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Debian
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{{short description|Linux distribution based on free and open-source software}}{{good article}}{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
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Debian version history
Debian distribution codenames are based on the names of characters from the Toy Story films. Debian's unstable trunk is named after Sid, a character who regularly destroyed his toys.WEB, Debian Releases - Codenames,weblink Debian Wiki, 25 July 2017, September 30, 2017,weblink live,Founding (1993–1998)
First announced on August 16, 1993, Debian was founded by Ian Murdock, who initially called the system "the Debian Linux Release".WEB,weblink A Brief History of Debian, Chapter 1 – Introduction – What is the Debian Project?, Debian, 2013-05-04, 2014-06-22, December 22, 2015,weblink live, NEWSGROUP, New release under development; suggestions requested,weblink CBusDD.MIK@unix.portal.com, Murdock, Ian A., Ian Murdock, 1993-08-16, comp.os.linux.development, 2012-06-13, January 22, 2011,weblinkweblink live, The word "Debian" was formed as a portmanteau of the first name of his then-girlfriend (later ex-wife) Debra Lynn and his own first name.BOOK, Nixon, Robin, Ubuntu: Up and Running, 3, O'Reilly Media, 2010, 978-0-596-80484-8,weblink 2014-06-22, July 31, 2020,weblink live, Before Debian's release, the Softlanding Linux System (SLS) had been a popular Linux distribution and the basis for Slackware.WEB, Debian and the grass roots of Linux,weblink Hillesley, Richard, IT Pro, 2007-11-02, 2014-05-25, May 26, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140526030921weblink">weblink live, The perceived poor maintenance and prevalence of bugs in SLS motivated Murdock to launch a new distribution.BOOK, Scheetz, Dale, The Debian Linux user's guide, Linux Press, Penngrove, Calif, 1998, 0-9659575-1-9, 42689229, Debian 0.01, released on September 15, 1993, was the first of several internal releases. Version 0.90 was the first public release, providing support through mailing lists hosted at Pixar.WEB,weblink Release-0.91, ibiblio, 1994-01-31, 2014-07-03, September 24, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924133319weblink">weblink live, The release included the Debian Linux Manifesto, outlining Murdock's view for the new operating system. In it he called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained "openly in the spirit of Linux and GNU."WEB,weblink The Debian Linux Manifesto, Murdock, Ian A., Ian Murdock, ibiblio, 1994-01-06, 2014-07-17, September 24, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924133321weblink">weblink live, The Debian project released the 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995.WEB,weblink A Brief History of Debian, Chapter 3 – Debian Releases, Debian, 2013-05-04, 2014-06-22, August 17, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110817004510weblink">weblink live, During this time it was sponsored by the Free Software Foundation for one year.NEWSGROUP,weblink The FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian, gnusenet199604280427.AAA00388@delasyd.gnu.ai.mit.edu, Stallman, Richard, Richard Stallman, comp.os.linux.misc, 1996-04-28, 2014-08-22, January 22, 2011,weblinkweblink live, Ian Murdock delegated the base system, the core packages of Debian, to Bruce Perens and Murdock focused on the management of the growing project. The first ports to non-IA-32 architectures began in 1995, and Debian 1.1 was released in 1996.WEB,weblink A Brief History of Debian, Chapter 4 – A Detailed History, Debian, 2013-05-04,weblink 2014-08-01, December 21, 2019, By that time and thanks to Ian Jackson, the dpkg package manager was already an essential part of Debian.{{sfn |Krafft |2005 |pp=31–32}}In 1996, Bruce Perens assumed the project leadership. Perens was a controversial leader, regarded as authoritarian and strongly attached to Debian.{{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |p=9}} He drafted a social contract and edited suggestions from a month-long discussion into the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines.MAILING LIST,weblink Debian's 'Social Contract' with the Free Software Community, Perens, Bruce, Bruce Perens, debian-announce, Debian, 1997-07-05, 2014-08-01, June 10, 2006,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060610070939weblink">weblink live, After the FSF withdrew their sponsorship in the midst of the free software vs. open source debate,WEB,weblink It's Time to Talk About Free Software Again, dead,weblink July 16, 2014, mdy-all, Perens initiated the creation of the legal umbrella organization Software in the Public Interest instead of seeking renewed involvement with the FSF. He led the conversion of the project from a.out to ELF. He created the BusyBox program to make it possible to run a Debian installer on a single floppy disk, and wrote a new installer.MAGAZINE,weblink Building Tiny Linux Systems with Busybox–Part I, Perens, Bruce, Bruce Perens, Linux Journal, 2000-11-01, 2014-06-05, June 6, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140606231721weblink">weblink live, By the time Debian 1.2 was released, the project had grown to nearly two hundred volunteers. Perens left the project in 1998.MAILING LIST,weblink I am leaving Debian, Perens, Bruce, Bruce Perens, Debian, debian-user, 1998-03-18, 2014-06-05, July 6, 2014,weblink live, Ian Jackson became the leader in 1998.MAILING LIST,weblink Ian Jackson is the next Debian Project Leader, Perens, Bruce, Bruce Perens, debian-announce, Debian, 1997-12-01, 2014-08-02, September 9, 2015,weblink live, Debian 2.0 introduced the second official port, m68k. During this time the first port to a non-Linux kernel, Debian GNU/Hurd, was started.MAILING LIST,weblink debian-hurd@lists.debian.org is up!, Grobman, Igor, debian-hurd, Debian, 1998-07-14, 2014-08-02, October 18, 2018,weblink live, On December 2, the first Debian Constitution was ratified.Leader election (1999–2005)
From 1999, the project leader was elected yearly. The Advanced Packaging Tool was deployed with Debian 2.1. The number of applicants was overwhelming and the project established the new member process.{{sfn |Coleman |2013 |p=141}}MAILING LIST,weblink New maintainer proposal, Akkerman, Wichert, debian-project, Debian, 1999-10-17, 2014-08-02, August 8, 2014,weblink live, The first Debian derivatives, namely Libranet,MAILING LIST,weblink New Linux distribution brings Debian to the desktop., Lohner, Nils, debian-commercial, Debian, 1999-11-09, 2014-08-02, September 9, 2015,weblink live, Corel Linux and Stormix's Storm Linux, were started in 1999. The 2.2 release in 2000 was dedicated to Joel Klecker, a developer who died of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, the 'Joel "Espy" Klecker' release, is officially released, Debian, 2000-08-15, 2011-07-27, June 29, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110629101301weblink">weblink live, In late 2000, the project reorganized the archive with new package "pools" and created the Testing distribution, made up of packages considered stable, to reduce the freeze for the next release. In the same year, developers began holding an annual conference called DebConf with talks and workshops for developers and technical users.MAILING LIST,weblink First Debian Conference : the program, Laronde, Thierry, debian-devel-announce, Debian, 2000-05-15, 2014-08-02, December 25, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131225144425weblink">weblink live, In May 2001, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to base its Linux development on Debian.WEB,weblink HP settles on Debian Linux, Lemos, Robert, CNET, CNET News, 2001-05-10, 2014-08-19, August 19, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140819204105weblink">weblink live, In July 2002, the project released version 3.0, code-named Woody, the first release to include cryptographic software, a free licensed KDE and internationalization.{{sfn |Krafft |2005 |p=33}} During these last release cycles, the Debian project drew considerable criticism from the free software community because of the long time between stable releases.