
Debian, created by the Debian Project, is a widely used Linux distribution of free software developed through the collaboration of volunteers from around the world. Since its inception, the released system, Debian GNU/Linux, has been based on the Linux kernel with many basic tools of the operating system from the GNU project. Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix philosophy and free software philosophies. It is also known for its abundance of options: the current release contains over fifteen thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures, ranging from the ARM architecture commonly found in embedded systems and the IBM s390 Mainframe computer architecture to the more common x86 and PowerPC architectures found in modern personal computers. Debian is also known for its package management system and APT, the Advanced Packaging Tool in particular, its strict policies regarding the quality of its packages and releases, and its open development and testing process. These practices afford easy upgrades between releases without rebooting and easy installation and removal of packages. Debian is supported by donations through Software in the Public Interest, a non-profit organization umbrella organization for free software projects. == History == Debian was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock, then a student at Purdue University, who wrote the ''Debian Manifesto'' which called for the creation of a Linux distribution to be maintained in an open manner, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. He chose the name by combining the first name of his then-girlfriend (now wife) Debra with his own first name "Ian", forming the portmanteau "Debian", pronounced as the corresponding syllables of these names are in American English: . The Debian Project grew slowly at first and released its first 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995. The first ports to other architectures started being made in 1995, and the first 1.x version of Debian was released in 1996. In 1996, Bruce Perens replaced Ian Murdock as the project leader. At the suggestion of fellow developer Ean Schuessler, he guided the editing process of the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. He also initiated the creation of the legal umbrella organization Software in the Public Interest. Bruce Perens left in 1998 before the release of the first glibc-based Debian, 2.0. The Project proceeded to elect new leaders and make two more 2.x releases, each including more ports and more packages. Advanced Packaging Tool was deployed during this time and the Debian GNU/Hurd was started as well. The year 1999 brought the first other Linux distributions based on Debian, Corel Linux and Stormix's Storm Linux, neither of which is developed any more but which started what is now a notable trend of #Distributions based on Debian. In late 2000, the project switched to the use of the package pools and began the "testing" distribution, marking a major change in archive and release management. In 2001, developers began holding an annual conference called Debconf with talks, workshops, and technical users welcome. The 3.0 release of 2002 included more than double the number of packages of the previous release and supported five new architectures. Debian celebrated its tenth anniversary on August 16, 2003, with parties held around the world. On 6 June 2005, after three continuous years of development, release 3.1, codenamed ''sarge'', was [http://www.debian.org/News/2005/20050606 released]. :''See [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ A Brief History of Debian] for a more comprehensive history.'' == Debian releases == The latest released version of Debian is called ''stable''. As of 2005, the latest stable release is version 3.1, also called ''sarge''. In addition, a stable release gets minor updates (so-called ''point releases'') marked, for example, like 3.0r1. The code names of Debian releases are names of characters from the movie ''Toy Story'': * 3.2 -- ''Etch (Debian)'', release date unknown * 3.1 -- ''Sarge (Debian)'', 6 June 2005 * 3.0 -- ''Woody (Debian)'', 19 July 2002 * 2.2 -- ''Potato (Debian)'', 15 August 2000 * 2.1 -- ''Slink (Debian)'', 9 March 1999 * 2.0 -- ''Hamm (Debian)'', 24 July 1998 * 1.3 -- ''Bo (Debian)'', 2 June 1997 * 1.2 -- ''Rex (Debian)'', 12 December 1996 * 1.1 -- ''Buzz (Debian)'', 17 June 1996 Because a CD vendor made an unofficial, broken release labeled "1.0", an official "1.0" release was never made. Day-to-day development takes place in the branches known as ''unstable'' and ''experimental''. The unstable branch is permanently codenamed ''sid'', after the boy next door who broke toys. The software in the "unstable" branch is not necessarily unstable, only that the packaging and other Debian-specific modifications may be new and untested. Software which is itself unstable is generally placed in "experimental". Many people use sid as their main operating system, contrary to the advice from Debian, because they feel that it's the only Debian release with reasonably up-to-date software (this was mostly due to Debian 3.1 being released three years after the previous stable release). Debian maintainers discourage the novice users from using the unstable distribution and there is generally little or no support offered officially by Debian for such use(altough most of the support is done via unofficial means, like irc, mail lists, forums, etc.), only by means of the bug tracking system, etc. ==Unreleased systems== The Project describes itself as creating "The Universal Operating System" and develops porting of the entire userland to various Kernel (computer science): * Debian GNU/Linux, the original version, on the Linux kernel * Debian GNU/Hurd, on GNU Hurd * Debian GNU/NetBSD, on the NetBSD kernel * Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, on the FreeBSD kernel. The non-Linux ports have yet to be officially released so, currently, Debian is exclusively a GNU/Linux distribution. The effort to combine the GNU-based userland with BSD kernels is also controversial among some of the developers of the BSD systems, who do not consider their kernel to be a separable component from the userland. == Project organization == The Debian Project is a volunteer organization with three foundational documents: * The Debian Social Contract defines a set of basic principles by which the project and its developers conduct affairs. * The Debian Free Software Guidelines define the criteria for "free software" and so what software is permissible in the distribution, as referenced in the Social Contract. These guidelines have also been adopted as the basis of the Open Source Definition. * [http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution The Debian Constitution] describes the organizational structure for formal decision-making within the Project, and enumerates the powers and responsibilities of the Debian Project Leader, the Debian Project Secretary, and the Debian Developers generally. Currently, the project includes more than a thousand developers. Each of them sustains some niche in the project, be it software package maintenance, software documentation, maintaining the project infrastructure, quality assurance, or release coordination. Package maintainers have jurisdiction over their own packages, although packages are increasingly co-maintained. Other tasks are usually the domain of smaller, more collaborative groups of developers. The project maintains official mailing lists and conferences for communication and