What is Debian?
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An Overview of Debian

There are several great Linux operating systems out on the market today, and Debian is one of them. A computer operating system that is completely made from free and open source software, Debian has become a very popular and influential Linux distribution. The system is developed by testers and volunteers from all over the world and is ran by donations through SPI, which is a non-profit umbrella corporation that helps to fund several free software programs. It is a multipurpose OS, and can easily be used to operate a single desktop or an entire server operation system.

It is known throughout the Linux community for how closely it sticks to the Unix and free software philosophies, yet still offers a wide variety of options for any user. In fact, the latest release of Debian offers over twenty-six thousand different software packages that work on eleven different computer architectures from Intel/AMD 32-bit/64-bit to the IBM eServer zSeries mainframes. For those who are looking for a Linux distribution system, there are several that are based on the system, such as Ubuntu, Drealminux, Damn Small Linux, Kanotix, LinEx, and MEPIS (to name just a few). The wide variety of the software packages that Debian offers, the quality of these releases, and the APT package management system are all some of the prominent features of the system that make it stand out above the rest. And, because of these great features, Debian is extremely easy to upgrade and has a built-in, automated installation and removal process.

Debian’s default install helps to provide great programs like OpenOffice, Evolution mail, CD & DVD writing programs, image viewers and editors, PDF viewers, and even Iceweasel. The default installation only requires that the user have the first CD/DVD to install the program on any compatible computer system. The other twenty-six thousand plus programs that Debian offers are on either 4 DVD’s or over 20 CD’s. Of course, the preferred way to install these programs and packages are from a net install CD, but this usually only includes the necessary software and downloads the packages that the user specifies through Debian’s package manager.

In the next section of this in-depth Debian review, we will go through the history of Debian and how it came about.

This post is part of the series: An In-Depth Review of Debian

For those Linux users who aren’t familiar with Debian, here is your BrightHub in-depth review to help you completely understand the system.

  1. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt 1.
  2. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt 2.
  3. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt 3.
  4. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt. 4
  5. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt 5.
  6. An In-Depth Review of Debian – Pt 6.