"upgrading ubuntu to debian"

[Kfir Lavi]

Hi,
I wouldn't start with upgrading from Ubuntu to Debian, it will get
messy. Just upgrading from Debian stable to testing is a big headache
and usually will break the system.
It is much easier and quicker to net install a new Debian.

As to upgrading two systems, just install the first, and then tar.gz
the Debian root file system and copy it to the second.

I don't know how to preserve the packages you already installed in
Ubuntu. So it takes a week or too, to find what is missing and install
it on the new system. Its not smart to just install all the packages
you had in Ubuntu, because it will get a lot of unused packages (but
it can be done).

Net Install: This is the best way to install the system, because it
downloads just the packages you need.
I usually install the base system. Finish the installation, restart
the computer and use aptitude or dselect to install the rest of the
system.
Grab the mini.iso and burn it from here:
ftp://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/
This will start your net install.

Regards,
Kfir