Release Notes for Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 (Slink)
----------------------------------------------
Bob Hilliard <hilliard@debian.org>
Adam Di Carlo
version 2.1.8.1, 01 March, 1999
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1. What's New in Debian 2.1
---------------------------
Debian 2.1, also known as ``slink'', introduces two additional
architectures into the officially released set: DEC Alpha (``alpha''),
and SPARC (``sparc''). The officially supported architectures from
Debian's release, Intel x86 (``i386'') and Motorola 680x0 (``m68k'')
are of course still supported. This brings the total number of
supported architectures to four, which is greater than the number of
architectures supported by any other GNU/Linux distribution.
The sparc port of Debian is based on a pre-release of the shining new
glibc2.1. So it's probably _the_ first distribution which is glibc2.1
based. Programmers note: glibc2.1 is binary compatible but not source
compatible. Almost everything compiled for glibc2 will run on glibc2.1
but if you recompile with glibc2.1 headers sometimes you've got to fix
a couple of constructs which aren't allowed anymore in glibc2.1.
The number of distributed packages in our main distribution is now
around 2250. As always, the distribution is growing around 50% per
release; it show no sign of slackening.
Unlike the transition from 1.3.x (``bo'') to 2.0 (``hamm''), the
changes from 2.0 to 2.1 are incremental. New versions are included,
fixes for bugs, etc. `apt' is not the officially blessed package
installation tool, which is to be used in conjunction with `dpkg'.
`apt' can be used as a package acquisition (download) method in
`dselect', or it can be used from the command-line as `apt-get'. `apt'
will internally model the entire state of your installed packages, and
will do its best to ensure that all package dependencies are met at
all times.
Due to the increased number of packages, CD-ROM distributions must
ship as _two_ binary package CD-ROMs. This has necessitated an upgrade
of the installation tools, in order to deal with multiple CD-ROMs.
The Debian installation system, which is called the `boot-floppies'
(even though it is for more than just floppies), has been streamlined
and upgraded for user's convenience. The documentation has been
expanded and corrected; documentation for the new architectures has
been added (but still may be sketchy for non-x86 architectures, help
is still needed).
The X Window System packages, now at 3.3.2.3a, have undergone major
changes that you might want to be aware of. See section 3.1, `The
Great X Reorganization' for details.
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2. Upgrading
------------
If your i386 system not yet been upgraded to Debian 2.0 (hamm), you
should first upgrade to libc6, as described in
ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/slink/main/upgra
de-older-i386/README-upgrade.
Regardless of the method used for upgrading, it is recommended that
you check the status of all packages first. This can be done by `dpkg
-l | less' or `dpkg --get-selections > filename', or it can be done in
`dselect'. It is desirable to remove any holds before upgrading. If
any package that is essential for the upgrade is on hold, the upgrade
will fail. Holds can be removed in dselect, or by editing the file
produced by `dpkg --get-selections > filename' to change "hold" to
"install". Then, with root permissions, do `dpkg --set-selections <
filename'.
Any package installation operation, must be run with superuser
privileges, so either login as root or use `su' or `sudo' to gain
these privileges.
It is strongly recommended that you use `/usr/bin/script' to record a
transcript of the upgrade session -- in fact, it is a good idea to use
script to record any `dselect' session (and anything else you do that
it is desirable to record). Then if any problems develop, you can see
what happened. `script' will write this transcript to the file
specified as an argument (`script <filename>') or to the default
filename, `typescript'.
There are two methods of upgrading to slink -- using `apt-get'
directly, or using `dselect'.
2.1. Using `apt-get'
--------------------
If you have not already installed `apt', we suggest you download and
install it, from
ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/slink/main/upgra
de-2.0-i386/apt_0.1.8_i386.deb. Depending on your browser you may need
to take special action to download directly to a file, in raw binary
mode. For example, in Netscape you need to hold the shift key when
clicking on the URL to retrieve the file. Install the downloaded
package as root with the command `dpkg -i apt*.deb'.
If you are installing from CD-ROM, you can install it directly from
the CD-ROM. As root, run
dpkg -i <cd_mount_point>/upgrade-2.0-i386/apt_0.1.8_i386.deb
It is recommended that you read the apt-get(8) and the sources.list(5)
man pages at this time. Before beginning the upgrade you must set up
`apt''s configuration file, `/etc/apt/sources.list'. The default
configuration is suitable for installation from the Internet.
If you are installing from CD-ROM, add as the first line after the
instructional comments:
deb file:<cd_mount_point>/debian stable main
If you do not yet have Internet access (or do not want to download any
new security fixes) on the machine then comment out the other two
lines. Otherwise you may select a closer mirror.
Once you have configured `apt', run:
apt-get update
apt-get -f dist-upgrade
If new versions of packages currently installed are available,
`apt-get' upgrade retrieves and upgrades them; under no circumstances
are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already
installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed
packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status
of another package will be left at their current version. Therefore,
it may be necessary to use `dpkg' or `dselect' to remove and reinstall
some broken packages or dependencies.
