Forum OpenACS Q&A: Re: Debian stable or testing? apt-get or yum? etc.

13: Re: Debian stable or testing? apt-get or yum? etc. (response to 1)

Posted by Andrew Grumet on 02/25/04 02:48 PM

Since we're talking about Debian in general...Last weekend I tried installing unstable, then stable on a spare Dell PIII machine. Both times it choked, unable to install my 3c905B (Cyclone) network card. Is it common for Debian to be missing drivers that aren't missing in other popular distros?

14: Re: Debian stable or testing? apt-get or yum? etc. (response to 13)

Posted by Pavel Boghita on 02/25/04 05:07 PM

I have installed Debian on various machines, Compaq (of various flavours) and Dell Dimension... something rather.
Never had a problem; actually the quality of its software (i.e. drivers that just work) contributed to Debian becoming the platform of choice for me.
I also find it hard to agree with misconceptions like, 'Debian = hard to install'. I am still a beginner in many respects, but hard to install Debian isn't. I usually go through the defaults and then apt-get install whatever I need.
Regarding your network card, I found that sometimes it will not install the module if I try and configure it manually at the time of installation, but somehow the card has been identified automatically with no need for any further module install. If that's not the case you could also press F3 and select bf24 at when you boot your install disk/cd, this will give a greater choice of modules/drivers.

Regards,

15: Re: Debian stable or testing? apt-get or yum? etc. (response to 14)

Posted by Luigi Martini on 02/25/04 05:27 PM

Thanks to Joel and Torben for advices.
I am afraid that I will *have to* install debian.

Between stable and unstable, which one do most of you suggest, keeping in mind that I would eventually try and install OACS, and that I'm looking for the easiest choice, not the most performant one?