Messing around with Debian Linux
Written by Websmurf   
Tuesday, 23 August 2005
Last week, i've been playing around with Debian Linux. The first time i've started playing with Linux was a while back and it wasn't a great success. But, a new debian has been released and the installer should be a lot easier this time. Time to test it out.


Installing the core system turned out to be a piece of cake. No hangs or failures at all during any step of the installation process. After installing the core system i decided to set up a webserver environment.

Installing apache, php and mysql turned out to be very easy. Just a few commands to enter:

# apt-get install apache
# apt-get install php4
# apt-get install mysql-server-4.1

That was all. I tested out a few things and things worked perfectly.

Time for some advanced features:

Install GDlib

# apt-get install php4-gd

Install MySQL support:

# apt-get install php4-mysql



The first thing i did was setting up a desktop environment. I choose KDE because of it's looks.

Simply type:

# apt-get install kde

to install the KDE desktop

After this it's time install the window server. This is needed to run KDE.

Type:
# apt-get install xserver-common
# apt-get install xserver-xfree86
# apt-get install xfonts-100dpi
# apt-get install xfonts-75dpi
# apt-get install x-window-system-core

After this type:

# startx

to start your desktop environment.

After getting into KDE you can install other usefull software:

Start a terminal screen in your KDE.

Install Mozilla Firefox:

# apt-get install mozilla-firefox

Install OpenOffice.org:

#apt-get install openoffice.org

Mozilla Thunderbird

# apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird

If you need MSN messenger:

# apt-get install amsn

Real VNC for linux:

Server:
# apt-get install vnc4server

After that start it by typing in your console:

# vnc4server

The server will ask for some data and it'll run when you're done

Viewer:
# apt-get install xvnc4viewer

To start the viewer, open your console and type:

# xvnc4viewer


You'll need a program by the name of Samba in order to make it possible to access files on your server from a windows machine.

First thing is to install samba:

# apt-get install samba

Once this is done, you'll have to create your passwords for your users again:

Type in console when you're root:

# smbpasswd USERNAME

The program will ask for a password. Username and password you've enter there will allow you to login from a windows client.




After this it was time to install my wireless network.
I followed instructions here:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/Installation

You can install the wireless tool kit their talking about by doing:

# apt-get install wireless-tools

Just set up the rest in KDE (Control Center -> Internet & Network -> Wireless Network
Last Updated ( Sunday, 30 April 2006 )