Installing Firefox from a Debian Package
April 20th, 2006
My first attempt at installing a major program was to install Firefox. I first installed Firefox using Kpackage. This was very easy. I opened Kpackage, found a menu selection that said "Search for Package" and found "Mozilla-Firefox" as a package that could be installed. No major problems occurred as I worked my way through Kpackage and watched Firefox get installed.
When the install was completed, I though great now let's see how it works. First issue was how to I run Firefox now that it's installed. Is there an icon somewhere? How about a menu entry? I looked around the desktop, but couldn't find anything. I even tried KDE's 'Menu Updating Tool,' which I found in the Settings submenu. I thought maybe it would automatically find Firefox and insert it into the menu. Didn't work. Will have to look into the 'Menu Updating Tool' at another time. While on the topic of menus, there is also a 'Menu Editor' in the Settings submenu. That allows you to modify the menu structure and is reasonably straight forward. But before using that I needed to determine how to access Firefox.
Luckily, in reading the Kpackage documentation, I had noticed the section that talked about a listing of all installed files. Once a package is installed, you can select that package in Kpackage and see a list of all files that were installed and where they were installed. This can be rather intimidating at first because files seem to get stuck all over the place and they all seemed to be named Firefox. Which one was the 'executable' that would launch the program? Once again time for some more online research.
I had earlier stumbled upon a great site with Linux tips - BrunoLinux.com. Besides having great tips, you can also ask to be put on a mailing list and Bruno will let you know whenever he updates the tips. You can also download them and store them locally. I've found it to be a great aid in helping to understand Linux. One of his tips (The Tree) describes in a clear and simple way the file system that Linux uses. From this description, I guessed that the Firefox executable that I was looking for was in /usr/bin. So, I just looked through the list of installed files for Firefox in Kpackage until I found one called Firefox in /usr/bin. I tried executing and it worked!
Now it was time to go back to the Menu Editor and create an entry for Firefox. No real problems with this. Everything about Menu Editor is clear. How about creating a desktop shortcut? Works a lot like Windows. Right click on the desktop select Create New, File, Link to Application. From there everything looks much the same as a Windows shortcut. You can name the shortcut, point it at a particular file and by clicking the icon, select an icon for the shortcut.
Once that was done, i was very happy with what I been able to accomplish, but noticed that the version of Firefox that I had installed was 1.0.4. I knew the 1.5 was the latest version and wanted to have that version. What to do? Now it was time to learn about installng programs that weren't part of a package. That will be the topic of my next post.
Linux and Packages
April 19th, 2006
Using Kpackage, the package management GUI software that comes as part of KDE is pretty straight forward. It doesn’t take much time to get the feel of it and learn how to find available packages and install them. Different from Windows, Linux installs generally display a lot of info about dependencies, which files are going to be installed, etc. At first, it can be intimidating, but after a couple of tries, it becomes routine. Knowing about and finding Kpackage is probably the biggest challenge to the new Linux user. In my setup (KDE), it’s in the System section of the main menu that is installed with KDE.
Based on a recommendation in a forum, I installed and tried Synaptic, another package manager. It’s very similar to Kpackage, but I found I like Kpackage better so uninstalled Synaptic. (I’m trying to not install a lot of extra programs and keep this Linux setup as minimal as possible.)
By looking at the documentation, one learns that both Kpackage and Synaptic are really just graphic front-ends to run APT - the Advanced Packaging Tool used to install Debian packages. APT is itself a front-end to dpkg - the base of the Debian package management system. Learn much more about these two systems at Wikipedia.
But even though the graphics package managers are available, you will probably at some point have to try your hand at some command line instructions. Some Linux distros are very good at setting up everything during the initial install and taking you directly to a graphics desktop. But, Debian is not one of those, especially if you want to keep the number of install programs to a minimum, like I do. As I mentioned in another post, after my install, I discovered the I had set up my monitor and video adapter incorrectly and I couldn’t get to a graphical desktop. The only way to fix that short of re-installng, was to use the apt and dpkg commands.
I found some info in the Debian forums about using apt and dpkg, but using one of the suggested commands (dpkg –pending –configure && dpkg –pending –remove) led to a small problem (one must be patient with Linux.)  As soon as I issued this command, the system went to a site at Berkeley and tried to download a package called Setiathome.  It couldn’t complete the download so after several minutes, I stopped the command using Ctrl-C. No big deal, I thought. But, when I tried to use Kpackage or Synaptic to install other packages, both came back with this error message -dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run ‘dpkg –configure -a’ to correct the problem. I tried to run ‘dpkg –configure -a’ but nothing happened. I was stumped until I found this forum post, which suggested using dpkg –purge Setiathome. That solved the problem for me and I was then able to use Kpackage and Synaptic again. Apparently, when I broke off the Setiathome download, dpkg had already started some of the configuration and wouldn’t let any other configuration activities proceed until Setiathome was completed. I even rebooted hoping the problem would go away.
One last point about apt & dpkg. Using the recommendations from the first forum above, I ran apt-get install localepurge deborphan. This was a useful command as it allowed me to delete around 40MB of documents that were in other languages that I would never use.
