distribution. -They are not the same. -

- -

-In most situations if you stick with one distribution you should use that and -not mix packages from other distributions. Many common breakages arise due to -people running a distribution and trying to install Debian packages from other -distributions. The fact that they use the same formatting and name (.deb) does -not make them inmediately compatible. -

- -

-For example, Knoppix is a Linux distribution designed to be booted as a live CD -where as Debian is designed to be installed on hard-disk. Knoppix is great if -you want to know whether a particular hardware works, or if you want to -experience how a linux system 'feels' etc., Knoppix is good for demonstration -purposes while Debian is designed to run 24/7. Moreover the number of packages -available, the number of architectures supported by Debian are far more greater -than that of Knoppix. -

- -

-If you want Debian, it is best to install Debian from the get-go. Although it -is possible to install Debian through other distributions, such as Knoppix, the -procedure calls for expertise. If you are reading this FAQ, I would assume -that you are new to both Debian and Knoppix. In that case, save yourself a lot -of trouble later and install Debian right at the beginning. -

- -
- -

3.2.2 I installed Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... on my hard disk. Now I have a problem. What should I do?

- -

-You are advised not to use the Debian forums (either mailing lists or IRC) for -help as people might advise you thinking that you are running a Debian system -and the "fixes" they provide might not be suited to what you are -running. They might even worsen the problem you are facing. -

- -

-Use the forums of the specific distribution you are using first. If you do not -get help or the help you get does not fix your problem you might want to try -asking in Debian forums, but keep the advise of the previous paragraph in mind. -

- -
- -

3.2.3 I'm using Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... and now I want to use Debian. How do I migrate?

- -

-Consider the change from a Debian-based distribution to Debian just like a -change from one operating system to another one. You should make a backup of -all your date and reinstall the operating system from scratch. You should not -attempt to "upgrade" to Debian using the package management tools as -you might end up with an unusable system. -

- -

-If all your user data (i.e. your /home) is under a separate -partition migrating to Debian is actually quite simple, you just have to tell -the installation system to mount (but not reformat) that partition when -reinstalling. Making backups of your data, as well as your previous system's -configuration (i.e. /etc/ and, maybe, /var/) is -still encouraged. -

- -
- -

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- -

-The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ -

- -
-version 4.0.3, 6 August 2008
-
-Authors are listed at Debian FAQ Authors
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