639 lines
35 KiB
HTML
639 lines
35 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
|
|
|
|
<title>The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - Software available in the Debian system</title>
|
|
|
|
<link href="index.en.html" rel="start">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html" rel="prev">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html" rel="next">
|
|
<link href="index.en.html#contents" rel="contents">
|
|
<link href="index.en.html#copyright" rel="copyright">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html" rel="chapter" title="1 Definitions and overview">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html" rel="chapter" title="2 Getting and installing Debian GNU/Linux">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="3 Choosing a Debian distribution">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html" rel="chapter" title="4 Compatibility issues">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html" rel="chapter" title="5 Software available in the Debian system">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html" rel="chapter" title="6 The Debian FTP archives">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html" rel="chapter" title="7 Basics of the Debian package management system">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html" rel="chapter" title="8 The Debian package management tools">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html" rel="chapter" title="9 Keeping your Debian system up-to-date">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html" rel="chapter" title="10 Debian and the kernel">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="11 Customizing your installation of Debian GNU/Linux">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html" rel="chapter" title="12 Getting support for Debian GNU/Linux">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="13 Contributing to the Debian Project">
|
|
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html" rel="chapter" title="14 Redistributing Debian GNU/Linux in a commercial product">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html" rel="chapter" title="15 Changes expected in the next major release of Debian">
|
|
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html" rel="chapter" title="16 General information about the FAQ">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisfaq" rel="section" title="1.1 What is this FAQ?">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisdebian" rel="section" title="1.2 What is Debian GNU/Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-linux" rel="section" title="1.3 OK, now I know what Debian is... what is Linux?!">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-non-linux" rel="section" title="1.4 Does Debian just do GNU/Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-difference" rel="section" title="1.5 What is the difference between Debian GNU/Linux and other Linux distributions? Why should I choose Debian over some other distribution?">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-gnu" rel="section" title="1.6 How does the Debian project fit in or compare with the Free Software Foundation's GNU project?">
|
|
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-pronunciation" rel="section" title="1.7 How does one pronounce Debian and what does this word mean?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-version" rel="section" title="2.1 What is the latest version of Debian?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-updatestable" rel="section" title="2.2 Are there package upgrades in `stable'?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-boot-floppies" rel="section" title="2.3 Where/how can I get the Debian installation disks?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdrom" rel="section" title="2.4 How do I install the Debian from CD-ROMs?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdimage-symlinks" rel="section" title="2.5 Why does the official stable released CD-ROM contain symlinks for `frozen' and `unstable'? I thought this CD contains just `stable'!">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-remoteinstall" rel="section" title="2.6 Can I get and install Debian directly from a remote Internet site?">
|
|
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-alternativebootinstaller" rel="section" title="2.7 Are there any alternative strategies for booting the system installer?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1" rel="section" title="3.1 Which Debian distribution (stable/testing/unstable) is better for me?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2" rel="section" title="3.2 But what about Knoppix, Linex, Ubuntu, and others?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-arches" rel="section" title="4.1 On what hardware architectures/systems does Debian GNU/Linux run?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherdistribs" rel="section" title="4.2 How compatible is Debian with other distributions of Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherunices" rel="section" title="4.3 How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherpackages" rel="section" title="4.4 Can I use Debian packages (".deb" files) on my Red Hat/Slackware/... Linux system? Can I use Red Hat packages (".rpm" files) on my Debian GNU/Linux system?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-non-debian-programs" rel="section" title="4.5 How should I install a non-Debian program?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-termcap" rel="section" title="4.6 Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-accelx" rel="section" title="4.7 Why can't I install AccelX?">
|
|
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-motifnls" rel="section" title="4.8 Why do my old XFree 2.1 Motif applications crash?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-apps" rel="section" title="5.1 What types of applications and development software are available for Debian GNU/Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-softwareauthors" rel="section" title="5.2 Who wrote all that software?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pkglist" rel="section" title="5.3 How can I get a current list of programs that have been packaged for Debian?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-buildenv" rel="section" title="5.4 How can I install a developer's environment to build packages?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-missing" rel="section" title="5.5 What is missing from Debian GNU/Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-no-devs" rel="section" title="5.6 Why do I get "ld: cannot find -lfoo" messages when compiling programs? Why aren't there any libfoo.so files in Debian library packages?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-java" rel="section" title="5.7 (How) Does Debian support Java?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-isitdebian" rel="section" title="5.8 How can I check that I am using a Debian system, and what version is it?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonenglish" rel="section" title="5.9 How does Debian support non-English languages?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pine" rel="section" title="5.10 Where is pine?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-qmail" rel="section" title="5.11 Where is qmail/ezmlm/djbdns?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-flash" rel="section" title="5.12 Where is a player for Flash (SWF)?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-googleearth" rel="section" title="5.13 Where is Google Earth?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-voip" rel="section" title="5.14 Where is VoIP software?">