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 released, Lettice, John, The Register, 2002-07-23, 2014-08-19, July 3, 2017,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Debian leaders: Faster release cycle required, LeMay, Renai, ZDNet, 2005-03-18, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140808053504weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Ubuntu vs. Debian, reprise, Ian Murdock, 2005-04-20, 2014-06-05, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140819164015weblink">weblink August 19, 2014, mdy-all, Some events disturbed the project while working on Sarge, as Debian servers were attacked by fire and hackers.WEB,weblink Hackers used unpatched server to breach Debian, Orlowski, Andrew, Andrew Orlowski, The Register, 2003-12-02, 2014-08-03, July 3, 2017,weblink live, One of the most memorable was the Vancouver prospectus.{{sfn |Coleman |2013 |pp=150–156}}WEB,weblink Debian drops mainframe, Sparc development, Orlowski, Andrew, Andrew Orlowski, The Register, 2005-03-14, 2014-08-03, July 3, 2017,weblink live, MAILING LIST,weblink Results of the meeting in Helsinki about the Vancouver proposal, Verhelst, Wouter, debian-devel-announce, Debian, 2005-08-21, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink live, After a meeting held in Vancouver, release manager Steve Langasek announced a plan to reduce the number of supported ports to four in order to shorten future release cycles.MAILING LIST,weblink Bits (Nybbles?) from the Vancouver release team meeting, Langasek, Steve, debian-devel-announce, Debian, 2005-03-14, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink live, There was a large reaction because the proposal looked more like a decision and because such a drop would damage Debian's aim to be "the universal operating system".{{sfn |Coleman |2013 |pp=153–154}}MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Bits (Nybbles?) from the Vancouver release team meeting, Jarno, Aurélien, debian-devel, Debian, 2005-03-14, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink live, MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Bits (Nybbles?) from the Vancouver release team meeting, Blache, Julien, debian-devel, Debian, 2005-03-14, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink live, The first version of the Debian-based Ubuntu, named "4.10 Warty Warthog", was released on October 20, 2004.MAILING LIST,weblink Ubuntu 4.10 announcement, 20 October 2004, 19 August 2008, ubuntu-announce, Shuttleworth, Mark, Mark Shuttleworth, Because it was distributed as a free download, it became one of the most popular and successful operating systems with more than "40 million users" according to Canonical Ltd.WEB,weblink Ubuntu Claims 12 Million Users as Lucid Linux Desktop Nears, Sean Michael, Kerner, 7 April 2010, LinuxPlanet.com, 7 April 2010, 10 April 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100410164921weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink About Ubuntu Insights, Insights.Ubuntu.com, Canonical Ltd, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150906185403weblink">weblink 6 September 2015, However, Murdock was critical of the differences between Ubuntu packages and Debian, stating that it leads to incompatibilities.WEB, Ian, Murdock,weblink Ubuntu vs. Debian, reprise, 20 April 2005, 21 October 2007, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140819164015weblink">weblink 19 August 2014,Sarge and later releases (2005–present)
(File:Debian Etch-ja.png|thumb|250px|Debian 4 (Etch), 2007)The 3.1 Sarge release was made in June 2005. This release updated 73% of the software and included over 9,000 new packages. A new installer with a modular design, Debian-Installer, allowed installations with RAID, XFS and LVM support, improved hardware detection, made installations easier for novice users, and was translated into almost forty languages. An installation manual and release notes were in ten and fifteen languages respectively. The efforts of Skolelinux, Debian-Med and Debian-Accessibility raised the number of packages that were educational, had a medical affiliation, and ones made for people with disabilities.WEB,weblink Release Notes for Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (`sarge'), Intel x86, Chapter 2 – What's new in Debian GNU/Linux 3.1, Debian, 2006-09-18, 2010-08-05, May 19, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100519033125weblink">weblink live, File:Iceweasel icon.svg|thumb|64px|left|IceweaselIceweaselIn 2006, as a result of a much-publicized dispute, Mozilla software was rebranded in Debian, with Firefox forked as Iceweasel and Thunderbird as Icedove. The Mozilla Corporation stated that software with unapproved modifications could not be distributed under the Firefox trademark. Two reasons that Debian modified the Firefox software were to change non-free artwork and to provide security patches.WEB,weblink Linux.com, Behind the Debian and Mozilla dispute over use of Firefox, 2006-10-10, Lisa, Hoover, 2009-02-09, June 6, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120606110117weblink">weblink live, MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Will IceWeasel be based on a fork or on vanilla FireFox?, Sanchez, Roberto C., debian-devel, Debian, 2006-10-15, 2014-08-03, August 8, 2014,weblink live, In February 2016, it was announced that Mozilla and Debian had reached an agreement and Iceweasel would revert to the name Firefox; similar agreement was anticipated for Icedove/Thunderbird.MAGAZINE,weblink 'Iceweasel' will be renamed 'Firefox' as relations between Debian and Mozilla thaw, Hoffman, Chris, PC World, 2016-02-24, 2016-03-27, March 29, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160329150932weblink">weblink live, A fund-raising experiment, Dunc-Tank, was created to solve the release cycle problem and release managers were paid to work full-time;WEB,weblink Press Information, Dunc-Tank, 2006-09-19,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20061010082200weblink">weblink 2006-10-10, 2014-08-24, in response, unpaid developers slowed down their work and the release was delayed.WEB,weblink Disgruntled Debian Developers Delay Etch, Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J., eWeek, 2006-12-18, 2014-08-24, Debian 4.0 (Etch) was released in April 2007, featuring the x86-64 port and a graphical installer.Debian 5.0 (Lenny) was released in February 2009, supporting Marvell's Orion platform and netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 released, 2009-02-15, Debian, 2009-02-14, February 17, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090217184902weblink">weblink live, The release was dedicated to Thiemo Seufer, a developer who died in a car crash.WEB,weblink Release Notes for Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (lenny), Intel x86, Appendix C. Lenny dedicated to Thiemo Seufer, 2014-05-25, Debian, 2009-02-14, July 6, 2014,weblink live, (File:Debian 6.0.2.1.png|thumb|250px|Debian 6 (Squeeze), 2011)In July 2009, the policy of time-based development freezes on a two-year cycle was announced. Time-based freezes are intended to blend the predictability of time based releases with Debian's policy of feature based releases, and to reduce overall freeze time. The Squeeze cycle was going to be especially short; however, this initial schedule was abandoned.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 'Squeeze' release goals, Debian, 2009-12-01, 2009-07-30, March 3, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110303024424weblink">weblink live, In September 2010, the backports service became official, providing more recent versions of some software for the stable release.Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) was released in February 2011, featuring Debian GNU/kFreeBSD as a technology preview, along with adding a dependency-based boot system, and moving problematic firmware to the non-free section.Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) was released in May 2013, featuring multiarch support.WEB,weblink Debian 7.0 'Wheezy' released, Debian, 2013-05-04, 2013-05-05, December 22, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151222015735weblink">weblink live, Debian 8.0 (Jessie) was released in April 2015, using systemd as the new init system.WEB,weblink Debian 8 'Jessie' Released, 2015-04-25, 2015-10-27, Debian, June 18, 2017,weblink live, Debian 9.0 (Stretch) was released in June 2017, with nftables as a replacement for iptables, support for Flatpak apps, and MariaDB as the replacement for MySQL.WEB,weblink Debian 9.0 'Stretch' released, Debian, 2017-06-17, 2017-06-25, June 18, 2017,weblink live, WEB,weblink Debian 9's release date, DistroWatch, 2017-05-26, July 11, 2018, July 11, 2018,weblink live, Debian 10.0 (Buster) was released in July 2019, adding support for Secure Boot and enabling AppArmor by default.WEB,weblink Debian 10.0 'buster' released, Debian, 2019-07-06, 2019-07-30, July 7, 2019,weblink live, Debian 11.0 (Bullseye) was released in August 2021, enabling persistency in the system journal, adding support for driverless scanning, and containing kernel-level support for exFAT filesystems.WEB,weblink Debian 11 'bullseye' released, Debian, 2021-08-14, 2021-08-14, 14 August 2021,weblink live, Debian 12.0 (Bookworm) was released on June 10, 2023, including various improvements and features, increasing the supported Linux Kernel to version 6.1, and leveraging new "Emerald" artwork.WEB,weblink Debian 12 'bookworm' released, Debian, 2023-06-10, 2023-06-10, Debian is still in development and new packages are uploaded to unstable every day.WEB,weblink Unstable packages' upgrade announcements, Debian, 2014-11-19, June 6, 2014,weblink live, Debian used to be released as a very large set of CDs for each architecture, but with the release of Debian 9 (Stretch) in 2017, many of the images have been dropped from the archive but remain buildable via jigdo.WEB, 2020-07-02, Chapter 2. What's new in Debian 9,weblink www.debian.org, March 8, 2021,weblink live, Throughout Debian's lifetime, both the Debian distribution and its website have won various awards from different organizations,WEB, Awards,weblink Debian, 2008-11-02, November 20, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081120020604weblink">weblink live, including Server Distribution of the Year 2011,WEB,weblink 2011 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Award Winners, LinuxQuestions.org, 2012-02-09, 2014-06-06, The best Linux distro of 2011,WEB,weblink The best Linux distro of 2011!, TuxRadar, 2011-08-04, 2014-06-06, June 6, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140606232606weblink">weblink live, and a Best of the Net award for October 1998.WEB,weblink Best of the Net Awards, October 1998 – Focus On Linux, The Mining Company, 1999-05-04,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/19990504092128weblink">weblink 1999-05-04, 2014-06-06, On December 2, 2015, Microsoft announced that they would offer Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution on the Azure cloud platform.WEB,weblink Announcing availability of Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution in Azure Marketplace, Zarkos, Stephen, Microsoft Azure, 2015-12-02, 2016-04-10, March 4, 2016,weblink live, WEB,weblink Microsoft brings Debian GNU/Linux to Azure cloud, Bhartiya, Swapnil, CIO, IDG Enterprise, 2015-12-02, 2016-04-10, April 23, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160423122511weblink">weblink dead, Microsoft has also added a user environment to their Windows 10 desktop operating system called Windows Subsystem for Linux that offers a Debian subset.WEB, 2020-07-02, How to Get Started With the Windows Subsystem for Linux,weblink Brendan, Hesse, Lifehacker, September 11, 2018, July 2, 2020,weblink live,Features
(File:Debian10-installation-menu.png|thumb|Debian 10 installation menu (BIOS Mode))File:Debian10-text-installer.png|thumb|Text version of the Debian InstallerDebian Installer(File:Debian10-graphical-installer.png|thumb|Graphical version of the Debian Installer)(File:Debian10-console-login.png|thumb|Debian 10 console login and welcome message)Debian has access to online repositories that contain over 51,000 packages.WEB, 50.000 binary packages, Ralf, Treinen, 8 Feb 2016,weblink Debian, February 8, 2016, February 13, 2016,weblink live, Debian officially contains only free software, but non-free software can be downloaded and installed from the Debian repositories.WEB,weblink Packages, Debian, 2014-06-22, June 21, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140621193509weblink">weblink live, Debian includes popular free programs such as LibreOffice,WEB,weblink Debian Moves to LibreOffice, Debian, 2012-03-05, January 11, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120111222046weblink">weblink live, Firefox web browser, Evolution mail, K3b disc burner, VLC media player, GIMP image editor, and Evince document viewer. Debian is a popular choice for servers, for example as the operating system component of a LAMP stack.MAGAZINE,weblink Debian Linux Named Most Popular Distro for Web Servers, Noyes, Katherine, PC World, 2012-01-11, 2013-02-14, February 9, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130209000744weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Usage statistics and market share of Linux for websites, W3Techs.com, 2014-06-10, July 18, 2012,weblink" title="archive.today/20120718181627weblink">weblink live,Kernels
Several flavors of the Linux kernel exist for each port. For example, the i386 port has flavors for IA-32 PCs supporting Physical Address Extension and real-time computing, for older PCs, and for x86-64 PCs.WEB,weblink Virtual Package: linux-image, Debian, 2014-08-15, August 19, 2014,weblink live, The Linux kernel does not officially contain firmware lacking source code, although such firmware is available in non-free packages and alternative installation media.WEB,weblink Debian Linux Kernel Handbook, Chapter 2 – Debian kernel source, Alioth (Debian), Alioth, 2013-12-14, 2014-08-15,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140604095349weblink">weblink June 4, 2014, dead, WEB,weblink Unofficial non-free CDs including firmware packages, Debian, 2014-08-16, August 16, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140816095235weblink">weblink live,Desktop environments
(File:XFCE 4.12.3 on Debian 9.3.png|thumb|Xfce is default on CD images and non-Linux ports.)Debian offers CD and DVD images specifically built for Xfce, GNOME, KDE, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, and LXQt.WEB, Debian 6.0 'Squeeze' released, Debian,weblink 2011-02-06, 2011-02-06, February 21, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110221183035weblink">weblink live, MATE support was added in 2014,WEB,weblink Package: mate-desktop (1.8.1+dfsg1-1~bpo70+1), 2014-07-06, Debian, July 14, 2014,weblink live, and Cinnamon support was added with Debian 8.0 Jessie.WEB, Details of package cinnamon in jessie,weblink packages.debian.org, 2015-09-06, September 9, 2015,weblink live, Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Window Maker and others are available.WEB,weblink Virtual Package: x-window-manager, Debian, 2014-05-27, May 27, 2014,weblink live, The default desktop environment of version 7.0 Wheezy was temporarily switched to Xfce, because GNOME 3 did not fit on the first CD of the set.WEB,weblink Larabel, Michael, Michael Larabel, Debian Now Defaults To Xfce Desktop, Phoronix, 2012-08-08, 2012-08-27, August 10, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120810220558weblink">weblink live, The default for the version 8.0 Jessie was changed again to Xfce in November 2013,WEB,weblink Debian 8.0 'Jessie' Ditches GNOME and Adopts Xfce, Stahie, Silviu, Softpedia, 2013-11-05, 2014-11-22, November 29, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141129051655weblink">weblink live, and back to GNOME in September 2014.WEB,weblink switch default desktop to GNOME, Hess, Joey, Alioth (Debian), Alioth, 2014-09-19, 2014-11-03, November 4, 2014,weblink live,Localization
