Heeding the warning

Forum: Apt-get
Topic: Heeding the warning
started by: hyper guy

Posted by hyper guy on Mar. 12 2004,20:37

From the DSL site:
"Now for the warning:
Damn Small is not derived purely from Debian, if you 'apt-get install' the wrong application you may break something, for instance, the X servers."

After burning and trying a bunch of distros, I'm really trying to whittle things down. DSL seems like a good fit for my needs (to be truthful, it's < Luit Linux > I'm considering, which is largely based on DSL), but the warning is giving me pause.

If we install dpkg are we good to go re apt-get? Are there any rules of thumb that we can use to help avoid breaking stuff (like, say, any pkg that involves the foo library/pkg avoid like the plague)? If we install something that does break something else, is it usually a great big pita to fix, or is it easy to roll it back somehow?

Any tips will be greatly appreciated. I think I'm close to settling in to a distro that will be the best compromise for me.

Posted by CappyCaffeine on Mar. 13 2004,02:41

My experience has been that if you don't install any applications that require Gnome or KDE or are non graphical, you are safe.

For example, i installed synaptic as has been outlined in other messages on this board, as well as samba and swat. Other applications such as webmin will not install due to unresolved dependencies that cannot be resolved with apt.

If you don't -force an apt-get install, you should be ok!

Cappy

Posted by hasty on Mar. 13 2004,10:41

Do the dpkg retore first, then try and download synaptic.

It's a gui front end to apt-get and wil list the needed/missing dependencies before you try to download.

Loads of postings about it on the forum, so do a search.
Highly recomended.

Posted by hyper guy on Mar. 13 2004,18:39

man, i won't add to the (i'm sure) legions of posters who've made some pun on your nickname (i.e. wrt your not taking enough time for reflection), BUT...

i actually am already familiar with synaptic and i think it's a great tool. but i wasn't asking about tools that can help sort out dependencies.

i really wanted more explanation of the warning given on the dsl site. as a newbie it was waay cryptic to me and i needed to understand better what kind of dangers -- specifically -- i had to watch out for. cappycaffeine was on the right track for sure, but i find 'his' answer kinda scary, actually. any other opinions?

i DID search the forum and i found it thin wrt enlightening me re my question. when you say there are "Loads of postings about it," to what "IT" are you referring? synaptic or explanations of the warning?

are you saying, in effect, that if i restore dpkg and d/l synaptic then i'm good to go??

Posted by hasty on Mar. 13 2004,20:54

Ok ok enough already with the ad hominen

(Synaptic was just for a gui warning of missing dependencies.........)

Check the docs page for a list of the apps included.
Remember a normal linux install usually needs 3 CDs so theres a hell of a lot left out starting with XFree86, kernal dependencies and all those gui front ends, programming languages & feeble games.

The bottom line is suck it & see. At 50mb you can afford the time to muck it up and reinstall.

FWIW my hd install is now about 450mbs. I'd rather build up than down :laugh:

I also looked at Luit but think feather linux is a better customisation of DSL as it's not so limited in size.

yours in haste

Posted by hyper guy on Mar. 14 2004,03:48

heya hasty,

awright, i will give it a try, but i'm betting that you first tried dsl from the relative 'safety' of another separate os as your main, solid workspace.

i was looking for an easy way in to linux, but i was wary of stepping into dsl land if there were lotsa booby traps around. i don't have another os/computer to work with if it f*cks up (well, ok, i'm sending this from my wife's nifty eMac, but _BELIEVE ME_ this is temporary). so i'm trying to tip toe around any sleeping dogs (but i gotta know if they're around, first).

You're right that Feather, which I already tried some time ago, is a better choice than Luit. I mistakenly thought that I could install Luit to hd, but...anyway, I kept looking past feather cuz i wasn't keen on the look of it and i didn't know how to jazz it up.

the searching and testing continues...

Posted by hasty on Mar. 14 2004,10:29

>>i'm betting that you first tried dsl from the relative 'safety' of another separate os as your main, solid workspace.

Too right. Hasty but not senile :laugh:

Ran from the CD at first, then quickly the full install. Love at first sight as I'd always used fluxbox.

Four old boxes cluttering my desk and a half a dozen assorted hard drives. You can't believe the amount of dust they suck up

One box has slack 9.1 on, but I've not not used it much since exploring the micro end. Find the minis do everything I want quickly. They really storm along on older equipment.

Just as well - last night there was a bang in my main box and the screen went fussy. A motherboard fan had self destructed, trouble is I can't find the plastic retainers and daren't test incase the chip fries/has fried..........

Posting from a DSL a box 8 times slower with 128mb and firefox - it's as fast as the main box with a gig - elinks faster!

The moral is never to have only the one box. It's like going on holiday and forgetting the laptop charger. BTDTGT.

yours in mild disarray.