coordination between developers. For issues with single packages or domains, a public computer bug tracking system is used by developers and end-users both. Informally, Internet Relay Chat channels (primarily on the OFTC and freenode networks) are used for communication among developers and users as well. Together, the Developers may make binding general decisions by way of a General Resolution or election. All voting is conducted by Schulze method, a Condorcet method of voting. A Project Leader is elected once per year by a vote of the Developers. The Debian Project Leader has several special powers, but this power is far from absolute and is rarely utilized. Under a General Resolution, the Developers may, among other things, recall the leader, reverse a decision by him or his delegates, and amend the constitution and other foundational documents. The Leader sometimes delegates authority to other developers in order for them to perform specialized tasks. Generally this means that a leader delegates someone to start a new group for a new task, and gradually a team gets formed that carries on doing the work and regularly expands or reduces their ranks as they think is best and as the circumstances allow. Perhaps a more important person to Debian than the Leader is the software release Manager, who sets goals for the next "stable" release, supervises the process, and makes the final decision as to when to release. A list of many important positions in the Debian Project is available at [http://www.debian.org/intro/organization the Debian organization web page]. == Developer recruitment, motivation, and resignation == The Debian Project has a steady influx of applicants wishing to become Developers. These applicants must undergo an elaborate vetting process which establishes their identity, motivation, understanding of the Project's goals (embodied in the Social Contract), and technical competence. More information on the "New Maintainer" process is available at [http://www.debian.org/devel/join/newmaint the Debian New Maintainer page]. Debian Developers join the Project for any number of reasons; some that have been cited in the past include: * a desire to contribute back to the Free software movement (practically all applicants are users of Free Software); * a desire to see some specific software task accomplished (some view the Debian user community as a valuable testing or proving ground for new software); * a desire to make, or keep, Free Software competitive with proprietary software; * a desire to work closely with people that share some of their aptitudes, interests, and goals (there is a very strong sense of community within the Debian Project which some applicants do not experience in their paid jobs); * a simple enjoyment of the iterative process of software development and maintenance (some developers have a nearly obsessive level of dedication to refinement and enhancement of software). Debian Developers may resign their positions at any time by orphaning the packages they were responsible for and sending a notice to the developers and the public key infrastructure maintainer (so that their upload authorization can be revoked). == Debian package life cycle == Each Debian package has a maintainer who keeps track of releases by the "upstream" authors of the software and ensures that the package is compliant with Debian Policy, coheres with the rest of the distribution, and meets the standards of quality of Debian. In relations with users and other developers, the maintainer uses the bug tracking system to follow up on bug reports and fix bugs. Typically, there is only one maintainer for a single package, but increasingly small teams of developers "co-maintain" larger and more complex packages and groups of packages. Periodically, a package maintainer makes a release of a package by uploading it to the "incoming" directory of the Debian package archive (or an "upload queue" which periodically batch-transmits packages to the incoming directory). Package uploads are automatically processed to ensure that the upload is well-formed (all the requisite files are in place) and that the package bears the digital signature -- produced with OpenPGP-compatible software -- of a Debian developer. All Debian developers have public keys. Packages are signed to be able to reject uploads from hostile outsiders to the project, and to permit accountability in the event that a package contains a serious Computer bug, a violation of policy, or malicious code. If the package in incoming is found to be validly signed and well-formed, it is installed into the archive into an area called the "pool" and distributed every day to hundreds of mirror (computing)s worldwide. Initially, all package uploads accepted into the archive are only available in the "unstable" suite of packages, which contains the most up-to-date version of each package. However, new code is also untried code, and those packages are only distributed with clear disclaimers. For packages to become candidates for the next "stable" release of the Debian distribution, they first need to be included in the "testing" suite. The requirements for a package to be included in "testing" is that it: * must have been in ''unstable'' for the appropriate length of time (the exact duration depends on the "urgency" of the upload); * must not have a greater number of "release-critical" bugs filed against it than the current version in testing. Release-critical bugs are those bugs which are considered serious enough that they make the package unsuitable for release. * must be compiled for all architectures slated to release; * must be a package for an architecture that is slated to release (in other words, packages for architectures that aren't scheduled to release with all the rest are never considered for "testing") * must not depend on versions of any packages which do not meet the above conditions Thus, a release-critical bug in a package on which many packages depend, such as a shared library, may prevent many packages from entering the "testing" area, because that library is considered deficient. Periodically, the Release Manager publishes guidelines to the developers in order to ready the release, and in accordance with them eventually decides to make a release. This occurs when all important software is reasonably up-to-date in the release-candidate suite for all architectures for which a release is planned, and when any other goals set by the Release Manager have been met. At that time, all packages in the release-candidate suite ("testing") become part of the released suite ("stable"). It is possible for a package -- particularly an old, stable, and seldom-updated one -- to belong to more than one suite at the same time. The suites are simply collections of pointers into the package "pool" mentioned above. == Criticisms == === Technical Criticisms === The main technical criticism of Debian is that the released, ''stable'' branch can get too old to be useful for some purposes. This criticism is countered to some degree by the existence of: * Repositories of backported packages (updated package versions compiled in ''stable'' environment), like those on [http://www.backports.org/ backports.org] and [http://www.apt-get.org apt-get.org] * The ''testing'' branch of Debian, which contains updated software that is more stable than its name indicates, but does not have official security or other support from the Debian Project. Distributions such as Kanotix and Knoppix, based on debian, use the testing branch, and have gained some popularity by providing