The main means that people use to install packages on their system is via a program called apt-get, from the apt package. Note that the actual program that installs packages is called dpkg. However, this package is more of a low-level tool. apt-get is a higher-level tool as it will invoke dpkg as appropriate and also because it knows to install other packages which are required for the package you're trying to install, as well as how to retrieve the package from your CD, the network, or wherever. Other front-ends for package management, like aptitude, synaptic and the older dselect also use and depend on apt-get. These front-ends are recommended for new users, since they integrate some additional features (package searching and status checks) in a nice user interface. APT must be configured so that it knows where to retrieve packages from. The helper application which assists in this task is called apt-setup. The next step in your configuration process is to tell APT where other Debian packages can be found. Note that you can re-run this tool at any point after installation by running apt-setup, or by manually editing /etc/apt/sources.list. If an official CD-ROM is in the drive at this point, then that CD-ROM should automatically be configured as an apt source without prompting. You will notice this because you will see the CD-ROM being scanned. For users without an official CD-ROM, you will be offered an array of choices for how Debian packages are accessed: FTP, HTTP, CD-ROM, or a local file system. You should know that it's perfectly acceptable to have a number of different APT sources, even for the same Debian archive. apt-get will automatically pick the package with the highest version number given all the available versions. Or, for instance, if you have both an HTTP and a CD-ROM APT source, apt-get should automatically use the local CD-ROM when possible, and only resort to HTTP if a newer version is available there. However, it is not a good idea to add unnecessary APT sources, since this will tend to slow down the process of checking the network archives for new versions. If you plan on installing the rest of your system via the network, the most common option is to select the http source. The ftp source is also acceptable, but tends to be somewhat slower making connections. The next step during the configuration of network package sources is to tell apt-setup which country you live in. This configures which of the official Debian Internet mirrors you will connect to. Depending on which country you select, you will be presented with a list of possible servers. It's generally fine to pick the one at the top of the list, but any of them should work. Note however that the mirror list provided by the installation was generated when this version of Debian was released and some mirrors may no longer be available. After you have selected a mirror, you will be asked if a proxy server should be used. A proxy server is a server that will forward all your HTTP and/or FTP requests to the Internet and is most often used to regulate and optimize access to the Internet on corporate networks. In some networks only the proxy server is allowed access to the Internet, in which case you will have to enter the name of the proxy server. You may also have to include an user name and password. Most home users will not need to specify a proxy server, although some ISPs may provide proxy servers for their users. After you select a mirror, your new network package source will be tested. If all goes well, you will be prompted whether you want to add another package source. If you have any problems using the package source you selected, try using a different mirror (either from your country list or from the global list), or try using a different network package source.