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Sarge also does not support tilde in versions (page 218)

madduck — 2007-05-10T06:52:00Z

In the end of the forth paragraph, I claim that the woody tools do not support the tilde (~) character in the version number string. The sarge tools also do not support this character. Full support for the tilde character in version numbers will come with the release of Debian etch.

Update: while sarge's dpkg and even APT support the tilde character in version strings, the majority of package- and packaging-related tools in the sarge archive do not. Therefore, the tilde is not fully supported in sarge, but it is in the etch release.

No edition planned for etch

madduck — 2007-05-10T06:49:32Z

Due to a number of reasons, there will not be an updated edition of the book for etch. I am working on a version for Lenny though.

Faulty way of spawning sshd in single-user mode (page 299)

madduck — 2006-10-22T15:25:26Z

In chapter 6.3.1, I suggest to add sshd to the /etc/inittab file to be able to login to a remote system even in single-user mode:

# sed -i -e "/^~~/ish:S:respawn:sshd -Do 'AllowUsers=root'" /etc/inittab

Unfortunately, there are two errors with this: first, sshd must be called with the complete path (to guard against trojans), and init must be told to reload the configuration file after the change.

The following corrects both problems:

# sed -i -e "/^~~/ish:S:respawn:/usr/sbin/sshd -Do 'AllowUsers=root'" /etc/inittab
# telinit q

French translation released

madduck — 2006-08-04T20:50:24Z

Wrong argument to apt-cdrom (page 167)

madduck — 2006-07-30T15:17:59Z

The argument to apt-cdrom should be add, not --cdrom. Therefore, the first example on page 167 in section should read:

# apt-cdrom add /media/cdrom
Using CD-ROM mount point /media/cdrom/
[...]

Default-Release setting in wrong namespace (page 169)

madduck — 2006-07-30T15:17:55Z

The apt.conf examples on page 169, which illustrate the two different syntax styles, list Default-Release under the wrong namespace. Instead of APT::Get, it should just be APT:

APT::Default-Release "sarge";
[...]

and:

APT {
  [...]
  Default-Release "sarge";
  [...]
}

Missing argument to cut command (page 148)

madduck — 2006-07-30T15:09:36Z

At the bottom of the page, the cut command is missing the field delimiter argument. The correct line reads:

dpkg-query --show --showformat='${Status} ${Package}\n' \
  | grep ^deinstall | cut -f4 -d' ' | xargs dpkg -P

Quote by John R. Vacca

madduck — 2006-07-30T14:29:58Z

[...] an outstanding book that is based on Debian using Linux as the kernel. [...] This excellent book has done an excellent job of targeting people familiar with Unix who are looking to understand what makes Debian different.

Quote by Jon T. Stokkeland

madduck — 2006-07-30T14:27:57Z

I believe this book is the perfect book for anyone switching from another GNU w/Linux distro to Debian GNU w/Linux.

Quote by angrykeyboarder "Scott"

madduck — 2006-07-30T14:26:36Z

This book truly rocks. [...] This is probably the single best Linux book I own.

Deborphan may need to be run iteratively (page 248)

madduck — 2006-07-30T14:06:57Z

Deborphaner is not iterative (or recursive, depending on how you look at it). In one run it may suggest to remove a set of packages, but it fails to identify packages that would be obsolete if the user removed the packages suggested in the first run.

MIRROR variable incomplete (page 408)

madduck — 2006-07-30T13:46:02Z

In section 8.3.1, the $MIRROR variable set in the example is incomplete: it lacks the path to the /debian directory. The assignment should read:

# MIRROR=http://ftp.debian.org/debian

Regardless, you should still use apt-spy to determine a closer mirror!

Japanese translation released

madduck — 2006-07-05T14:27:02Z

German translation released

madduck — 2006-07-05T14:12:23Z

Removed state is called deinstall, not remove (page 152)

madduck — 2006-06-25T10:03:17Z

The name of the state of a package that has been removed is called deinstall, not remove.

Quote by Carla Schroder, Groklaw

madduck — 2006-06-16T09:11:42Z

There isn't anything about this book I don't like. Except I wish it had been published years ago.

Quote by Carla Schroder, Groklaw

madduck — 2006-06-16T09:11:39Z

This is the definitive Debian manual, and I wish it had been written years ago. Mr. Krafft's affection and enthusiasm for Debian is apparent, and makes this book a pleasurable read.

Quote by Aric Campling, MozillaQuest

madduck — 2006-06-16T09:11:35Z

[The author] approaches [the text] from a very practical stance. He writes with a very down-to-earth methodology that neither condescends to nor speaks over the heads of its intended readers.

Quote by Aric Campling, MozillaQuest

madduck — 2006-06-16T09:09:54Z

This book will have something new in store for all but the most advanced Debian users. While reading [it], I was surprised to find out how much I did not know about Debian GNU/Linux, the very operating system I use [...], especially about Debian's community orientation and about some powerful Debian tools that I never knew existed.

Quote by Aric Campling, MozillaQuest

madduck — 2006-03-16T10:25:31Z

[The book] can provide you with a wealth of knowledge to make any Debian task easier, more efficient, and relatively painless. [...] Krafft details a set of additional Debian software management tools that aid the user or administrator in maintaining a clean, streamlined system.

Quote by John Havey, sllug.org

madduck — 2006-03-16T10:07:20Z

[The book] is comprehensive and well written by someone who clearly knows what they are talking about.

Source package index is named Sources, not Packages (page 107)

madduck — 2006-03-16T09:37:58Z

In the very end of section 4.1.2, I claim that index files are named Packages in all cases. This is only true for binary packages. Source packages are indexed in a file called Sources. Thus, the index of all source packages of the contrib section of the sid archive is in the file /dists/sid/contrib/source/Sources.

Unfortunately, the error also occurs in figure 4.1 on page 105. The following is an updated figure (which also corrects this error):

amd64 architecture added to official archive (page 116)

madduck — 2006-03-16T09:24:19Z

The integration of the amd64 architecture into the official archive is underway as part of the mirror split, and the first package has been uploaded. Within the next few weeks, amd64 will thus become an official Debian architecture, and it shall be released as part of Debian etch, the next stable release.

DPL election debate tonight

madduck — 2006-03-16T09:22:07Z

Announcing a delay with the German website

madduck — 2006-03-16T09:13:51Z