A couple of days ago I asked the list this question:
>Where can I find Debian packages with 8.3 filenames so I can install them
from a DOS partition with dselect?
I thought I had seen a list of filenames at a Debian FTP site which had 8.3
filenames for .deb packages which dselect would recognise. I guess I was
wrong.
Let me start over.
I'm trying to install .deb files from a DOS partition.
I have /hda1 (linux primary), /hda2 (linux swap), /hda3 (ms-dos primary). I
have the base Debian GNU/Linux system on /hda1. I have Windows 3.1 on
/hda3. I'm trying to add PERL, a game, a Bible, or something else I can use
to /hda1. Dselect gives me the option of installing from a hard disk
partition. It recognizes /hda3 and correctly identifies it as an ms-dos
partition. It gets the packages.gz file from a directory on /hda3 and
updates the available packages information. It allows me to select a file I
want to add (in this case, PERL) and doesn't show any conflicts, but when I
try to add the package it isn't recognized as the correct version. Is this
something that just can't be done or can I edit the available packages file
or the filename of the package so that it is recognized and usable?
I read somewhere that dpkg can handle "mangled" filenames because it looks
inside the package to determine if it is the correct version. Is dpkg what
I need to be learning to use?
CD-ROM is not an option. Modem is not an option. Are files in my
/hda3/debian (which is my Windows 3.1 c:\debian directory) an option?
That's where I rejoined the perl_5.004.04-6.deb file tht I'm trying to
install.
Thanks for the on-list and off-list suggestions I've already received. The
idea about changing my ms-dos partition to a vfat partition which would
support long filenames is a good idea, but I don't know if that will help
me since I have Windows 3.1. Thanks for your patience. I'm trying to leap
from Windows 3.1 to Linux instead of following the path from Windows
3.1...to Windows 95....to Windows 98....to an old Windows NT....to a new
Windows NT....to who-knows-what. The get-the-CD suggestion was also a good
suggestion but right now I'm trying to introduce myself to Linux on my
computer which has no CD before I make big changes to my other computer
which my family uses every day (it has Windows 3.1, also).
Thanks,
Keith