useful LiveCD's containing very new features of different applications, and also offer an option to install this to the user's harddisc if wanted. There is also a "[http://sourceforge.net/projects/debianhardened Hardened Debian]," a project that aims to add high security & hardening features, hardened kernels, packages and enhanced toolchain, the DHKP kernel patches and other cryptography & security related enhancements. === Organizational Criticisms === Another major criticism of Debian is social and political. The "attitude" of hard-line Debian users can be oppressive and daunting to users. Examples include: * Newcomers who may have questions may expect to be flamed or "bashed" on certain Debian support forums if they ask what may seem to be a "newbie" question * The chat server irc.debian.org, which is semi-famous for its hostile stance towards users who fail to first RTFM == Footnotes == Some refer to ''sid'' as an acronym for ''Still In Development'', but this is an unofficial backronym that is not often used. == See also == *List of Linux distributions *Comparison of Linux distributions *Comparison of operating systems (security) == External links == === Official Project resources === *[http://www.debian.org/ Official Project website] *[http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual Installation Manual] for the current ''stable'' release *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/reference.en.html Debian Reference] Manual *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ A Brief History of Debian] *[http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ Debian Policy Manual] === Community sites === *[http://www.debianplanet.org/ Debian Planet] news and discussion site *[http://planet.debian.org/ Planet Debian] developer weblogs *[http://forums.debian.net/ Debian User Forums] *[http://www.debianforum.de/ Debian User Forums] (german language) *[http://www.debianforum.dk/ Debian User Forums] (danish language) *[http://wiki.debian.net/ Debian collaboration Wiki] *[http://www.debianPT.org DebianPT] (portuguese language) === Guides and additional documentation === *[http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/ Newbie assistance and documentation] === Other distributions based on Debian === *[http://www.kanotix.com/ Kanotix] Kanotix is a Live CD and Debian installer in one. It is possibly the easiest way in existence to install a pure Debian system. *[http://www.knoppix.org/ Knoppix] Knoppix is a Live CD based on Debian, which in turn has several derivatives (including Morphix, Whoppix, and Xfld). *[http://www.libranet.com/ LibraNet] Libranet *[http://www.mepis.com/ Mepis] Mepis, a KDE distro for newbies. *[http://www.ubuntulinux.org Ubuntu] Ubuntu Linux is a Gnome centered distribution based on Debian. A Live CD is available along with several derivatives (including Kubuntu). *[http://www.xandros.com/ Xandros] Xandros [http://www.debian.org/misc/children-distros.html see also] === Miscellaneous === *[http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=review-debian Distrowatch review] *[http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Debian/installers.html Overview of Debian installers] *[http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/index.en.html Debian Jr. Project] to ensure suitability for children *[http://people.debian.org/~madduck/organigram/organisation.png Map of the Debian organization] *[http://www.tomvergote.be/writings/Linux/Debian-Gentoo-production-environment.html Debian vs Gentoo] *[http://wiki.debian.net/?DebianAMD64 Debian Pure64 for AMD64] Debian Computing portmanteaus simple:Debian vi:Debian
== Screenshots? == I'd like to question the usefulness of the screenshots, particularly as they are now - presented as ''Debian Desktops''. This is simply untrue - there is no such thing as a ''Debian Desktop'' - it's KDE, *box, WindowMaker, GNOME, XFCE, or any of a host of others. It's simply not specifically a ''Debian Desktop''. As such, what is the purpose of the inclusion of these screenshots? --User:Brother Dysk 12:01, Dec 21, 2004 (UTC) :I somewhat agree, as they were never even "typical" Debian desktops. Nevertheless, it is useful to have screenshots of systems running Debian, and it would be even better if those screenshots had Debian-specific tools displayed, like aptitude. Ultimately, it would also be best if we knew what was running in the screenshots and in all screenshots, but some thoughtless fool neglected to provide any information about the screenshots, neither in the Image: page or in this article. --User:Centrx 01:26, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC) :Agree. I don't think it's useful to have screenshots (at least those) unless someone would really know nothing about GNU/Linux. If one is kept, I suggest a bare Woody with the default DE. I don't even know what it is. I'm removing the old-looking one. I suggest displaying mozilla on debian.org to replace the remaining one.--User:Chealer 22:19, 2005 Feb 12 (UTC) :Agree. I think having some screenshots is important, as people naturally want to 'see' what they are reading about, even if that doesn't mean much. I agree regarding a useful apt shot. The current one doesn't demonstrate dependency handling (I'll upload an alternative). Perhaps a different desktop shot would be good - e.g. Wmaker out-of-the-box has a 'debian' theme? --User:Jdowland 14:33, 7 May 2005 (UTC) The screenshot doesn't appear as what a user might 'typically' expect from Debian... Perhaps a more generic screenshot of a debian desktop (i.e. the default layout of Gnome before any customisation) would be better? If we wanna show off what Gnome can look like surely that belongs in its own article? --User:mattsday 01:19, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) :Disagree. This screenshot looks great and is one of the possible ways you can configure Debian. A more productive action would be to create a debian package called "gnome-theme-wikipedia" or something that perfectly recreates the presented desktop. --User:Eanschuessler 20:30, 9 June 2005 (UTC) ==Old discussions== ===commercial/non-free=== on http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#TOCCommercial it states: Please don't use ``commercial'' as a synonym for ``non-free.'' That confuses two entirely different issues. In the first paragraph the article seems to use ``non-commercial'' as a synonym for ``free.'' Debian doesnt realy have to be non comercial - you can happily charge money for Debain and many commercial distros are based on it. This is a classic confusion with Linux but fairly obviously id false, hence the multitude of commercial linux distros --User:Htaccess :I agree with you, that "non-commercial" != "free". The core of Debian is non-commercial ''and'' free that's why I added the word "free" to the first sentence. Hope this is o.k. with you --User:Marco Krohn 15:38 30 Jun 2003 (UTC) :: yup - that makes sense, its pretty clear what it is now, the only issue is that the link to free software includes both free beer and free speech, but thats quite good anyway - as the reader will then understand the difference and probably then realise that Debian is free in both senses. --User:Htaccess ::: non-commercial didn't really make sense there, the pipe link to Free software works fine. --User:Shallot 00:01, 2 Sep 2003 (UTC) === List of Debian-based distros === Should this really be a list of ''all'' Debian-based distributions, which it is fast becoming as many are added to the list? Instead, this purpose is better served by categories, possibly with a link to the