Amusing Debian install

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- Run CD. No problem.
- Can't install wifi driver. Ok, I'll do it later.
- Installed. Runs Ok.
- Can't download driver pre-compiled because there's no network up.
- Ok, I'll build from the source.
- Can't build because no build tools are installed or available on the install disc.

:) Game over.

What on earth would someone less geeky do in this situation?
Without a second computer you are completely screwed.
Debian 5 Install CD gets 2/10. Try again in two years.
 
Plug into the network with a cable and get the necessary WiFi driver? All the Windows kids have to do this. ;)

Remember that Debian is fairly hardcore in their commitment to their vision of Freedom. They do not make some of the concessions that distros like Mandriva, Fedora, and Ubuntu make for the sake of usability.
 
- Run CD. No problem.
- Can't install wifi driver. Ok, I'll do it later.
- Installed. Runs Ok.
- Can't download driver pre-compiled because there's no network up.
- Ok, I'll build from the source.
- Can't build because no build tools are installed or available on the install disc.

:) Game over.

What on earth would someone less geeky do in this situation?
Without a second computer you are completely screwed.
Debian 5 Install CD gets 2/10. Try again in two years.

Mine didn't event have esound installed, i guess u haven't gotten to notice it that yet. I retract my earlier statement lol, its not a great desktop os, needs abit of fiddling, I find the arch website easier to find info as well.

Arch seems to be my perm home.

What do u regularly use yash?
 
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Plug into the network with a cable and get the necessary WiFi driver? All the Windows kids have to do this. ;)

Remember that Debian is fairly hardcore in their commitment to their vision of Freedom. They do not make some of the concessions that distros like Mandriva, Fedora, and Ubuntu make for the sake of usability.

well not really as laptops usually come pre-loaded and with a driver cd :p
 
Indeed but a non working system AND with no build tools is a joke. :D

I used to use Red hat, then Debian (wired) then Ubuntu.
 
If you had all the install CDs handy you wouldn't be having this discussion. ;)

Debian is just about the only distro I know of that places its entire repo binary dump on installation CDs available for easy download.
 
Debian+Wireless=Tragic.

Linux in general + wpa +Tragic..... :rolleyes:

Made Debian do the wireless thing before (took some effort as im pants when it comes to networking), just give in, be a windows boy and plug it in, or when it promts you to load the wireless drivers in the graphical installer have them on something for it to load :D (havnt tried 5's graphical installer yet but thats how it worked on 4).

I do think its pretty nifty that you can still get EVERYTHING on cd from them (if a tad ott), though i do see the slight irony of not sending the make tools with the net install cd or a few actually useful bits to get it all going....
 
Yeah. So common 3com NIC goes in. No worky.
Reads more internet. module is called 3c59x.
Finally works.

I'd forgotten why I dropped Debian tbh. It's all coming back to me now. XD
 
Debian
Plug in an ethernet card because I cannot use the internet otherwise.
Find the right module, which is fortunately part of the default modules.
Insert it.
Browse the internet to find wtf to use as the main repository because the sources.list is blank. Seriously, why?
Edit the list.
Browse the non free section using 'aptitude' in a terminal.
Install super bad non free firmware module for wlan adapter.
Install network manager gnome.
Install wpa supplicant.
Make sure the ethernet card is disabled.
Reset it all.
Poke the card a bit to get it running at 54G.
Attempt to log in to the Wlan.
Done. Sort of. Doesn't really work too well.

Ubuntu
Poke the card a bit to get it running at 54G.
Attempt to log in to the Wlan.
Done.

Say what?
 
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Plug in an ethernet card because I cannot use the internet otherwise. Srsly? An ethernet card? in 2009?
Browse the internet to find wtf to use as the main repository because the sources.list is blank. Seriously, why? Not mine, the configuration offers a choice
Browse the non free section using 'aptitude' in a terminal. apt-get install synaptic if you want a GUI


Say what? Debian isn't about being easy for n00bs. It's about being 100% FOSS. And has become a favorite amongst those who want almost absolute control
 
I'm just pointing out the extreme difference between the two. I just found it funny.
I intentionally setup Debian, Solaris, Ubuntu and WinXP on a very old Pentium3 with a wifi dongle from my box of pap to see the results.

Ubuntu was easiest to setup. Did not work via WEP or No Encryption though, odd. WPA/2 is fine.

WinXP needed drivers installing and a bit of manual poking. Seems the fastest performer once it's setup. Would have been a pain if I did not have the driver CD.

Debian. No driver. No way to set it up. No build tools. Had sources on CD. No external repo sources pre configured.
Required a wired connection to fix and lots of package getting.

Solaris, runs like a dog and I couldn't be bothered getting the driver. It was even more of a chew on than Debian.

All the above run OK on my newer machines, more or less.
 
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Heh nice one :)

hehe, but in all seriousnessessess it depends what type of distro you are after, ubuntu is pretty much now just plug and play, there hardware drivers program was an awesome leap forward!

Debian looks good once its configured, nice and slow updates. Avoiding any showstoppers.

After spending the last 2-3 years testing loads of distro's I think my home is Arch linux.

Yashiro, seems & I might be wrong, to just want his systems to work, thats why I assume he likes ubuntu a lot. ubuntu = minimal faffing, "just got on with life" kinda distro :p
 
Indeed but a non working system AND with no build tools is a joke. :D

I used to use Red hat, then Debian (wired) then Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning "can't install Debian".

Edit: Beaten by eXor's sig :(

Did you use the netinstall ISO?
If so that's probably why.
 
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I used a normal disc one install for my test.

What's probably more amusing is the fact that even a lean install of Debian or Ubuntu are still slower for desktop work than Windows XP on a 10 year old machine.
 
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