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Why do you use debian?

Here you can discuss every aspect of Debian. Note: not for support requests!
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fladi
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#436 Post by fladi »

Well ..... long ago (I think about 7 years) I turned my back to Win***s and tried Linux-based distributions. My first one was OpenSuse, but it had too many bugs and broke my system after a short while, then I tried Fedora, but the "bleeding edge" sometimes was too "bleeding" and their community was a bit harsh when I tried to describe my problems refering to their religion on their forum, Mandriva was the same experience. All these 3 distros didn't seem to fit my needs. So I stumbled over Ubuntu, a Debian Linux based user friendly distribution with a reputation of working right out-of-the-box. Nowadays I am thinking of Ubuntu as bloatware with a company politics, which makes me vomit (Amazon shopping lense, E.T. calling home, spyware, bloatware, etc.). I now use Debian for quite a good time and I never was disappointed. I used Arch derivates for testing (Antergos, Archbang), but the many of their community members policy of not signing packages and not taking security for serious plus the AUR which maybe user-friendly but also risky made me come back.

I now have got a "pimped" Debian testing Jessie XFCE plus contrib & nonfree apt-sources on my HP laptop with kernel 3.16rc3 installed and it works like charm. I want to learn a bit in my spare time so Debian seems perfect for that. Don't get me wrong, I am far away of being a super-nerd knowing anything about everything but I can upgrade kernels, use the command line, add or remove users and groups, etc. So I would call myself a newbie who is willing to open his eyes.

dariusdor
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#437 Post by dariusdor »

Rolling distro (sort of). Large package library. Binary packages. Stability.
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#438 Post by Ardouos »

Reliable, stability, security, vast library of packages, customisable. It is just amazing.
Last edited by Ardouos on 2014-10-03 10:58, edited 1 time in total.
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eor2004
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#439 Post by eor2004 »

1.Everything I need to work, works!
2.No need to reinstall in order to upgrade!
3.It's free!
4.Very stable, even when using backports!
5.Very experienced users in case I need help!
6.Debian is very cool and awesome! :D
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Linadian
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#440 Post by Linadian »

Because my computer has never worked better or been more functional, private and secure in the 17 years I've been tinkering (self taught, building, fixing, loading PCs and laptops). That includes 4 Windows versions (95 up to and including XP with the exception Millennium), and numerous other distros, including some Ubuntu derivatives. All my tinkering paid off, because Debian is not Mint, that's for sure, I've got nothing against Mint, great distro, great training wheels until you're ready for Debian. :shock: :wink:
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Justin417
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#441 Post by Justin417 »

I love the stability, how things just work with it, and how well it acts as a server as well.

My main use of debian is servers, and the fact that this operating system is so secure and well built makes it a great choice.

(Its also the first distro i ever looked into when I was told to try this "linux" thing a long time ago :lol: )

sirfer
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#442 Post by sirfer »

Still here and still using Debian :wink:

Why?

Because it still does everything and just doesn't break. Granted, I'm using stable as I write software for windows systems which I test in VirtualBox and I'm scratching my head to remember the last time something broke. As others have stated, sometimes reliability trumps all other requirements and now that I have all the OS tweaking urges almost out of my system, a rock solid platform is now appreciated more than ever.

As yet others have mentioned, the array of hardware supported by Debian (and Linux in general) is great. I have a raspberry pi as a web server which hasn't missed a beat since I set it up over a year ago. It runs raspbian, which reminds me, I must ssh in and update it..

edit: Here's another reason

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/09 ... nix-in-it/

this bug was patched by Debian before i read this article yet it seems not to have been in MacOS...what gives Apple?

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khelben1979
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#443 Post by khelben1979 »

Because it's the best Linux distribution you can get! ;-)
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#444 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Holy NecroBump Batman!

I use Debian because it's very reliable, it supports secure boot, it has 78 trillion packages, it doesn't rely on the latest kernel or Firefox versions and because the project has political principles which are perfectly aligned with my own.
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#445 Post by None1975 »

I use Debian, because it is rock solid. Also i like they Social Contract with the Free Software Community!
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Pummelchen
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#446 Post by Pummelchen »

Its kind of unavoidable ..

FreeBSD has a lack of killer apps like Dropbox and VMware Workstation. As such it fails as a normal desktop replacement for office use.

Clear Linux is much faster (10-20%) than Debian, based on the poporonix benchmarks, but the rolling release breaks things after reboot, so you have to recompile kernel modules which makes it impossible for 24/7 use.
Also many packages are missing and usually you file more bug reports than to complete tasks.

Debian on the other side works stable, 24/7, packages are tested and well supported and you can leave a box untouched for years if required. Kernel updates are fairly easy manually to stay up to date if required.

zoli62
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#447 Post by zoli62 »

My argument. It used to be difficult to configure Debian in the past, and it is easy these days.

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Re: Why do you use debian?

#448 Post by jmgibson1981 »

I switched my main server to Debian just a week ago from Ubuntu. I am currently using my desktop, which I rarely use anyway to be the server. Needed more space for storage drives. I am using the LXD snap to run my Ubuntu containers which serve LTSP based media centers which boot directly to Kodi, along with all other network services & minecraft servers.

I picked Debian because I wanted the foundation of my network and file sharing to be rock solid. Ubuntu is great for the most part, and I trust it for my containers. Ubuntu is also easier when it comes to certain software that I need. I hate to compile if I don't absolutely have to. For the bare metal it was an easy choice to go back to Debian. I wanted a base that can effortlessly upgrade between versions rather than a general headache as most of my Ubuntu upgrades have tended to be.

