Getting to Know Debian

In these times of fast paced computing and burgeoning bandwidth, one Operating System stands out from the rest -- Linux.

Of the many Linux distributions available, one of the most endearing is the Debian. Although the other distributions are largely commercial affairs, Debian changes the recipe. Every piece of software that's part of the Debian distribution is about as free as you can get. Debian does not contain any commercial software.

Although you may see this determination to ensure that Debian is totally free as being a little extreme, it makes sense in the long term. There is a distinct possibility that some Linux vendors may close up shop, change their business direction or adjust their practices in some other way. Thus, the distribution you use today may not be around in 10 years.

This is not the case with Debian. The Debian project is entirely volunteer-run and doesn’t seek to generate profit. This essentially means that, while the will is there to continue to improve Debian, the project will always progress, irrespective of economic matters.

This article will take a look at Debian, what it can do and a guide to installing it.

The Benefits of Debian

In addition to the long term benefits we’ve just discussed, there are also a number of distinct technical advantages to using Debian, the first of which is its wide availability. Debian is freely available from the Internet, and on CD. There are no sign-up forms to complete, nor any convoluted processes to follow in order to obtain the software.

But possibly the biggest attraction to Debian is its software upgrading tool, apt-get. Anyone who has used other Linux distributions will be familiar with the tool RPM. RPM was originally developed by Red Hat to package pre-compiled software so that it could be installed easily, and without the user having to compile the source code.

Although good in theory, in practice the RPM technology experienced problems with dependencies. A dependency occurs when a piece of software requires the running of another piece of software, in order for it to function. Let’s imagine we wish to use the GIMP, for example. This package requires that we also run wget, aalib, libc6, libgimp, libglib, libgtk, xlibs and others. Obviously, finding all these packages (and, in turn, their dependencies) is a frustrating and time consuming process, and it’s not surprising that the term "dependency hell" has been coined to describe this scenario.

Debian by-passes this process, thanks to apt-get. In apt-get, the developers have created a powerful tool, which, when a package is installed, will automatically have Debian retrieve all dependencies and install them in the correct order. So, in our previous example, I could install GIMP with a single command -- I wouldn’t have even had to find the GIMP download file! Debian will retrieve the package direct from its servers.

Debian isn’t just a handy system for upgrading software, though. It offers a variety of tools that make the tasks of compiling kernels, configuring packages and handling modules (to name a few) very easy. Debian is by no means a beginners’ system, however, and offers users no GUI wizard-led walkthroughs, but if you have a brave streak in you, or you’ve already had experience with Linux, it’s a wise choice.

Let’s take a look at some of the key concepts involved in Debian’s installation. This discussion is meant only as a guide, as we don't have the space to cover the entire process in depth. It’s suggested that you use these guidelines in conjunction with the documentation included with Debian, and presented on the Debian Website.

Getting Debian

As it’s a community-driven project, Debian is generally fairly easy to get hold of. There are a variety of installation methods available, including network installation, CDROM, boot floppies and more. The easiest of these is to create your own Debian installation CD (or buy one from a Linux vendor).

To create an installation CD, we first need to obtain an ISO image. This ISO file describes the exact contents of an installation CD, so that it can be burned to a CDROM. There are 7 Debian installation ISOs in total, but only the first is needed for installation. I recommend you simply obtain the first ISO, and retrieve any other required software over the Internet, using apt-get. To find the ISO images you need, visit http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/.

The Debian project will allow you to download the ISO images from the mirrors listed on that page, or you can use the Jigdo application to more clearly specify how your ISO is assembled. See http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/ for more. Although Jigdo is a better solution, I recommend that new Debian users get a normal ISO, to smooth the installation process.

One important thing to point out here is that Debian comes in 3 versions: Stable, Testing and Unstable. The stable version contains older software, but has been through a rigorous testing procedure that has no outstanding bug reports. Debian’s testing version is newer, but the packages included here have gone for 10 days with no bug reports (so it is, generally-speaking, a stable system). The unstable system contains new packages that go straight into Debian, and may have problems that need to be fixed.

The unstable version is only recommended if you know what you’re doing. I suggest that you use the Stable or Testing versions.

Once you’ve found the ISO image(s), you’ll need to burn them to CD. This can be achieved in Windows with most CD burners, by selecting the menu’s Burn CD From Image option. In Linux, you can burn the CD using the following command:

cdrecord fs=12m speed=4 isoname.iso