appropriate category in section "Related articles", only leaving here a list of the most famous Debian-based distributions or, better yet, no list at all. Distributions that are relevant to the discussion of the article may be linked within its text. --User:Centrx 20:47, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC) : I say no list at all -- move it all out into a separate article linked from here. --User:Joy 21:35, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC) : Done that. --User:Joy ===Debian-based distros=== I'm much in favor of including a few words about the characteristics of each of the debian-based distros. Would make it much easier to get a quick overview. Reading all subpages is not the same as a quick characterization of each distro with 3-6 words. --User:Gwicke 23:42, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC) : Just make it consistent. --User:Shallot 23:50, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC) ::I've kept this very short now, i wouldn't mind it being a bit longer for each. Similar to the listing at Linux distribution. --User:Gwicke 00:17, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC) How about Lesbian GNU/Linux [http://www.lesbian.mine.nu/], it it a real distribution or just some joke? should we list it? --User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 17:54, 2004 Jun 26 (UTC) : It's not a real distro, it is a porn retriever with the user interface of apt-get and apt-cache. So, you type porn-get install boobies and it downloads the porn archive it has listed as "boobies". - User:Centrx 19:58, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC) ::I'm not sure it is even that- purely in the interests of research, I attempted to d/l it, and actual files were simply not on the site. --User:marudubshinki === testing, unstable === The "Criticism" section notes the existence of 'testing' as a counter to the criticism that 'stable' is too old. From what I've heard, this isn't the purpose of testing. The testing distribution is for testing, not for users. If you want to stay the most up-to-date with upstream versions, that's what 'unstable' is for. (This is my experience, as well: trying to run 'testing' as a user, you get the worst of both worlds: the instability of 'unstable', and the slow rate of releases of 'stable'.) --Anonymous : Regardless, the users still widely use testing instead of stable to get newer packages. --User:Joy 09:37, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC) : Check the [http://wooledge.org/~greg/sidfaq.html Sid FAQ]. Broken dependencies, etc. make Sid not recommendable. Stable is currently hard to recommend. There's testing remaining. --User:Chealer 22:19, 2005 Feb 12 (UTC) ::Second Joy. Testing is what any other distro would probably call stable- I never had the slightest problem wi' it. --User:marudubshinki === Neologism: "debianize" === 12:56, 26 Aug 2004 68.74.167.117 (Added make-up word "Debianize" -- gabrielinux@softhome.net) * To "[debianize|debianize]:" To fulfill Debian's mission, or to install or experiment with Debian. ([Debianized]) Said of a machine that runs a Debian-based system, or a person who is very much into Debian. : This is not a place for just-invented words, especially if they don't match the actual most common use in Debian -- to equip an upstream source package with Debian-related stuff so that it can build a (Debian-compliant) .deb. --User:Joy 12:27, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC) ===Categorization=== In response to the most recent edit by Shallot, I erred because I meant to include the category ''Linux distributions'' in the category ''Operating systems'', but forgot. If this had been done, the Debian article inherits the categorization of operating system because it is in the category Linux distributions. With categories, only the most specific categorization should be specified in the article. Now that I think about it more though, this whole categories business may need some discussion with regard to Linux, GNU/Linux, and distributions. The most pertinent question here might be whether "Linux distributions" ''should'' be in category ''Operating systems''. Another might be whether all the Linux distributions should instead be categorized as ''GNU/Linux distributions''. Another might be whether there should be a general category ''GNU/Linux'' for all things Linux, with the category ''Linux'' being only for kernel-related items. Alternatively, ''Linux'' might be the larger category with only free-software- and GNU-related items in ''GNU/Linux''. And so forth... --User:Centrx 20:32, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC) : Another editor subcategorized the operating system category in the meantime it seems. I guess it's okay now. --User:Shallot 12:25, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC) ===Featured Article candidacy (not promoted)=== ==== (Contested -- Jul 1) Debian ==== I'd like to nominate this article since it contains a fair amount of detail and information on the subject -- certainly more than I would have expected. --User:Pne 11:26, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC) *Agree.Is a screenshot possible? --Merovingian">User:Merovingian✍Talk">User talk:Merovingian 11:29, Jul 1, 2004 (UTC)
* Object. While not wishing to plunge the article into a holy war, 1) I'd like to see some comparison of Debian in relation to other distributions (carefully NPOV, of course). Currently we mention Debian's features, but don't give a context as to how this compares to other distributions. For example, the large number of platforms is described, but it's not mentioned that other major distributions typically support only one or two platforms. APT is mentioned, but it's not compared to other (commonly perceived to be...) inferior packaging systems, e.g RPM. Similarly for the free-software philosophy and the nature of the Debian Project. 2) Also, there's no discussion of the (commonly perceived...) weaknesses of the distribution; it's common to hear people criticise the user-friendliness of Debian (e.g. no pretty installation / configuration tools). --User:Matt Crypto 14:39, 3 Jul 2004 (UTC)
*Not focused. (Is GNU/FreeBSD really deserving of a mention in the ''intro'' for more than the sheer novelty factor?) and the writing is not compelling. Both are fixable. Try news style for the intro? --User:David Gerard 18:13, 3 Jul 2004 (UTC)
===sid as backronym===
Is "sid" actually a "back-formation"? Why doesn't the article refer to it as a backronym? User:Mickeyreiss 17:58, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)
''No, it does not, but this is no reason for deleting information. It is a reason for correcting it...'' --User:XTaran
: Well, not really. I've actually never heard of these "some people" saying that until I read this on Wikipedia! It's a too frivolous piece of half-information to be that high up in the article. --User:Shallot 13:14, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)
::Ok, that sounds like an argument. So I just asked Joey from the Debian Project about the frequency of this expansion. He shares my opinion: In his opinion, Wikipedia should list it as "inofficial expand of the codename sid". I'll try to find a place not so high up in the article. --User:XTaran 14:54, 01 Mar 2004 (UTC)
::: Done. Anyone knows how to make footnotes a better way? Haven't found any special Wiki markup for them, I just used
Free software Linux distributions Free software operating systems
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Debian:
Debian
Debian
Debian
Debian
Debian/sid
