The Debian Installer team[1] is pleased to announce the first release candidate release of the installer for Debian GNU/Linux Squeeze.

= Improvements in this release of the installer =

* Linux kernel updated to 2.6.32-29;
* Updated artwork for Squeeze theme (#603554);
* Fixed Finnish keymap in graphical installer;
* Fixed usability issues with very long questions about accepting
firmware licenses when some non-free firmware is used;
* Fixed mklibs segfaults on static objects;
* Avoid reloading modules that have a network interface that is already
configured;
* Support the new suite name for "volatile";
* Fix text of examples in debconf templates to fit the new partition
numbering scheme in GRUB 2;
* Fix resolv.conf writing of manual entered values in case DHCP
doesn't supply them;
* Live Installer:
* Don't depends on fs modules since it can be loaded during the
filesystem lookup;
* Also removing backend packages for both live-boot and live-config
when running normal installation;
* Calling depmod before modprobing support modules;
* For consistency, and for more flexibility with custom d-i
kernels, also making anna call for installing support modules
never fail;
* On GNU/kFreeBSD:
* Disable partman-zfs on kfreebsd-i386;
* Fix generation of fstab CD-ROM entries;
* mark modules disabled due to firmware issues as optional;
* On GNU/Linux:
* nic-modules: add qlcnic module;
* ata-modules: force inclusion of ata_generic;
* armel:
* kirkwood: Added support for QNAP TS-119P+ and TS-219P+;
* powerpc:
* Add support for YDL PowerStation, a CHRP machine with IBM
Bimini board and SLOF firmware;
* Selectively load necessary modules to control G5 PowerMac
fans. All G5 PowerMac models are covered now;
* fancontrol-modules (powerpc64): add windfarm_pm121 for iMac
iSight machines;
* pata-modules: add pata_mpc52xx for Efika 5200B board;
* nic-modules (powerpc64): add ehea module for on-board
ethernet adapters present on all IBM Power 6 and later System
P boards;
* core-modules: add bestcomm-core. pata_mpc52xx and fec_mpc52xx
depend on it;
* Let linux-boot-prober work on all chrp machines;
* Handle YDL initrd image in linux-boot-prober fallback test;
* Use short unique OS labels returned by os-prober;
* Use persistent device naming symlinks and UUID/LABEL tags
instead of unix block device names;
* Localization:
* Lao and Sinhala languages added;
* 70 languages activated (included English);
* For 57 of these, translation is 100% complete;

= Behavioral changes in this release =

* Use "mirror" as default hostname for custom FTP or HTTP mirror.
* Remove -8 (if present) from getty options for serial terminals.

= Known issues in this release =

See the errata[2] for details and a full list of known issues.

= Not yet known issues in this release =

We do need your help to find bugs and further improve the installer, so
please try it. Installer CDs, other media and everything you else you
will need are available at our web site[3].

== Thanks ==

The Debian Installer team thanks everybody who has contributed to this release.

1. http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Team
2. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/errata
3. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer

- --
Otavio Salvador
on behalf of Debian Installer Team