Several parts of Debian are translated into languages other than American English, including package descriptions, configuration messages, documentation and the website.WEB,weblink Central Debian translation statistics, Debian, 2014-07-02, July 4, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140704193725weblink">weblink live, The level of software localization depends on the language, ranging from the highly supported German and French to the barely translated Creek and Samoan.WEB,weblink Status of the l10n in Debian — ranking PO files between languages, Debian, 2014-07-02, July 9, 2014,weblink live, The Debian 10 installer is available in 76 languages.WEB,weblink Debian Installer Buster RC 3 release, 2019-08-22, Debian, 2019-07-03, August 23, 2019,weblink live,Multimedia support
Multimedia support has been problematic in Debian regarding codecs threatened by possible patent infringements, lacking source code, or under too restrictive licenses.WEB,weblink Diff for 'MultimediaCodecs', Mejia, Andres, Debian Wiki, 2012-03-18, 2014-10-16, October 20, 2014,weblink live, Even though packages with problems related to their distribution could go into the non-free area, software such as libdvdcss is not hosted at Debian .WEB,weblink RFP: libdvdcss – Library to read scrambled DVDs, Debian BTS, 2002-07-25, 2014-07-09, December 2, 2018,weblink live, A notable third party repository exists, formerly named Debian-multimedia.org,WEB,weblink 'Lenny': Debian for the masses?, Gilbertson, Scott, The Register, 2009-02-16, 2014-07-13, August 10, 2017,weblink live, MAGAZINE,weblink Cool APT Repositories for Ubuntu and Debian, Granneman, Scott, Linux Magazine, 2008-02-06, 2014-07-13, July 14, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140714144223weblink">weblink usurped, WEB,weblink Window Maker Live CD 2012-03-18 Available for Download, Nestor, Marius, Softpedia, 2012-03-19, 2014-11-22, November 29, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141129051818weblink">weblink live, providing software not present in Debian such as Windows codecs, libdvdcss and the Adobe Flash Player.WEB,weblink Packages, deb-multimedia.org, 2014-07-13, July 14, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140714191242weblink">weblink live, Even though this repository is maintained by Christian Marillat, a Debian developer, it is not part of the project and is not hosted on a Debian server. The repository provides packages already included in Debian, interfering with the official maintenance. Eventually, project leader Stefano Zacchiroli asked Marillat to either settle an agreement about the packaging or to stop using the "Debian" name.MAILING LIST,weblink on package duplication between Debian and debian-multimedia, Zacchiroli, Stefano, Stefano Zacchiroli, pkg-multimedia-maintainers, Alioth (Debian), Alioth, 2012-05-05, 2014-07-13, June 5, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140605095724weblink">weblink live, Marillat chose the latter and renamed the repository to deb-multimedia.org. The repository was so popular that the switchover was announced by the official blog of the Debian project.WEB,weblink Remove unofficial debian-multimedia.org repository from your sources, Debian, 2013-06-14, 2014-07-13, August 8, 2014,weblink live,Distribution{{anchor|Live_images}}
Debian offers DVD and CD images for installation that can be downloaded using BitTorrent or jigdo. Physical discs can also be bought from retailers.WEB,weblink Debian on CDs, Debian, 2014-05-10, 2014-05-27, August 7, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110807185915weblink">weblink live, The full sets are made up of several discs (the amd64 port consists of 13 DVDs or 84 CDs),WEB,weblink Downloading Debian CD images with jigdo, Debian, 2014-05-10, 2014-05-26, May 27, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140527185909weblink">weblink live, but only the first disc is required for installation, as the installer can retrieve software not contained in the first disc image from online repositories.WEB,weblink Downloading Debian CD/DVD images via HTTP/FTP, Debian, 2014-05-17, 2014-05-26, May 27, 2014,weblink live, Debian offers different network installation methods. A minimal install of Debian is available via the netinst CD, whereby Debian is installed with just a base and later added software can be downloaded from the Internet. Another option is to boot the installer from the network.WEB,weblink Installing Debian GNU/Linux via the Internet, Debian, 2008-12-11, August 8, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110808041922weblink">weblink live, The default bootstrap loader is GNU GRUB version 2, though the package name is simply grub, while version 1 was renamed to grub-legacy. This conflicts with distros (e.g., Fedora Linux), where grub version 2 is named grub2.The default desktop may be chosen from the DVD boot menu among GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce and LXDE, and from special disc 1 CDs.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, 6.3. Using Individual Components, Debian, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131224224113weblink">weblink December 24, 2013, 2014-05-30, dead, mdy, NEWS,weblink Debian Linux 7.0 Wheezy: Hands on, Watson, J.A., ZDNet, 2013-05-28, 2014-06-10, For the CD images, it is useful to know that Debian supports a number of different desktops, including GNOME, KDE, Xfce, MATE and LXDE, and there is a different 'disk 1' image for each of these desktops., May 1, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140501235852weblink">weblink live, Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for IA-32 and x86-64 architectures, and with a choice of desktop environments. These Debian Live images allow users to boot from removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer. A full install of Debian to the computer's hard drive can be initiated from the live image environment.WEB,weblink Live install images, 2013-10-27, 2013-12-07, Debian, June 7, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170607183518weblink">weblink live, Personalized images can be built with the live-build tool for discs, USB drives and for network booting purposes.WEB,weblink Debian Live Manual, Debian, 2013, 2014-07-06, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140214191646weblink">weblink February 14, 2014, mdy, Installation images are hybrid on some architectures and can be used to create a bootable USB drive (Live USB).WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, 4.3. Preparing Files for USB Memory Stick Booting, Debian, 2010, 2014-05-27, May 27, 2014,weblink live,Packages
Package management operations can be performed with different tools available on Debian, from the lowest level command dpkg to graphical front-ends like Synaptic. The recommended standard for administering packages on a Debian system is the apt toolset.WEB,weblink Debian Reference, Chapter 2. Debian package management, Debian, 2013-12-03, 2014-05-29, August 8, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110808070729weblink">weblink live, dpkg provides the low-level infrastructure for package management.WEB,weblink Package: dpkg (1.16.15) [security] [essential], Debian, 2014-06-18, May 9, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080509052934weblink">weblink live, The dpkg database contains the list of installed software on the current system. The dpkg command tool does not know about repositories. The command can work with local .deb package files, and information from the dpkg database.WEB,weblink dpkg, Debian, 2012-06-05, 2014-06-18,APT tools
File:Debian 7 Aptitude Package Details.png|thumb|Using Aptitude to view Debian package details]] (File:Debian-aptitude.png|thumb|Package installed with Aptitude)An Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) allows a Debian system to retrieve and resolve package dependencies from repositories. APT tools share dependency information and cached packages.- The apt command itself is intended as an end user interface and enables some options better suited for interactive usage by default compared to more specialized APT like apt-get and apt-cache explained below.
- apt-get and apt-cache are command tools of the standard apt package. apt-get installs and removes packages, and apt-cache is used for searching packages and displaying package information.
- Aptitude is a command line tool that also offers a text-based user interface. The program comes with enhancements such as better search on package metadata.
