[Cialug] Debian newbie questions

[D. Joe Anderson]

You're probably catching on to this by now, but if not, I'll
expand on Kevin's comments:

On Tue, Oct 19, 2004 at 04:08:51PM -0500, Kevin C. Smith wrote:
> Resend ....
> >
> >> A few days ago i installed Debian Sarge on my main Linux box. With a
> >> strong Red Hat background, Debian is a bit of a culture shock, but i'm
> >> adapting.
> >
> > If this is a server great. If this is a Desktop check out
> > ubuntulinux.com, which is a more polished version of Debian.

Ubuntu is one of several Debian derivatives.  Others include
Progeny and of course Knoppix.  If you can boot Knoppix and get
hardware to work, that can give you a clue as to how to
configure Debian.  The main example here is X Windows--copy the
configure file that works in Knoppix to use in Debian if you
have trouble. (this might work for your sound problem, too, if
you haven't sorted it out yet).

Don't set yourself up for a virtual pummelling though by asking
for Ubuntu or KNOPPIX help on #debian :-|

> >> Question 1: how are apt and dpkg related? I use aptitude to select
> >> what packages i want installed, which from the name i assume it is related
> >> to apt. But i found a helpful web site called "rpm to apt-get/dpkg
> >> Rosetta Stone" and it mostly references dpkg commands. Are apt and
> >> dpkg the same thing? Is one an extension of the other? If they are
> >> different, if i start using one and then run commands from the other
> >> one, will anything get messed up?
> >
> > dpkg is the package manager (like RPM).

apt-get:dpkg::[yum|up2date|apt-get]:rpm

Bottom line is that both dpkg and rpm can be used to install a
package if you already have the package file ( a .deb or a .rpm)
and both can detect if there are dependencies missing, but
neither of them will go out onto the network and find those
dependencies, download them, and install them.  The other tools
do that.

You've probably seen by now that apt-get and aptitude check
dependencies (and, supposedly in aptitude's case, "recommends"
as well.  Sometimes a package will technically install and work
with only the dependencies installed and without the recommended
packages, but will not practically work the way you expect it
without the recommended packages installed too.)  

> >> Question 2: How do i configure sound? 

> > Once again Ubuntu makes this choices for you and just works.

Or KNOPPIX.


> >> Question 3: Is there an equivalent to Red Hat's "service" command? Or
> >> should i just do /etc/init.d/<script> <action> when i need to start or
> >> stop a service?
> >
> > No. You could make a simple bash script to do this if you wanted. But,
> > just do /etc/init.d/<script> <action>.

Also, you may want to know about rcconf or sysv-rc-conf for
setting what gets started at what runlevels.  This fill a
similar niche as chkconfig.

> >> Question 4: I installed Sarge, which i think is the "testing" release.
> >> If i understand correctly, after awhile Sarge will become the stable
> >> release. When i update the system in the future after Sarge has gone
> >> stable, will my system stay with Sarge, or will it automatically move
> >> to the next testing release? If it doesn't stay with testing, what
> >> will i have to do to switch to whatever the new testing release is?
> >
> > Depends. Look in /etc/apt/sources.list
> > 1. If you "testing" it will stay with the testing branch.
> > 2. If you see "sarge" it will remain with sarge from testing to stable.
> >
> > If wish to always use the testing branch make sure your sources.list
> > has the "testing" reference in it.

You can also mix and match stuff across the branches by
configuring things in your /etc/apt/apt.conf file.  For
instance, you might run most of your stuff from testing, but
toss in newer stuff from unstable.  This is definitely an RTFM
area, though, as it can get sort of sticky with the dependencies
and the fact that there isn't a good way to downgrade.

-- 
Joe