Debian_based_distributions
Debian_Free_Software_Guidelines
Debian_GNU/FreeBSD
Debian_GNU/Hurd
Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD
Debian_GNU/Linux
Debian_GNU/NetBSD
Debian_GNU_Hurd
Debian_Linux
Debian_Manifesto
Debian_Project
Debian_Project
Debian_Social_Contract
Debian
Debian, created by the Debian Project, is a widely used Linux distribution of free software developed through the collaboration of volunteers from around the world. Since its inception, the released system, Debian GNU/Linux, has been based on the Linux kernel with many basic tools of the operating system from the GNU project. Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix philosophy and free software philosophies. It is also known for its abundance of options: the current release contains over fifteen thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures, ranging from the ARM architecture commonly found in embedded systems and the IBM s390 Mainframe computer architecture to the more common x86 and PowerPC architectures found in modern personal computers. Debian is also known for its package management system and APT, the Advanced Packaging Tool in particular, its strict policies regarding the quality of its packages and releases, and its open development and testing process. These practices afford easy upgrades between releases without rebooting and easy installation and removal of packages. Debian is supported by donations through Software in the Public Interest, a non-profit organization umbrella organization for free software projects. == History == Debian was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock, then a student at Purdue University, who wrote the ''Debian Manifesto'' which called for the creation of a Linux distribution to be maintained in an open manner, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. He chose the name by combining the first name of his then-girlfriend (now wife) Debra with his own first name "Ian", forming the portmanteau "Debian", pronounced as the corresponding syllables of these names are in American English: . The Debian Project grew slowly at first and released its first 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995. The first ports to other architectures started being made in 1995, and the first 1.x version of Debian was released in 1996. In 1996, Bruce Perens replaced Ian Murdock as the project leader. At the suggestion of fellow developer Ean Schuessler, he guided the editing process of the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. He also initiated the creation of the legal umbrella organization Software in the Public Interest. Bruce Perens left in 1998 before the release of the first glibc-based Debian, 2.0. The Project proceeded to elect new leaders and make two more 2.x releases, each including more ports and more packages. Advanced Packaging Tool was deployed during this time and the Debian GNU/Hurd was started as well. The year 1999 brought the first other Linux distributions based on Debian, Corel Linux and Stormix's Storm Linux, neither of which is developed any more but which started what is now a notable trend of #Distributions based on Debian. In late 2000, the project switched to the use of the package pools and began the "testing" distribution, marking a major change in archive and release management. In 2001, developers began holding an annual conference called Debconf with talks, workshops, and technical users welcome. The 3.0 release of 2002 included more than double the number of packages of the previous release and supported five new architectures. Debian celebrated its tenth anniversary on August 16, 2003, with parties held around the world. On 6 June 2005, after three continuous years of development, release 3.1, codenamed ''sarge'', was [http://www.debian.org/News/2005/20050606 released]. :''See [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ A Brief History of Debian] for a more comprehensive history.'' == Debian releases == The latest released version of Debian is called ''stable''. As of 2005, the latest stable release is version 3.1, also called ''sarge''. In addition, a stable release gets minor updates (so-called ''point releases'') marked, for example, like 3.0r1. The code names of Debian releases are names of characters from the movie ''Toy Story'': * 3.2 -- ''Etch (Debian)'', release date unknown * 3.1 -- ''Sarge (Debian)'', 6 June 2005 * 3.0 -- ''Woody (Debian)'', 19 July 2002 * 2.2 -- ''Potato (Debian)'', 15 August 2000 * 2.1 -- ''Slink (Debian)'', 9 March 1999 * 2.0 -- ''Hamm (Debian)'', 24 July 1998 * 1.3 -- ''Bo (Debian)'', 2 June 1997 * 1.2 -- ''Rex (Debian)'', 12 December 1996 * 1.1 -- ''Buzz (Debian)'', 17 June 1996 Because a CD vendor made an unofficial, broken release labeled "1.0", an official "1.0" release was never made. Day-to-day development takes place in the branches known as ''unstable'' and ''experimental''. The unstable branch is permanently codenamed ''sid'', after the boy next door who broke toys. The software in the "unstable" branch is not necessarily unstable, only that the packaging and other Debian-specific modifications may be new and untested. Software which is itself unstable is generally placed in "experimental". Many people use sid as their main operating system, contrary to the advice from Debian, because they feel that it's the only Debian release with reasonably up-to-date software (this was mostly due to Debian 3.1 being released three years after the previous stable release). Debian maintainers discourage the novice users from using the unstable distribution and there is generally little or no support offered officially by Debian for such use(altough most of the support is done via unofficial means, like irc, mail lists, forums, etc.), only by means of the bug tracking system, etc. ==Unreleased systems== The Project describes itself as creating "The Universal Operating System" and develops porting of the entire userland to various Kernel (computer science): * Debian GNU/Linux, the original version, on the Linux kernel * Debian GNU/Hurd, on GNU Hurd * Debian GNU/NetBSD, on the NetBSD kernel * Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, on the FreeBSD kernel. The non-Linux ports have yet to be officially released so, currently, Debian is exclusively a GNU/Linux distribution. The effort to combine the GNU-based userland with BSD kernels is also controversial among some of the developers of the BSD systems, who do not consider their kernel to be a separable component from the userland. == Project organization == The Debian Project is a volunteer organization with three foundational documents: * The Debian Social Contract defines a set of basic principles by which the project and its developers conduct affairs. * The Debian Free Software Guidelines define the criteria for "free software" and so what software is permissible in the distribution, as referenced in the Social Contract. These guidelines have also been adopted as the basis of the Open Source Definition. * [http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution The Debian Constitution] describes the organizational structure for formal decision-making within the Project, and enumerates the powers and responsibilities of the Debian Project Leader, the Debian Project Secretary, and the Debian Developers generally. Currently, the project includes more than a thousand developers. Each of them sustains some niche in the project, be it software package maintenance, software documentation, maintaining the project infrastructure, quality assurance, or release