{{Anchor|GDEBI}}GDebi and other front-ends
(File:GDebi Package installer.png|thumb|Screenshot of GDebi Package installer)GDebi is an APT tool which can be used in command-line and on the GUI.WEB,weblink gdebi, January 24, 2006, Launchpad (website), Launchpad, 2014-06-19, June 19, 2014,weblink live, GDebi can install a local .deb file via the command line like the dpkg command, but with access to repositories to resolve dependencies.MAGAZINE,weblink 10 Expert Ubuntu Tricks, Thomas, Keir, PC World, 2009-04-13, 2014-06-19, July 15, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140715233348weblink">weblink live, Other graphical front-ends for APT include Software Center,WEB,weblink Package: software-center (5.1.2debian3.1), Debian, 2014-06-19, July 6, 2014,weblink live, SynapticWEB,weblink Package: synaptic (0.75.13), Debian, 2014-06-19, July 6, 2014,weblink live, and Apper.WEB,weblink Package: apper (0.7.2-5), Debian, 2014-06-19, July 6, 2014,weblink live, GNOME Software is a graphical front-end for PackageKit, which itself can work on top of various software packaging systems.Repositories
The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) define the distinctive meaning of the word "free" as in "free and open-source software".WEB,weblink Debian Social Contract, Debian, 2013-06-17, February 17, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110217173758weblink">weblink live, Packages that comply with these guidelines, usually under the GNU General Public License, Modified BSD License or Artistic License,WEB,weblink License information, Debian, 2009-02-28, July 20, 2017,weblink live, are included inside the main area;WEB,weblink Debian Developer's Reference, Chapter 4. Resources for Debian Developers, 2008-10-31, Debian, October 25, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081025010313weblink">weblink live, otherwise, they are included inside the non-free and contrib areas. These last two areas are not distributed within the official installation media, but they can be adopted manually.Non-free includes packages that do not comply with the DFSG,WEB,weblink Debian Policy Manual, Chapter 2 – The Debian Archive, Debian, 2013-10-28, 2014-07-09, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140713200533weblink">weblink July 13, 2014, mdy-all, such as documentation with invariant sections and proprietary software,WEB,weblink General Resolution: Why the GNU Free Documentation License is not suitable for Debian main, Debian, 2006, 2014-07-02, June 29, 2014,weblink live, WEB,weblink Package: fglrx-driver (1:12-6+point-3) [non-free], Debian, 2014-07-02, July 14, 2014,weblink live, and legally questionable packages. Contrib includes packages which do comply with the DFSG but fail other requirements. For example, they may depend on packages which are in non-free or requires such for building them.Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation have criticized the Debian project for hosting the non-free repository and because the contrib and non-free areas are easily accessible,MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Debian vs gNewSense – FS criteria, Stallman, Richard, Richard Stallman, gnuherds-app-dev, lists.nongnu.org, 2007-10-06, 2014-07-09, What makes Debian unacceptable is that its inclusion of non-free software is not a mistake., July 14, 2014,weblink live, an opinion echoed by some in Debian including the former project leader Wichert Akkerman.MAILING LIST,weblink debian-vote, Moving contrib and non-free of master.debian.org, Akkerman, Wichert, 1999-06-21, Debian, 2014-08-04, July 20, 2014,weblink live, The internal dissent in the Debian project regarding the non-free section has persisted,MAILING LIST,weblink non-free?, Wise, Paul, debian-vote, Debian, 2014-03-22, 2014-08-16, August 19, 2014,weblink live, but the last time it came to a vote in 2004, the majority decided to keep it.WEB,weblink General Resolution: Status of the non-free section, 2004, 2009-09-28, Debian, October 8, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091008234847weblink">weblink live,Cross-distribution package manager
The most popular optional Linux cross-distribution package manager are graphical (front-ends) package managers. They are available within the official Debian Repository but are not installed by default. They are widely popular with both Debian users and Debian software developers who are interested in installing the most recent versions of application or using the cross-distribution package manager built-in sandbox environment. While at the same time remaining in control of the security.WEB, Brodkin, Jon, 2016-06-21, Linux's RPM/deb split could be replaced by Flatpak vs. snap,weblink live,weblink December 19, 2021, 2021-12-19, Ars Technica, en-us, WEB, 2020-11-27, How to Install and Use Flatpak on Linux,weblink live,weblink December 18, 2021, 2021-12-19, Linux Today, en-US, Four most popular cross-distribution package managers, sorted in alphabetical order:- AppImage Linux distribution-agnostic binary software deployment
- Flatpak software code is owned and maintained by the not for profit Flatpak Team, with an open source LGPL-2.1-or-later license.
- Homebrew software code is owned and maintained by its original author Max Howell, with an open source BSD 2-Clause License.
- Snap software code is owned and maintained by the for profit Canonical Group Limited, with an open source GNU General Public License, version 3.0.
Branches
{{See also|Debian version history}}(File:Debian10-CD-Cover.png|thumb|A Debian 10.0 Buster box cover)Three branches of Debian (also called releases, distributions or suites) are regularly maintained:WEB, Debian Releases,weblink Debian, 2014-06-22, October 11, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111011180740weblink">weblink live,- Stable is the current release and targets stable and well-tested software needs.NEWS,weblink The new Debian Linux 7.0 is now available, Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J., ZDNet, 2013-05-05, 2014-07-08, November 29, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141129032319weblink">weblink live, Stable is made by freezing Testing for a few months where bugs are fixed and packages with too many bugs are removed; then the resulting system is released as stable. It is updated only if major security or usability fixes are incorporated. This branch has an optional backports service that provides more recent versions of some software.WEB,weblink Backports service becoming official, Debian, 2010-09-05, 2014-06-17, September 3, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110903172855weblink">weblink live, Stable{{'}}s CDs and DVDs can be found in the Debian website. The current version of Stable is codenamed bookworm.
- Testing is the preview branch that will eventually become the next major release. The packages included in this branch have had some testing in unstable but they may not be fit for release yet. It contains newer packages than stable but older than unstable. This branch is updated continually until it is frozen. Testing{{'}}s CDs and DVDs can be found on the Debian website. The current version of Testing is codenamed trixie.
- Unstable, always codenamed sid, is the trunk. Packages are accepted without checking the distribution as a whole. This branch is usually run by software developers who participate in a project and need the latest libraries available, and by those who prefer bleeding-edge software. Debian does not provide full Sid installation discs, but rather a minimal ISO that can be used to install over a network connection. Additionally, this branch can be installed through a system upgrade from stable or testing.WEB,weblink Frequently Asked Questions, Debian, 2014-07-09, July 14, 2014,weblink live,
- Oldstable is the prior stable release. It is supported by the Debian Security Team until one year after a new stable is released, and since the release of Debian 6, for another two years through the Long Term Support project. Eventually, oldstable is moved to a repository for archived releases. Debian 11 is the current Oldstable release (since 2023-06-10).
- Oldoldstable is the prior oldstable release. It is supported by the Long Term Support community. Eventually, oldoldstable is moved to a repository for archived releases. Debian 10 is the current Oldoldstable release (since 2023-06-10).
- Experimental is a temporary staging area of highly experimental software that is likely to break the system. It is not a full distribution and missing dependencies are commonly found in unstable, where new software without the damage chance is normally uploaded.
