View Source: Debian - Waikato Linux Users Group

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Debian is a [GNU]/[Linux] distribution. The name comes from the founder of the project, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra. Hence "Deb" and "Ian".

If you use Debian, you tend to love Debian. Why?

__Non-commercial__ :
    It's not controlled by a corporate entity.
__Huge package archive__ :
    Debian packages over 11,000 pieces of software.  You can install almost anything by just typing <tt>apt-get install ''package''</tt>, with package dependencies handled for you.  No more rabbiting around the internet for an [RPM] that might do what you want it to do!
__Runs on ''lots'' of platforms__ :
    i386, AMD64, Motorola 68k, Alpha, Sparc, PowerPC, ARM, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, IA64 (Itanium) and S390.
__Incredibly easy to maintain__ :
    <tt>apt-get upgrade</tt> every night and you'll be running the latest versions of everything.
__Very true to Linux__ :
    Some purists dont like RedHat's directory structures.  It's also pragmatic __and__ ideological; what you know as Debian today is Debian GNU/Linux, and they are also looking at Debian GNU/HURD.

Often imitated, never beaten.

There are some reasons not to like Debian, the most obvious of which is that the "stable" distribution, while historically __very__ stable, achieves this by being up to three years 'out of date'.  [Ubuntu], a derivative of Debian, addresses this by having regular (six-monthly) release cycles. Also, Debian has a mentality of "we have official packages for everything", meaning that $new_thing has to be uploaded into the repository before you can get it.  However, more people are packaging things in third party repositories that you can add to your AptSourcesList, and you can always install things from source.

Read about the different FlavoursOfDebian.

!Packaging in Debian

The Debian PackageManagement format is [.deb|Deb]. See DebianPackaging on how to create these, or DebianPackageTools for how to use [dpkg(8)]/[APT]/other programs that install .deb packages.

!Acquiring Debian

See NewZealandLinuxMirrors for places in NewZealand to get [Deb]s/[ISO]s.

!Learn more

There are a LOT of great Debian web pages on the internet.  Here are but a few...

* WLUG's DebianNotes
* [ Debian's official FAQ | http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/];
* [ Debian Wiki | http://wiki.debian.net]
* [ #debian FAQ wiki | http://www.linuks.mine.nu/debian-faq-wiki/ ]
* [ Debian Administration | http://www.debian-administration.org/ ]
* [ A Debian Grimoire | http://deb.riseup.net/ ]
* [ Debian Help (UK) | http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/ ]
* [ Planet Debian (blog aggregator) | http://planet.debian.org ]

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Part of CategoryDistribution and CategoryDebian
154 pages link to Debian:
Last edited on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:20:30 pm by IanMcDonald
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