What powerful magic is this?

Okay, so I'm new. Not only new to GNU but Windows as well... let's just say that up until a year ago I had no idea what PCI slot or DDR meant.

Today I find myself hunting that illusive beast of legend, the perfect Linux distro.

I'm madly in love with Debian Linux... or more specifically apt... except for the installation, which I've never been able to really begin properly, let alone master...

Well who wouldn't want package management, stability, and a fine history of openness all together in one desktop package? Top that off with the Toy Story references and you can't help but dig Debian.

I've tried Libranet - not too shabby, and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Mepix Linux 2003.10 - both Debian based...

So far, Knoppix is the only distro I've tried that sucessfully detects and configures hardware (other than my monitors - one HP, one generic). So I'm perusing your forum and thinking to myself that I might as well install Knoppix!

I have a few newbie questions, however...

First, can I use Knoppix just as it were Debian? In other words, can I use apt-get and run with it just as if this were an install of Woody?

Second, this will be an install on an entire HDD, no dual boot. I'm currently building a test machine for this install. If it works, it's likely to become my primary Linux box. Are there any cautions you would give a newbie before starting on a project like this?

Third, and most important... how do I pronounce Debian? I've been pronouncing it as if it were an achronym... like D.B.N. (with the accent on the "D")

But I recently heard it pronounced Deh-bian (like Debbie or Deborah)

I want to make sure I get it right... I live just minutes from the 3vil 3mpire and I want to make sure I say it correctly when I'm in the local Redmond, WA coffee shops... ;)

Thanks for putting up with yet another neophite and his ramblings,
Nube

I'm a newbie myself, but I found this, which might answer your most important question - if it's true ... :lol: (check hunkah's post, bottom of the page).

Regards

Ha!

Thanks for the reply... quick responses are the mark of a great forum.

;)

Funny, The Screen Savers is the same place I heard it pronounced Deb...

I guess I'be got to retrain myself to get it right.

- Nube

Read the full changelog it has some good things to know before you get started. Use knoppix-installer. Worked great for me.

changelog - noted, thanks!

I was planning on using Knoppix-installer, thanks for the recommendation.

Anybody know why Knoppix is so good at recognizing hardware, but other distros have had so much trouble with it?

Anybody have a go with the new Debian installer yet?

I have used both installers and they both have differen consequences. If you install Knoppix the Debian way you lose that nifty hardware autoconfiguration that the cd has made famous but you gain the ability to use an alternative filesystem such as reiser. Cd-like installs seem to have the ability to have only one user - 'knoppix' - and lack the kde login manager.

Ah... so theres the rub.

Hmmm... so what file system does the installer create? I usually choose reiser, but I couldn't give you a clear answer as to why... it's just what was recommended and it's always worked for me.

Having more than one user wouldn't be an issue at first, but eventually I'd like to use this to introduce Linux to my family... maybe Debian isn't the right distro to use for that anyway, but I'd like the option to add other users down the road...

I absolutely want the hardware recognition and configuration tho. That's the whole point of using Knoppix rather than downloading the CD's from Debian.org.

Hmmm... god things to consider, thanks.

Hmm....I am not so sure all that is right. It has been a long time since fooling with anything; but I think you can install on reiser file system. And the root can create other users once installed.


The rub as I know it is that once installed you are going to have a hybrid Debian system. It will be a mix is stable and unstable pieces. If this is to be a hardcore server machine then it might be best to weather the Woody install.


Let me know if I am dead wrong! :)

-Duffin

I suppose I can partition the space as ReiserFS (does QTParted support Reiser yet?) and then just not reformat during install?

No, not a server... tho I may play with SAMBA and Apache on it... primarily a desktop for web development and other various desktop duties...

I'll probably try out some Linux ported games on it, since it will be my first PC with an AGP slot... can't let that go to waste...

Hybrid is okay... since Debian stable is fairly outdated (or so I hear) anyway... the "unstable" elements might be kind of fun to play with... and will be newer versions anyway.

I guess if all else fails I can reinstall another distro over it down the road... fun learning experience for a newbie.

:)

I think it's pronounced 'deb-ian' as it's Deborah and Ian's Linux, see the www.debian.org website for more information. (I'm wrong am I?)

This is me on Debian/Knoppix Linux from a HD install. I'd never been successful doing a Debian install, I'd tried various other Linux distros, like Mandrake, Peanut, Red Hat with various bits working or not. The 'knoppix-installer' script lets you choose either a Debian or Knoppix style install. The former gives you a well configured Debian system, based on what the brilliant Klaus Knoppix auto-configure script has, well, auto detected. The latter uses Klaus's brilliant auto-configure script each time you boot. You get the best of both world by doing the former (in my humble opinion) as long as you plug everything in that you plan to use day one (don't forget those USB storage devices).

You can follow some of what the auto-config script does, as it is well 'commented' - boot from the 'live CD' and have a look at /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig by typing in a 'root shell' (from the knoppix item in the menu):-

emacs /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig

Clever!

(Sorry I cannot answer the other questions!)

Stoo.....

> Second, this will be an install on an entire HDD, no dual boot. --- Are there any cautions you would give a newbie before starting on a project like this?

--If you're making separate partitions:
/boot == ~8MB
/usr == 2300MB +
/ == ~250 - 500MB

Swap == 256MB to however much RAM you have, but generally not over 1GB.

--If you're going to have a lot of user accounts or put a lot of stuff in your personal dir, either make 500MB - 1GB /home or increase size of root /. (I have 755MB in my /home dir for example.)

> Third, and most important... how do I pronounce Debian? I've been pronouncing it as if it were an achronym... like D.B.N. (with the accent on the "D") But I recently heard it pronounced Deh-bian (like Debbie or Deborah)

--Technically I think it's pronounced deh-bee-an but I pronounce it dee-bee-an. I don't think they really care which one you use - if anyone tells you different, tell them to shut up (and stop being pedantic) and use whichever version you like best.

--It's like Linux. Some people pronounce it linn-ucks, I pronounce it line-ucks, Linus pronounces it leenoox. It's not worth getting into a flamewar over - if it's open to interpretation, use whatever you feel is best.

--Personally I try to follow "natural English" - if they wanted Debian pronounced a certain way they should have added another B or capitalized the I. :) Same goes for Linux; add another N if you want it pronounced that way. Otherwise it's moronic to try and *force* people to pronounce it a certain way.

so the way you are meant to read linux and debian is actually how all italians would read it if it were an italian word!
Well lucky for us :D
BTW if i had to write a text2speech program i would do it in italian as 99% of the words you can make absolutely no mistake on how to read'em: there's only one way to read each letter, or at most each syllabus (G_ and C_ depend on to the following letter)