Questions

[tuxracer]

I tried the latest version with Cinnamon - booted up the .iso - live edition - on my usb flash drive.   I don't have interesting hardware - the gpu is a Nvidia GTX 750.   This is the message I got on boot up - 'Running in software rendering mode.'
http://postimg.org/image/ipyhnrdzj/

If I boot up the default, I cannot read the text - it'll be too small.   So, I have to choose the 2nd option, safe graphics mode.   I think the software rendering message might be related to drivers and the fact I cannot use non-free software/packages - that might solve this issue?   Just speculating.

I also tried another OS I'm interested in - Ubuntu 15.04 Mate, but, I had no issue.   It worked OOTB and there is no safe graphics mode.   One strike against them but that is typical.   I didn't have to add any boot parameters, however, to alter the graphics info.   

So, I guess installing and adding non-free sources should take care of that software rendering message?   That is, after installing a recent Nvidia binary driver?

Edit:  I just noticed that safe graphics mode (what I chose) - uses the wrong resolution?   Under Display properties, it shows 'laptop' and 1024x768. 

[musca]

Hello tuxracer,

siduction is committed to debian free software guidelines (dfsg) and doesn't installl non-free software by default.
On the other hand siduction strives to make latest hardware accessible for our users.

So by default you get the free nouveau driver, and the version from kernel 17.4 on the iso yet doesn't support Nvidia GTX 750.
I like the fact that cinnamon does switch to software rendering and gives a hint for the user.

Feel free to install (enable non-free in the installer), in the installed system dist-upgrade to latest kernel and either use latest nouveau or install nvidia-driver as usual. siduction does provide latest drivers patched even for development kernels like 4.0.0-rc5.

It is even possible to blacklist the nouveau module, boot to runlevel 3 and install nvidia-driver in live mode. "systemctl isolate graphical.target" will bring up a 3D-capable desktop in this case (advanced users first, please).

Feel free to dive into details here or in siduction-irc (it's a command, works even in text-mode if you break your xorg)

greetings
musca

[tuxracer]

Okay, thanks for the reply and the info!     All that makes sense!

I have one more question, though, albeit it's probably a dumb question.

I'm wondering what should be in my sources.list file.   Well, to be specific.... what about this - in debian.list:
Well, it's self explanatory?:   Unstable, Testing and Experimental.   I'd probably comment out Testing and Experimental until I need them?   Or maybe use Experimental since I need it for a kernel upgrade?   But, isn't the upgraded kernel compiled by you guys?   So, it's in the siduction repos (as a .deb)?    See, I told ya, a dumb question?     But, there's more....where that came from.

For the sources in siduction.list, I use one of the mirrors - so...for e.g.:  let's use the North America - U of Delaware as an e.g.:

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deb http://mirror.lug.udel.edu/pub/siduction/base unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://mirror.lug.udel.edu/pub/siduction/extra unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://mirror.lug.udel.edu/pub/siduction/fixes unstable main contrib non-free

(Plus, the corresponding deb-src - debian source - so another base, extra and fixes)
So, I'd have that, right?

My confusion is I've seen an e.g. posted in which this was used:

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deb http://mirror.lug.edu/pub/siduction/extra experimental main contrib non-free
deb http://mirror.lug.edu/pub/siduction/user experimental main contrib non-free

So, can I use those, too?   How come they're not listed in the respective mirrors?     Or should it be already presumed that experimental is an option with them? 

[musca]

Hello tuxracer,

the distribution consists of debian/unstable main + siduction/{base,fixes,extra}/unstable main.
The official support is limited to theese repos. Usually you won't need more.

Uploads to our experimental repos can include risky packages. Use them at own risk!
The use of deb-src lines is kind of exotic for standard usage. But ... yes, we can.

According to your special interests you can add whatever you want, of course.
In the past we have used individual repos for next generation desktops (e.g. some flavours had its own *next repo).
The latest release 2014.1 "IndianSummer" does not include the kdenext or xfcenext repo.

siduction uses the linux-image-siduction-amd64 metapackage to always include the latest mainline kernel in your dist-upgrade:
This command will show you which kernels are available for your architecture.

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apt-cache policy linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,')

Don't forget the linux-headers-siduction-amd64 package, which adds the header files for compiling off-tree modules.

greetings
musca

[dibl]

Testing testing -- OP reported a problem with his thread locked, but I see no indication that it was ever locked.  This is to confirm it is active.

[piper]

Was never locked as far as I see (I need glasses for driving)