Every package is missing, it seems
by slkw from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4XB5J)
A general comment about Debian Buster, which I installed on a Macbook Pro: Numerous packages and programs that I expected, as a Slackware user, to be present just aren't. It often seems that indeed every package that I might need is missing whereas stuff I don't need is there.
Even Raspbian seems to be better configured and more polished than Debian Buster.
Having used Gentoo as well I'm accustomed to installing things ad hoc, which is great because Gentoo builds everything from source and that adds a degree of security, however Debian doesn't install from source so it feels like there is little benefit to this tedious effort except saved disk space which is cheap to begin with. Back when we had 20GB hard drives (circa 1997) having almost every package missing by default might have been a big benefit. Today it isn't.
But the a la carte model's annoyingness is compounded by the fact that it always asks for the Buster DVDROM and even insists the DVDROM is somehow not official or registered. Entering the command to register the DVDROM has no effect. Looking at the bigger picture, it is mystifying that someone actually thought we all still have DVD drives in our computers in 2020. We don't, and most times neither I nor most people have a USB DVD reader on hand.
Even Raspbian seems to be better configured and more polished than Debian Buster.
Having used Gentoo as well I'm accustomed to installing things ad hoc, which is great because Gentoo builds everything from source and that adds a degree of security, however Debian doesn't install from source so it feels like there is little benefit to this tedious effort except saved disk space which is cheap to begin with. Back when we had 20GB hard drives (circa 1997) having almost every package missing by default might have been a big benefit. Today it isn't.
But the a la carte model's annoyingness is compounded by the fact that it always asks for the Buster DVDROM and even insists the DVDROM is somehow not official or registered. Entering the command to register the DVDROM has no effect. Looking at the bigger picture, it is mystifying that someone actually thought we all still have DVD drives in our computers in 2020. We don't, and most times neither I nor most people have a USB DVD reader on hand.