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  <book id="junior-doc_quick_guide">

<titlepag>

  <title>Debian Jr. Quick Guide</title>

  <author>
    <name>Derek Neighbors</name>
    <email>derek@gnu.org</email>
  </author>

  <author>
    <name>Ben Armstrong</name>
    <email>synrg@debian.org</email>
  </author>

  <version>&date;</version>

  <abstract>
  </abstract>

  <copyright>
    <copyrightsummary>
      Copyright &copy; 2001 - 2003 Derek Neighbors and Ben Armstrong
    </copyrightsummary>

    <p>
      This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or
      modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
      published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or
      (at your option) any later version.
    </p>

    <p>
      This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
      <em>without any warranty</em>; without even the implied warranty
      of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  See the
      GNU General Public License for more details.
    </p>

    <p>
      A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
      <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</tt> in the Debian GNU/Linux
      distribution or on the World Wide Web at <url
      id="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" name="&urlname">.  You
      can also obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation,
      Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
    </p>

  </copyright>

</titlepag>

<toc detail="sect">

<chapt id="about">
  <heading>About this document</heading>

  <sect id="terminology">
  <heading>Terminology</heading>
  <p>
   In writing this document it took some effort to come up with a term
   that adequately describes those people who help the children use their
   Debian Jr. systems, who may be a more experienced (usually older)
   sibling or friend, a parent, a relative, or a teacher.  This person
   may be highly proficient with Debian, or a novice, discovering
   as much about their system as the children are, and merely staying
   one step ahead to help bring them forward.  After considering a number
   of alternatives, we settled on "guide".  Thus, throughout this document
   we use this term (in lowercase, as distinct from "the Quick Guide")
   to refer to this role.  Where we need to refer specifically to the
   children's systems administrator, we use "sys admin" instead, although
   ideally the sys admin is a guide too.
  </p>
  </sect>

  <sect id="audience">
  <heading>Audience</heading>
  <p>
   The intended audience for this document, then, is those who would
   like to guide children using Debian Jr., particularly those who are
   new to it and are planning to install it.  You are encouraged to
   read this document with the sys admin (if that is not also your
   role), as many parts of it are of particular interest to the
   sys admin.
  </p>
  </sect>

  <sect id="suggested_reading">
  <heading>Suggested reading</heading>

  <p>
   If you are installing Debian for the first time, this document
   should be read as a companion to Debian's <url
   id="http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/installmanual"
   name="Installation Manual">.  This covers basic Debian installation
   concepts, such as running <prgn>tasksel</prgn>, which are key to
   a successful Debian Jr. install.
  </p>

  <p>
   We try to give as detailed instructions and examples as we can
   without straying from being a "Quick Guide", assuming very little
   about the user's familiarity with performing a Debian installation.
   So we hope that this document, paired with the Installation Manual,
   can be used together to carry off a successful install.  But for
   those who seek more detailed help, a number of other supporting
   documents are referenced throughout the rest of this text.
  </p>

  <p>
   Finally, the <url id="http://www.debian.org/social_contract"
   name="Social Contract"> is key to understanding why we have embarked
   on this project at all.  We hope that you will catch the spirit of
   this document, become excited by it, and by using Debian Jr. will
   not only benefit from what it has to offer as a system, but will
   also realize the benefits of entering into the global free software
   community which we serve.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="introduction">
  <heading>Introduction</heading>

  <p>
   Debian Jr. (<url id="http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr"
   name="&urlname">) is an internal
   project to make Debian an OS that children of all ages will want to
   use.  Our initial focus will be on producing something for children
   up to age 8. Once we have accomplished this, our next target age
   range is 7 to 12.  By the time children reach their teens, they
   should be comfortable with using Debian without any special
   modifications.
  </p>

  <p>
   Debian Jr. provides a collection of packages for children and their
   guides.  Beyond merely providing entertainment, the packages
   we have selected cover a broad range of areas, from those which help
   the child visualize what is inside their operating system
   (<package>lavaps</package>, <package>xcruise</package>) to music,
   art, writing and programming (<package>xmms</package>,
   <package>gimp</package>, <package>abiword</package> and
   <package>python</package>) as well as some games and desktop toys.
   We hope that child and guides alike will have fun, learn together,
   and make creative use of this excellent free software.
  </p>

  <p>
   Ultimately, we owe the free software authors and maintainers the
   thanks for what they have given the world.  Our work is to gather
   their work together into the Debian distribution, making it readily
   available to children and their guides.  Once we select a package,
   we care for its quality, listening to the users, sending wishlists,
   bug reports, and fixes to Debian and upstream maintainers.  It is
   this constant dialog between users and developers that ensures that
   the free software and our users continue to be our priorities,
   as we have promised in our <url id="http://www.debian.org/social_contract"
   name="Social Contract">.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="getting_started">
  <heading>Getting started</heading>

