dselect

55

2. [S]elect

This option delivers the main power of dselect as well as providing the greatest

challenge. Here is where a thorough knowledge of the various keys used by

dselect will provide major benefit.

Novice use of [S]elect

For those installing Debian for the first time with no experience with dselect,

the choice of [S]elect should be considered an educational experience where

no  real  actions will be taken. This should simply be considered to be a

 look around  at what is available so a familiarity can be established with

this complex and powerful section of dselect. No selections need be made here,

since all  standard  packages are marked for installation at this time. This is

a good starting point when configuring a new system.

On first entry to the [S]elect screen it should be noticed that the top of the

screen is the normal selection area with the bottom area of the screen for

information display.

Things to look at:

  Note the operation of the o key.

  Note the effect of the v key.

  Use the search key (/) to find a package in the list.

  Note the effect of the i and I keys here.

  Add a package to the install list.

  Dealing with depends screens.