DebianEtch-KDE: Difference between revisions

 
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===Summary===
===Summary===


[http://www.debian.org Debian] is one of the popular and free ( Libre ) distributions of [http://www.gnu.org GNU/Linux]. Etch is the latest [http://www.us.debian.org/releases/stable/ stable] release and comes in multiple CD or DVD installations. However there is a single CD Etch-KDE distribution [ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Linux/Debian/debian-cd/4.0_r1/i386/iso-cd/debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso] available that can be downloaded from the Debian mirrors. For the purpose of this installation, it was downloaded in Mumbai, India from a Taiwanese mirror using the following command.  
This article is intended for beginners and those looking for tips and tricks to install [http://www.debian.org Debian Etch] in their systems.
 
[http://www.debian.org Debian] is one of the popular and free ( Libre ) distributions of [http://www.gnu.org GNU/Linux]. Etch is the latest [http://www.us.debian.org/releases/stable/ stable] release and comes in multiple CD or DVD installations. There are also separate CD images available that install the KDE (or Xfce desktop) environment by default at
ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Linux/Debian/debian-cd/4.0_r1 or other Debian morrors at http://www.us.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/
and there is a [ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Linux/Debian/debian-cd/4.0_r1/i386/iso-cd/debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso] that can be downloaded from the Debian mirrors.  
However, users wishing to install alternate desktop environments can easily do so by adding boot parameters: tasks="standard, kde-desktop" for KDE and tasks="standard, xfce-desktop" for Xfce. Note that this will not work when installing from a full CD image without using a network mirror as an additional package source; it will work when using a DVD image or any other installation method.
 
For the purpose of this installation, [ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Linux/Debian/debian-cd/4.0_r1/i386/iso-cd/debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso debian-40r1-i386-kde-CD-1.iso] was downloaded in Mumbai, India from a Taiwanese mirror using the following command.  


'''wget -c url'''
'''wget -c url'''


The -c option allows you to continue broken downloads. The hardware used for installation was Pentium4 2.4 GHz., Intel original 845 GEBV2 motherboard, 256 MB DDR2 RAM, 80 GB IDE HDD.
The -c option allows you to continue broken downloads. The hardware used for installation was Pentium4 2.4 GHz., Intel original 845 GEBV2 motherboard, 256 MB DDR2 RAM, 80 GB IDE HDD.
This article deals with installation of this Etch-KDE single CD.


===Installation===
===Installation===


After the cd iso is downloaded, burn it into a CD and boot your system with it. At the boot prompt, simply hit the ''enter'' key to select the default installation method.  
After the iso is downloaded, burn it into a CD and boot your system with it. At the boot prompt, simply hit the ''enter'' key to select the default installation method.  


Every stage in the installation process is accompanied by text details to help you make the right entries wherever required. When you come to the package installation part, it will ask you if you want to install packages from the CD or mirrors. If you have internet problems or have low download limits, choose the CD install. It will still look for security mirrors and download about 50 to 60 MB of security updates.  
Every stage in the installation process is accompanied by text details to help you make the right entries wherever required. When you come to the package installation part, it will ask you if you want to install packages from the CD or mirrors. If you have internet problems or have low download limits, choose the CD install. It will still look for security mirrors and download about 50 to 60 MB of security updates.


