So...what's Debian?

[SonnHalter]

who uses it and what are its benefits?

[perlluver]

Debian is what Ubuntu is made from. Many people use it for Servers and also as Desktop systems. It is very stable, and comes with a lot of free software. If you like a bleeding edge system, then Sid is for you. If you like a very stable system than Etch, or Lenny is for you. Basically Debian is Ubuntu's Daddy, or big sister.

[OutOfReach]

perlluver pretty much nailed it.
Debian is mostly focused on stability and not on user friendliness like Ubuntu. Being that it's so stable servers and people who want really reliable machines mostly use Debian.

[Mmmbopdowedop]

I used Ubuntu for several months thinking it was awesome, the fastest OS i've ever used and that nothing else would surpass the speeds.

Then I tried out Debian as the idea of building up everything myself sounded great. Now I use it instead of Ubuntu, it's a hell of a lot faster & cleaner.

Some things in Debian are a bit more harder to do than Ubuntu, some things I miss, like the auto-installation of wireless & network drivers, but by them not being there, I have learned alot more about how the OS works and can use this advantage to increase performance.

It is very stable imo, don't think i've crashed once, other than PulseAudio causing problems but that always happens for me on any version of Linux, should really try and sort it at some point.

I use my installation of Debian for the regular browsing with FireFox, MSN, Downloading, 3D model editing, Web Design, running a web-server & gaming to some extent. All that are possible with Ubuntu. Basicly it is pretty much the same, just without all the stuff that makes Ubuntu seem bloated, that being all the software that makes it so user-friendly.

I'm not saying Ubuntu is bad in any way, I genuinely enjoyed the time I spent with it and have recommended it to others.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Whats Debian?
You are using it, well sort of.
Debian is one of the oldest distros out there, its focussed on stability and the ideals of Open source by steering clear of most closed source stuff.
Ubuntu differs itself by including certain drivers that debian would not include by default.
Debian stable is a workhorse, it only updates when its needed.

[Sorivenul]

SunnyRabbiera pretty much said it all.

Debian is, other than Slackware, one of the longest surviving Linux distributions. It is well tested, the main releases are highly stable, and it provides one of, it not the largest default package bases of any distribution.

[andrew.46]

Hi Sorivenul,

Debian is, other than Slackware, one of the longest surviving Linux distributions.

In fact I believe Debian was officially released on 16 August 1993 while Slackware's release was on 16 July 1993. So I guess you could easily call them of equal age.

Andrew

[namegame]

So I guess you could easily call them of equal age.

Andrew

Just like 1 = 2, right?

People are prideful about their distribution of choice. It doesn't matter how much older one is, all that matters is that, it is in fact, older.

[winterblues]

Just like 1 = 2, right?

People are prideful about their distribution of choice. It doesn't matter how much older one is, all that matters is that, it is in fact, older.

You left out Stable & Reliable

[YeOK]

Here's a nice picture about Linux timelines.

Link: futurist.se