For those installing Debian for the first time with no experience with dselect, the choice of [S]elect should be considered an educational experience where no ``real'' actions will be taken. This should simply be considered to be a ``look around'' at what is available so a familiarity can be established with this complex and powerful section of dselect. No selections need be made here, since all ``standard'' packages are marked for installation at this time. This is a good starting point when configuring a new system.
On first entry to the [S]elect screen it should be noticed that the top of the screen is the normal selection area with the bottom area of the screen for information display.
Things to look at:
On first entry into the select window a complex list of sections and packages is visible in the top section of the screen. The arrow keys will move the highlight bar up and down this list/menu. The order of the packages on this list can be changed using the `o' key. Press the key several times slowly and the display changes the order in which packages are displayed from the starting point, ordered by priority, to ordered by section, and finally to an alphabetical listing of all available packages.
Further examination of the display will reveal, on the left edge of the display a cryptic set of symbols like *_* or some other form of arcana. Pressing the v key will expand these symbols into their ``English'' meanings, each symbol described by one word on the display line. This results in the loss of the available and installed versions as well as the short description that was found on the line before pressing v. Press v again and return the display to the terse mode.
Next, let's see if we can find a particular package among this information
rich list.
Midnight Commander (mc) is a nice package to have, but is not
included in the ``standard'' packages, so it will not be currently selected
for installation. Use the / key and enter mc when asked what to search for.
Like any string search the package found will not necessarily be the one you
are looking for. There are several other packages that start with mc and,
unless the list is ordered in simple alphabetic order, these other packages
are as likely to be found first as the desired one. To search for the next
possibility, simply press the back slash (
) and the next match
will be found.
Several repetitions of this action will eventually find the package in
question.
Once the mc package has been found, the bottom section of the screen will display the ``long'' description for this package. Pressing the `i' key will provide several other informative screens. The first gives the installation status of the package. The next two give various control file displays which provide additional information about the priority, section, dependencies and package maintainer. Some of this information is helpful when tracing down various errors. The `I' key removes this section of the screen all together, providing more space on the screen for listing packages. Pressing it again consumes most of the screen in the information section leaving only a few lines for the selection list. Thus this key cycles the display between these three different configurations.
At this point the short tour is over and if only the ``standard'' installation is desired the return key will exit the selection phase and the install can be started.
For those with a more adventurous spirit, this discussion will continue with a description of how to select an additional package for installation. This can be returned to after the standard distribution is complete, or be dealt with by using dpkg ``by hand''.
The plus key ``+'' is used to select a previously unselected package for installation. Note that the minus key ``-'' is the opposite of the plus key and designates the package for removal. This is not the same as ``don't install'' and should only be used when a package is really supposed to be removed. With packages for which no action is desired, such as ``don't upgrade'' the proper key is ``H'' which puts the package on Hold (no action to be taken with regard to this package).
With the highlight bar over the mc package file line in the display, press the `+' key. The ``Dependency Conflict Resolution Help Screen'' will pop up as a consequence of this action. This means that there is a dependency or a conflict that must be resolved before the chosen package can be installed. In this case it is a dependence on libgpm1 that must be satisfied. Pressing the space bar drops the help screen and shows the dependencies necessary for mc. dselect is typically very smart about doing what is necessary to resolve the dependencies or conflicts. Only rarely will it set things up contrary to the wishes of the package administrator. The same keys that work in the main selection screen can be used here to force the desired actions by dselect. If dselect still doesn't agree, then the `Q' key will force acceptance of the configured actions.
In the case of Midnight Commander though, dselect makes the correct adjustments and adds libgpm1 to the list of packages for installation. Thus simply press ``enter'' to exit the resolution screen. Press enter again to exit the selection screen, or, if you are feeling really brave, look for more packages you might like to install. dselect takes the time to work through the complete list of available packages when doing the install, reporting which packages are being skipped and which are already installed. It is a good idea to do package selection once, so as not to have to wade through the list over and over during each successive installation phase.
Several packages that are not found in the standard section, but might be valuable are: joe and vim. Other packages of interest depend on the specific needs of the system being configured and are left up to the person doing the installation to decide.