coordination. Package maintainers have jurisdiction over their own packages, although packages are increasingly co-maintained. Other tasks are usually the domain of smaller, more collaborative groups of developers. The project maintains official mailing lists and conferences for communication and coordination between developers. For issues with single packages or domains, a public computer bug tracking system is used by developers and end-users both. Informally, Internet Relay Chat channels (primarily on the OFTC and freenode networks) are used for communication among developers and users as well. Together, the Developers may make binding general decisions by way of a General Resolution or election. All voting is conducted by Schulze method, a Condorcet method of voting. A Project Leader is elected once per year by a vote of the Developers. The Debian Project Leader has several special powers, but this power is far from absolute and is rarely utilized. Under a General Resolution, the Developers may, among other things, recall the leader, reverse a decision by him or his delegates, and amend the constitution and other foundational documents. The Leader sometimes delegates authority to other developers in order for them to perform specialized tasks. Generally this means that a leader delegates someone to start a new group for a new task, and gradually a team gets formed that carries on doing the work and regularly expands or reduces their ranks as they think is best and as the circumstances allow. Perhaps a more important person to Debian than the Leader is the software release Manager, who sets goals for the next "stable" release, supervises the process, and makes the final decision as to when to release. A list of many important positions in the Debian Project is available at [http://www.debian.org/intro/organization the Debian organization web page]. == Developer recruitment, motivation, and resignation == The Debian Project has a steady influx of applicants wishing to become Developers. These applicants must undergo an elaborate vetting process which establishes their identity, motivation, understanding of the Project's goals (embodied in the Social Contract), and technical competence. More information on the "New Maintainer" process is available at [http://www.debian.org/devel/join/newmaint the Debian New Maintainer page]. Debian Developers join the Project for any number of reasons; some that have been cited in the past include: * a desire to contribute back to the Free software movement (practically all applicants are users of Free Software); * a desire to see some specific software task accomplished (some view the Debian user community as a valuable testing or proving ground for new software); * a desire to make, or keep, Free Software competitive with proprietary software; * a desire to work closely with people that share some of their aptitudes, interests, and goals (there is a very strong sense of community within the Debian Project which some applicants do not experience in their paid jobs); * a simple enjoyment of the iterative process of software development and maintenance (some developers have a nearly obsessive level of dedication to refinement and enhancement of software). Debian Developers may resign their positions at any time by orphaning the packages they were responsible for and sending a notice to the developers and the public key infrastructure maintainer (so that their upload authorization can be revoked). == Debian package life cycle == Each Debian package has a maintainer who keeps track of releases by the "upstream" authors of the software and ensures that the package is compliant with Debian Policy, coheres with the rest of the distribution, and meets the standards of quality of Debian. In relations with users and other developers, the maintainer uses the bug tracking system to follow up on bug reports and fix bugs. Typically, there is only one maintainer for a single package, but increasingly small teams of developers "co-maintain" larger and more complex packages and groups of packages. Periodically, a package maintainer makes a release of a package by uploading it to the "incoming" directory of the Debian package archive (or an "upload queue" which periodically batch-transmits packages to the incoming directory). Package uploads are automatically processed to ensure that the upload is well-formed (all the requisite files are in place) and that the package bears the digital signature -- produced with OpenPGP-compatible software -- of a Debian developer. All Debian developers have public keys. Packages are signed to be able to reject uploads from hostile outsiders to the project, and to permit accountability in the event that a package contains a serious Computer bug, a violation of policy, or malicious code. If the package in incoming is found to be validly signed and well-formed, it is installed into the archive into an area called the "pool" and distributed every day to hundreds of mirror (computing)s worldwide. Initially, all package uploads accepted into the archive are only available in the "unstable" suite of packages, which contains the most up-to-date version of each package. However, new code is also untried code, and those packages are only distributed with clear disclaimers. For packages to become candidates for the next "stable" release of the Debian distribution, they first need to be included in the "testing" suite. The requirements for a package to be included in "testing" is that it: * must have been in ''unstable'' for the appropriate length of time (the exact duration depends on the "urgency" of the upload); * must not have a greater number of "release-critical" bugs filed against it than the current version in testing. Release-critical bugs are those bugs which are considered serious enough that they make the package unsuitable for release. * must be compiled for all architectures slated to release; * must be a package for an architecture that is slated to release (in other words, packages for architectures that aren't scheduled to release with all the rest are never considered for "testing") * must not depend on versions of any packages which do not meet the above conditions Thus, a release-critical bug in a package on which many packages depend, such as a shared library, may prevent many packages from entering the "testing" area, because that library is considered deficient. Periodically, the Release Manager publishes guidelines to the developers in order to ready the release, and in accordance with them eventually decides to make a release. This occurs when all important software is reasonably up-to-date in the release-candidate suite for all architectures for which a release is planned, and when any other goals set by the Release Manager have been met. At that time, all packages in the release-candidate suite ("testing") become part of the released suite ("stable"). It is possible for a package -- particularly an old, stable, and seldom-updated one -- to belong to more than one suite at the same time. The suites are simply collections of pointers into the package "pool" mentioned above. == Criticisms == === Technical Criticisms === The main technical criticism of Debian is that the released, ''stable'' branch can get too old to be useful for some purposes. This criticism is countered to some degree by the existence of: * Repositories of backported packages (updated package versions compiled in ''stable'' environment), like those on [http://www.backports.org/ backports.org] and [http://www.apt-get.org apt-get.org] * The ''testing'' branch