New Debian 'Tutorial+Fun' Project (ForMe...

[mzsade]

...And other forum users similarly 'differently abled' in matters Debian/Linux, but mostly me..me, me, me-mememe,,,,me.). I have 243.92 GB of unallocated space on my Asus Notebook.

a) The Tutorial Part: I shall do a minimal install of Debian 8.1 with my #NetInstall usb (with the standard system utilities box checked during the install process..let us not get carried away..during this time i shal jump straight to 1.1.13. Play time of the Debian Reference https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debi ... ole_basics which i shall have open on my P4 desktop on which i have just upgraded to Linux Mint Rafaela 32 bit XFCE. Even though i have a bootloader (rEFind on my first partition), i'll make a 500 MB fat 32 partition with GParted first to install Debian's bootloader in UEFI mode. I shall report any problems if they arise during the installation and after it till i can get to my login screen, set permissions open and configure user accounts and and the steps taken to trouble-shoot them, then install MC commander, vim etc. The final stage would be to install OpenBox, configure it, preen it, maintain it till it is a trouble free and fully functional server, i can tell all i need to know about it and do whatever is within the scope of such a system, with it..

b ) The Fun Part: Pestering the expert forum members for help, exasperating them with the dummest questions and LargeThumbnail sized Screenshots, and this is the best part, asking them questions about any issues i might have with my newly upgraded Linux Mint Desktop. Other forum members, the differently abled linux-wise ones, are cordially invited to ask me to duplicate their issues if they have any or try out new stuff on my hardware within the scope of any stage of the project, at every stage.

It is hoped that this thread will somebody, after editing by the administrators, serve as the official forums.debian.net's "Debian-For-Dummies" manual..and i will get the Nobel peace prize for it.

[Deshapria]

I have 243.92 GB of unallocated space on my Asus Notebook.

b ) The Fun Part: ...cordially invited to ask me to duplicate their issues if they have any or try out new stuff on my hardware within the scope of any stage of the project, at every stage.

It is hoped that this thread will somebody, after editing by the administrators, serve as the official forums.debian.net's "Debian-For-Dummies" manual..and i will get the Nobel peace prize for it.

Quite a nice idea!
I think this should not be Off topic, but in the Docs, Howtos, Tips & Tricks area.

Mzsade, would you really like to experiment? If you are, I'd write up something--I tried it with good results, but don't know how it'd work with others--not right away,but in a few days.

Good luck with your idea!

[mzsade]

Thanks Deshpriya, finally! Installation was successful after i 'unchecked' standard system utilities, and finally a server mirror in Vietnam accepted my requests for the apt packages. Managed to create a user account with administrative privileges (

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# echo "penguin ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

, hmm Warning, yada yada, Unix file basics, bada bing, bada boom Filesystem permissions..Named pipes..Sockets..Device files, procfs and sysfs../etc/sysctl.conf..at this point i would like to know if this is correct for a purely systemd initialized and systemctl controlled system (if such option exists). Did an apt-get update, installed mc vim gpm. Rebooted and successfully logged into my user account, rEFind is a delight, saw both, the fat32 /bootpartition and the /root partition, wish i could take a screenshot. And at this point i don't know how to edit system files without a text editor so i am done for today. Will begin tomorrow with

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$ mc

and see how it goes. All kind of input from forum members between now and then will be highly appreciated and fully explored before that. Thanks
Bookmarked this page for future reference tho' not applicable to this system [No Windows partition]: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=123894
On an unrelated note, Linux Mint Isadora Mate on my desktop is still more responsive and lighter and boots faster than the latest Lint Mint Rafaela XFCE RC on the same PC.

[mzsade]

And at this point i don't know how to edit system files without a text editor...

. What the hell am i talking about, i am an idiot, don't even need mc or vim right now.

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$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "EFI boot on HDD" || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"
EFI boot on HDD
$ echo "EFI boot on HDD" > output.txt
$ ls
output.txt
$ cat output.txt
EFI boot on HDD
$ cat /proc/1/comm
systemd

Back to http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book/ http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html and lots of practice with pipes and redirection. Think i will shelve midnight commander, vim and this Debian reference for awhile.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

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# echo "penguin ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

Don't do that!

Always use:

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# visudo

The syntax is checked before saving with this method.

Set the editor to be used in your shell configuration file, for example:

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export EDITOR="ed"
export VISUAL="ed"

[mzsade]

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# echo "penguin ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

Don't do that!

Always use:

Code: Select all

# visudo

The syntax is checked before saving with this method.

Set the editor to be used in your shell configuration file, for example:

Code: Select all

export EDITOR="ed"
export VISUAL="ed"

Thanks, will keep that in mind, and get some vi/vim lessons too.

