[CLUE-Tech] Debian: gpm not installing by default

[jbrockmeier at earthlink.net]

David,

> At the very least it needs to be a dependency for X install.

Are you referring to GPM being a dependency for X, or 
for X to install by default with Debian? 

To install X via apt-get you should use "apt-get install xfree86-common"
Unfortunately, if you're on the Stable distribution (and 
if you're not a Debian expert you should be) this seems
to still be 3.3.6.  
 
> My solution was to use dpkg to install from the CD, as well as install my
> vedeo drive (3D_Labs),
> because debian didn't ask me what card I had?

The Debian install doesn't assume that you're going to need
or want X - unlike many of the other distros that put unnecessary
X stuff on servers that will never use X. 
 
> And people B/M about Slack's install program !!

Ah, Slack is easy - so is Debian, really. Want a challenge?
Try installing SuSE/Mandrake/Red Hat on a box that has a 
unsupported (by their installer) dual-head video card. Even
SuSE's text-based installer refused to work with my Matrox G450
a few versions ago. To get it running, I'd have to open the
box, put in a different video card and then install the OS and
then put in the G450 and reconfigure. I've had several other
problems with the so-called easy installers on various hardware
configurations, where Slack and Debian have no problems
whatsoever. 

I just installed Mandrake 8.2 on this box, and the final 
stage of the installer (downloading updates) got stuck
in an endless loop so I had to kill the installer. I've
never had such a problem with Debian or Slack. The wizards
and such are nice when they work properly, but all too often
they don't deal well with special cases and end up failing.

Take care,

Zonker
--
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier -=- jbrockmeier at earthlink.net
http://www.DissociatedPress.net/
ymessenger: jbrockmeier / AIM: ZonkerJoe
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