|
|
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonfreewireless" rel="section" title="5.15 I have a wireless network card which doesn't work with Linux. What should I do?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dists" rel="section" title="6.1 How many Debian distributions are there?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-codenames" rel="section" title="6.2 What are all those names like etch, lenny, etc.?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-sid" rel="section" title="6.3 What about "sid"?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-stable" rel="section" title="6.4 What does the stable directory contain?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-testing" rel="section" title="6.5 What does the testing distribution contain?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-unstable" rel="section" title="6.6 What does the unstable distribution contain?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dirtree" rel="section" title="6.7 What are all those directories at the Debian FTP archives?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-archsections" rel="section" title="6.8 What are all those directories inside dists/stable/main?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-source" rel="section" title="6.9 Where is the source code?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-pools" rel="section" title="6.10 What's in the pool directory?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-incoming" rel="section" title="6.11 What is "incoming"?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-ownrepository" rel="section" title="6.12 How do I set up my own apt-able repository?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-package" rel="section" title="7.1 What is a Debian package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-deb-format" rel="section" title="7.2 What is the format of a Debian binary package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgname" rel="section" title="7.3 Why are Debian package file names so long?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-controlfile" rel="section" title="7.4 What is a Debian control file?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-conffile" rel="section" title="7.5 What is a Debian conffile?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-maintscripts" rel="section" title="7.6 What is a Debian preinst, postinst, prerm, and postrm script?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-priority" rel="section" title="7.7 What is an Essential, Required, Important, Standard, Optional, or Extra package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-virtual" rel="section" title="7.8 What is a Virtual Package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-depends" rel="section" title="7.9 What is meant by saying that a package Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Conflicts, Replaces, Breaks or Provides another package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pre-depends" rel="section" title="7.10 What is meant by Pre-Depends?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgstatus" rel="section" title="7.11 What is meant by unknown, install, remove, purge and hold in the package status?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-puttingonhold" rel="section" title="7.12 How do I put a package on hold?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcepkgs" rel="section" title="7.13 How do I install a source package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcebuild" rel="section" title="7.14 How do I build binary packages from a source package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-creatingdebs" rel="section" title="7.15 How do I create Debian packages myself?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-pkgprogs" rel="section" title="8.1 What programs does Debian provide for managing its packages?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-updaterunning" rel="section" title="8.2 Debian claims to be able to update a running program; how is this accomplished?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-whatpackages" rel="section" title="8.3 How can I tell what packages are already installed on a Debian system?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-listfiles" rel="section" title="8.4 How to display the files of a package installed?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-filesearch" rel="section" title="8.5 How can I find out what package produced a particular file?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-datapackages" rel="section" title="8.6 Why doesn't get `foo-data' removed when I uninstall `foo'? How do I make sure old unused library-packages get purged?">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-howtocurrent" rel="section" title="9.1 How can I keep my Debian system current?">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-upgradesingle" rel="section" title="9.2 Must I go into single user mode in order to upgrade a package?">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-savedebs" rel="section" title="9.3 Do I have to keep all those .deb archive files on my disk?">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-keepingalog" rel="section" title="9.4 How can I keep a log of the packages I added to the system? I'd like to know when which package upgrades and removals have occured!">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-autoupdate" rel="section" title="9.5 Can I automatically update the system?">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-aptproxy" rel="section" title="9.6 I have several machines how can I download the updates only one time?">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-non-debian-kernel" rel="section" title="10.1 Can I install and compile a kernel without some Debian-specific tweaking?">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-customkernel" rel="section" title="10.2 What tools does Debian provide to build custom kernels?">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-custombootdisk" rel="section" title="10.3 How can I make a custom boot floppy?">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-modules" rel="section" title="10.4 What special provisions does Debian provide to deal with modules?">