Forgot to mention the effect of the installation on other partitions, swap uuid changed. Noticed that when my Debian xfce partition booted with "...a start job is running..." , without rEFind i don't think it'd have booted at all. Did a blkid, then checked /etc/fstab of all the other partitions and changed the swap UUID in all of them.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

swap uuid changed

If the distribution uses systemd, just delete the swap line from /etc/fstab and let systemd mount it automatically.

Otherwise, use the PARTUUID rather than the UUID in /etc/fstab (this will not change when new distributions reformat the swap partition).

[mzsade]

Thanks HOAS, Can't seem to get anything right, that's 2 mistakes already. To summarize for the uninitiated:

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# echo "penguin ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

Don't do that!

Always use:

Code: Select all

# visudo

The syntax is checked before saving with this method.

Set the editor to be used in your shell configuration file, for example:

Code: Select all

export EDITOR="ed"
export VISUAL="ed"

How to use visudo: http://www.unixtutorial.org/2014/07/how-to-use-visudo/
If you are giving administrative privileges to the user you have already created during installation (assuming you have already installed sudo):

Just add the user to the sudo group:

# adduser <username> sudo

The change will take effect the next time the user logs in.

This works because /etc/sudoers is pre-configured to grant permissions to all members of this group (You should not have to make any changes to this):

# Allow members of group sudo to execute any command
%sudo ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

swap uuid changed

If the distribution uses systemd, just delete the swap line from /etc/fstab and let systemd mount it automatically.

Otherwise, use the PARTUUID rather than the UUID in /etc/fstab (this will not change when new distributions reformat the swap partition).

Not clear about how to "use the PARTUUID rather than the UUID".

Edit: I will be keeping myself busy poking around the bare system with this; http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_learning_the_shell.php until i feel ready to move on to the next stage. Meanwhile any questions on installation up to this stage would be welcome. I would also be very grateful if somebody would parse this command i used to detect if my system was booting in EFI or Legacy boot mode, in detail:

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[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "EFI boot on HDD" || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Not clear about how to "use the PARTUUID rather than the UUID".

Look at the output of:

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# blkid

Modify fstab accordingly.

All the script is doing is checking for the presence of a /sys/firmware/efi folder (this is only created if booted with UEFI) -- you could just do this yourself.

[mzsade]

As of now, this is my limited grasp of the Bash syntax;
Command [hyphen Option/s] [Argument].
This is what i wished to understand;
If [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] is the string that does that which output is then piped twice with &&,
a) Why a space before "-d" and after "../../efi", is that the rule?
b) What is "d" (option or command) and what is the hyphen before it?
c) Why not grep? Are there any other intances of this "d" usage?
d) How do i write the combined output of the whole command including the conditional onto a text file.

What am i doing wrong here?

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~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "Legacy" || echo "Efi"
Legacy
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "Efi" || echo "Legacy"
Efi
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] |  echo "Legacy" | echo "Efi"
Efi
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "Efi | echo "Legacy"
Legacy
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] |  echo "Legacy"
Legacy
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo 'Efi"
Efi
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] |  echo "Legacy" | echo "Efi" && echo > output.txt
Efi
~$ cat output.txt

~$ ls 
blender-2.75a-linux-glibc211-x86_64  Fstab_Mate  output.txt  temp
Desktop                              Fstab_xfce  Pictures    Templates
Documents                            Mail        Public      Videos
Downloads                            Music       run.py
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] |  echo "Legacy" | echo "Efi" | echo > output.txt
~$ cat output.txt

~$ rm output.txt
~$ [ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] |  echo "Legacy" | echo "Efi" ] | echo > output.txt 
bash: [: -d: binary operator expected
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | &&  echo "Legacy" ||| echo "Efi" echo > output.txt 
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `&&'
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] &&  echo "Legacy" ||| echo "Efi" echo > output.txt 
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `|'
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] &&  echo "Legacy" || echo "Efi" | echo >> output.txt 
Legacy
~$ cat output.txt

~$ ls
blender-2.75a-linux-glibc211-x86_64  Fstab_Mate  output.txt  temp
Desktop                              Fstab_xfce  Pictures    Templates
Documents                            Mail        Public      Videos
Downloads                            Music       run.py
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] &&  echo "Legacy" || echo "Efi"
Legacy
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] &&  echo "EFI boot on HDD" || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"
EFI boot on HDD
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] &&  echo "Legacy boot on HDD" || echo "EFI boot on HDD"
Legacy boot on HDD
~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "Legacy boot on HDD" | echo "EFI boot on HDD"
EFI boot on HDD
m@Sinai:~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "EFI boot on HDD" | echo "Legacy boot on HDD"
Legacy boot on HDD
~$ [[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "EFI boot on HDD" | echo "Legacy boot on HDD" ] echo >> output.txt
bash: syntax error in conditional expression
bash: syntax error near `]'
~$ [[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "EFI boot on HDD" | echo "Legacy boot on HDD" ] | echo >> output.txt
bash: syntax error in conditional expression
bash: syntax error near `]'
~$ [ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] | echo "EFI boot on HDD" | echo "Legacy boot on HDD" ] | echo >> output.txt
bash:  [: -d: binary operator expected

[dilberts_left_nut]

https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/

[mzsade]

https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/

I would have liked very much not to have dignified that evasive stock-in-trade BS with a reply but i can't help myself.

