Debian questions

[eeezzzeee]

Quick question about installing Debian
Do you install a base and then the DE/WM, then packages kind of like Arch, or are there different releases like Mint, Mint kde, Mint xfce etc? I am starting to get info for trying out Debian as I do not know much about it.

[MALsPa]

The default desktop is GNOME, but you can install a KDE version. I used the KDE installation CD for Etch, and then added GNOME and Xfce later.

[Fred]

If you want to dip your toes into Debian and like KDE I would suggest you take a look at sidux. It is based on Debian unstable but due to the hard work of the very sharp sidux developers it is actually more stable than a lot of distros that are suppose to be stable.

It is my second choice in distros, right after Mint. It is far superior to Ubuntu, in my opinion.

Fred

[eeezzzeee]

Thanks for the replies guys-
I read on the ubuntu forums that if you do the netinstall and deselect all the packages it leaves you with a base install of just the kernel and those kinds of things. Then you can just use apt to get the DE and all the packages you want making it a "custom" install, in a way kind of like how arch does their setup I imagine.

@Fred-
I actually tried sidux xfce the other day in virtualbox. I had a couple of problems with it initially but they got worked out. Man its a fast distro.
The reason I wanted to know about the setup questions was I was thinking about trying to work up desktop setup from the base up. Not to "make" my own distro or anything like that, but for the learning experience of it. Just go one step at a time and tackle any problems as they came up, and further my linux knowlage. That way I get to have a setup just the way I want it, and get to learn along the way.
From what I read 2 good distros to do that are Debian and Arch, still trying to make up my mind as to which I want to work on.

[Fred]

eeezzzeee,

Either of those two would be a good choice for what you are wanting. Arch will have a little steeper learning curve than Debian though.

Fred

[eeezzzeee]

I have attempted 3 arch installs in virtualbox about 3 weeks ago cause I wanted to check it out. I was interested in pacman and the rolling release model they have. I tried an install of gnome, kde, and xfce. xfce was my first attempt and I didn't do so well, gnome was my 2nd and it was better, but still not fully functional (I'm not sure if I did something wrong, or if it was just the gnome base with nothing added that I was supposed to configure), I nailed the kde install, but as kde isnt' my favorite DE I ended up scrapping the install. I did learn quite a bit doing the install and trouble shooting when things went wrong. I was all set to go to give it a real shot on my spare partition but then i started reading about Debian and I couldn't really make up my mind, as both should have strong support and are highly regarded distributions. I guess I should just make up my mind already and get started, I think the easiest way would be just to pick the package manager I want to learn (apt vs. pacman) and go with that.

[Fred]

eeezzzeee,

Debian is a rolling release too. Apt is more universal than pacman. The two major packages are deb and rpm, so apt would have a wider application. Of course Arch is certainly a good choice to learn on also. More in the vein of Gentoo.

I started with Gentoo, but there weren't that many to choose from then. If I had it to do over again knowing what I know now, I would probably pick Debian. It should be a bit easier to get your head around.

Fred

[eeezzzeee]

Thanks Fred-
I'll give Debian a try, I can always do arch later once I've learned more.

BTW do you ever sleep? lol It musta been real early in the AM when you posted your first reply in this thread.