[ILUG] Re: Debian is a pain to install!

[Colin Whittaker]

Donncha O Caoimh stated the following on Thu, Mar 22, 2001 at 02:23:11PM +0000 :
> How do I install/where do I find a deb for Netscape Communicator 4?
> Netscape 3 is included but the configuration part groaks with an error
> about /tmp/ and renaming files. Yes, I need the proprietary and evil
> Netscape Communicator. Is it on the 4th CD?

should be able to apt-get it on, can't remember the command to search
for a package off the top of my head, but the debian website allows you
to do the same thing.

> The install reported lots of installation errors but when the Dialog box
> came up at the end to ask to run the install again to isntall those
> packages it didn't find any more debs to install. I think that after a
> text warning about the install problems, the installer re-ran those debs
> again itself.
> 
> How do I get a list of installed des. Dselect will let me do that, but I
> want the same as "rpm -qa|grep" to find if something is installed.

dpkg --list (IIRC)

> How do I see the contents of a deb? Or find out what the contents of an
> installed deb is? Or find out what deb a file belongs to? These are the
> first things I as an rpm user can't easily find the apt/dpkg man files..
> (I've looked them over several times at home, but of course may have
> missed the obvious switches that everyone knows.)

dpkg --info and maybe --files  (.debs are just tarballs IIRC, see script
on linuxcare bbc for pulling the ssh .deb apart))

> If I want to add a kernel module(say, NIC driver installed from a
> floopy..), or recompile the kernel, can I keep using the nice "modconf"
> tool?

yup 

> Who do I recompile the kernel? Is there anything special to do
> beyond the usual make dep; make clean; make bzImage; etc. procedure. I
> found a kernel config program, but could only find the setup tool for
> that. (It asked for the kernel version and maintainer, your name. Does
> that ring any bells?)

that allows you to build a kernel and modules and stuff and package it
all as a .deb that you can then install on a system and it will update
/etc/lilo.conf etc, (I've used it to build a kernel with a set of
patches and then just distrib the .deb to all the machines that needed
it)


Colin 

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