Numbering scheme
Stable and oldstable get minor updates, called point releases; {{as of|2021|August|lc=y}}, the stable release is version 11.7,WEB, 2021-02-06, ChangeLog,weblink 2021-08-14, bullseye, Debian, 14 August 2021,weblink live, released on , and the oldstable release is version 10.10.WEB, 2021-08-14, ChangeLog,weblink 2021-08-14, buster, Debian, August 14, 2021,weblink live, The numbering scheme for the point releases up to Debian 4.0 was to include the letter r (for revision){{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |loc=Section 1.6}} after the main version number and then the number of the point release; for example, the latest point release of version 4.0 is 4.0r9.WEB,weblink Release, etch, Debian, 2010-05-22, 2014-06-05,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150815043253weblink">weblink August 15, 2015, dead, This scheme was chosen because a new dotted version would make the old one look obsolete and vendors would have trouble selling their CDs.MAILING LIST,weblink Naming of new 2.0 release, Schulze, Martin, debian-devel, Debian, 1998-08-24, 2014-07-26, July 28, 2014,weblink live, From Debian 5.0, the numbering scheme of point releases was changed, conforming to the GNU version numbering standard;WEB,weblink GNU Coding Standards: Releases, GNU, 2014-05-13, 2014-05-25, You should identify each release with a pair of version numbers, a major version and a minor. We have no objection to using more than two numbers, but it is very unlikely that you really need them., May 25, 2014,weblink live, the first point release of Debian 5.0 was 5.0.1 instead of 5.0r1.MAILING LIST,weblink Marc, Brockschmidt, 2009-02-15, 2009-02-15, debian-devel-announce, Debian squeeze waiting for development, Debian, June 20, 2017,weblink live, The numbering scheme was once again changed for the first Debian 7 update, which was version 7.1.WEB,weblink ChangeLog, wheezy, Debian, 2016-06-04, 2016-12-14,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140704124448weblink">weblink July 4, 2014, dead, The r scheme is no longer in use, but point release announcements include a note about not throwing away old CDs.WEB,weblink Updated Debian 7: 7.7 released, Debian, 2014-10-18, 2014-10-20, October 25, 2014,weblink live,Branding
(File:Debian-OpenLogo.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|The official logo (also known as open use logo) that contains the well-known Debian swirlWEB, Debian logos,weblink live,weblink January 30, 2024, January 30, 2024, Debian, First paragraph, |145x145px)Debian has two logos. The official logo (also known as open use logo) contains the well-known Debian swirl and best represents the visual identity of the Debian Project. A separate, restricted-use logo, also exists for use by the Debian Project and its members only.The Debian "swirl" logo was designed by Raul SilvaWEB,weblink GNU/art, February 18, 2015, February 8, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150208024346weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Logo credit, February 18, 2015, February 18, 2015,weblink live, in 1999 as part of a contest to replace the semi-official logo that had been used.WEB,weblink Debian Logo Contest, March 24, 2021, February 18, 2015,weblink live, The winner of the contest received an @Debian.org email address, and a set of Debian 2.1 install CDs for the architecture of their choice. Initially, the swirl was magic smoke arising from an also included bottle of an Arabian-style genie presented in black profile, but shortly after was reduced to the red smoke swirl for situations where space or multiple colours were not an option, and before long the bottle version effectively was superseded. There has been no official statement from the Debian project on the logo's meaning, but at the time of the logo's selection, it was suggested that the logo represented the magic smoke ( or the genie ) that made computers work.WEB,weblink [PROPOSED] Swap the "open" and "official" versions of the new logo, February 18, 2015, September 9, 2015,weblink live, WEB,weblink Debian Chooses Logo, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150218181919weblink">weblink February 18, 2015, mdy-all, WEB,weblink Origins of the Debian logo, January 11, 2018, January 12, 2018,weblink live, One theory about the origin of the Debian logo is that Buzz Lightyear, the chosen character for the first named Debian release, has a swirl in his chin.{{sfn |Krafft |2005 |p=66}}AV MEDIA,weblink Toy Story, Billboard, Pixar, 2014-08-20, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131110181603weblink">weblink November 10, 2013, mdy-all, Stefano Zacchiroli also suggested that this swirl is the Debian one.WEB,weblink Debian: 17 ans de logiciel libre, 'do-ocracy' et démocratie, 6, Stefano, Zacchiroli, Stefano Zacchiroli, 2010-12-04, 2014-10-21,weblink November 20, 2016, dead, Buzz Lightyear's swirl is a more likely candidate as the codenames for Debian are names of Toy Story characters. The former Debian project leader Bruce Perens used to work for Pixar and is credited as a studio tools engineer on Toy Story 2 (1999).Hardware
Hardware requirements are at least those of the kernel and the GNU toolsets.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, 2.1. Supported Hardware, Debian, 2019, 2019-07-27, December 28, 2020,weblink live, Debian's recommended system requirements depend on the level of installation, which corresponds to increased numbers of installed components:WEB,weblink Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, 3.4. Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements, Debian, 2019, 2019-07-27, January 12, 2021,weblink live, {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"Architectures
File:HP-HP9000-C110-Workstation 21.jpg|thumb|HP 9000 C110 PA-RISC workstationworkstation{{As of|2023|08|18|alt=As of the upcoming Trixie release}}, the official ports are:WEB,weblink Buildd status for base-files, Debian, 2023-08-18,- amd64: x86-64 architecture with 64-bit userland and supporting 32-bit software
- arm64: ARMv8-A architectureMAILING LIST,weblink Two new architectures bootstrapping in unstable – MBF coming soon, Wookey, debian-devel-announce, Debian, 2014-08-27, 2014-09-01, September 3, 2014,weblink live,
- armel: Little-endian ARM architecture (ARMv4T instruction set)MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Identification of ARM chips, Wookey, debian-embedded, Debian, 2010-01-23, 2014-10-16, October 21, 2014,weblink live, on various embedded systems (embedded application binary interface (EABI)), although support has ended after Buster
- armhf: ARM hard-float architecture (ARMv7 instruction set) requiring hardware with a floating-point unit
- i386: IA-32 architecture with 32-bit userland, compatible with x86-64 machines
- mips64el: Little-endian 64-bit MIPS
- mipsel: Little-endian 32-bit MIPS
- ppc64el: Little-endian PowerPC architecture supporting POWER7+ and POWER8 CPUs
- riscv64: 64-bit RISC-VWEB,weblink Debian for RISC-V, 2024-01-01, en,
- s390x: z/Architecture with 64-bit userland, intended to replace s390WEB,weblink Release Notes for Debian 7.0 (wheezy), S/390, Chapter 2. What's new in Debian 7.0, 2014-11-09, 2015-01-28, December 25, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131225120659weblink">weblink live,
- alpha: DEC Alpha architecture
- hppa: HP PA-RISC architecture
- hurd-i386: GNU Hurd kernel on IA-32 architecture
- ia64: Intel Itanium
- loong64: LoongArchMAILING LIST,weblink LoongArch architecture added to Debian Ports, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz, debian-devel-announce, Debian, 2023-08-16, 2023-08-18,
- m68k: Motorola 68k architecture on Amiga, Atari, Macintosh and various embedded VME systems
- powerpc: 32-bit PowerPC
- ppc64: PowerPC64 architecture supporting 64-bit PowerPC CPUs with VMX
- sh4: Hitachi SuperH architecture
- sparc64: Sun SPARC architecture with 64-bit userland
- x32: x32 ABI userland for x86-64WEB,weblink X32Port, Schepler, Daniel, Debian Wiki, 2012-11-20, 2014-10-17, October 21, 2014,weblink live,
Organization
{{Image frame|content={{chart/start}}{{chart| | | | | |GR |GR=General Resolution}}{{chart|el |ov |Q|Q|el=elect↓|ov=override↓|boxstyle_el=border: 0; text-align: left;|boxstyle_ov=border: 0; text-align: right;}}{{chart|S|DPL |P|P|G|Q|DPL=Leader}}{{chart|Q| |Q|app |Q|Q|app=↓appoint|boxstyle_app=border: 0; text-align: left;}}{{chart|Q|DEL |P|P|Z|Q|DEL=Delegate}}{{chart|Q| |Q|dec | |Q|dec=↓decide|boxstyle_dec=border: 0; text-align: left;}}{{chart|Y|DD |pr |Q|DD=Developer|pr=propose↑|boxstyle_pr=border: 0; text-align: right;}}{{chart| | |Y|P|P|P|P|Z}}{{chart/end}}|caption=Simplified organizational structure}}Debian's policies and team efforts focus on collaborative software development and testing processes. As a result, a new major release tends to occur every two years with revision releases that fix security issues and important problems.{{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |loc=Section 1.6}}WEB,weblink Debian decides to adopt time-based release freezes, Debian, 2009-09-12, 2009-07-29, March 14, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110314224808weblink">weblink live, 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 thus what software is permissible in the distribution. These guidelines have been adopted as the basis of the Open Source Definition. Although this document can be considered separate, it formally is part of the Social Contract.