of Debian, which contains updated software that is more stable than its name indicates, but does not have official security or other support from the Debian Project. Distributions such as Kanotix and Knoppix, based on debian, use the testing branch, and have gained some popularity by providing useful LiveCD's containing very new features of different applications, and also offer an option to install this to the user's harddisc if wanted. There is also a "[http://sourceforge.net/projects/debianhardened Hardened Debian]," a project that aims to add high security & hardening features, hardened kernels, packages and enhanced toolchain, the DHKP kernel patches and other cryptography & security related enhancements. === Organizational Criticisms === Another major criticism of Debian is social and political. The "attitude" of hard-line Debian users can be oppressive and daunting to users. Examples include: * Newcomers who may have questions may expect to be flamed or "bashed" on certain Debian support forums if they ask what may seem to be a "newbie" question * The chat server irc.debian.org, which is semi-famous for its hostile stance towards users who fail to first RTFM == Footnotes == Some refer to ''sid'' as an acronym for ''Still In Development'', but this is an unofficial backronym that is not often used. == See also == *List of Linux distributions *Comparison of Linux distributions *Comparison of operating systems (security) == External links == === Official Project resources === *[http://www.debian.org/ Official Project website] *[http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual Installation Manual] for the current ''stable'' release *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/reference.en.html Debian Reference] Manual *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ A Brief History of Debian] *[http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ Debian Policy Manual] === Community sites === *[http://www.debianplanet.org/ Debian Planet] news and discussion site *[http://planet.debian.org/ Planet Debian] developer weblogs *[http://forums.debian.net/ Debian User Forums] *[http://www.debianforum.de/ Debian User Forums] (german language) *[http://www.debianforum.dk/ Debian User Forums] (danish language) *[http://wiki.debian.net/ Debian collaboration Wiki] *[http://www.debianPT.org DebianPT] (portuguese language) === Guides and additional documentation === *[http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/ Newbie assistance and documentation] === Other distributions based on Debian === *[http://www.kanotix.com/ Kanotix] Kanotix is a Live CD and Debian installer in one. It is possibly the easiest way in existence to install a pure Debian system. *[http://www.knoppix.org/ Knoppix] Knoppix is a Live CD based on Debian, which in turn has several derivatives (including Morphix, Whoppix, and Xfld). *[http://www.libranet.com/ LibraNet] Libranet *[http://www.mepis.com/ Mepis] Mepis, a KDE distro for newbies. *[http://www.ubuntulinux.org Ubuntu] Ubuntu Linux is a Gnome centered distribution based on Debian. A Live CD is available along with several derivatives (including Kubuntu). *[http://www.xandros.com/ Xandros] Xandros [http://www.debian.org/misc/children-distros.html see also] === Miscellaneous === *[http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=review-debian Distrowatch review] *[http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Debian/installers.html Overview of Debian installers] *[http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/index.en.html Debian Jr. Project] to ensure suitability for children *[http://people.debian.org/~madduck/organigram/organisation.png Map of the Debian organization] *[http://www.tomvergote.be/writings/Linux/Debian-Gentoo-production-environment.html Debian vs Gentoo] *[http://wiki.debian.net/?DebianAMD64 Debian Pure64 for AMD64] Debian Computing portmanteaus simple:Debian vi:Debian
Debian
== Screenshots? == I'd like to question the usefulness of the screenshots, particularly as they are now - presented as ''Debian Desktops''. This is simply untrue - there is no such thing as a ''Debian Desktop'' - it's KDE, *box, WindowMaker, GNOME, XFCE, or any of a host of others. It's simply not specifically a ''Debian Desktop''. As such, what is the purpose of the inclusion of these screenshots? --User:Brother Dysk 12:01, Dec 21, 2004 (UTC) :I somewhat agree, as they were never even "typical" Debian desktops. Nevertheless, it is useful to have screenshots of systems running Debian, and it would be even better if those screenshots had Debian-specific tools displayed, like aptitude. Ultimately, it would also be best if we knew what was running in the screenshots and in all screenshots, but some thoughtless fool neglected to provide any information about the screenshots, neither in the Image: page or in this article. --User:Centrx 01:26, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC) :Agree. I don't think it's useful to have screenshots (at least those) unless someone would really know nothing about GNU/Linux. If one is kept, I suggest a bare Woody with the default DE. I don't even know what it is. I'm removing the old-looking one. I suggest displaying mozilla on debian.org to replace the remaining one.--User:Chealer 22:19, 2005 Feb 12 (UTC) :Agree. I think having some screenshots is important, as people naturally want to 'see' what they are reading about, even if that doesn't mean much. I agree regarding a useful apt shot. The current one doesn't demonstrate dependency handling (I'll upload an alternative). Perhaps a different desktop shot would be good - e.g. Wmaker out-of-the-box has a 'debian' theme? --User:Jdowland 14:33, 7 May 2005 (UTC) The screenshot doesn't appear as what a user might 'typically' expect from Debian... Perhaps a more generic screenshot of a debian desktop (i.e. the default layout of Gnome before any customisation) would be better? If we wanna show off what Gnome can look like surely that belongs in its own article? --User:mattsday 01:19, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) :Disagree. This screenshot looks great and is one of the possible ways you can configure Debian. A more productive action would be to create a debian package called "gnome-theme-wikipedia" or something that perfectly recreates the presented desktop. --User:Eanschuessler 20:30, 9 June 2005 (UTC) ==Old discussions== ===commercial/non-free=== on http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#TOCCommercial it states: Please don't use ``commercial'' as a synonym for ``non-free.'' That confuses two entirely different issues. In the first paragraph the article seems to use ``non-commercial'' as a synonym for ``free.'' Debian doesnt realy have to be non comercial - you can happily charge money for Debain and many commercial distros are based on it. This is a classic confusion with Linux but fairly obviously id false, hence the multitude of commercial linux distros --User:Htaccess :I agree with you, that "non-commercial" != "free". The core of Debian is non-commercial ''and'' free that's why I added the word "free" to the first sentence. Hope this is o.k. with you --User:Marco Krohn 15:38 30 Jun 2003 (UTC) :: yup - that makes sense, its pretty clear what it is now, the only issue is that the link to free software includes both free beer and free speech, but thats quite good anyway - as the reader will then understand the difference and probably then realise that Debian is free in both senses. --User:Htaccess ::: non-commercial didn't really make sense there, the pipe link to Free software