01-31-05 10:45 PM
"Adrian Hoe" <byhoe@greenlime.com> wrote in news:1107181856.768808.38980
@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> Now, I heard about Debian and wanted to try Debian. I am especially
> keen in the upgrading feature in Debian which allow users to upgrade to
> newer version without installing the entire system again. Is it so? Is
> there any drawbacks?
I don't like upgrading to a new major version with any operating system.
I find I get better results with a fresh installation, then copying
important data back as I need it. I have upgraded from Woody to Sarge or
Sid. Sometimes it went smoothly, sometimes it didn't. This isn't a fair
review, because neither are stable at this time. In any case, it's very
dependent on your hardware and the applications you use. Support,
features and options can change significantly.
> I'm a software developer and I use GCC and GNAT (Ada) heavily. Is
> Debian a better platform for development?
If you're the developer, it's not bad. If you admin the machine for a
group of developers, it sucks. The reason is that Debian breaks out
headers and other development code into development packages. This is a
brilliant way for a binary distribution to reduce disk space demands and
improve security, but it may take a while to track down all of the
dependencies necessary to compile an application. I find that Slackware
offers a better development environment.
> I have seen a lot of RPM packages around the NET but I seldom come
> across any DEB packages. Perhaps I have overlook or not interested at
> it before. Will I have difficulties getting software for Debian?
Quite the opposite. Few people offer separate packages for Debian because
it maintains an enormous repository of software, already, possibly the
largest of any distribution. Most applications are a simple apt-get away.
Debian has the best and most stable packaging system available. There are
notable exceptions due to licensing or philosophical issues (Sun's Java,
for example).
> Exactly, what kind of distro is Debian? Binary-based or source-based
> (like Gentoo)?
Debian is a binary distribution that also has good support for compiling
and installing source packages.
> What will be the benefit for me to switch from SuSE to Debian?
It's free, in the truest sense of the word. After that, it's really up to
you to decide. I like Debian Woody because it's super stable, secure, and
easy to maintain. I use it 24/7 for servers, and every day as a
workstation. I also use Slackware (more cutting edge, good for
development), OpenBSD (obscenely secure, pf is the best firewall around),
and, obviously, Windows (on which I can't survive without Cygwin). I
don't use Sarge or Sid anymore for production boxes, because they require
too much maintenance. I'm happy to wait for Sarge to become stable,
because it's not quite there, yet.
> Does it come with DVD?
If you mean can it play DVDs, a lot of multimedia support is provided by
third party packages due to patent or licensing restrictions. Sometimes
it's just a matter of adding the repository to your apt source. It
depends on your needs. You can't play most US encrypted DVDs on a stock
Debian machine.
> Is there any screenshots of Debian Desktop?
Screenshots don't matter. Download the Knoppix live CD if you want to see
what kind of environment is *possible* with Debian. Unlike some other
distributions, Debian doesn't push you towards any specific desktop
environment or window manager, so everyone's desktop looks different.
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