===Post Install Setup===
===Post Install Setup===
The distro is packed with [http://www.kde.org/ KDE] utilities but does not have [http://www.openoffice.org Open Office] or [http://www.koffice.org/ KOffice] and no [http://www.cups.org/ CUPS]. It comes with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceWeasel Iceweasel] which is a fork of [http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ Firefox].
During package installation, the CD option was selected, so there were no internet package repositories in the /etc/apt/sources.lst file. Use '''Alt+F2''' to open the ''Run Command'' dialog box and type '''konsole''' and hit enter. From now on the remaining installation will be done in this terminal window.
The '''sudo''' and '''vim''' packages are added using
'''apt-get install sudo vim'''
The packages are installed from the CD itself. [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/ Apt] is the default package manager for Debian based GNU/Linux distributions. ''Vim'' is necessary for those who want to use the ''vi'' editor. To use the ''sudo'' command, first open a terminal and '''su -''' to open a root shell. Edit the /etc/sudoers file using '''nano /etc/sudoers'''. If you are comfortable with ''vim'' then use ''vi'' in place of ''nano''.
Under the section:
              User privilege specification
              root    ALL=(ALL) ALL
Add a similar line as the root one and replace root with your user_name. Save the file and exit. Please read documentation on [http://www.gratisoft.us/sudo/intro.html sudo] to understand its security requirements. Exit from the root shell and you can use the ''sudo'' command for further setup.
Now add Etch repositories to the sources.lst file of Apt using '''sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.lst'''
A sample of these entries can be found at http://www.mepis.org/node/8097
Or you can use following repositories
deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ etch main
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/backports.org/ etch-backports main contrib non-free
deb ftp://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.beryl-project.org/ etch main
After you have saved the file, do a
'''sudo apt-get update'''
to download the available package lists from those internet repositories.
===Installing Other Packages===
After an apt-get update, it is time to download other required packages. They are listed below.
#[http://packages.debian.org/etch/knemo knemo] - for network monitoring.
#[http://packages.debian.org/etch/adept adept] - A lovely gui for apt. It helps in searching related packages other than the main namesake.
#[http://www.cups.org/ CUPS] For CUPS printing support.
#[http://packages.debian.org/etch/icedove Icedove]  - a fork of Thunderbird.
'''sudo apt-get install knemo adept icedove'''
For installing CUPS printing support, run
'''sudo apt-get install cupsys cups-pdf  cupsys-client cupsys-common cupsys-driver-gimpprint cupsys-driver-gutenprint cupsys-pt printconf'''
Iceweasel and Icedove use default .mozilla and .mozilla-thunderbird folders in the user directory, so restoring backups from Firefox and Thunderbird is simply a copy and paste of the entire folders.
For starting knemo, go to KMenu -> Control Center -> Internet & Network -> Network Monitor. Check the box that says 'Use knemo to monitor your interfaces'.
[http://packages.debian.org/stable/graphics/cups-pdf Cups-pdf] is a utility to add a system wide pdf printer. To setup printers, enter localhost:631 as the url in a browser. The pdf printer is added by selecting 'Virtual Printer PDF' from the initial list. In the drivers list, select 'Raw Printer' and go ahead. By default, cups-pdf creates a folder called PDF in the home directory. It can be changed by editing the file /etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf.
===Installing OpenOffice===
Old (Read as '''Stable''') version of Open Office is available in etch. Also there is a separate repository available at backports.org which is an unofficial repository of backports for the current stable distribution, prepared by Debian developers. You can find more information here [http://backports.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=instructions]. 
A sample line for your sources.list is:
deb http://www.backports.org/debian etch-backports main contrib non-free
Once you've added that line, aptitude update && aptitude install debian-backports-keyring. And you can now install  openoffice from backports using following command
'''aptitude -t etch-backports install openoffice.org'''
Or You can also download the latest version
[ftp://ftp.mirror.tw/pub/openoffice/stable/2.3.0/OOo_2.3.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz OOo_2.3.0_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz].
Then untar it and inside its directories you will get a ''DEBS'' directory full of .deb packages and its subdirectory called Desktop Integration. Get into the ''DEBS'' directory and use
'''sudo dpkg -i *.deb'''
to install all the deb packages. Then get into the ''Desktop Integration'' subdirectory and install the last package using
'''sudo dpkg -i openoffice.org-debian-menus_2.3-9215_all.deb'''.
This is a smooth installation of Open Office in GNU/Linux. The last package adds the menu items to the KDE menu.
===Adding Multimedia Support===
For this section, all the commands are taken from http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2812/how-to_setup_debian
However it has a lot more stuff that may not be necessary so simply follow the steps below.
Add the Debian multimedia repository to your ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' as given below, if not added earlier.
#multimedia
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org etch main
Then run the following 2 commands one after another.
'''gpg --keyserver hkp://wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys 1F41B907'''
'''gpg --armor --export 1F41B907 | sudo apt-key add -'''
After this do a '''sudo apt-get update''' to add the new packages to the apt list.
Then, install the multimedia packages using this command. Please note that these packages are non-free in nature and in some countries it may be illegal to use them.
'''sudo apt-get install w32codecs libdvdcss2 liblame0 flashplugin-nonfree streamtuner xmms msttcorefonts banshee realplayer'''
This is a long installation. Note that from the site's [http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2812/how-to_setup_debian page], the totem-mozilla entry was removed as we don't use Gnome.
After this install the media player [http://kaffeine.kde.org/ kaffeine] using '''sudo apt-get install kaffeine'''. If apt returns errors then follow its instructions to run '''sudo apt-get -f install''' to correct broken package lists. Then run the kaffeine installation again.
Once Kaffeine is installed, you system is now ready for multimedia playback. You can now play VCDS, DVDs and other media formats to your hearts content. Kaffeine will automatically detect a VCD or DVD and offer to play it.
There is no volume control in the desktop so right click on the task bar and select ''Add applet to panel...''. From the list select ''Sound Mixer''. After it is installed, right click on its icon and select ''Channels''. Remove the unwanted ones to keep the icon slim. The necessary ones are ''Headphone'' and ''PCM'' as they actively control your sound level.
Now your system is ready as a desktop pc. Depending on the need, you can add extra packages from the [http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2812/how-to_setup_debian site]
===Setting Up K3B===
[http://www.k3b.org/ K3B] is a CD/DVD burning software and in this Etch-KDE single CD, it needs a few extra packages to be installed for proper functionality.
First add packages cdrdao and mkisofs using
'''sudo apt-get install cdrdao mkisofs'''.
Then download the package [http://ftp.tw.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/dvd+rw-tools/dvd+rw-tools_7.0-4_i386.deb dvd+rw-tools_7.0-4_i386] from the Debian mirrors.
Run this command to install that package.
'''sudo dpkg -i dvd+rw-tools_7.0-4_i386.deb'''
Now your K3B is ready and you can run it from the KMenu.