works fine. --User:Shallot 00:01, 2 Sep 2003 (UTC) === List of Debian-based distros === Should this really be a list of ''all'' Debian-based distributions, which it is fast becoming as many are added to the list? Instead, this purpose is better served by categories, possibly with a link to the appropriate category in section "Related articles", only leaving here a list of the most famous Debian-based distributions or, better yet, no list at all. Distributions that are relevant to the discussion of the article may be linked within its text. --User:Centrx 20:47, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC) : I say no list at all -- move it all out into a separate article linked from here. --User:Joy 21:35, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC) : Done that. --User:Joy ===Debian-based distros=== I'm much in favor of including a few words about the characteristics of each of the debian-based distros. Would make it much easier to get a quick overview. Reading all subpages is not the same as a quick characterization of each distro with 3-6 words. --User:Gwicke 23:42, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC) : Just make it consistent. --User:Shallot 23:50, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC) ::I've kept this very short now, i wouldn't mind it being a bit longer for each. Similar to the listing at Linux distribution. --User:Gwicke 00:17, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC) How about Lesbian GNU/Linux [http://www.lesbian.mine.nu/], it it a real distribution or just some joke? should we list it? --User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 17:54, 2004 Jun 26 (UTC) : It's not a real distro, it is a porn retriever with the user interface of apt-get and apt-cache. So, you type porn-get install boobies and it downloads the porn archive it has listed as "boobies". - User:Centrx 19:58, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC) ::I'm not sure it is even that- purely in the interests of research, I attempted to d/l it, and actual files were simply not on the site. --User:marudubshinki === testing, unstable === The "Criticism" section notes the existence of 'testing' as a counter to the criticism that 'stable' is too old. From what I've heard, this isn't the purpose of testing. The testing distribution is for testing, not for users. If you want to stay the most up-to-date with upstream versions, that's what 'unstable' is for. (This is my experience, as well: trying to run 'testing' as a user, you get the worst of both worlds: the instability of 'unstable', and the slow rate of releases of 'stable'.) --Anonymous : Regardless, the users still widely use testing instead of stable to get newer packages. --User:Joy 09:37, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC) : Check the [http://wooledge.org/~greg/sidfaq.html Sid FAQ]. Broken dependencies, etc. make Sid not recommendable. Stable is currently hard to recommend. There's testing remaining. --User:Chealer 22:19, 2005 Feb 12 (UTC) ::Second Joy. Testing is what any other distro would probably call stable- I never had the slightest problem wi' it. --User:marudubshinki === Neologism: "debianize" === 12:56, 26 Aug 2004 68.74.167.117 (Added make-up word "Debianize" -- gabrielinux@softhome.net) * To "[debianize|debianize]:" To fulfill Debian's mission, or to install or experiment with Debian. ([Debianized]) Said of a machine that runs a Debian-based system, or a person who is very much into Debian. : This is not a place for just-invented words, especially if they don't match the actual most common use in Debian -- to equip an upstream source package with Debian-related stuff so that it can build a (Debian-compliant) .deb. --User:Joy 12:27, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC) ===Categorization=== In response to the most recent edit by Shallot, I erred because I meant to include the category ''Linux distributions'' in the category ''Operating systems'', but forgot. If this had been done, the Debian article inherits the categorization of operating system because it is in the category Linux distributions. With categories, only the most specific categorization should be specified in the article. Now that I think about it more though, this whole categories business may need some discussion with regard to Linux, GNU/Linux, and distributions. The most pertinent question here might be whether "Linux distributions" ''should'' be in category ''Operating systems''. Another might be whether all the Linux distributions should instead be categorized as ''GNU/Linux distributions''. Another might be whether there should be a general category ''GNU/Linux'' for all things Linux, with the category ''Linux'' being only for kernel-related items. Alternatively, ''Linux'' might be the larger category with only free-software- and GNU-related items in ''GNU/Linux''. And so forth... --User:Centrx 20:32, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC) : Another editor subcategorized the operating system category in the meantime it seems. I guess it's okay now. --User:Shallot 12:25, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC) ===Featured Article candidacy (not promoted)=== ==== (Contested -- Jul 1) Debian ==== I'd like to nominate this article since it contains a fair amount of detail and information on the subject -- certainly more than I would have expected. --User:Pne 11:26, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC) *Agree.
==Footnotes== [[#Footnotes|<nowiki>[1]</nowiki>]], which looks quite ugly but at least works. --User:XTaran 19:38, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
== BSD criticisms ==
: ''The effort to combine the GNU-based userland with BSD kernels is also controversial among some of the developers of the BSD systems, who do not consider their kernel to be a separable component from the userland.''
The original wording implied that they all don't like it. I'd like to see some quotes or discussions, we need to quantify this statement. --User:Joy 11:47, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Also, isn't the opposition also based on the fact it's the GNU system (with GPL and all) that is being integrated with the BSD kernels? --User:Joy 11:48, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
== pages for individual releases ==
I really don't think we need silly little pages for each release, and titled after the codename at that. Unless someone actually adds some non-generic content to them, I'm going to nominate them for deletion.
Another angle to this issue would be the fact that we redirect Debian GNU/Linux here. If we split off the page about the project and about the software, we could easily and logically redirect the release names over to that page. However, this would beg the question - where to redirect the term "Debian" itself, to the project or to the software? --User:Joy 11:53, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)Debian
Free software Linux distributions Free software operating systems
Debian
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
D
DA | DB | DC | DE | DF | DG | DH | DI | DJ | DK | DL | DM | DN | DO | DP | DR | DS | DT | DU | DW | DX | DY | DZ |Words begining with Debian:
Debian
Debian
Debian
Debian
Debian/sid
Debian_based_distributions
Debian_Free_Software_Guidelines
Debian_GNU/FreeBSD
Debian_GNU/Hurd
Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD
Debian_GNU/Linux
Debian_GNU/NetBSD
Debian_GNU_Hurd
Debian_Linux
Debian_Manifesto
Debian_Project
Debian_Project
Debian_Social_Contract
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