- The Debian Constitution describes the organizational structure for formal decision-making within the project, and enumerates the powers and responsibilities of the Project Leader, the Secretary and other roles.WEB,weblink Constitution for the Debian Project (v1.4), 2014-02-25, Debian, June 3, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110603231508weblink">weblink live,
Developers
The Debian Project has an influx of applicants wishing to become developers.WEB,weblink Debian New Member – Statistics, Debian, 2014-06-03, dead,weblink July 6, 2014, mdy, These applicants must undergo a vetting process which establishes their identity, motivation, understanding of the project's principles, and technical competence.WEB,weblink Debian New Maintainers, Debian, 2008-10-31, November 20, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081120014929weblink">weblink live, This process has become much harder throughout the years.{{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |p=13}}Debian developers join the project for many reasons. Some that have been cited include:- Debian is their main operating system and they want to promote DebianMAILING LIST,weblink AM report for Alexander GQ Gerasiov, Berg, Christoph, debian-newmaint, Debian, 2009-01-10, 2014-07-18, July 25, 2014,weblink live,
- To improve the support for their favorite technologyMAILING LIST,weblink AM report for Jakub Wilk &91;...&93;, Joeris, Steffen, debian-newmaint, Debian, 2010-01-03, 2014-07-18, July 25, 2014,weblink live,
- They are involved with a Debian derivativeMAILING LIST,weblink AM report for Kamal Mostafa, Wolf, Gunnar, debian-newmaint, Debian, 2011-01-13, 2014-07-18, July 25, 2014,weblink live,
- A desire to contribute back to the free-software communityMAILING LIST,weblink AM report for vicho, Faraone, Luke, debian-newmaint, Debian, 2012-01-01, 2014-07-18, July 25, 2014,weblink live,
- To make their Debian maintenance work easierMAILING LIST,weblink AM report for Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo, Wiltshire, Jonathan, debian-newmaint, Debian, 2013-01-06, 2014-07-18, July 25, 2014,weblink live,
Development
{| style="margin: 0 auto 1ex auto"- It has been in unstable for a certain length of time that depends on the urgency of the changes.
- It does not have "release-critical" bugs, except for the ones already present in Testing. Release-critical bugs are those considered serious enough that they make the package unsuitable for release.
- There are no outdated versions in unstable for any release ports.
- The migration does not break any packages in Testing.
- Its dependencies can be satisfied by packages already in Testing or by packages being migrated at the same time.
- The migration is not blocked by a freeze.
Release cycle
A new stable branch of Debian gets released approximately every 2 years. It will receive official support for about 3 years with update for major security or usability fixes. Point releases will be available every several months as determined by Stable Release Managers (SRM).WEB, Point Releases - Debian Wiki,weblink 2017-09-27, Debian Release Team, September 25, 2019,weblink live, Debian also launched its Long Term Support (LTS) project since Debian 6 (Debian Squeeze). For each Debian release, it will receive two years of extra security updates provided by LTS Team after its End Of Life (EOL). However, no point releases will be made. Now each Debian release can receive 5 years of security support in total.WEB,weblink LTS - Debian Wiki, 3 July 2018, Debian LTS Team, 18 August 2018, May 7, 2020,weblink live,Security
The Debian project handles security through public disclosure. Debian security advisories are compatible with the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures dictionary, are usually coordinated with other free software vendors and are published the same day a vulnerability is made public.WEB,weblink 2008-12-13, Security Information, Debian, October 31, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121031073733weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Organizations Participating, Mitre Corporation, MITRE, 2014-04-16, 2014-06-05, May 26, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140526085923weblink">weblink live, There used to be a security audit project that focused on packages in the stable release looking for security bugs;WEB,weblink Debian Security Audit Project, Debian, 2014-03-15, 2014-06-04, June 6, 2014,weblink live, Steve Kemp, who started the project, retired in 2011 but resumed his activities and applied to rejoin in 2014.WEB,weblink Advisories, Steve Kemp, 2014-08-18, August 19, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140819084841weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Steve Kemp, Debian, 2014-08-18, August 19, 2014,weblink live, The stable branch is supported by the Debian security team; oldstable is supported for one year.WEB,weblink Debian security FAQ, 2007-02-28, 2008-10-21, Debian, August 28, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080828054249weblink">weblink live, Although Squeeze is not officially supported, Debian is coordinating an effort to provide long-term support (LTS) until February 2016, five years after the initial release, but only for the IA-32 and x86-64 platforms.WEB,weblink Debian To Maintain 6.0 Squeeze As An LTS Release, Larabel, Michael, Michael Larabel, Phoronix, 2014-04-18, 2014-07-21, October 6, 2016,weblink live, Testing is supported by the testing security team, but does not receive updates in as timely a manner as stable.WEB,weblink Debian testing security team, Debian, 2008-10-31, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081005233623weblink">weblink October 5, 2008, mdy, Unstable{{'}}s security is left for the package maintainers.The Debian project offers documentation and tools to harden a Debian installation both manually and automatically.WEB,weblink 2008-12-13, Securing Debian Manual, Debian, January 28, 2021,weblink live, AppArmor support is available and enabled by default since Buster.WEB,weblink Debian -- News -- Debian 10 "buster" released, www.debian.org, 2019-07-08, July 7, 2019,weblink live, Debian provides an optional hardening wrapper, and does not harden all of its software by default using gcc features such as PIE and buffer overflow protection, unlike operating systems such as OpenBSD,WEB,weblink Debian Secure by Default, Debian: SbD, 2011-01-31,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20041103003535weblink">weblink November 3, 2004, dead, but tries to build as many packages as possible with hardening flags.WEB,weblink Release Notes for Debian 7.0 (wheezy), 32-bit PC, Chapter 2. What's new in Debian 7.0, Debian, 2014-05-27, June 6, 2014,weblink live, In May 2008, a Debian developer discovered that the OpenSSL package distributed with Debian and derivatives such as Ubuntu made a variety of security keys vulnerable to a random number generator attack, since only 32,767 different keys were generated.WEB,weblink DSA-1571-1 openssl: predictable random number generator, 2008-05-13, 2008-10-31, Debian, March 9, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110309045023weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink CVE-2008-0166, 2014-07-21, Mitre Corporation, MITRE, July 14, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140714005052weblink">weblink live, MAGAZINE,weblink Alarming Open-Source Security Holes, Garfinkel, Simson, Simson Garfinkel, MIT Technology Review, 2008-05-20, 2014-07-21, The security weakness was caused by changes made in 2006 by another Debian developer in response to memory debugger warnings.WEB,weblink valgrind-clean the RNG, Debian BTS, 2006-04-19, 2014-06-21, August 6, 2014,weblink live, The complete resolution procedure was cumbersome because patching the security hole was not enough; it involved regenerating all affected keys and certificates.WEB,weblink When Private Keys are Public: Results from the 2008 Debian OpenSSL Vulnerability, University of California, San Diego, 2009, 2014-06-22, March 4, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160304192449weblink">weblink live,Value
