The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. More details in "About Debian".
The Debian Project runs volunteer-based user support mailing lists. "debian-user at lists.debian.org" is for newbie questions. Be nice to people when you ask a question. Do not vent your frustration. No one is paid to do this for you. More details in "Support".
We all know Debian still has a steep learning curve. Many folks are working hard to improve it. If you are looking for a carefree GNU/Linux experience now, we would recommend Knoppix, which is based on Debian - a very useful, full-featured live CD! (But not an official part of Debian.)
Once you experience Debian's clean continuous upgrade path with so many choices of packages, you will be addicted. Practically everything in GNU/Linux is available.
| Release Notes | You must read this before you install or upgrade the system. |
| Installation Manual | You must read this before you install or upgrade the system. |
| dselect Documentation for Beginners | This file documents key information about dselect for first-time users, and is intended to help in getting Debian installed successfully. |
| (Hands-on Guide to the Debian GNU Operating System) | This is a total newbie-oriented guide soon to be a part of the DDP project. This is not yet a part of Debian. |
| Debian Reference | You want to read this before upgrading to testing/unstable. Do not complain about a broken testing/unstable system until you read this. |
| APT-HOWTO | In-depth guide to the APT system if the contents of "Debian Reference" did not explain it sufficiently. |
| Debian FAQ | Basics of Debian and its history. (Much of its content has been included as chapter 2 of "Debian Reference".) |
| More ... | Links to the many Debian and GNU/Linux related documents and books. |
Debian package archives are continuously updated every 15 minutes, and there is a procedure for sorting them into 3 different flavors, stable, testing, or unstable, depending on the stability of a package as part of a complete distribution.
Some argue that even Debian testing flavor is more stable than some other commercial Linuxes available. Others also comments that the difference is not really the stability but the testedness of the packages.
Debian is available in 3 major flavors - stable, testing, and unstable - for practically all CPU architectures. Here is a guideline for the choice.
| User type | Criteria | Recommended Debian Flavor | Note |
| Total Newbie | First time using Debian with no previous GNU/Linux experience. | stable + security fixes | You have much to learn before playing with the testing flavor. Buy a CD set of the stable version. |
| Debian Newbie | First time using Debian with good previous GNU/Linux experience. | stable + security fixes | Learn how to use Debian-specific things first with a small install to become a Power User. Please do not think about downloading big ISO-images. |
| Power User | Experienced Debian user who wants to run latest version of GNU/Linux desktop. | testing (unstable, stable, security fixes) | Watch the release cycle and use APT pinning. Prepare to get your hands dirty with package bugs. Read at least "debian-devel-announce at lists.debian.org". Most people belong here :-) |
| Professional User | Debian user who needs to have a rock-solid Debian server in the production environment. | stable + security fixes (may use testing only after freeze) | If you need the latest packages, backport them from the source, unstable, or testing by yourself. |
| DD Wannabee | Debian user who wants to be a Debian Developer and needs an unstable flavor environment. | any flavor but with chroot unstable | Do not expose yourself to unnecessary risks. pbuilder is your friend. |
| Debian Diehard | Debian user who refuses to lag behind the bleeding edge. | unstable | Have fun with broken glibc, bash, ... :-) Sh--t happens every few months. Read "debian-devel-announce at lists.debian.org" and "debian-devel at lists.debian.org". (Having said this, it is quite usable if you know what you are doing. It is much easier than compiling everything by yourself.) |
Debian stable packages usually bear old upstream version numbers but Debian always backports security fixes without including other new features which may cause stability issues.
Debian takes security very seriously. Most security problems brought to our attention are corrected within 48 hours. So you have nothing to worry about in a distribution itself, but watch out for your own bad system configuration. :-)
Also, you have an option to run the unstable flavor. Amazingly, it is quite stable despite its name. You just have to know how to fix problems. (There is no special security-fix program for the testing/unstable flavors of distribution. You just install the current unstable version that fixes security bugs.)
Wait a minute, not so fast, sir. Debian supports many architectures and each architecture has multiple disks.
Unless you are testing ISO CD image files as an expert Debian contributor please do not waste bandwidth by downloading all of them. Chances are you will not use 99% of downloaded software. So think 10 times before attempting to do this.
Even if you download ISO images for some reason, please make sure to download only the binary ones for your target CPU architectures.
For your information, the current stable distribution comes in a set of 6 CDs:
For the details of each disk, please read "Installation Manual" . Again, please do not download them all unless you are a CD vendor.
Please consider buying a stable Debian CD from the CD vendors' pages. Many of the vendors sell the distribution for less than US$5 plus US domestic shipping, for example.
The functionality of testing or unstable CD sets is not guaranteed by anyone (I think they are likely to have some package dependency inconsistencies). Be careful and be aware of what you are getting into.
If you insist on installing from the Internet for free, choose your install method wisely depending on your Net connectivity. If you are thinking testing or unstable flavor, upgrade the system later.
| Net Connectivity | LAN (Ethernet) | Good but it is off-site |
| Method | download a few floppies or download mini-CD. | download mini-CD, buy CD or download only #1 and #2 CD. |
If you download floppies, IDEPCI requires fewer floppies to install to most desktop PCs.
In order to install Debian over a PPPoE based DSL link, please follow the installation until you are asked whether you want to create a PPP connection. DO NOT SAY YES, but type Alt-F2 to open the second console instead to gain root shell. Then type "pppoeconf" and configure the connection. When the link is up, return to the first console (Alt-F1), say NO to PPP and choose http of ftp in the following apt-setup. (FIXME: we need the phrase used in the menu here, not the program name newbie never see.)
Although the current Debian installer does not support network-based install through an ISDN connection, you can expand and upgrade the system through an ISDN connection.
If you do not have a good local net connection but you can have high-speed Internet access off-site (or on a different OS with dual boot), consider using tools such as apt-zip for your system expansion and upgrade. Linux can read the Windows NT/2000/XP file system (NTFS) but it is much easier if you use the MSDOS file system (VFAT) or ISO-9660 CD format when formating large removable media for data transfer between OS.
For more complicated case, you have to read "Installation Manual". It is all there :-)
Join the club. Woody is great. You must read the "Release Notes" and the "Installation Manual".
Too lazy to do it, hmmm... but you have a high-speed Net connection. OK, run the following command from a root shell (replace URL with nearest mirror site):
# cat > /etc/apt/sources.list << EOF deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free EOF # dselect update # dselect select ... # dselect install
Yes, Sarge. Everyone wants the latest and greatest. Be our guest. So you read at least chapter 5 of "Debian Reference" .
Too lazy to do it, hmmm... but you have a high-speed Net connection. OK, run the following command from a root shell (replace URL with nearest mirror site):# cat > /etc/apt/sources.list << EOF deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free EOF # echo 'APT::Default-Release "testing";' >> /etc/apt/apt.conf # dselect update # dselect select ... # dselect installHere APT pinning technology will let you stay with testing while selectively accessing packages in stable and unstable. Total sysadmin control.
You should expect few minor issues described in "Release Notes". If something gets screwed up, then you have to read "Debian Reference", no more excuses :-).
We need lots of good people to make Debian better.