Incoming from johannes swoboda:
Hello! I'm actually using grml with harddisk-installation.I've also installed some debian packages. My question: What are the main goals or the differents between grml and a "normal" debian installation?
"Normal" Debian is Debian Stable, currently Sarge. In order to create Stable, Debian uses Testing (currently Etch) and Unstable (always Sid). The latter two are merely tools used in creating Stable. They can, and should, be used but they're not what Debian has ever been about. Debian has always been about creating Stable.
Testing and Unstable have been known to break from time to time. That's their job; to find bugs before they're released into the wild.
Grml tries to mitigate Unstable's instability by testing upstream stuff from Sid before allowing it into Grml. This way, they hope for the best of both worlds: relative stability as well as bleeding edge software.
Besides all that, Grml offers lots of neat apps of their choosing, and lots of neat utilities helpful in using it. Whether you want to install it on a hard drive, run it from RAM or CD-ROM, or even a USB key, Grml's pretty versatile.
It's not perfect; nothing is. It's more perfect than stock Debian Sid, and way more up to date than Debian Stable.
Other less important details are the choice of software Grml offers. No KDE or Gnome; fluxbox instead. No BitchX ('cause it Sucks! :-), irssi instead. Once installed, you can apt-get anything you want that Grml doesn't provide.
I think it's pretty cool. I'd love to know why it refuses to install in this old Compaq of mine, but that's beside the point.