|
|
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-removeoldkernel" rel="section" title="10.5 Can I safely de-install an old kernel package, and if so, how?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-papersize" rel="section" title="11.1 How can I ensure that all programs use the same paper size?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-hardwareaccess" rel="section" title="11.2 How can I provide access to hardware peripherals, without compromising security?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-consolefont" rel="section" title="11.3 How do I load a console font on startup the Debian way?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-appdefaults" rel="section" title="11.4 How can I configure an X11 program's application defaults?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-booting" rel="section" title="11.5 Every distribution seems to have a different boot-up method. Tell me about Debian's.">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-custombootscripts" rel="section" title="11.6 It looks as if Debian does not use rc.local to customize the boot process; what facilities are provided?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-interconffiles" rel="section" title="11.7 How does the package management system deal with packages that contain configuration files for other packages?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-divert" rel="section" title="11.8 How do I override a file installed by a package, so that a different version can be used instead?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-localpackages" rel="section" title="11.9 How can I have my locally-built package included in the list of available packages that the package management system knows about?">
|
|
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-diverse" rel="section" title="11.10 Some users like mawk, others like gawk; some like vim, others like elvis; some like trn, others like tin; how does Debian support diversity?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-debiandocs" rel="section" title="12.1 What other documentation exists on and for a Debian system?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-onlineresources" rel="section" title="12.2 Are there any on-line resources for discussing Debian?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-searchtools" rel="section" title="12.3 Is there a quick way to search for information on Debian GNU/Linux?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-buglogs" rel="section" title="12.4 Are there logs of known bugs?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-bugreport" rel="section" title="12.5 How do I report a bug in Debian?">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contrib" rel="section" title="13.1 How can I become a Debian software developer?">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contribresources" rel="section" title="13.2 How can I contribute resources to the Debian project?">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-supportingorganizations" rel="section" title="13.3 How can I contribute financially to the Debian project?">
|
|
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-sellcds" rel="section" title="14.1 Can I make and sell Debian CDs?">
|
|
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-packagednonfree" rel="section" title="14.2 Can Debian be packaged with non-free software?">
|
|
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-childistro" rel="section" title="14.3 I am making a special Linux distribution for a "vertical market". Can I use Debian GNU/Linux for the guts of a Linux system and add my own applications on top of it?">
|
|
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-commercialdebs" rel="section" title="14.4 Can I put my commercial program in a Debian "package" so that it installs effortlessly on any Debian system?">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-i18n" rel="section" title="15.1 Extended support for non-English users">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-dependencybasedboot" rel="section" title="15.2 Faster booting: Dependency based boot sequence">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-di" rel="section" title="15.3 Improvements in the Debian Installer">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morearches" rel="section" title="15.4 More architectures">
|
|
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morekernels" rel="section" title="15.5 More kernels">
|
|
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors" rel="section" title="16.1 Authors">
|
|
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-feedback" rel="section" title="16.2 Feedback">
|
|
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-latest" rel="section" title="16.3 Availability">
|
|
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-docformat" rel="section" title="16.4 Document format">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.1" rel="subsection" title="3.1.1 You asked me to install stable, but in stable so and so hardware is not detected/working. What should I do?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.2" rel="subsection" title="3.1.2 Will there be different versions of packages in different distributions?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.3" rel="subsection" title="3.1.3 The stable distributions really contains outdated packages. Just look at Kde, Gnome, Xorg or even the kernel. They are very old. Why is it so?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.4" rel="subsection" title="3.1.4 If I were to decide to change to another distribution, Can I do that?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.5" rel="subsection" title="3.1.5 Could you tell me whether to install testing or unstable?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.6" rel="subsection" title="3.1.6 You are talking about testing being broken. What do you mean by that?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.7" rel="subsection" title="3.1.7 Why is it that testing could be broken for months? Wont the fixes introduced in unstable flow directly down into testing?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.8" rel="subsection" title="3.1.8 From an administrator's point of view, Which distribution requires more attention?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.9" rel="subsection" title="3.1.9 What happens when a new release is made?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.10" rel="subsection" title="3.1.10 I have a working Desktop/cluster with Debian installed. How do I know which distribution I am running?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.11" rel="subsection" title="3.1.11 I am currently tracking stable. Can I change to testing or unstable? If so, How?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.12" rel="subsection" title="3.1.12 I am currently tracking testing (wheezy). What will happen when a release is made? Will I still be tracking testing or will my machine be running the new stable distribution?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.13" rel="subsection" title="3.1.13 I am still confused. What did you say I should install?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.1" rel="subsection" title="3.2.1 I know that Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.2" rel="subsection" title="3.2.2 I installed Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... on my hard disk. Now I have a problem. What should I do?">
