An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer, which does all the basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs. Debian is kernel independent. It currently uses the Linux kernel but work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, using the Hurd. Most of the basic operating system tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux.

Debian is available for various kinds of computers ("architectures"), like "IBM-compatible" PCs (i386), Compaq's Alpha, Motorola's 680x0 (m68k), Sun's Sparc, Motorola/IBM's PowerPC, and (Strong)ARM processors. Check the ports page for more information.

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About This CD

  Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r3 "Woody" - Official i386 Binary-1

which means that this CD is number 1 of totally 8 CDs containing programs ("binaries") for `i386' computers.

The programs on the Binary CDs are ordered by popularity. The Binary-1 CD contains the most popular programs and the installation tools; it is possible to install and run Debian with only the Binary-1 CD. The other CDs, up to Binary-8, contain mostly special-interest programs.

Installing

Read the Installation Manual, on this CD at

  /install/doc/install.en.html     (English version).

Translations of the Installation Manual, and plain-text and PDF versions, are also available in the

  /install/doc

directory, along with various other documents.

Programs and other files that are needed for the installation can be found on this CD under

  /dists/woody/main/disks-i386

For the impatient ones: you can start the installation program easily by booting off this CD-ROM. Note that not all (esp. older) systems support this.

You can also examine the

  /install

directory; you might be able to start the installation system directly from there.

Upgrading

Upgrade instructions can be found in the Release Notes, available online at:

  http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/releasenotes

Last-Minute Notes

First of all, comment out every line of /etc/apt/sources.list by placing a hash sign (`#') in front of it (if it isn't already there).

Then you need to add new "deb" lines describing the location(s) where apt will get the new packages from. You can add "deb" lines for a packages mirror on a local harddisk, and/or FTP/HTTP mirrors, and/or (a set of) CD-ROMs. `Apt' will consider all packages that can be found via any "deb" line, and use the one with the highest version number, giving priority to the first mentioned lines. (So, in case of multiple mirror locations, you'd typically first name a local harddisk, then CD-ROMs, and finally FTP/HTTP mirrors.)

• For an archive on a local harddisk, that for example has these directories,

    /var/ftp/debian/dists/woody/main/binary-i386/...
    /var/ftp/debian/dists/woody/contrib/binary-i386/...
    ---------------       -----     |\ 
          \________          \_     | \___
  add:             \           \    |     \ 
             --------------- -----  |      \ 
    deb file:/var/ftp/debian woody main contrib
  

  As shown, the `dists' is added implicitly, and the 3rd and following arguments are used to expand the path into multiple directories.
   
  If you have a complete mirror that also has non-free and non-US, you typically have to add lines like these:
   
    deb file:/var/ftp/debian woody main contrib non-free
    deb file:/var/ftp/debian-non-US woody/non-US main contrib non-free
   
  If you don't have such a structure, other description lines are possible, see the sources.list manpage.

 

• FTP and HTTP packages mirror addresses can be found on this CD in README.mirrors.html, or on http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist, look at the "Full list of mirrors".
   
  If the mirror has these directories:

    ftp://some-server/debian/dists/woody/main/binary-i386/...
    ftp://some-server/debian/dists/woody/contrib/binary-i386/...
    ------------------------       ----- |   |
                \___                 /   |   |
  add:              \               /    |   |
        ------------------------ -----   |   |
    deb ftp://some-server/debian woody main contrib
  

  As shown, the `dists' is added implicitly, and the 3rd and following arguments are used to expand the path into multiple directories.
   
  If you use a complete mirror that also has non-free and non-US, you typically have to add lines like these:
   
    deb ftp://some-server/debian woody main contrib non-free
    deb ftp://some-server/debian-non-US woody/non-US main contrib non-free
   
  If the mirror doesn't have such a structure, other description lines are possible, see the sources.list manpage.

 

• If you use (one or more) CD-ROMs, do _not_ add any lines to sources.list manually.
   
  Instead, first make sure there is a line in /etc/fstab that connects the /cdrom mount point with your CD-ROM drive (the exact `/cdrom' mount point is "required" for apt). For example, if /dev/hdc is your CD-ROM drive, /etc/fstab should contain a line

    /dev/hdc      /cdrom     auto    defaults,noauto,ro     0   0
  

  To test this, insert a CD-ROM and give commands
   
    mount /cdrom
    ls -alF /cdrom     (should show the CD-ROM's root directory)
    umount /cdrom
   
  Then, use the command
   
    apt-cdrom add
   
  to add the data of each CD-ROM to apt's internal database. This command will ask for one CD-ROM per run, and mount/unmount the CD-ROM automatically. You should repeat this command for all 3.0 `Binary' CD-ROMs you have.

When the sources.list is correct, the final step of the preparation is to update apt's internal database with the command

  apt-get update

Once this is done, you can install packages from the commandline using apt-get. For example, if you want to install the packages `commprog' and `maxgame', you can give the command

  apt-get install commprog maxgame

Note that you don't have to enter the complete path, or the `.deb' extension. `Apt' will figure this out itself.

`Dselect' is also able to use `apt' to fetch the packages. To set up `dselect', choose [A]ccess in the main menu, and then select `apt'. The sources.list file should be okay already, so don't let the program make a new one. Then, after an [U]pdate, the configuration is ready. You can just keep using [S]elect and [I]nstall to install packages.

See dselect's online help screens for more information (use the `?' key).

Non-free and Non-US

`Non-free' packages are on our "regular" mirrors, listed in README.mirrors.html on this CD, or on http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist ("Full list of mirrors").

`Non-US' packages are on special mirrors outside the US, listed in README.non-US on this CD, or on http://www.debian.org/misc/README.non-US.

CD Manufacturers

For all needed information, and contact addresses, please refer to

  http://www.debian.org/CD

More Information

• Debian FAQ
• The Debian Constitution
• The Debian Manifesto
• Debian's Social Contract
• Bug reporting instructions

Also on the Internet are many resources. To name a few:

• The Debian homepage
• Debian Documentation
• Debian User Support
• The Linux Documentation Project
• General Linux homepage