The cost of developing all of the packages included in Debian 5.0 Lenny (323 million lines of code) has been estimated to be about {{US$|8 billion|link=yes}}, using one method based on the COCOMO model.Amor, J. J.; Robles, G.; González-Barahona, J. M.; Rivas, F.: Measuring Lenny: the size of Debian 5.0 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324060631weblink |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324060631weblink |archive-date=2021-03-24 |url-status=live |date=March 24, 2021 }} ResearchGate {{As of|2024|5}}, Black Duck Open Hub estimated that the current codebase (74 million lines of code) would cost about {{US$|1.6 billion}} to develop, using a different method based on the same model.WEB,weblink Estimated Cost, Black Duck Open Hub, 2024-05-03, WEB,weblink Package: ohcount (3.0.0-8 and others), Debian, 2024-05-03,Forks and derivatives
A large number of forks and derivatives have been built upon Debian over the years. Among the more notable are Ubuntu, developed by Canonical Ltd. and first released in 2004, which has surpassed Debian in popularity with desktop users;What is the most popular Linux of them all {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729044112weblink |date=July 29, 2020 }}, Vaughn-Nichols, ZDNet, April 2018 Knoppix, first released in the year 2000 and one of the first distributions optimized to boot from external storage; and Devuan, which gained attention in 2014 when it forked in disagreement over Debian's adoption of the systemd software suite, and has been mirroring Debian releases since 2017.WEB, Hoffman, Chris, Meet Devuan, the Debian fork born from a bitter systemd revolt,weblink PCWorld, 13 December 2014, December 9, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141209075125weblink">weblink live, WEB, Larabel, Michael, Devuan: Debian Without Systemd,weblink Phoronix, 14 December 2014, December 11, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141211004528weblink">weblink live, The Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) uses Debian Stable as the software source base since 2014.Derivatives and flavors
Debian is one of the most popular Linux distributions, and many other distributions have been created from the Debian codebase.MAGAZINE, Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J., 2009-12-16, The Five Distros That Changed Linux,weblink Linux Magazine, 2013-02-14, June 16, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130616121917weblink">weblink usurped, {{As of|2021}}, DistroWatch lists 121 active Debian derivatives.WEB,weblink Based on Debian, status active, DistroWatch, 2018-04-08, October 23, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131023055752weblink">weblink live, The Debian project provides its derivatives with guidelines for best practices and encourages derivatives to merge their work back into Debian.WEB,weblink Derivatives Guidelines, Halchenko, Yaroslav, 2010-12-21, Debian Wiki, 2014-10-17, October 21, 2014,weblink live, {{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |p=429}}Debian Pure Blends are subsets of a Debian release configured out-of-the-box for users with particular skills and interests.WEB,weblink Debian Pure Blends, Chapter 2. What are Debian Pure Blends?, Debian, 2014-05-27, May 27, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140527215131weblink">weblink live, For example, Debian Jr. is made for children, while Debian Science is for researchers and scientists.WEB,weblink Debian Jr. Project, Debian, 2014-04-30, 2014-06-16, October 11, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111011024525weblink">weblink live, The complete Debian distribution includes all available Debian Pure Blends. "Debian Blend" (without "Pure") is a term for a Debian-based distribution that strives to become part of mainstream Debian, and have its extra features included in future releases.MAILING LIST,weblink Re: Difference between blends and remastered systems, Armstrong, Ben, Debian, debian-blends, 2011-07-06, 2014-06-16, July 6, 2014,weblink live,Debian GNU/Hurd
(File:Hurd-logo.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|Logo of GNU Hurd)File:Debian GNU HURD XFCE desktop screenshot.png|thumb|left|Debian GNU/Hurd running on XfceXfceDebian GNU/Hurd is a flavor based on the Hurd kernel (which, in turn, runs on the GNU Mach microkernel), instead of the Linux kernel. Debian GNU/Hurd has been in development since 1998,MAILING LIST, debian-hurd@lists.debian.org is up!,weblink 10 September 2009, October 18, 2018,weblink live, and made a formal release in May 2013, with 78% of the software packaged for Debian GNU/Linux ported to the GNU Hurd.WEB, A comparison between Debian GNU/hurd and Debuan Gnu/kFreeBSD,weblink 23 November 2015, dead,weblink 24 November 2015, Hurd is not yet an official Debian release, and is maintained and developed as an unofficial port. Debian GNU/Hurd is distributed as an installer CD (running the official Debian installer) or ready-to-run virtual disk image (Live CD, Live USB). The CD uses the IA-32 architecture, making it compatible with IA-32 and x86-64 PCs. The current version of Debian GNU/Hurd is 2023, published in June 2023.WEB, News about Debian GNU/Hurd,weblink live,weblink June 18, 2023, June 18, 2023,Debian GNU/kFreeBSD
(File:Horned logo.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|Logo of Debian GNU/kFreeBSD)Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is a discontinuedMAILING LIST,weblink Release Team Sprint Results, 2014-11-09, debian-devel-announce, Jonathan, Wiltshire, January 10, 2017, February 21, 2018,weblink live, Debian flavor. It used the FreeBSD kernel and GNU userland. The majority of software in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was built from the same sources as Debian, with some kernel packages from FreeBSD. The k in kFreeBSD is an abbreviation for kernel, which refers to the FreeBSD kernel. Before discontinuing the project, Debian maintained i386 and amd64 ports. The last version of Debian kFreeBSD was Debian 8 (Jessie) RC3. Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was created in 2002.MAILING LIST,weblink Chrooted NetBSD environment available for testing, 2002-01-06, debian-bsd, Matthew, Garrett, December 17, 2019, September 6, 2015,weblink live, It was included in Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) as a technology preview, and in Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) as an official port. Debian GNU/kFreeBSD was discontinued as an officially supported platform as of Debian 8.0. Debian developers cited OSS, pf, jails, NDIS, and ZFS as reasons for being interested in the FreeBSD kernel.WEB,weblink Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD_why, Debian Wiki, 2011-10-05, 2013-07-05, February 22, 2017,weblink live, It has not been updated since Debian 8.WEB,weblink Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, Debian.org, May 26, 2014, May 31, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140531011403weblink">weblink live, From July 2019, the operating system continues to be maintained unofficially.WEB,weblink debian-bsd Jul 2019 by thread, lists.debian.org, 2019-07-31, July 31, 2019,weblink live, As of July 2023, the development of Debian GNU/kFreeBSD has officially terminated due to the lack of interest and developers.WEB, 14 July 2023, Debian official announcement,weblinkweblink 27 September 2023, 27 November 2023,See also
- Armbian
- CalyxOS
- Comparison of Linux distributions
- Comparison of mobile operating systems
- Debian version history
- List of Debian project leaders
- List of open source mobile phones
- Pop! OS
- PureOS
- Ubuntu Touch
- Mobian
Notes
{{notelist}}References
{{Reflist}}Further reading
- BOOK, Coleman, E. Gabriella, Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking,weblink registration, 2013, Princeton University Press, 978-0-691-14461-0,
- BOOK, Hertzog, Raphaël, The Debian Administrator's Handbook, Freexian, 2013,weblink 979-10-91414-03-6, 2014-06-22,
- BOOK, Krafft, Martin F., The Debian System: Concepts and Techniques,weblink 2005, No Starch Press, 978-1-59327-069-8,
External links
{{Commons category}}- {{Official website}}
- Debian vs Arch Linux {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211152629weblink |date=February 11, 2022 }} at TechiWiki
- {{DistroWatch|debian|NAME=Debian GNU/Linux}}
- Fosdem 2022, 2 Years of Mobian Birth and growth of a mobile Linux distribution
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