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On Monday 07 February 2005 6:03 pm, Julian Hall wrote:
0.5. Haven't burned the ISO to a CD yet.. Oops.
Have Knoppix anywhere? All you need is the base install and an internet connection.
1. Dumb thing. I didn't know if the /home of one distribution would be compatible with another.
/home will be (assuming you set up the same user login) but some of the config may have changed relative to the current version of the packages. Most applications are sensible enough to re-write or ignore any config that doesn't look right.
without it being a cast iron certainty, I didn't want to risk losing user data.
A backup is always the solution. Also, when loading the applications that handle that user data, COPY the original file first, load the copy in the application and make sure it's as expected. Then you can move the copy back to replace the original.
2. Mandrake's install is easy. By now I do feel I should be making more headway into other distros to customise the system to a stripped down installation - stripped down in the sense of installing *only* what I want and nothing else- even though Mandrake's package choices do give me that to a certain degree. I feel another distro such as Debian or Gentoo
Important: The Debian and Gentoo installs WILL require more detailed knowledge of your system than Mandrake. All those extra options come at the expense of extra questions, extra configuration and extra settings. Take your time and print off important settings like your kernel module list, driver configuration and X settings.
give me that, but I'm balancing that against loss of productivity on the PC while I struggle to configure a new distro. So the big question is: How difficult ARE other distros to configure compared to Mandrake?
Debian and Gentoo will require more involvement in the installation. You will need to be prepared to answer some detailed and unfamiliar questions, although there usually will be defaults, sometimes you will simply have to have the data required. Knoppix is ideal here. You can abort the base install, reboot into Knoppix and view the config from there. That should give you the clues you need to answer the questions. Obviously it pays to write down the question and continue with the install with whatever seems sensible until such time as it breaks or you have enough questions to warrant the reboot!
Debian's network install.... I'm on a 1.5Gb cablemodem so speed of connecion is not an issue for a network install. The issue is how difficult the package choices
Do that first. Identify the packages you simply MUST have in the new system. Don't worry about the libraries because installing the application will bring in the libraries required. What you need to know is which programs are you going to need to install immediately you login the first time. You'll generally get KDE and Gnome, concentrate on the other packages and use the debian site to query which packages provide the files / applications you need. http://www.uk.debian.org/distrib/packages Don't bother with dselect in Debian, get a basic system installed and then use apt-get update and then apt-get dist-upgrade testing - or you can go to unstable but I'd recommend testing. Now use apt-cache search to find the Debian names for the Mandrake packages from your list. Install each one and let apt bring in all essential dependencies. Start with the command line and server stuff (to reduce the total number of packages to install each time). Add in apt-get install cron-apt and apt-get install gnucash (no, I'm kidding, just cron-apt is fine). :-)
and configuration process is/are. Oh and one other issue with Debian.. I can never remember which release is best and what the names are. I know Sarge is one, and Woody, but which is which, testing stable or what?
Woody = stable Sarge = testing Sid = unstable. As far as apt-get dist-upgrade is concerned, you start with stable, you move to testing and can move to unstable - the other names are for humans, they aren't used internally within Debian or apt. The system works like this: New packages go into unstable within days of the project release.** Packages stay in unstable until the maintainers are satisfied that the bug reports are declining, then they move to testing. Only when all issues are resolved will a package move into stable. ** this includes GnuCash 1.8.11 which was released today and is the first release to contain code that I've modified! :-) It's absolutely tiny though, so don't go looking! My main code won't be ready for a while, it is slated for release when the Gnome2 port is complete which will hopefully be the next GnuCash release after 1.8.11. The other part of my code is slated for pilot-link-0.13 (0.12-pre3 is out now) and QOF 0.5.2 (current 0.5.1) - just in case anyone was interested - so things are getting frantic around here!
4. 64 bit. The laptop is a 64bit Athlon and I'd like to try out something on that
Laptops are a challenge to install at the best of times. 64bit may be more than you can chew. If time is short and you want to be operational again quickly, leave 64bit to another time when you don't have to sacrifice your working machine.
PS Neil, I resisted the temptation to boot into Windows and send a mail this morning when MDK died and just counted to 20 instead ;)
:-) Don't forget, if any member has problems with getting an email client to work, if you have a working web browser you can login to the members area and send an email (as yourself) to the mailing list from the website. This means there is no need to use Windows to send email to the list, if you have to boot into something else to connect to the internet, use the browser and the website to send email to the list. It is also useful if you are away from your usual email account/machine. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.dcglug.org.uk/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/isbnsearch/ http://www.neil.williamsleesmill.me.uk/ http://www.biglumber.com/x/web?qs=0x8801094A28BCB3E3
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