Debian stuff

Debian is the most stable, universal, production quality GNU/Linux operating system available. Actually, Debian is more than an operating system because it includes over 25113 packages. All of Debian has been ported to eleven different processor architectures with more in preparation. Any Debian system, regardless of the underlying architecture, has the same look and feel as any other; meaning it allows unified system administration across all types of machines.

RedHat and SuSE use proprietary management tools that create difficulties in transferring knowledge about Linux. You can learn more about standard Linux behavior by using Debian than by using either SuSE or RedHat.

Debian release versions

Debian always has three releases in active maintenance:

Stable The latest officially released distribution
Testing Has more recent versions of software, but still in testing
Unstable where active development occurs, and where to "live on the edge"

Official Documentation and Manuals

Miscellaneous Documentation

Startup configuration - The Debian version of bash is compiled with a special option (-DSYS_BASHRC) that makes bash read /etc/bash.bashrc before ~/.bashrc for interactive non-login shells. So, on Debian systems, /etc/bash.bashrc is to ~/.bashrc as /etc/profile is to ~/.bash_profile.

Shockwave Flash 10.0 r22

For 32 bit:

Remove any existing flash packages
Download install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz from Adobe
Shutdown firefox (iceweasel)
mkdir /usr/lib/iceweasel/plugins/
tar -xvzf install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz
mv libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/iceweasel/plugins/
throw the rest of the download away
Restart iceweasel (firefox)
Type about:plugins
Verify Shockwave Flash 10.0 r22 is installed
Become disappointed that this doesn't work on icewm

For 64 bit:

Remove any existing flash packages
Download libflashplayer-10.0.22.87.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz from Adobe
wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/libflashplayer-10.0.22.87.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
Extract (It's a single file - libflashplayer.so)
Move it to /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/
Restart firefox
Browse to about:plugins
Verify that you have Shockwave Flash 10.0 r22

Some quickies

x-terminal-emulator: A symbolic link in /etc/alternatives
global change xterm colors: /etc/X11/app-defaults/XTerm-color
xterm Ctrl-left click menu: /etc/X11/app-defaults/XTerm
More xterm defaults: xterm seems to read ~/.Xdefaults- every time it launches.
Search all the man pages: zgrep -i <search term> /usr/share/man/man[12345678]/*

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	Warning: This is a Debian centric site
	Many thanks to Debra and Ian Murdock for making Debian possible
	First created Apr 22, 2008 ~ Last revised March 03, 2010