|
|
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.3" rel="subsection" title="3.2.3 I'm using Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... and now I want to use Debian. How do I migrate?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-oldcodenames" rel="subsection" title="6.2.1 Which other codenames have been used in the past?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-sourceforcodenames" rel="subsection" title="6.2.2 Where do these codenames come from?">
|
|
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-frozen" rel="subsection" title="6.5.1 What about "testing"? How is it `frozen'?">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg" rel="subsection" title="8.1.1 dpkg">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-apt-get" rel="subsection" title="8.1.2 APT">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-aptitude" rel="subsection" title="8.1.3 aptitude">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-synaptic" rel="subsection" title="8.1.4 synaptic">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-tasksel" rel="subsection" title="8.1.5 tasksel">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-extra" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6 Other package management tools">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dselect" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.1 dselect">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-deb" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.2 dpkg-deb">
|
|
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-split" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.3 dpkg-split">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-aptitude-upgrade" rel="subsection" title="9.1.1 aptitude">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-apt" rel="subsection" title="9.1.2 apt-get, dselect and apt-cdrom">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-update_aptitude" rel="subsection" title="9.1.3 aptitude">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-mirror" rel="subsection" title="9.1.4 mirror">
|
|
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-dpkg-mountable" rel="subsection" title="9.1.5 dpkg-mountable">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.1" rel="subsection" title="12.2.1 Mailing lists">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-mailinglistconduct" rel="subsection" title="12.2.1.1 What is the code of conduct for the mailing lists?">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.2" rel="subsection" title="12.2.2 Web forums">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.3" rel="subsection" title="12.2.3 Wiki">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.4" rel="subsection" title="12.2.4 Maintainers">
|
|
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.5" rel="subsection" title="12.2.5 Usenet newsgroups">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-SPI" rel="subsection" title="13.3.1 Software in the Public Interest">
|
|
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-FSF" rel="subsection" title="13.3.2 Free Software Foundation">
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="ch-software"></a></p>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">previous</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-choosing.en.html">3</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">4</a> ]
|
|
[ 5 ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">6</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">7</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">8</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">9</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">10</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">11</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">12</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">13</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">14</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">15</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">16</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">next</a> ]
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h1>
|
|
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
|
|
<br>Chapter 5 - Software available in the Debian system
|
|
</h1>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-apps"></a>5.1 What types of applications and development software are available for Debian GNU/Linux?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Like most Linux distributions, Debian GNU/Linux provides:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
the major GNU applications for software development, file manipulation, and
|
|
text processing, including gcc, g++, make, texinfo, Emacs, the Bash shell and
|
|
numerous upgraded Unix utilities,
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Perl, Python, Tcl/Tk and various related programs, modules and libraries for
|
|
each of them,
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
TeX (LaTeX) and Lyx, dvips, Ghostscript,
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
the Xorg windowing system, which provides a networked graphical user interface
|
|
for Linux, and countless X applications including the GNOME, KDE and Xfce
|
|
desktop environments.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
a full suite of networking applications, including servers for Internet
|
|
protocols such as HTTP (WWW), FTP, NNTP (news), SMTP and POP (mail) and DNS
|
|
(name servers); relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL; also provided are
|
|
web browsers including the various Mozilla products [<a
|
|
href="footnotes.en.html#f1" name="fr1">1</a>],
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
a complete set of office applications, including the OpenOffice.org
|
|
productivity suite, Gnumeric and other spreadsheets, WYSIWYG editors,
|
|
calendars.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
More than 28200 packages, ranging from news servers and readers to sound
