Last week i was testing to install Oracle on Debian. Linux is the most important operating system for Oracle Databases and so i was testing how far it would come if a Linux-dummy (ME!) is doing an Oracle-Installation on Linux. The first step was getting a grip on the operating-system. You have to know how to list files, find files and do other Operating System-Basics 
. I decided to make the installation on Debian because it is a easy and stable solution... and was recommended to me by a friend who is also hosting my Linux-Server. He did a basic-installation on a VM-Ware Server, i got the root account, and then i started to make my first experiences.
using aptitude
A very important thing is to install packages. And with Debian it is pretty easy you just have to use aptitude. That means executing the following code will install the unzip-package: aptitude install unzip
The next step was to install a GUI. A GUI is the right thing for a beginner you can navigate, create files browse without a deeper knowledge of the operating-system. I decided to use gnome, reason ... none ... just need gui. That means "aptitude install gnome".