DebianThis forum is for the discussion of Debian Linux.
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well basically Debian is one of the oldest, most stable distros available. If you are accustomed to Ubuntu then you will probably feel at home with Debian in the beginning. However do take into consideration that Debian is not Ubuntu.. Ubuntu is a well-polished, user-friendly Debian, with a lot of work from Canonical developers which may not be present in a Debian Release. The system is extra stable if you stick to the main repositories but you will lack latest versions of software (forget the tenths of upgrades every two days as in Ubuntu). Debian however is a lot closer to a Linux experience than Ubuntu IMHO and does make an excellent server or lightweight Desktop release (GNOME or XFCE or even KDE) as it is lighter than the *ubuntus counterparts
Here's my take on this. Debian comes in 3 flavours. Stable (mainly suitable for servers) now called "Lenny", Testing (mainly suitable for desktops run by somewhat cautious users) now called "Squeeze" and Unstable (for a little more adventurous desktop users) always called "Sid". Debian is in no way "light" having around 30.000 software packages that you can install. Obviously you can pick and choose what you wish to install so Debian is as "light" as "heavy" as you want to make it. You can also tweak you system so that you fall between the 3 major categories listed above. Many users (I'm one of them) run a system somewhere between Unstable and Testing with the odd incursion into experimental. The main features of Debian are freedom and flexibility; you create the system that suits your tastes and requirements. It is not imposed on you. Finally, I love the "rolling release" method that Debian uses for Unstable and Testing.
Ciao,
jdk
I'm basically a Slackware guy, but I use Ubuntu (factory-installed on my netbook and laptop, the wireless works, if it ain't broke etc.).
I really like Debian. It's my second choice after Slackware. I'm running Lenny on this computer right now.
Debian is rock-solid, but not bleeding edge. Rock-solid and bleeding edge are contradictory concepts.
I have found Debian not particularly friendly to non-free software (such as the drivers for my Broadcom wireless chips on my two Dell portable computers mentioned above and Real Player for Linux, which one of the old-time radio sites I like uses).
Whereas Ubuntu seems to be charting a course towards more branding, such as Ubuntu One, Debian is firmly committed to the Linux and the free and open source community.
As frieza said, Ubuntu is based on Debian. Which is good. Ubuntu is a customized Debian. Which is good and bad - good if it works out of the box, bad if doesnt.
Personally i started with Ubuntu 7.10, but after 9.04 (the best, most stable release) it just went downhill. So i switched to Debian Testing (Stable is too old for my tastes) - i can say tha Debian is exactly the same as Ubuntu minus the one-click-wonder-wannabe features (hardware drivers et al) and graphical startup/shutdown screens.
Newer Ubuntu versions however tend to introduce more and more stuff that affects the core (kernels compiled diffrently, using another startup methods, the move to the Unity shell etc).
Debian Testing (now its in freeze, soon will be Stable) has the advantages of newer software (very good maintainers and up to date repos) plus the option to install bleeding edge packages from unstable or experimental (yes i know that decreases stability but if you upgrade only certain apps it will affect only those). Stable does not mix well with these repos.
Besides, the Debian repos have just about everything that Ubuntu repos + Launchpad PPAs have.And if needed, most Ubuntu third party app packages are compatible with Debian (not recommended though if you dont know your way around the dependencies).
And Debian Testing was more stable for me than the post-9.04 Ubuntus.
I absolutely prefer Debian - I haven't used *buntu since 9.04, but the last decent release was probably 6.06.
You can still go for the bleeding edge approach with Debian, by going for the testing or unstable branch and working from there. Testing/unstable is still far more stable than any *buntu release.
Distribution: Debian Testing, Stable, Sid and Manjaro, Mageia 3, LMDE
Posts: 2,628
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caravel
I absolutely prefer Debian - I haven't used *buntu since 9.04, but the last decent release was probably 6.06.
You can still go for the bleeding edge approach with Debian, by going for the testing or unstable branch and working from there. Testing/unstable is still far more stable than any *buntu release.
Saying that Debian is more stable than Ubuntu may not be believed so I will add my support for this claim.
I am a long time tester of Ubuntu development releases and Ubuntu stable release user.
I have, at all times, several installs of Linux OS' on my box (MS products are not allowed in this house).
My main OS is Debian testing currently running with the 2.6.36 kernel from liquorix. Much more stable than 10.04 or 10.10 and running a kernel like 11.04-testing.
Boots faster and shuts down faster.
If you are not real interested in Ubuntu branded eye candy and want the most stable OS you can have use Debian.
I quit using Ubuntu after it upgraded to 8.04 and went with Debian Stable; that was a year ago. To date the only time the system has 'broke' was when I oopsed it while trying a bash renaming script... Now I've got a /home/test-user dir for that sort of thing. and a backup routine! All in all it just works, all of the time.
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