going from Drake to Debian

[bobtcowboy]

Ok all...

I've decided I'd like to try to install Debian and see what its got to offer me...

I've got Debian Potato 2.2R0 6 CD pack (3 of source and 3 binaries) from cheapbytes... the date on the readme says August 2000

basically, what I'd like to know is:
should I just forget about the CD's and do a floppy installation and then apt-get what I want?

I've currently got Drake 7.2 installed... Is there a way I can keep some of my old files from there? I want to totally wipe drake, but certain things like install files, mailboxes, pics, homework, etc I'd like to hang on to. I'm dual booting, so can I just move that stuff onto my Win98 drive for the time being?

thats all I can think of at the moment... I've read a bunch of NHF's about it... I'm gonna go reread the partitioning NHF now...

Thanks for any and all help, as usual,
Bill

[Tyr-7BE]

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=003114

Hehehe...100% identical situation. I'm running Drake 7.2 and got fed up with all the bugs and this rpm bull. The last straw was when I tried to do a re-install to get rid of some of the bloat. I searched through thousands of packages for the ones I needed, and as soon as I clicked install it just ignored what I had selected and installed everything it wanted to install in a default workstation. I figured "That's it...time to try out this Debian that people get so religious about." Be warned though...I hear Debian helps you out with nothing at all. There's no "would you like to start X at boot time" option, or anything like that. Once you install it you'll have the basic linux-prompt and it's up to you to apt-get from there. I have the install files on my comp right now and all I can do is make up excuses about why I shouldn't do this. Sometime before the weekend is over, I hope to be running Debian.

[ifred]

Hmm . . . you do not have to use floppies to install if your cdrom drive is able to boot the 1st CD (you may have to change your BIOS settings to enable this).

One you install the base system the installer will ask you to reboot and at some point will ask you wether you want to install from an ftp site. If you wish to do this and your NIC is detected and your internet connection works then proceed with the rest of the install. By going this route (or just using apt-get later on and installing individual packages) you will have a more up to date system than what you would have off the CD.

As for the stuff you want to keep. Back it up to something (second hard drive or vfat partition) and you should have no trouble retrieving them.

Good luck.

[bobtcowboy]

Originally posted by Tyr-7BE:
http://www.linuxnewbie.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic=6=003114
hehehe...100% identical situation.

dude, thats insane! I've been using drake for about a month, myself... and I got fed up with a combo of RPM and stuff... also I like the idea of configuring my system from ground up... Drake just comes with.... too... much. It's nice at first, cuz then you've got a lot of variety... but personally, I'd rather have a lot of variety on the internet, available for me to peruse than having it all on my computer ;o)

OB topic... so backing it up to my Win98 drive should work just fine? no coruption of data or anything?

Bill

[ifred]

Nope you should have no trouble. I regularly move files from vfat to ext2 and back with no problems. If you are paranoid try copying the files to your win98 partition and then opening the copied files using your usual linux apps--they should all work. I have a vfat partition that is really just a multi OS storage site with windows programs, rpms, slackware packages and debs and have had no trouble installing Debian or Slackware binaries directly from the vfat partition or after copying them to an ext2 partition.

[TotalFoo]

You should have no problem backing up your linux files on to a fat32 (windows partition). I've done this meny times when i want to try a diffrent distro. Works great the other way around too. When Windows gets too $%^&ed up to start anymore I back up file onto my linux drive and format the hell out of windows. I love having 2 hard drives. :)
~TotalFoo

[newmad]

bobtcowboy ...just did the same thing...

made the move because I wanted a little more control. Drake 7.2 wouldn't even give me the "individual package select" option during install (and I tried, oh how I tried :) )

I'm using the Libranet 1.8 distro, Deb2.2 , but will upgrade soon. Libra says that they are coming out with an upgrade soon, I imagine w/X4.0 and kernel 2.4. Price is about $20 with a year of support included, and their support is good and quick.

So far I really like Debian. The Libranet install is slick, and pretty darn easy, even compared to Drake. I liked the option to customize the kernel from the get-go.

Someone posted here the other day that they put /home and /usr/local on separate partitions from /, so that the stuff there can remain static in case of reinstalls... Seems like a good system.

Good luck! Welcome!

[ifred]

Nope you should have no trouble. I regularly move files from vfat to ext2 and back with no problems. If you are paranoid try copying the files to your win98 partition and then opening the copied files using your usual linux apps--they should all work. I have a vfat partition that is really just a multi OS storage site with windows programs, rpms, slackware packages and debs and have had no trouble installing Debian or Slackware binaries directly from the vfat partition or after copying them to an ext2 partition.

[ifred]

Nope you should have no trouble. I regularly move files from vfat to ext2 and back with no problems. If you are paranoid try copying the files to your win98 partition and then opening the copied files using your usual linux apps--they should all work. I have a vfat partition that is really just a multi OS storage site with windows programs, rpms, slackware packages and debs and have had no trouble installing Debian or Slackware binaries directly from the vfat partition or after copying them to an ext2 partition.

[Tyr-7BE]

No data corruption. I've saved text files and the like on my win partition in order to open them under windows. So long as it's being used for storage it should work just dandy :)