TechRepublic: Linux 101: Installing Debian GNU/Linux

“Installing any operating system on a desktop computer, whether
it be Microsoft Windows, MacOS X, Debian GNU/Linux, or anything
else, can occasionally be an exercise in frustration. That is
particularly true if you are unfamiliar with the installation
process for the operating system you’re installing or, worse yet,
unfamiliar with the operating system entirely. Microsoft has
conquered this problem to some extent by ensuring that when you go
to a retail outlet to purchase a computer you’ll be able to buy one
with Windows pre-installed. Apple has solved the problem to an even
greater degree by ensuring that its Macintosh computers are sold as
hermetically sealed ‘black box’ appliances with everything
pre-installed and preconfigured.

“Linux distributions do not really have such solutions. There
are places you can purchase a computer with some Linux distribution
already installed by the vendor, of course, but they are few and
far between–and Linux-based operating systems are designed
specifically with the expectation that the user may want to monkey
around with their innards…”

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