The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
Chapter 2 Getting and Installing Debian GNU/Linux

2.1 What is the latest version of Debian?

Currently there are two versions of Debian GNU/Linux:

release 2.2, a.k.a. the `stable' distribution

This is stable and well tested software, it changes if major security or usability fixes are incorporated.

the `unstable' distribution

This is the version currently under development; it is updated continuously. You can retrieve packages from the `unstable' archive on any Debian FTP site and use them to upgrade your system at any time, but you may not expect the system to be as usable or as stable as before - that's why it's called `unstable'!

Please see How many Debian distributions are there in the dists directory?, Section 5.2 for more information.

2.2 Where/how can I get the Debian installation disks?

You can get the installation disks by downloading the appropriate files from the Debian FTP site: ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/ and its mirrors.

2.3 How do I install the Debian from CD-ROMs?

Linux supports the ISO 9660 (CD-ROM) file system with Rock Ridge extensions (formerly known as "High Sierra"). Several vendors provide Debian GNU/Linux in this format.

Warning: When installing from CD-ROM, it is usually not a good idea to choose dselect's cdrom access method. This method is usually very slow. The mountable and apt methods, for example, are much better for installing from CD-ROM (see dpkg-mountable, Section 8.2.5 and APT, Section 8.2.1).

2.4 I have my own CD-writer, are there CD images available somewhere?

Yes. To make it easier for CD vendors to provide high quality disks, we provide the Official CD images.

2.5 Can I install it from a pile of floppy disks?

First of all, a warning: whole Debian GNU/Linux is way too large to be installed from media as small as a standard 1.44MB floppy disk - you may not find installing from floppies a very pleasant experience.

Copy the Debian packages onto formatted floppy disks. Either a DOS, the native Linux "ext2", or the "minix" format will do; one just has to use a mount command appropriate to the floppy being used.

Using floppy disks has these complications:

• Short MS-DOS filenames: If you are trying to place Debian package files onto MS-DOS formatted disks, you will find that their names are generally too long, and do not conform to the MS-DOS 8.3 filename limitation. To overcome this, Debian developers make all of their packages available by 8.3 filenames in separate "msdos" subdirectories (stable/msdos-i386/, contrib/msdos-i386/ and non-free/msdos-i386/). The files in these subdirectories are merely symbolic links to the Debian archive files; the files do not differ from the file