A couple of issues I haven’t resolved, but will work on later. First, I don’t have any idea why the dpkg –pending –configure && dpkg –pending –remove tried to download Setiathome and I don’t know where it would have gotten the URL to look for Setiathome. Second, in the package managers, you can select package repositories to look for packages and updates. This is an option that can be set during install and is normally set to point to the install media — DVD, CD or network. But, there are also options to check online sites. Looking through the Debian.org site I found many references to repositories, but didn’t find one that appeared to be general. Most dealt with specific programs. It’s not really a problem, however, because I’ve got two DVDs full of packages. I just need to figure out how to do an upgrade check on them. Kpackage has that option, but I don’t want to try it until I understand it a bit better since I’m afraid it may try to upgrade my entire system, including the kernel, and I’m not ready for that yet. Who knows what will happen?
Finally, I also experimented with downloading and installing a program that wasn’t in a package format. The program was Firefox. I’ll explain more about that and what new things turned up in Linux in my next post.
Step-By-Step Linux Install
April 18th, 2006
I’m going to use this post to document each step along the way as I learn Linux. I’ll put links in this post to other posts that have more detail on each particular issue or problem. I’ll also include a ‘To Do’ list of specific capabilities I want to include in my Linux setup and document how I got them.
Just to make clear, the overall purpose of this exercise, besides helping me learn more about Linux, is to document what steps someone who is experienced with Windows may have to take to install a Linux system that would have similar capabilities. Of course, everyone’s experience in this type of endeavor will vary depending on hardware and software, but the basic steps should be pretty much the same.
Links to concluded activites
- The Basic Install - A general discussion of the install process.
- Getting to the Desktop - What to do when you end up at a commnand line and can’t get a desktop to start.
Â
Â
To Do List
- Troubleshoot network startup problem
- Learn about Package Manager
- Share files and info between Windows and Linux boxes
- Print on a network printer
Setting Up a Swap File
April 18th, 2006
For some reason during the install, the installer didn’t find the swap file even though I had repartitioned my drives before I started the install and created a 512MB Linux swap file. I followed the instructions on this forum page to set up the swap file. Specifics that I did:
- Debian: fdisk /dev/hdb [this starts fdisk pointed at the correct hard drive and brings up the fdisk prompt, which looks like this - Command (m for help);]
- command (m for help): p [entered p to see partiton table and verify that Linux swap partition existed and was recognized]
- command (m for help): q [exit fdisk by entering q]
- Debian: mkswap /dev/hdb4 [Make the swap.  Determine the correct partition number by viewing the partion table)Â
- Edit /etc/fstab file to add a swap entry that looks like this: /dev/hdb4   none   swap   sw   0   0
- Debian: swapon /dev/hdb4 [turn the swap on with this command]
- Debian: top [check that swap is on looking for correct size of swap file on fifth line of Top Display]
- probably not a bad idea to reboot at this point
Getting the Correct Video & Monitor Settings
April 18th, 2006
As I briefly mentioned another post (The Basic Install), I had to make several attempts at installing the KDE and the windows-system-core packages. Each time that they installed, I was queried on video and monitor settings. For the first couple of times, I selected VESA as the monitor option, because my monitor/video setup said it could handle VESA. But, when I tried to run KDM or XDM, neither would work. I finally found some useful info online in a couple of forum posts about how to reconfigure packages without re-installing them. Basically, run dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86. That alowed me to select, VGA for my video settings and at least got me into a graphic screen. But, I couldn’t select a resolution any higher than 600 X 800. So, I had to get back out to a command prompt, reconfigure xserver again. This time, I selected the option that let me pick which screen resolutions would be available once the graphics started.  Then, when I went into a graphics desktop, using KDM, I was able to select a more suitable resolution setting and set up my desktop to look presentable.
I also found a good forum post (here) that talks about which packages to install and how to do that. It helped me a lot in getting started.Â
Â
The Basic install
April 15th, 2006
I downloaded the Debian install DVDs from Debian.org. See my other post for details on how to download the DVDs. Before starting the install process, I made two new partitions - one Linux and one Linux swap. I use BootItNG so I was able to make the partitions before starting the install. If you don’t use a partition manager, most Linux installation media include one.
I booted using the Debian install DVD and a “normal’ install stared. First, some regional options appeared, then hardward detection started. That was followed by an attempt to set up a network connection. It tried to find an IP address using DHCP, which I don’t use and then offered the option to input manually an IP address, a network mask and a default gateway. Then it asks for a hostname and a domain name. I input a hostname, but ignored the domain name.
Now comes the partition options, which can be tricky. The install offers to find the largest amount of disk space and install there. I’d be carefull with that one. It also provides the option to erase existing disks and install there. Another option to watch out for. The last, and in my estimation best, option is to manually edit the partition table. Since I’d already created the necessary partitions, I didn’t need to do any more partitioning. But, I still had to select the partition and format it. Maybe that was because I had a previous version of Linux installed on that partition. After telling it to re-format, I selected the option to make changes and the partitioner finished and the Debian base system install started.
