[NCLUG] apt-get error code

[Chad Perrin]

On Mon, Apr 17, 2006 at 09:00:23AM -0600, Bob Proulx wrote:
> 
> He said he had installed Knoppix but reported it as Debian.  And as we
> all know Knoppix is not really Debian.  Knoppix is a custom
> distribution built with Debian components, Red Hat components, other
> components, custom components, etc.  It is as cool as a custom
> "tricked out ride" and resembles the car it was based upon in about
> the same way.

Actually, what I said in the first message was only that it was an issue
involving apt-get -- I did not identify the distribution (an error,
true, but one of accidental omission and not of misreporting the
distribution).  In my next message, when I responded to the first reply
and realized I'd forgotten to mention that it was a Debian install from
a Knoppix CD (yes, Knoppix does act as a Debian installer as well as a
Knoppix installer), I corrected that omission.


> 
> While Knoppix is a wonderful live cdrom system I can't recommend it
> for a hard drive installation because upgrades are very difficult
> there.  I have tried some experiments with installing Knoppix and then
> upgrading from one Knoppix version to another in the past and I had
> only limited success.  So your guess at an untested upgrade path was
> almost certainly correct.  My experience is that Knoppix is not
> upgradeable, in contrast to Debian.  But it is an awesome live cdrom
> system.  For hard drive installation for the newbie I recommend
> Ubuntu instead of Knoppix.

I would have used the standard Debian netinst CD, except that it doesn't
provide drivers for the SATA hard drive in this laptop, and may not
provide drivers for the NIC either (I'm not sure, and didn't get far
enough due to the hard drive issue to test the NIC).

A problem with using Ubuntu instead of Knoppix (especially since I'm not
exactly a "newbie") for me is the simple fact that I was actually trying
to use the Debian install from the Knoppix CD, not a Knoppix or Ubuntu
install.  The aim was to get something using the standard Debian
repositories running on this laptop, and I managed to achieve that end
despite the upgrade challenges involved.  Another problem with using
Ubuntu would, of course, be the simple fact that Ubuntu does some very
strange things with system configuration that I try to avoid.

Certainly, if I was recommending a fire-and-forget install to the hard
drive for a new Linux user, I might consider Ubuntu for that task, but
that wasn't the situation here.

-- 
Chad Perrin [ CCD CopyWrite | http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
Ben Franklin: "As we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of
others we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any
Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."