The `-f' (fix) option causes `apt' to attempt to correct a system with
broken dependencies in place. `apt' does not allow broken package
dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual
intervention (which usually means using `dselect' or `dpkg --remove
<package>' to eliminate some of the offending packages).
If `apt' reports some broken packages after these two commands, try to
repair the system (perhaps removing the broken packages or installing
missing dependencies). If you can not repair the system to `apt''s
satisfaction, you must use the `cd_autoup.sh' method to upgrade.
2.2. Using dselect
------------------
This section assumes that you have some knowledge of `dselect'. After
all, you did install the system you are trying to upgrade, didn't you?
There is a beginner's tutorial for `dselect' at
http://www.debian.org/releases/2.1/i386/dselect-beginner in case you
need to refresh your memory.
The first step in using `dselect' is to choose an ``Access'' method.
The `apt' access method for `dselect' is the fastest one presently
available. It installs and configures the packages in the proper
sequence, so all dependencies are resolved when the packages are
unpacked, making a second pass unnecessary. If any packages on your
system are so broken that `apt-get upgrade' cannot be used, the `apt'
access method will also fail.
The `mounted' access method for dselect installs and configures any
pre-depends first, which reduces the number of install passes
necessary. The `mountable' access method also attempts to install and
configure pre-depends first, and is relatively fast.
The hamm version of the `http' access method does not handle
pre-Depends properly; it is not recommended. If this version of
dpkg-http is used to upgrade there will be a prompt "Abort automatic
installation (Y/n)? " for every Pre-Depends. Due to a bug in hamm's
dpkg-http the user should hit `Ctrl-C' instead of `Y' at this point
and manually install (`dpkg -i') the requested package. `dselect'
should then be restarted to find the next pre-Dependency. To save time
the user may wish to manually install all of the following slink
packages: `libc6', `libncurses4', `libreadlineg2', `libstdc++2.9',
`slang1', and `libhtml-parser-perl'.
It is recommended that you first upgrade your existing packages before
adding any new ones. Run the ``Access'', ``Update'', and ``Select''
steps of `dselect' initially. As soon as you enter ``Select'' you
should press _Enter_ immediately. A conflict/depend resolution screen
will probably be presented. After resolving the conflicts (usually you
can just press _Enter_, run ``Install'', and then ``Configure'' to
simply upgrade all installed packages. After that you may use the
``Select'' and ``Install'' modules to install additional packages, if
desired.
When `dpkg' or `dselect' upgrade many packages, it is usually
necessary to repeat the install and configure steps several times
before the whole system is configured. Depending on the access method
chosen, it may be desirable to repeat the ``Update'' step between
install passes. It may be helpful to exit `dselect' and restart it
immediately before the ``Update'' step.
2.3. General Cautions
---------------------
`dpkg' does not yet handle locales properly. If you use locales, you
must set `LC_ALL=C' before upgrading, otherwise `dpkg' may break
during the upgrade.
You should not run the upgrade from an X terminal or a remote X
server. `xdm' and `xfs' are stopped on upgrade, so you would end up
with a half-upgraded machine when X suddenly shuts down. If the
machine is configured to start X automatically on boot, it may be
difficult to fix.
You should not do the upgrade over a remote telnet connection, unless
you install the `net' and `telnetd' packages from slink first. When
the old `netstd' package is removed, the telnet connection will be
broken, and you won't be able to reconnect until `telnetd' is
installed.
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3. Details Concerning Slink
---------------------------
3.1. The Great X Reorganization
-------------------------------
This section was prepared by Branden Robinson
<branden@ecn.purdue.edu>.
The Great X Reorganization happened at version 3.3.2.3a-2, which was a
Debian 2.1 ("slink") release.
`xbase' used to be a catch-all package, containing all kinds of
miscellaneous data, programs, and documentation. That is no longer the
case. Its contents have been redistributed among other packages, and
in many cases, completely new packages have been created.
New packages were created for a variety of reasons:
1. In some cases, there were undeclared dependencies on other
programs. For instance, the `rstart' and `rstartd' programs
depend on `rsh'.
2. There are several programs which are daemons and should be split
out for easier management. This includes `xdm' and `xfs'.
3. Some of the X clients provided in the former `xbase' package,
like `twm', `xmh', and `xterm', have very popular replacements,
and may just be a waste of disk space for some people. (It's
worth keeping in mind that all of the X source code, even the
libraries, was originally intended to be only a "sample
implementation" of various standards.)
4. It is desirable to have a common foundation for both systems
designed to be X terminals (which run all their X clients from a
remote machine) and for application servers which may not need to
run X servers on their own display hardware. That is the purpose
of the new `xfree86-common' package. It also simplifies the task
of dealing with any large changes in the X directory name space
that may arise in the future (e.g., X11R7, or simply putting all
of X in `/usr').
