6.9. Choose packages to install

It is now time to specify which programs you wish to install on your system. There are thousands of packages available for Linux-Mandrake, and you are not supposed to know them all by heart.

If you are in Recommended mode, you will be presented three size, corresponding to the size of packages that will be installed on your computer (figure 6-13). Choose one of them depending on your disk size and you own mood.

Figure 6-13. Choose the size to install

In Custom mode, you can select the group of packages you are interested in (figure 6-14).

Figure 6-14. Choose the groups of packages to install

By default, all groups are selected. If your system won't be connected to the Internet for example, you can deselect the groups Mail/WWW/News tools and Communication facilities by clicking on the yellow star on the left of its name.

If you know well the packages offered or if you want to have total control on what will be installed or not, you can check the Individual package selection star.

Then you will be asked which quantity (in terms of size) of packages to install (figure 6-15). After selecting many groups, it may be that the size of all those packages is too big for the space you have available. You can choose here to reduce this size, DrakX will then install only the most important packages from all the selected groups.

If you have started the installation in "Update" mode (see figure 6-2), you can reduce the size to zero to avoid installing any new package and just repair the existing system.

Figure 6-15. Choose the total packages size to install

Finally, depending whether you choose to select individual packages or not, you will be presented a tree containing all packages classified by groups and subgroups (figure 6-16). While browsing the tree, you can select entire groups, subgroups, or simply packages.

Figure 6-16. Choose the individual packages to install

Whenever you select a package on the tree, a description appears on the right. When you have finished with your selections, click the install button. The installation itself then begins. If you have chosen to install a lot of packages, you can go and have a cup of coffee.


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