I've noticed something odd, and don't know if this is a policy breakdown or not. All packages are suppsed to specify their dependencies. After doing a minimal install, I installed fluxbox, assuming it would pull in all the X stuff it needed. Nope. I guess in theory fluxbox can run on other graphical systems besides X?

I did this on a previous install, thinking, "If I apt-get install mozilla, it will drag in everything else it needs to run." Nope. It installed without complaint, then when I tried to start it said that X had to be running.

So when graphical apps don't include as dependencies an actual graphical system, is this a policy issue?

That's what I'm doing now, as a matter of fact. After Peter pointed out the (should have been) obvious solution of simply using the laptop as an X terminal. Enable xdmcp on the desktop upstairs, and I don't need to install anything on the laptop except an X server. I could even take off the X client stuff if I wanted to prove a point.

The only thing I still need to get working is gcc. The fan on the laptop was apparently controlled via Windows. I left it on for a couple of hours while I was woking on something else and when I came back the bottom was HOT. I found a utility someone wrote for Toshiba laptops specifically to turn on the fan under Linux. That's what I need to build.