Even if all the answers can be found in that, the least you can do is have the decency to point to the pages/sections that lead precisely to the answers i seek or as the idiom goes.."keep your piehole shut".

[dilberts_left_nut]

The problem being that unless you have some basic general understanding of the concepts and use of syntax (which, given your questions, you clearly don't) then it is pointless answering your questions directly, without basically retyping the manual that I linked.
Do yourself a favour and invest an hour or so reading over that, it will save you lots of time in the long run.

[mzsade]

The problem being that unless you have some basic general understanding of the concepts and use of syntax (which, given your questions, you clearly don't) then it is pointless answering your questions directly, without basically retyping the manual that I linked.
Do yourself a favour and invest an hour or so reading over that, it will save you lots of time in the long run.

+1
As i said before, i am fully aware of this, not ready to move on to the next stage and finding the bash reference manual too much for my feeble intellect am practicing basic linux commands from William Shott's book. Meanwhile, even if it does not hasten my progress, it'll do no harm to tell me;
whether "d" is a command or an option, give me a couple of other instances of it at work,
why [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "Legacy boot on HDD" || echo "EFI boot on HDD"
gives me "Legacy boot on HDD"
while
[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "EFI boot on HDD" || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"
gives me "EFI boot on HDD"

To my untrained eyes the command seems to be doing nothing here and only the echo command is 'echoing' the string that comes first.

[dilberts_left_nut]

https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manua ... xpressions

[mzsade]

Thank you! i am none the wiser for it, except that i now vaguely know that -d is a conditional test for a file which is True if it is a directory. My chafing curiosity satisfied, i am happy to go back to things simpler and my slogging.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I like this BASH guide:
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashGuide

This bit explains the "&&" and "||" control operators in your script:
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashGuide/Te ... _.7C.7C.29

[mzsade]

Thank you, baby steps but it's so fulfilling seeing the whole picture,

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[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "EFI..." || echo "Legacy..."

tests if the directory exists AND if it returns True echoes the first string regardless of what it is, OR echoes the second string only if the test fails. IMHO the first string should be superfluous for whosoever knowingly uses the command, it should be just

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~ $ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"

.

Edit: Anyways, 'em's one echo too many, it could even be

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~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "Don't Worry Be Happy"

[mzsade]

Howdy, i return to my topic humbly, after making a complete ass of myself, older (by at least 2 gray hairs, i bet) and just a little bit wiser, i hope. This is my configuration with standalone Openbox on a minimal Debian install which is half of what i'd set out as a goal.
Screenshot:http://i.imgur.com/w0mKj6F.png Note that i am using under 300 MB of memory despite iceweasel running with 4 tabs open.
I also have restored my LMDE partition with fsarchiver and will shortly boot into it, and save this partition with the same. We will then look at my partition table and see where we can reinstall this partition and arrive at this configuration from a minimal Debian Netinstall from step one onwards. I shall provvide Screenshots whenever i can during the whole process. My set preferences of this install are:
File Manager - xfe (supplemented by pmount, usbmount)
Text Editors - vim, leafpad
Terminal Emulators - Default (xterm)
Browsers - w3m iceweasel
No Desktop environment, no display manager, and autologin set (This is the USP of my install, thanks to @Head_On_A_Stick)
Let us then boot into my LMDE mate partition.
My modified OpenBox Menu: http://i.imgur.com/dR2nL7x.png
It is hoped that this will save the newbie who wishes to have a minimal system with the most common conveniences set up, up and running asap, some amount of heartburn and trial and error.

[mzsade]

I am now booting from what truly feels like "the lap of luxury", everything is set up for me, the sound, codecs, the flash, and here i am effortlessly cruising at the cost of what, a few extra hundred MBs of physical memory? Is it really worth all the trouble. Nah, i don't think so, i am happy with i got running. in between when i last posted and now, i have installed and uninstalled reFind, upgraded to Stretch and then downgraded back to Jessie because kernel 4.1.0-1 didn't let me boot, i was doing fine with just sudo installed but then i had to go and install gksu because of some harmless Gtk dialog message i'd get with a certain event in synaptic. Now i get a prompt for password whenever i perform any administrative task, which is a good thing i suppose if you intend to use your system as a server or at work. Upgrading and then downgrading has also messed up my autologin, i have to enter my user name and password after every boot.. .
But as i said, i am happy with what i got and if someone thinks my reinstalling and recounting the steps will be of any help and my configuration seems attractive enough, do let me know and we will have a go at it in real time. Meanwhile i am going to backup my present Debian partition, with all it's warts using fsarchiver, awesome, awesome tool.

http://imgur.com/9QKF8UN