I can’t be the only person who finds it bothersome burning a cd just to install linux. What a waste (it’s not like you use the cd all to often afterwards, except as a coaster). So here are the quick and dirty instructions for making a debian linux install usb stick (adjust /dev/sdb accordingly, failure to do so can pretty must kill any data on a harddisk):

• wget ftp://ftp2.de.debian.org/debian/dists/etch/main/installer-i386/current/images/hd-media/boot.img.gz
• wget http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r5/i386/iso-cd/debian-40r5-i386-netinst.iso
• zcat boot.img.gz > /dev/sdb
• mount /dev/sdb /mnt
• cp debian-40r5-i386-netinst.iso /mnt
• umount /mnt