The install chugs along for several minutes and then you’re given the option to select a specific kernel. I selected the offered kernel - image-2.4-686. That is the last step in the initial install. You can now remove the install DVD and reboot the system from the hard drive.
After rebooting from the Hard Drive, there is another series of questions for setup - time, geographic region. Next, Debian wants to know where to get its package info. You can select from download sites on the internet or the install DVDs. If you’ve got a complete set of install DVDs or CDs, it’s probably best to use these in the beginning. Later, you can also do updates from the internet.
The next step in the configuration setup is to select which packages you want to install. The list includes: Desktop environment, Web server, Print server, DNS server, File server, Mail server, SQL database and manual package selection. I selected manual package selection, which takes you to the APT screen, which can very confusing for the first time Linux user.  From previous attempts at loading Linux, I knew that I only wanted to load the KDE package and the windows-system-core package. My goal is to load packages as I need them and to not get a lot of extra stuff installed without knowing what it is for. Even though I had some basic experience with APT (or Aptitude), it still took me several attempts to get everything installed correctly.
When installing these two packages, the first step is load all of the files that are going to be installed. You’ll be asked to insert the install DVD/CD and then there will be a long wait while all of the files are read and stored on the hard drive. Once this step is completed, all of the files are processed. Because the Desktop Environment installs the X-server, which manages the graphics part of Linux, you will be asked some configuration questions about your monitor, video card and mouse. Then, all of the newly installed files are processed. Again, there will be a long wait and you should hear a lot of disk access going on. The final message is important because it says if you want to run the base config again to run the base-config program.
After that, you’re given the option to quit the base install and when you say OK, you will see a Linux prompt, much like a DOS prompt. Again, after some research, I discovered that I needed to start one of the windows managers before any graphics would appear. You can usually start the graphics by typing KDM or XDM at the prompt. These are two programs that manage the graphics packages. During the install, you should have picked one of them to be the default, but either will work. If they don’t work, you can also try xstart, but that didn’t work for me.
The first couple of times that I tried to run KDM and XDM, neither worked. See my other post for details. Once I got past that, however, everything was finally up and running and I was able to log into Linux and see a desktop that was somewhat familiar to a Windows desktop. I’ll stop here with this posts. In future, posts I’ll talk about continuing to configure Linux to be able to do the “normal” types of tasks that we all do with our computers.
Learning Linux - Which Distro?
April 15th, 2006
I’m an advanced user of Windows who wants to take the plunge to see how Linux works. I’ve played around with it a bit before, but haven’t really gotten a firm handle on how it works. After trying a couple of different Linux distros, either using Live CDs or actually installing to a hard drive, I decided do a complete re-install and then through a very ordered and disciplined approach, adjust Linux so I can use it and, at the same time, learn much more about it.
I decidied to install Debian since it seemed to offer the most flexibility and of all the distros that I tried, it seemed to work the best. The best way to decide, I think, it to try a couple of different distros using Live CDs.  See how they work on your hardware, especially if you’re running an older system. A great web site for Linux distro info is DistroWatch.com.
As I go through this process, I’m going to document my efforts on this blog. Hopefully, others will be able to use what I learn to help themselves learn more about Linux.
Opera Is Now Free
February 15th, 2006
I don’t want to enter in the browser war, but I noticed that Opera is now free and, as such, can be a viable contender for an every day browser. You can find out all about Opera and download it here - http://www.opera.com/
I’ve been using Firefox for about a year and really like, but lately it has started to “run away” with my processor. Randomly for no apparent reason, Firefox starts consuming upwards of 25% of my processor cycles. This is way too much, especially since I have a 3 GHz processor. So, I’m switching to Opera. As I go through the process, I’m going to catalog what I like and don’t like about Opera in comparison to Firefox.
- Tabs in Opera
Ever since I started using Firefox I’d been used to having a new tab/page open whenever I left-clicked on a link. I liked that for searches and for viewing news. Just select several pages that looked interesting from the main page, click on them and then browse through them with tabs. But Opera doesn’t have the left click option. But there are a couple of work arounds/options. First, the middle button can be set to open a new page/tab when clicked. I hadn’t really used the middle button much before other than to scroll, but I find this easy. Another option in Opera is mouse gestures. A quick down up motion while holding the right mouse button will open a link in a new page/tab. I haven’t found this as useful, but it is an option.
Tech Tips Category
February 15th, 2006
I’m going to start a new category called “Tech Tips.” Purpose of this category is to show tips on how to use technology that can be helpful. As I find or read about new advances that may be useful to others, I’ll post under this category. Before posting, however, I’ll try and evaluate the technology to make sure that it works as advertised. Since I’m into low cost computing and technology, I normally prefer free services and freeware and will generally focus on those kinds of products.
PBwiki - Free Online Wiki
February 15th, 2006
In case you’re interested in wikis but don’t really know how to get started with them, here’s a great web site to check out - PBwiki.com. You can get your own free wiki with 10MB of space by just signing up. PBwiki looks and acts like any other wiki and is a super way to explore the wonderful world of wikis. The links below provide all the info you need.
Check out the PBwiki tour!
Get a free wiki at PBwiki.com.
« Previous Page — Next Page »