care and feeding of debian

[Vaughn Treude]

Hans,
	This would have been a great help for me when I was putting Debian in my old 
Winbook laptop!  (Now if only I could get my sound working...)   I think it's 
a good cheat-sheet for the computer-literate.  For total newbies, it could 
probably use a bit of background explanation.

Vaughh

On Wednesday 04 September 2002 00:12, you wrote:
> moin, moin,
>
> here's something I wrote up concerning the care and feeding of debian for
> people not versed in 'the way of debian[TM]' :).
>
> Please feel free to send me suggestions and critiques, especially if I've
> left out something important, which is quite likely.
>
> ***
>
> NOTE: much of this requires an active connection to the Internet.
> NOTE: many commands require root privileges.
> NOTE: login using your personalized account, then use 'su' to gain root
> privileges when needed.
>
> Upgrading
> Setup /etc/apt/sources.list ( see below for how ), then use "apt-get
> update" to get the current listing of available packages. Use "apt-get
> -u dist-upgrade" to update to the latest version of everything you have
> installed.
>
> If during the dist-upgrade you get errors with packages not being
> available, rerun the update.
>
> "dpkg --configure -a" and "apt-get -f install" will fix most other problems
> that might come up during a dist-upgrade.
>
> debian supports several different 'distributions', stable, testing and
> unstable. See below for more on the different dists and which to track.
>
> Installing and removing packages
> To install a package, use "apt-get install", e.g. "apt-get install
> apache". Don't forget to do an update first to make sure you have the most
> recent list of available packages.
>
> To remove a package use "apt-get remove", e.g. "apt-get remove katomic". If
> you want to remove the configuration files as well as the package, for
> instance when the package configuration is in a bad state, use the
> "--purge" option for "apt-get remove", e.g. "apt-get --purge remove at".
>
> To install from a dist you're not tracking ( see documentation on
> /etc/apt/preferences below ) use the "-t" option to "apt-get install" and
> say which "distribution" you want to choose from, e.g. "apt-get -t testing
> install konqueror".
>
> Changing configurations
> If a package used debconf for configuration ( most do at this point ) you
> can use "dpkg-reconfigure", e.g. "dpkg-reconfigure apache", to reconfigure
> the options set at installtime.
>
> package sources
> /etc/apt/sources.list holds the locations for package repositories you
> use. If used with /etc/apt/preferences, then it's fine to include multiple
> debian "distributions". See "man sources.list" for info on how to configure
> it by hand or use gtk-sources or aptconf to configure it.
>
> apt_preferences
> The preferences for apt are an important evolution in software
> packaging. The primary use is to pin a specific debian distribution. A
> pin-priority allows getting package lists from multiple dists, yet only
> installing from one. See the apt_preferences man page for more info. Use
> the '-t' option to apt-get to choose a specific distribution, e.g. 'apt-get
> -t testing install gnucash'.
>
> Which package and versions
> Use 'dpkg -S' to find out what package a file is from, e.g. 'dpkg -S
> httpd.conf'. Use 'apt-cache search' to look look through installable
> packages, e.g. 'apt-cache search game | less'. Use 'apt-cache show'
> to get information about an installable package, e.g. 'apt-cache show
> falconseye'. Use 'dpkg -l' to find out what version of a package is
> installed, e.g. 'dpkg -l vim'.
>
> 'distributions'
> debian uses a distribution concept to provide testing for a release and
> track releases. The current release is called 'stable', the release being
> tested and working it's way towards stable release is naturally called
> 'testing'. The no man's land of possibly experimental packaging is called
> 'unstable', aka Sid, the maniacal kid from Toy Story who delighted in
> breaking toys. testing release names are traditionally taken from Toy Story
> and stay with the dist as it's promoted to the stable release and finally
> replaced by the subsequent stable release after it.
>
> Alternatives
> Many programs have multiple implementations providing the same
> functionality, such as vim, nvi, and elvis for 'vi'. The alternatives
> system allows for multiple programs to be installed, but still have one
> of them be the 'official' implementation for the functionality. This
> also allows for pseudo commands like 'editor' and 'window-manager'. Use
> 'update-alternatives' to admin the alternatives soft-link farm.
>
> Administration tips
> Many scripts for managing things like the run-level soft-link farms,
> inetd.conf, and debian's alternatives system start with the word 'update',
> e.g. update-rc.d, update-inetd, and update-alternatives.
>
> Reporting bugs
> An important part of using debian is reporting bugs and wishlist items. Use
> 'reportbug' to report bugs. It automagically grabs dependency and version
> information important for the package maintainer. http://bugs.debian.org/
> followed by a package name is a short cut to the bug list for the package,
> e.g. http://bugs.debian.org/konqueror.
>
> Documentation
> The 'apt-howto' package has further documentation about the
> apt system. Package documentation goes in /usr/share/doc, e.g.
> /usr/share/doc/apache.
>
> Misc.
> As programs are installed the original packages get stored in
> /var/cache/apt/archives. They are not automagically deleted. Run 'apt-get
> clean' once in a while to delete old package files.
>
> apt-get can install specific release of a package with the equals sign,
> e.g. 'apt-get install vim=7.1.018'. The part of the release number after
> the dash is the debian package number for that particular source package
> release.
>
> ***
>
> I'm hoping that GUI tools will simplify all this, but in the meantime I
> want a document I can point people at to get them started.
>
> For those debianites on the list, let's figure out how to turn this into a
> song, then we can chant it at the InstallFests and in the classes ;-).
>
> ciao,
>
> der.hans