From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Steve Dunham Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 21:02:27 +0000 Subject: Debian 2.1 is Available for Sparc and UltraSparc Message-Id: List-Id: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: ultralinux@vger.kernel.org I was asked by the guy who usually does Debian Announcements (Nils Lohner) to post to let people on these lists know that the latest Debian release (2.1) includes support for Sparc and UltraSparc systems. (Some of you may have noticed the Ultra5 at Debian's booth at LinuxWorldExpo - graciously provided by Sun Microsystems.) This was be the first official release to include Sparc support (released on March 9, 1999). Relevant Info: Debian Home page is: http://www.debian.org Release Notes for 2.1: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ (incl. install manual, pointers to numerous mirrors and CD vendors) Sparc Port Page: http://www.debian.org/ports/sparc/ Install help and general Debian help is usually available in the #debian channel on irc.debian.org. (For general Linux and/or RedHat stuff, try #linpeople.) The sparc mailing list is "debian-sparc@lists.debian.org". Why use Debian? To put it simply: we have lots of stuff. The 2.1 distribution for the Sparc has about 1500 packages and takes up 2 binary and 2 source CDs. You will find that what we don't have is KDE, and Gnome 1.0, while available, is not in the 2.1 distribution (same goes for the newer 3.3.3.1 X servers). (They are in staging areas and will soon be put into the current developmental distribution.) If you do find the time try it out, you will learn that both Debian and RedHat have their own strengths and weaknesses and will be able to choose the right one for your needs. (I use both RH and Debian at work - depending on the situation.) At the very least, you'll be able to use up some of that spare time that you've been wondering what to do with. (I'd also like to thank David Miller and Jakub Jelinek for all the work they've done getting Linux to run on the UltraSparc.) Steve Dunham dunham@cse.msu.edu