I'm new to Linux after being a Windows user my whole life. I've been enjoying Kubuntu on my laptop for a few weeks, and now I've found an old PC from around 2010. I decided to try out Debian, thinking it would be a natural step from Ubuntu. However, I'm encountering a problem: I can't install anything using APT because when I try to access the sources list at /etc/apt/sources.list, I'm getting a permission denied error. Any advice on how to resolve this?
3 Answers
What exactly happens when you try to install something? Can you share the error message you're receiving? It sounds like there may be an issue with your sources.list file or the repositories you're trying to access.
That might mean your sources.list is pointing to an incorrect repository or one that isn't set up for APT properly. You might want to check the sources.list file or try updating it.
To fix the permission issues, you need to switch to the root user. After installing Debian, you should have been prompted for a root username and password. Try typing `su` in the terminal and enter the root password. This should give you the access you need to use APT. If you want to run commands as a regular user without switching to root each time, you can configure your user to have sudo rights using `visudo`. Let me know if you need help with that!
Thanks for the tip! I'll look into this.
Be careful with `su` though, you might run into an 'authentication failure' if the password is incorrect.
Did you use a live image to install Debian? If so, the setup process is a bit different compared to Ubuntu. Some installations don’t automatically configure sudo like Ubuntu does. You might need to either set it up yourself or just use `su` for now. It’s worth checking that you set everything up correctly during the installation. If it keeps failing, starting fresh with the installation might be a good idea to avoid headaches later on.
I did use a live image and I suspect I might not have configured it properly. If it doesn’t work out, I might just reinstall to learn more.
Let us know how it goes! Sometimes a fresh install can solve a lot of headaches and teach you more in the process.
I tried to install something and got this: 'The repository... does not have a Release file.' I'm not sure what that means.