The new packages in the Debian XFree86 distribution are `rstart',
`rstartd', `twm', `xbase-clients', `xdm', `xfree86-common', `xfs',
`xmh', `xproxy', `xserver-common', `xsm', and `xterm'. Some files from
the old `xbase' package were also placed in `xlib6g' (XKB and locale
data) and `xlib6g-dev' (development tools).
`xbase' is now an effectively empty package that exists only to have
the package management system automatically "pull in" the new packages
(and the latest versions of the X libraries). Once it has been
upgraded, it may be safely removed.
Furthermore, the X font and static library packages have been renamed.
The following list summarizes these changes:
xfntbase -> xfonts-base
xfnt75 -> xfonts-75dpi
xfnt100 -> xfonts-100dpi
xfntscl -> xfonts-scalable
xfntbig -> xfonts-cjk
xfntcyr -> xfonts-cyrillic
xfntpex -> xfonts-pex
xslib -> xlib6-static
xslibg -> xlib6g-static
We believe the new names are less cryptic. Note, however, that the old
packages may not necessarily be automatically upgraded to the new
versions. This is because their names have changed, and as yet there
is no easy way to tell the packaging system that a package has changed
its name. However, there are no serious consequences of leaving the
old X fonts and static libraries around. The contents of these
packages have not changed. The X font server, for instance, formerly
in `xbase' but now in its own package, works just as well with
`xfntbase' as with `xfonts-base'.
Still, it is advisable to install the renamed versions of these
packages as soon as is convenient, in the event that their contents do
change in the future.
3.2. Renamed Packages
---------------------
NOTE: There is some overlap between this section and section 3.1, `The
Great X Reorganization'.
The following packages have been renamed as shown. In most, if not
all, cases, Conflicts:, Depends:, and Provides: have been provided so
the new package will be installed automatically to replace the old
one.
libc6-doc -> glibc-doc
xfntbase -> xfonts-base
xfnt75 -> xfonts-75dpi
xfnt100 -> xfonts-100dpi
xfntbig -> xfonts-cjk
xfntcyr -> xfonts-cyrllic
xfntpex -> xfonts-pex
xfntscl -> xfonts-scalable
xslib -> xlib6-static
xslibg -> xlib6g-static
3.3. Split Packages
-------------------
NOTE: There is some overlap between this section and section 3.1, `The
Great X Reorganization'.
Between 2.0 (hamm) and 2.1 (slink), a number of packages have been
split into two or more packages. The reason for these splits, in
general, is that the original package provided a diverse set of
functionalities, and that few, if any, users used all of these
components. Some packages display a notice warning of the split during
the installation, some mention it in the package description, and some
ignore it.
If you find that a familiar package is lacking some or all of its
functionality, check the list below to see if you need to install more
packages to restore the original functionality. Failing that, check
the changelog for the package, which can be found in
`/usr/doc/<package>/changelog.Debian.gz'.
The following is a list of packages that have been split (this list
may not be complete):
graphics/ivtools-bin_0.6.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
devel/ivtools-dev
graphics/ivtools-bin
mail/imap_4.2-1.deb split into 2 packages:
mail/imap
mail/ipopd
misc/plan_1.6.1-7.deb split into 2 packages:
misc/netplan
misc/plan
net/netstd_3.07-2.deb split into 10 packages:
mail/vrfy
net/bwnfsd
net/netstd
net/nfs-server
net/rexec
net/talk
net/talkd
net/telnet
net/telnetd
non-free/net/pcnfsd
news/slrn_0.9.4.3-4.deb split into 2 packages:
news/slrn
news/slrnpull
text/a2ps_4.10.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
net/mime-support
text/a2ps
utils/nosql_0.9-0.deb split into 2 packages:
utils/nosql
utils/nosql-fastops
web/apache_1.3.0-2.deb split into 2 packages:
web/apache
web/apache-common
web/php3_3.0-2.deb split into 2 packages:
web/php3
web/php3-cgi
x11/wmaker_0.14.1-7.deb split into 2 packages:
x11/asclock
x11/wmaker
x11/xbase_3.3.2.2-4.deb split into 16 packages:
mail/xmh
x11/rstart
x11/rstartd
x11/twm
x11/xbase
x11/xbase-clients
x11/xdm
x11/xext
x11/xf86setup
x11/xfs
x11/xlib6g-dev
x11/xmodmap
x11/xproxy
x11/xserver-common
x11/xsm
x11/xterm
x11/xserver-vga16_3.3.2.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
x11/xf86setup
x11/xserver-vga16
imap_4.4-4.deb deb split into 2 packages:
imap
ipopd
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Release Notes for Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 (Slink)
Bob Hilliard <hilliard@debian.org>
Adam Di Carlo
version 2.1.8.1, 01 March, 1999