Debian Weekly News - email
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 23:05:19 +1000 To: debian-user@lists.debian.org From: Andrew Lau <amlau@one.net.au> Subject: Volunteers needed for MashPotato tech support crew in #Debian on irc.debian.org around August 15. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello, this is Andrew "Netsnipe" Lau from #debian at irc.debian.org calling out for volunteers who know a bit of Debian GNU/Linux and can offer a part of time to help others. As many of you are well aware, the third test cycle of Debian is about to end soon, schedules on August 15 (no guarantees or leaks here), and quite possibly, if we're lucky will officially become stable. Debian itself, unfortunately, despite progress in this area over the last year or two, has never been an easy to install or configurable distribution for the beginner. Remember the first time as a Linux newbie when you installed Debian and were intimidated by dselect (thank goodness tasksel has been introduced). How long did it take you to get X or sound running on your own, or even when you switched distributions? We here at #debian, the official IRC chatroom of Debian have decided that when Potato 2.2 does officially become stable, that we will provide the most comprehensive Debian GNU/Linux support service that we can to users both new and old. However, being the official IRC room, #debian will be overwhelmed with literally hundreds of users seeking installation and configuration help. The task would be quite daunting for regulars there as we already handle several dozen help requests a day. Hence the Potato release now has a dedicated IRC tech support crew nicknamed the Mobile Array of Support Helpers for Potato (MashPotato) which serve around the clock for users around the world. To make things easier, we will also divert users to different channels from #debian to for example #debian-install and #debian-x, #debian-sound, #debian-gnome. However, we will be lacking in numbers of people to answer the multitudes of help. To sign up for the roster list for MashPotato, just come into #debian and type in "apt roster" for further details, and return over the next few days for more details. You don't need to be using Potato, but any Debian-based help provided will be greatly appreciated. So please, for the sake of new users, please volunteer for MashPotato and help promote the Debian GNU/Linux community to new users as well. Debian is much more than yet another Linux distribution. It has a fine tradition of being a community which distinguishes it as one of the best Linux distributions out there. Let's keep it that way. Yours sincerely, Andrew "Netsnipe" Lau netsnipe@hotmail.com ICQ: 2194697 PS: MashPotato is not an official organization or division of the Debian GNU/Linux project, however we do have members and links with those who hang around at #debian. MashPotato is a volunteer group run by people at #Debian in the spirit of the project. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> iQA/AwUBOYoy8LkiQgasmtMtEQKVqACgvSh5hIOVQB/8GhKYY604S9n38ccAn3H7 BA2sl+jXzy5bg6RKjoH6uynY =FRgK -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 20:10:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Aaron Maxwell <amaxwell@phy.ucsf.edu>
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Subject: Corel to Debian micro-howto
Someone asked, so here's how I transmuted my version of CorelOS to
more or less "pure" debian. Though this worked for me, it might be a
good idea to read any comments made on this post before doing this,
since IANAG (i am not a guru)
1. Establish a net connection, if it's not already up. (i.e., so you
can ftp)
2. If you're at not at the command line, go there. Log out of the
window manager, and press Ctrl-Alt-F2; you should go from the KDE
login screen to a command line login prompt. Log in as root.
3. Remove all packages with the string "corel" in them. You can get
a list of these by issuing the command: [1]
dpkg --get-selection | grep corel
You'll get two columns; the names of the packages you want to
remove will be in the left column. Remove them with the following
command, as root:
apt-get remove pkg1 pkg2 ...
where the pkgN's are the names of what you're removing.
4. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list to point to where the new packages are
located. If you're not sure, I recommend commenting out all the
lines in there (put a '#' as the first char of the line), then add
this line:
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian frozen main contrib non-free
This will upgrade your system to potato, Debian's 'frozen'
release. CorelOS is based on slink, Debian's 'stable' release.
If you'd rather update to the latest version of slink, replace the
word 'frozen' with 'stable' in the line above. You can then
upgrade to frozen from there if you like. I just went straight to
frozen with no problems, but ymmv.
5. As root type:
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade
Your quasi-debian system will start downloading stuff and asking
you questions as it installs and configures packages. It may have
to download a lot of stuff, especially if you're upgrading to
frozen.
6. KDE is now gone (CorelOS comes with a Corelized version of KDE,
which you removed a few steps ago). In its stead, I installed
gnome. [1] Install the necessary gnome stuff with this command:
apt-get install gdm gnome-bin gnome-panel gnome-panel-data
gnome-core
(that's one long line).
That should be it. 'gdm' is the name of the program that provides the
nice graphical login. If it doesn't automatically start, start it by
typing as root
/etc/init.d/gdm start
[1] I don't know how to install the non-Corel KDE; if
you want that instead, please search the list archives.
(https://lists.debian.org/#search -- just search the debian-user
list, ignore the 1.4e12 other lists)
To receive this newsletter weekly in your mailbox, subscribe to the debian-news mailing list.
Back issues of this newsletter are available.
This issue of Debian Weekly News was edited by Joey Hess.