a general debian question (it's underlying philosophy)
 

I don't really know how to ask this.
I keep coming up against the use of Debian in reports I read. (I'm currently using Ubuntu).
I'm working in the voluntary/NGO sector and we're increasing our focus on Open Source software. We want a distro that provides the best in terms of stability and security and aren't too concerned with bells, whistles and bleeding edges. We want to stay away from the more corporate distros. (Fedora's, Mandriva's and Suse's et al)
What is the advantage in using Debian over say Ubuntu or Slackware?
I've heard about Debian Legal and the exhaustive testing Debian goes through but when I've gone to their site to have a look I seem to get links to gargantuan tracts of (often) highly technical stuff.
I'm not stupid, but I'm also not a lawyer or a programmer.
If someone could point me in the right direction I'd be most grateful.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section?

Re: a general debian question (it's underlying philosophy)
 

ubuntu is based on debian (some from testing and some from unstable)....
with the new debian installer you should be able to install debian without a problem,,,:)

http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

good luck...

The advantage of Debian is it's focus on the GPL license. Anything that doesn't comply fully isn't part of Debian. You never have to worry about license issues with Debian.

Next advantage is it's package management, which Ubuntu has borrowed from Debian. Installing a desktop/server is a breeze since all the packages that are needed are available in the repositories.

Debian stable is perfect for servers. Security updates will be available, but there will be no changes to the software or the way the system is configured. It will keep maintainance down to a minimum. Use the Sarge version, it is the new stable in less than a month from now.

Debian also has a lot of online support. There are many and very good manuals and guides to tackle problems. I have never used Slackware (or anything else for that matter) so I can't fill you in there.

Got myself a network install cd and after a couple of locale mess ups, I have now have debian running on both machines at home and my machine at work.
Nice!
The installer was a breeze after various Ubuntu installs. Had a little problem with screen resolutions but got round it in the end.

Thanks for the replies.

Off to explore...

kerouac would have used debian ;)
It's as simple as you want to make it or as deep as you want it to be
apt-get is the key.

Debian is great. Lots of documentation and support groups. Not to mention thousands of different software packages.

As for some of the Philosophy behind it:
"Debian GNU/Linux is a strong supporter of free software. Since many different licenses are used on software, a set of guidelines, the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) were developed to come up with a reasonable definition of what constitutes free software. Only software that complies with the DFSG is allowed in the main distribution of Debian."
http://www.es.debian.org/intro/free

"A Brief History of Debian "
http://www.es.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/

"Social Contract" with the Free Software Community
1.Debian Will Remain 100% Free Software
We promise to keep the Debian GNU/Linux Distribution entirely free software. As there are many definitions of free software, we include the guidelines we use to determine if software is "free" below. We will support our users who develop and run non-free software on Debian, but we will never make the system depend on an item of non-free software."
http://www.es.debian.org/social_contract

"kerouac would have used debian"

ahh kerouac!
my favourite non sci-fi author