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<h1 class="title"><a id="ch3"/>Chapter 3. DSelect</h1>
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<p>
The APT <span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span> method provides the complete
APT system with the <span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span> package selection
GUI. <span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span> is used to select the packages to be
installed or removed and APT actually installs them.
</p>
<p>
To enable the APT method you need to select [A]ccess in
<span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span> and then choose the APT method. You will be
prompted for a set of <span class="emphasis"><em>Sources</em></span> which are places to fetch
archives from. These can be remote Internet sites, local Debian mirrors or
CD-ROMs. Each source can provide a fragment of the total Debian archive, APT
will automatically combine them to form a complete set of packages. If you
have a CD-ROM then it is a good idea to specify it first and then specify a
mirror so that you have access to the latest bug fixes. APT will automatically
use packages on your CD-ROM before downloading from the Internet.
</p>
<pre class="screen">
Set up a list of distribution source locations
Please give the base URL of the debian distribution.
The access schemes I know about are: http file
For example:
file:/mnt/debian,
ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian,
http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian,
URL [http://llug.sep.bnl.gov/debian]:
</pre>
<p>
The <span class="emphasis"><em>Sources</em></span> setup starts by asking for the base of the
Debian archive, defaulting to a HTTP mirror. Next it asks for the distribution
to get.
</p>
<pre class="screen">
Please give the distribution tag to get or a path to the
package file ending in a /. The distribution
tags are typically something like: stable unstable testing non-US
Distribution [stable]:
</pre>
<p>
The distribution refers to the Debian version in the archive,
<span class="emphasis"><em>stable</em></span> refers to the latest released version
and <span class="emphasis"><em>unstable</em></span> refers to the developmental
version. <span class="emphasis"><em>non-US</em></span> is only available on some mirrors
and refers to packages that contain encryption technology or other
things that cannot be exported from the United States. Importing these
packages into the US is legal however.
</p>
<pre class="screen">
Please give the components to get
The components are typically something like: main contrib non-free
Components [main contrib non-free]:
</pre>
<p>
The components list refers to the list of sub distributions to fetch. The
distribution is split up based on software licenses, main being DFSG free
packages while contrib and non-free contain things that have various
restrictions placed on their use and distribution.
</p>
<p>
Any number of sources can be added, the setup script will continue to prompt
until you have specified all that you want.
</p>
<p>
Before starting to use <span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span> it is necessary to update
the available list by selecting [U]pdate from the menu. This is a superset of
<code class="literal">apt-get update</code> that makes the fetched information available
to <span class="command"><strong>dselect</strong></span>. [U]pdate must be performed even if
<code class="literal">apt-get update</code> has been run before.
</p>
<p>
You can then go on and make your selections using [S]elect and then perform
the installation using [I]nstall. When using the APT method the [C]onfig and
[R]emove commands have no meaning, the [I]nstall command performs both of
them together.
</p>
<p>
By default APT will automatically remove the package (.deb) files once they
have been successfully installed. To change this behavior place
<code class="literal">Dselect::clean "prompt";</code> in /etc/apt/apt.conf.
</p>
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