why do people shift to debian?

[arnab_das]

I'm curious what your definitions are for a convetional and unconventional linux os is?

BM

by conventional i mean OSes used by most people. say eg. ubuntu.

[snowpine]

It's like if you had pizza for the first time in your life, with ham and pineapple. You really like ham & pineapple pizza, yum! and you eat it all the time. But then one day, you say "I wonder what plain cheese pizza tastes like."

[urukrama]

Some of the reasons why I moved from Ubuntu to Debian:

1. It is lighter. A minimal Debian install contains less packages than a minimal Ubuntu install. As I work with old hardware, this means that Debian runs better on my computers, and also allows me to easily build up a system the way I like it.
   
2. Debian has a longer release cycle than Ubuntu. I don't want to update every six months, but neither want to be stuck with 3 year old packages if you use LTS releases. Debian Testing is as good as a rolling release if you want it to be.
   
3. Debian is more stable. Debian Stable is meant to be very stable, but Debian Testing is (in my experience) very stable too. Debian's main concern is not the latest or greatest, or a great design, but stability. I like a distro who has that as its main focus. Ubuntu's main focus with LTS releases is also not stability, just a longer support cycle (contrary to what is often thought).
   
4. I don't use Gnome, so most of the innovations Ubuntu offers are irrelevant to me, as they affect Gnome and sometimes very little else. And some of the innovations that do affect non-Gnome users I really don't like.

I don't have any ill feelings towards Ubuntu. I just realised Debian was a lot closer to what I wanted my OS to be.

[sisco311]

I don't have any ill feelings towards Ubuntu. I just realised <insert any OS here> was a lot closer to what I wanted my OS to be.

this

[doorknob60]

Stability, more customizablity (kinda, Ubuntu chooses defaults for you, Debian lets you choose them. Not that you can't in Ubuntu of course). I don't know, it's more of a build from the ground up distro than Ubuntu, though you can do that in Ubuntu too, it's just Debian is designed more with that in mind. Also, why not? It's fun to try out different distros and see what ones you like. They're both similar, but appeal to different people.

[detroit/zero]

1. Debian is more stable. Debian Stable is meant to be very stable, but Debian Testing is (in my experience) very stable too.

From my experience, Unstable is more stable than Testing.

[Psumi]

Faster, more stable, etc.

Even the testing version (Squeeze as of now.)

[witeshark17]

Hmm, gonna watch this thread. So far, I'm very happy with Ubuntu

[Psumi]

Hmm, gonna watch this thread. So far, I'm very happy with Ubuntu

We don't care. Debian users don't usually care either. if you like a distro other than Debian, fine, go for it.

[swoll1980]

Cause uboontoo iz 4 noobz!!!oneone