Debian Linux

Bristol Wireless promotes and supports Debian Gnu/Linux. It is a free operating system, developed by more than a thousand volunteers from all over the world who collaborate via the internet. Debian's dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature and its open development model make it unique among GNU/Linux distributions. The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its dedication to the Debian Social Contract and its commitment to provide the best operating system possible.

We aim to make the use of Debian as easy as possible for our target market who are mostly non-expert users with some experience of the Windows operating system.

Methodology

We have created a package (equivalent to a .exe) called bristolwireless. When this is installed on a Debian Linux computer it automatically downloads from the internet all the software we recommend. We have also created a set of configuration files that are stored in the package and which are copied across to the new system. These files are called skel files and simply serve to set up the system as we like it.

Principles

1. User-friendly (prefer packages that have undergone usability testing to those that have not.)
2. Simplicity (do not include packages which duplicate functionality.)
3. Lightness - (where there is equivalent functionality, use the package that uses fewer resources.)
4. Easy migration - (our desktop is designed for ease of migration from Windows.)
5. Debian compatibility - (To include software not in the official Debian repositories only where it significantly improves the user experience and does not interfere with any important system components.)

Included software

1. Debian Stable community-developed operating system.
2. XFCE the fastest fully featured and user-friendly desktop manager.
3. 'Slab' developed using usability testing.
4. 'Basics' for all your home or office needs.
5. Icons developed using usability and accessibility principles.

Complete BW software details

Installation

We have created a live CD so that people can try out our setup before installing it.To use the live CD you may need to change the boot settings.

Whilst our software configuration is currently designed to be pre-installed on computers by our staff, it is possible to install the settings and configuration by following the instructions below.

If you want to try our installs of Debian Linux on your Windows computer then:

1) defragment your drive.

2)back up all data and make sure you have at least 3 GB of space free,

3) Click on the installer. Create a new partition and install a base Debian system.

4) Proceed to the page about our package.

We also have computers for sale if you are based in Bristol.

User Guide

The user guide can be found here or there is a .odt version

Help us

We are actively seeking people to help us test our package and provide us with feedback.

We are actively seeking usability experts to help us.

DebianLanguages is about using Debian in other languages.