Linux Tutorials on the topic “debian”

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What is Debian?

Debian GNU/Linux is one of the oldest and most widely used distributions ever to have existed. Its initial release was made available over two decades ago with the aspiration to become the world's most successful open source system that is developed by a team of volunteers based in all corners of the globe. Since then, Debian has evolved into a popular open source operating system that has built a huge community of users and developers around it, and serves as the solid basis upon which successful distributions like Ubuntu, Knoppix, Damn Small Linux (DSL) and Mepis are built.

 

Why Choose Debian?

As a server...

One of Debian's characteristics that made it so popular in the web servers market is the fact that it is very rock solid. This stems from the developers decision to use older packages in favor of the stability of the system, instead of offering the latest versions of software tools. Contrary to other commercial driven solutions, Debian is not pressed to release a new version by shareholders but instead releases when all is ready and working properly. This combined with Debian's vast architecture support possibilities, make it ideal for use in literally any platform. Debian can run on Intel 32 or 64-bit, ARM v4 or v7, SPARC 32 or 64-bit, PowerPC 32 or 64-bit, MIPS, Motorola 68k, Hitachi SuperH, DEC Alpha and PA-RISC. Debian can also run on a variety of embedded systems as well.

 

As a desktop...

The obvious reason to use Debian as a desktop distribution is that you may need a good stable and secure system for your everyday tasks. Debian however offers the possibility to point your system to repositories that contain more recent versions of your favorite software tools, allowing you to build a more desktop-oriented system. These branches are the “testing” and “sid” repositories that although officially considered unstable, they rarely ever cause any trouble to the system. This is indicative of the solid basis of the Debian system and the development and testing procedures.

 

Large community

Debian is by all means the result of the collaborative work of a large community that spreads around the world. Numerous contributions ensure a constant development rate that addresses bugs, fixes security holes and makes new packages available. In its latest release (Jessie – v8), Debian supports 73 languages and offers more than 43000 software packages through its default repositories. This large user base also comes handy when searching for solutions to any problems that you might face.

 

HowtoForge and Debian

HowtoForge acknowledges the importance and abilities of Debian in the Linux world, and thus we offer countless highly informative tutorials and guides that will help you get the most out of your system. Our guides concern both the server and the desktop side of Debian, helping you use email encryption tools, set up remote servers, use SSH and SCP, monitor MySQL connections, set up Git and Samba servers and secure your ISP connections.

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