This is the first part of a 3-part series on how to install Debian Linux on a Compact Flash. The first part describes how to install Debian Linux on a compact flash in one of our systems: the OpenBrick-E 600Mhz Celeron-M. The second part discusses some optimization techniques to limit the "wear and tear" of the flash memory. It is a different approach than most embedded Linux systems. But in effect, we would turn compact flash Linux into an embedded one.