  <p>
  Now that you know what Debian Jr. is all about, you are probably dying
  to get it installed and play around.  (For the kids of course.)  Review
  the following sections with your sys admin and then go ahead
  and install it.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="prerequisites">
  <heading>Prerequisites</heading>

  <p>
  Debian Jr. was first released in Debian 3.0 "Woody".
  Therefore, to run it, you must at least have a Debian Woody system.
  </p>

  <p>
  Debian Jr. will add approximately 320M to a base Woody install.  In
  addition to this, some space is required for X, a window manager, and
  some other programs of your choosing, as well as space for home
  directories and system overhead.  The recommended minimum hard drive
  size is therefore 700M, with 1G being preferred.  Of course, smaller
  installations are possible if you choose fewer components to install.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="installation">
  <heading>Installation</heading>

  <sect id="choosing_install_method">
  <heading>Choosing the installation method</heading>
  <p>
  You need to choose whether to use the Debian Jr. Task
  Installer, which installs the majority of Debian Jr.
  components in one step, or whether to select and install individual
  components.  If you use the Task Installer, review the installed
  components afterwards to see if there are others you would like to
  add to the ones installed by default.
  </p>

  </sect>

<sect id="installing_task">
  <heading>Installing with the Task Installer</heading>

<p>
  <enumlist>
  <item>
  To start the install, use the Task Installer (<prgn>tasksel</prgn>).  If you
  are installing Debian Jr. as part of a fresh Debian install, then this is the
  <url id="http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/ch-init-config.en.html#s-preselections"
  name="Simple Package Selection"> step after you have booted your new Debian
  system for the first time.  Otherwise, as root, run <prgn>tasksel</prgn> from
  the command-line.

  <item>
  Select "Debian Jr." from the "End User" section.  (If you don't see this
  entry in the list of available tasks, you may have the problem addressed by
  <ref id="tasksel">.)

  <item>
  Next, select the "X Window System" task.

  <item>
  You may want to select a desktop environment task (Gnome or KDE).
  However, these each take up a fair amount of disk space and tend
  to be more resource intensive.  For example, if you have a 486
  with 32M of memory or less, you would probably be better off
  running a lightweight window manager instead.

  <item>
  When you exit <prgn>tasksel</prgn>, the Debian Jr. task will be installed,
  along with any other task selections you made.

  <item>
  Unless you use the KDE or Gnome tasks, which include a window manager, you
  will need to install a window manager after <prgn>tasksel</prgn> is done.
  For example, Window Maker can be installed with this command:
  <example>
  apt-get install wmaker
  </example>

  <item>
  Please note that optional Jr. packages need to be installed separately,
  as described in the following section.
  </enumlist>
</p>

</sect>

<sect id="installing_components">
  <heading>Installing components individually</heading>

  <sect1 id="choosing_package_installer">
  <heading>Choosing a package installer</heading>
  
  <p>
  Debian Jr. components have names starting with "junior-".
  These packages may be installed individually with
  <prgn>dselect</prgn>, <prgn>aptitude</prgn> or <prgn>apt-get</prgn>.
  Which one you use is rather a matter of taste.
  </p>

  <p>
  If installing Debian Jr. as part of a fresh Debian install,
  <prgn>dselect</prgn> is run for you if you choose the
  <url id="http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/ch-init-config.en.html#s-install-advanced"
  name="Advanced Package Selection"> method after your first boot.
  Otherwise, as root, you can run <prgn>dselect</prgn> from the command line.
  The principal merit of this method is that it is the officially sanctioned
  one in the Installation Manual.
  </p>

  <p>
  The new <prgn>aptitude</prgn> package installer is an increasingly
  popular alternative to <prgn>dselect</prgn>.  Although the author does
  not use this installer, it appears to have a better user interface
  than <prgn>dselect</prgn> and provides similar functionality.
  This method is not an option during the Debian installation process,
  and is not installed on your system by default.  So if you want to use
  it, you need to install it first with <tt>apt-get install aptitude</tt>.
  </p>

  <p>
  The author's bias is to use <prgn>apt-get</prgn>, due to the elegance
  of managing the package installation process via simple commands.  So if
  you prefer a command-line interface, you may find this is your best choice.
  It is not as self-explanatory as <prgn>dselect</prgn> and
  <prgn>aptitude</prgn> are supposed to be, but the
  <url id="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/" name="APT HOWTO">
  will give you a good start with it.
  </p>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="using_dselect">
  <heading>Using dselect</heading>
  <p>
  If you are using <prgn>dselect</prgn>, simply locate all packages with
  names beginning 'junior-', select the desired components, and install
  them.  (For beginner help, see
  <url id="http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/dselect-beginner"
  name="dselect Documentation for Beginners"> included in the Debian installation
  documentation.)
  </p>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="using_aptitude">
  <heading>Using aptitude</heading>
  <p>
  <prgn>Aptitude</prgn> groups packages that are in tasks under the "Tasks"
  heading.  However, if you wish to install the extra 'junior-' packages
  not included in the task, you will find these by pressing '/' and
  then typing 'junior-'.  After finding the first match, press '\' to
  find the next.  (In this respect, finding a package is similar
  to <prgn>dselect</prgn> which uses the same keys for searching.)
  </p>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="using_apt-get">
  <heading>Using apt-get</heading>
  <p>
  If you are using <prgn>apt-get</prgn>, list all the installed components,
  check this list against the available components, and then select and
  install each one in this way:

