This is a technical discussion thread about running Debian in a chroot. Please post questions about custom setups or technical problems here.

UPDATE, AUGUST 10 2008:

I have posted the newest versions of the chroot scripts (/sbin/debian, /sbin/closechroot, /sbin/synchroot, /usr/bin/debbie) and the chroot config file (/home/user/.chroot) in this post. You can use these scripts to set up your own custom chroot solution. If you just wish to have the applications that Debian gives you (OpenOffice, Firefox, etc) without the hassle, use the Easy Debian package.

UPDATE, JULY 3 2008:

The post with the first installable .deb files and a link to the first version of the chroot image file is here on page 9, and there is an empty 1GB image file with some cool ideas for other chroot options a few posts later, here.

I posted a smaller image file (730MB) with all of the applications installed a bit later, here.

Lastly, I posted a 1GB image file with only minimal applications installed here, so that those who want to experiment with installing lots of different apps can have more "play-space".

The rest of the thread is a bunch of hardcore Debian chroot enthusiasts trying to get stuff working and keeping each other up to date.

Oh yes, and one very cool video.

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:

Hi all,

I have a wiki entry, Running Debian in a chroot

This method allows you to install and run any of the thousands of applications, including things like Gimp and OpenOffice, compiled for the Debian armel port, without rebooting your tablet. Many of them run under the default OS, but you may need to use penguinbait's KDE to run some of the apps, because they are designed for a desktop OS and they have problems like dialog boxes that don't fit on the standard tablet operating system's screen.

I have posted about this in various threads, but I wanted to start a new thread so that people can discuss this in one place and propose better ways to do it. I would love to see a simple, newbie-friendly way to set this up so that anyone can install and run Debian apps with a minimum of hassle. This thread might help to make that happen.

Also, if you find Debian apps that work particularly well, apps that totally crash the system, or tricks for getting certain Debian apps to work on the tablet (eg. make sure you install esound support to get sound working on several apps), you can report your findings here.

EDIT: The "Discussion" tab on the wiki now links back to this thread. Nice.