im starting to think about using .deb files on my n900, the gimp and open office seem like a good place to start (i.e. their the only programs i know of), but before i venture into this unknown territory i was hoping for a few pointers, i did a google search into it and found a zillion posts about red pill mode and nothing else and a search of these forums gave pretty much the same results, so if anyone is in the know..... & the mood please answer these questions....

1/ can any .deb file be installed on the n900 or are their specifics?
2/ is there a good website around that lists good .deb software - all i have found is gibberish
3/ any recommendations to good deb programs that would fit the n900
4/ what would be the best/safest route to installing and managing .deb installs?? terminal or forcing the app manager to take over
5/ if i find some linux software i like what do i need to look out for, to determine if it will run on my n900??
6/ if i fubar my n900 doing this whats the best recovery method???

any information would be great...

cheers....

The .deb files will need to be for armel rather than x86, other than that you should be able to install any. You're likely to run into dependency issues though, as needed libraries may be missing. There should be no difference installing in red pill mode or via the command line.

As for recovery method - uninstalling is the simplest option. If you can't do that then reflashing (probably both firmware and eMMC) should sort anything out.

Frankly, I'd advise not doing this at all though - use the easy-deb-chroot (available through the repositories) instead. This'll give you Open Office anyway, and you should be able to easily install other common apps in the debian chroot, without risking side-effects.