  <example>
  dpkg -l 'junior-*'
  apt-cache pkgnames junior-
  apt-get install junior-gnome junior-kde
  </example>
  </p>

  <p>
  In the example above, first <tt>dpkg</tt> is used to show the status of
  all <tt>junior-</tt> package.  Then <tt>apt-cache</tt> is used to show
  all available components.  Finally, <tt>apt-get install</tt> is used
  to install <package>junior-gnome</package> and
  <package>junior-kde</package>.  These are extra components not present
  in the core Junior task.
  </p>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="using_list-junior">
  <heading>Using list-junior</heading>
  <p>
  This is not really an installation option in and of itself.  We have
  provided an example script in <package>junior-doc</package> to generate
  a list of installed and available Debian Jr. components as an HTML
  page.  This list can then be viewed with your preferred web
  browser to help explore Debian Jr. and decide which components you
  wish to install, using one of the above methods.  The list contains
  links to packages.debian.org so you can browse the latest versions
  and see what they contain.
  </p>
  <p>
  The <prgn>list-junior.sh</prgn> script needs two packages to be installed
  before it can be run, so first <tt>apt-get install grep-dctrl wdiff</tt>.
  Then, in a directory where you want the HTML page to be generated, type:
  <example>
  sh /usr/share/doc/junior-doc/examples/list-junior.sh
  </example>
  </p>
  <p>
  When the script completes, with any luck there will be a
  list-junior.html page in the current directory which you can
  browse with your favourite web browser.
  </p>
  <p>
  <em>Caveat user</em>: This script is really a quick-and-dirty kludge
  and needs to be redone more robustly, so if it doesn't work for you,
  please be patient, we will make it into a proper program, complete
  with arguments, switches, man page and all those niceties in a future
  release.
  </p>
  </sect1>

</sect>

<chapt id="what_now">
  <heading>What now?</heading>

  <p>
  So you have a successfully installed Debian Jr. system.  What now?
  The sys admin will want to create children's accounts with adduser,
  and ensure that the window manager you have selected for them starts
  on their accounts by default.
  </p>

  <p>Now, take a little tour of it yourself.  Have a look at the
  window manager's menus.  From here, you will be able to find
  virtually every program installed with Debian Jr.
  Try them out.  Tailor the configurations to suit the children's
  needs.  Once you are satisfied with the initial state of their
  accounts, have the children log in and start being their guide.
  </p>

  <p>
  This is where our work leaves off and yours begins.  There are many
  ways that Debian Jr. could be improved.  There is a lot of grunt
  work in getting a system ready for any set of users with specific
  needs.  Perhaps you will put some effort into this and would like
  to see your hard work benefit other Debian Jr. users.  Please
  drop us a note on our <url id="http://lists.debian.org/debian-jr/"
  name="debian-jr@lists.debian.org"> mailing list, where users and
  developers discuss these issues together.  Comments from your
  experience using Debian Jr. are valuable to us.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="can_you_help">
  <heading>Can you help?</heading>

  <p>
  If you feel you have something to contribute to the Debian Jr. project,
  please visit our web site at <url id="http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr"
  name="&urlname"> to find out more about us, including how to 
  contact us and join the development effort.
  </p>

</chapt>

<chapt id="problems">
  <heading>Problems</heading>

  <sect id="tasksel">
    <heading>Tasksel issues</heading>

    <p>  
    If you are not able to see Debian Jr. in <prgn>tasksel</prgn>, it
    is probably because of a <prgn>tasksel</prgn> bug
    (<url id="http://bugs.debian.org/114721" name="#114721">).
    Run <prgn>dselect</prgn> and choose <tt>[U]pdate</tt> option to
    update <prgn>dselect</prgn>'s package list.  When it is finished,
    exit and run <prgn>tasksel</prgn>.  All tasks should now appear,
    including Debian Jr.
    </p>

  </sect>

</chapt>

<chapt id="reporting_bugs">
  <heading>Reporting bugs</heading>

  <p>
  Please see <url id="http://bugs.debian.org" name="&urlname"> for
  instructions on reporting bugs.  Filing well written bug reports
  is an important means of communication between users and developers.
  Your bug reports help to ensure the highest quality in our packages.
  </p>

</chapt>


  </book>

</debiandoc>

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