|
|
support, FAX programs, database and spreadsheet programs, image processing
|
|
programs, communications, net, and mail utilities, Web servers, and even
|
|
ham-radio programs are included in the distribution. Another 187 software
|
|
suites are available as Debian packages, but are not formally part of Debian
|
|
due to license restrictions.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-softwareauthors"></a>5.2 Who wrote all that software?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
For each package the <em>authors</em> of the program(s) are credited in the
|
|
file <samp>/usr/share/doc/PACKAGE/copyright</samp>, where PACKAGE is to be
|
|
substituted with the package's name.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>Maintainers</em> who package this software for the Debian GNU/Linux system
|
|
are listed in the Debian control file (see <a
|
|
href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-controlfile">What is a Debian control file?,
|
|
Section 7.4</a>) that comes with each package. The Debian changelog, in
|
|
<samp>/usr/share/doc/PACKAGE/changelog.Debian.gz</samp>, mentions the people
|
|
who've worked on the Debian packaging too.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-pkglist"></a>5.3 How can I get a current list of programs that have been packaged for Debian?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
A complete list is available from any of the <code><a
|
|
href="http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist">Debian mirrors</a></code>, in the
|
|
file <samp>indices/Maintainers</samp>. That file includes the package names
|
|
and the names and e-mails of their respective maintainers.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The <code><a href="http://packages.debian.org/">WWW interface to the Debian
|
|
packages</a></code> conveniently summarizes the packages in each of about
|
|
thirty "sections" of the Debian archive.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-buildenv"></a>5.4 How can I install a developer's environment to build packages?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you want to build packages in your Debian system you will need to have a
|
|
basic development environment, including a C/C++ compiler and some other
|
|
essential packages. In order to install this environment you just need to
|
|
install the <code>build-essential</code>. This package is a meta-package or
|
|
place-holder package which depends on the standard development tools one needs
|
|
to build a Debian package.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Some software can, however, need additional software to be rebuilt, including
|
|
library headers or additional tools such as <code>autoconf</code> or
|
|
<code>gettext</code>. Debian provides many of the tools needed to build other
|
|
software as Debian packages.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Finding which software is precisely required can be tricky, however, unless you
|
|
are planning on rebuilding Debian packages. This last task is rather easy to
|
|
do, as official packages have to include a list of the additional software
|
|
(besides the packages in <code>build-essential</code>) needed to build the
|
|
pacakge, this is known as <samp>Build-Dependencies</samp>. To install all the
|
|
packages needed to build a given source package and then build said source
|
|
package you can just run:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
# apt-get build-dep <var>foo</var>
|
|
# apt-get source --build <var>foo</var>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Notice that if you want to build the Linux kernels distributed by Debian you
|
|
will want to install also the <code>kernel-package</code> package. For more
|
|
information see <a href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-customkernel">What tools does
|
|
Debian provide to build custom kernels?, Section 10.2</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-missing"></a>5.5 What is missing from Debian GNU/Linux?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
A list of packages which are still needed to be packaged for Debian exists, the
|
|
<code><a href="http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/">Work-Needing and Prospective
|
|
Packages list</a></code>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
For more details about adding the missing things, see <a
|
|
href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contrib">How can I become a Debian software
|
|
developer?, Section 13.1</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-no-devs"></a>5.6 Why do I get "ld: cannot find -lfoo" messages when compiling programs? Why aren't there any libfoo.so files in Debian library packages?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian Policy requires that such symbolic links (to libfoo.so.x.y.z or similar)
|
|
are placed in separate, development packages. Those packages are usually named
|
|
libfoo-dev or libfooX-dev (presuming the library package is named libfooX, and
|
|
X is a whole number).
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-java"></a>5.7 (How) Does Debian support Java?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Several <em>free</em> implementations of Java technology are available as
|
|
Debian packages, providing both Java Development Kits as well as Runtime
|
|
Environments. You can write, debug and run Java programs using Debian.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Running a Java applet requires a web browser with the capability to recognize
|
|
and execute them. Several web browsers available in Debian, such as Mozilla or
|
|
Konqueror, support Java plug-ins that enable running Java applets within them.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Please refer to the <code><a
|
|
href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-java-faq/">Debian Java
|
|
FAQ</a></code> for more information.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-isitdebian"></a>5.8 How can I check that I am using a Debian system, and what version is it?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In order to make sure that your system has been installed from the real Debian
|
|
base disks check for the existence of <samp>/etc/debian_version</samp> file,
|
|
which contains a single one-line entry giving the version number of the
|
|
release, as defined by the package <samp>base-files</samp>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The existence of the program <samp>dpkg</samp> shows that you should be able to
|
|
install Debian packages on your system, but as the program has been ported to
|
|
many other operating systems and architectures, this is no longer a reliable
|
|
method of determining is a system Debian GNU/Linux.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Users should be aware, however, that the Debian system consists of many parts,
|
|
each of which can be updated (almost) independently. Each Debian
|
|
"release" contains well defined and unchanging contents. Updates are
|
|
separately available. For a one-line description of the installation status of
|
|
package <samp>foo</samp>, use the command <samp>dpkg --list foo</samp>. To
|
|
view versions of all installed packages, run:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
dpkg -l
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
For a more verbose description, use:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
dpkg --status foo
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-nonenglish"></a>5.9 How does Debian support non-English languages?</h2>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian GNU/Linux is distributed with keymaps for nearly two dozen keyboards,
|
|
and with utilities (in the <samp>kbd</samp> package) to install, view, and
|
|
modify the tables.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The installation prompts the user to specify the keyboard he will use.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Vast majority of the software we packaged supports entering non-US-ASCII
|
|
characters used in other Latin languages (e.g. ISO-8859-1 or ISO-8859-2), and
|
|
a number of programs support multi-byte languages such as Japanese or Chinese.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Currently, support for German-, Spanish-, Finnish-, French-, Hungarian-,
|
|
Italian-, Japanese-, Korean-, Dutch-, Polish-, Portuguese-, Russian-, Turkish-,
|
|
and Chinese-language manual pages is provided through the
|
|
<samp>manpages-LANG</samp> packages (where LANG is the two-letter ISO country
|
|
code). To access an NLS manual page, the user must set the shell LC_MESSAGES
|
|
variable to the appropriate string.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
For example, in the case of the Italian-language manual pages, LC_MESSAGES
|
|
needs to be set to 'italian'. The <code>man</code> program will then search
|
|
for Italian manual pages under <samp>/usr/share/man/it/</samp>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-pine"></a>5.10 Where is pine?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Due to its restrictive license, it's in the non-free area. Moreover, since
|
|
license does not even allow modified binaries to be distributed, you have to
|
|
compile it yourself from the source and the Debian patches.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The source package name is <code>pine</code>. You can use the
|
|
<code>pine-tracker</code> package to be notified about when you need to
|
|
upgrade.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Note that there are many replacements for both pine and pico, such as
|
|
<code>mutt</code> and <code>nano</code>, that are located in the main section.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-qmail"></a>5.11 Where is qmail/ezmlm/djbdns?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Dan J. Bernstein used to distribute <code><a
|
|
href="http://cr.yp.to/software.html">all software he has written</a></code>
|
|
with a restrictive license which does not allow modified binaries to be
|
|
distributed. In november 2007 however, Bernstein said "[...] i have
|
|
decided to put all of my future and [...] past software into the public
|
|
domain". See <code><a href="http://cr.yp.to/distributors.html">FAQ from
|
|
distributors</a></code> for his distribution terms.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
As of 2008-09, <code>daemontools</code>, <code>djbdns</code> and
|
|
<code>ucspi-tcp</code> are shipped with Debian lenny (in main). As of this
|
|
writing (2008-09), <code>qmail</code> nor <code>ezmlm</code> is shipped with
|
|
Debian main; see <code><a href="http://bugs.debian.org/457318">Bug #457318 (ITP
|
|
qmail)</a></code> and <code><a href="http://bugs.debian.org/469193">Bug #469193
|
|
(ITP ezmlm-idx)</a></code> for the current status.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
As of 2008-09, <samp>publicfile</samp> was still not free software.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-flash"></a>5.12 Where is a player for Flash (SWF)?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian ships both <code>gnash</code> and <code>swfdec</code>: two free SWF
|
|
movie players.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-googleearth"></a>5.13 Where is Google Earth?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Google Earth is available for GNU/Linux from Google's web site, but is not only
|
|
not Free Software, but is completely undistributable by a third party.
|
|
However, <code>googleearth-package</code> (in the contrib-section) might be
|
|
helpful in using this software.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-voip"></a>5.14 Where is VoIP software?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Two main open protocols are used for Voice Over IP: SIP and H.323. Both are
|
|
implemented by a wide variety of software in Debian main. <code>ekiga</code>
|
|
is one of the popular clients.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="s-nonfreewireless"></a>5.15 I have a wireless network card which doesn't work with Linux. What should I do?</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Buy one which does :)
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Alternatively, use <code>ndiswrapper</code> to use a driver for Windows (if you
|
|
have one) on your Linux system. See the <code><a
|
|
href="http://wiki.debian.org/NdisWrapper">Debian Wiki ndiswapper
|
|
page</a></code> for more information.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">previous</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-choosing.en.html">3</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">4</a> ]
|
|
[ 5 ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">6</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">7</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">8</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">9</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">10</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">11</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">12</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">13</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">14</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">15</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">16</a> ]
|
|
[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">next</a> ]
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<address>
|
|
version 5.0, 27 August 2011<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Authors are listed at <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors">Debian FAQ Authors</a><br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</address>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
|
|