It has been a bit of a curve with some of my normal software deprecated or removed for whatever reason in Buster, but I've adapted. Msmtp rather than ssmtp is the main one. Thankfully the wiki was plain as day on how to configure and all of my email alerts are working just fine now.

It should be noted that any issues I had with NFS glitching occasionally before, seem to have disappeared thus far. I was never able to explain those hiccups but they seem gone for now.

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vicshrike
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#449 Post by vicshrike »

What else is there? :twisted:

Chrisdb
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Why do you choose/use Debian

#450 Post by Chrisdb »

This is not another 'Which is the best distro' thread, but rather a different point of view to prevent those IMO pointless threads.

I would like to ask everyone here another question...

Why do you choose or use Debian...

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Lysander
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#451 Post by Lysander »

My reasons have changed over time. A few years ago I was a new Linux user and was excited to learn an OS which was more challenging than Ubuntu. I then left Debian for Slackware on my main box.

As much as I adore Slackware, I ran into issues when adding a fourth internal hard drive, which meant the system wouldn't boot. We hit a wall on the Slackware forum trying to diagnose the problem, the normal processes for persistent naming wouldn't work. I went back to Debian because it makes configuring and maintaining a system with multiple hard drives a lot easier.

neuraleskimo
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#452 Post by neuraleskimo »

Like a lot of other people, I like Debian's position on free software (but easy access to non-free drivers, etc.), its inclusiveness, and community. I also like that Debian is community-driven and free of corporate attachments. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Red Hat and their contributions to Linux and other free software, but the jury is still out on IBM owning Red Hat and I don't know that I like the Red Hat business model. Also, I have this fear that Microsoft will purchase Canonical someday.

Anyway, back on topic... I also like the stability and reliability of Debian. I have toyed with other more cutting-edge or rolling releases and usually end-up hating the daily churn of updates.

Wheelerof4te
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#453 Post by Wheelerof4te »

My main reasons:

1. Actual ABI stability and promise of an unchanging environment. In the real world, this is very important.
2. A lot of packages to choose from, and an easy way to install them. No repo hunting, like in Fedora, for example.
3. Premium security support. For some desktop software (like Chromium), it could use some improvements, but this is not a big deal.
4. You get the choice of either fully-free software, or mixed. I'm pragmatic, so I care about non-free stuff's availability.
5. Long and rich history of development. It ensures survivability of the distribution. I don't have to worry that next year it could suddenly vanish.

Of course, I talk about the only official Debian release, Debian Stable.

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Re: Why do you use debian?

#454 Post by NFT5 »

Chrisdb wrote:Why do you choose or use Debian...
I use Debian because that is what I chose. :wink:

About 7 years ago I faced what many others faced at that time - the upcoming end of support for Windows XP. Between my business and home I had around 15 machines that would have to be upgraded to a new operating system. At the time MS saw the end of life for XP as a massive opportunity to boost their profits and Win7 licences were not being discounted at all. So, I faced a capital cost of about $4500 to upgrade the OS, double that with upgrades to software, and then the prospect that it would all happen again with an OS that was full of holes, both in the practical and security senses.

I'd played around with Ubuntu on a PC at home and saw that Linux had potential to do what we needed, but the need to upgrade every 9 months had no appeal at all. I did look at LTS versions but started a search for a system that was stable in operation and had much longer periods between major upgrades. Red Hat made the list until I realised we just weren't big enough to fit into their customer mould. PCLOS actually had some appeal until it became apparent that it simply wouldn't install on some machines and then there was ............Robolinux. I laugh now but they were very active in targetting people like me and the system, which came with Virtualbox to run those programs that couldn't be substituted with a Linux equivalent was very attractive. I was halfway to making a decision when a small problem required that I actually contact the guy that runs the project. Without going in to that further, let me say that I came away looking for another alternative and then realised that Debian could, with not that much work, do everything that Robolinux had promised and also had a level of support that was non-existent with the alternative.

Six months of testing Wheezy ensued with very few problems, none of which that couldn't be overcome with a little research and work, plus some application to a giant learning curve. Needless to say we're still running Debian exclusively and in the process of upgrading to Buster, one machine at a time. Along the way I tried various other distros, just to confirm that I'd made the right decision. MX came close but missed out on their excessively tight permissions policy while Ubuntu MATE lived alongside Debian on my notebook for some time, as well as on my wife's desktop, but the noticeable difference in performance, and implementation of features in Debian, eventually knocked that distro out as well.

Is Debian the perfect distribution? Not at all. Some of the problems along the way have shown, to me at least, that there are issues with the sharp division between devs and users. MXLinux could really teach Debian a thing or two about the benefits that come from devs and users being part of a single community. More recognition of the ever increasing use of Debian as a desktop system would overcome many of the problems that newer users experience. Again MX and Ubuntu really show what can be done in this area. The stable/testing/unstable model has proven advantages in delivering software that works, but more could be done to discourage the inexperienced from jumping into a release that they're incapable of dealing with and taking up resources that could be better utilised elsewhere, while not actually contributing much to the actual development of the Debian distribution.

The following goes very close to summarising my thoughts on Debian:
Wheelerof4te wrote:1. Actual ABI stability and promise of an unchanging environment. In the real world, this is very important.
2. A lot of packages to choose from, and an easy way to install them. No repo hunting, like in Fedora, for example.
3. Premium security support. For some desktop software (like Chromium), it could use some improvements, but this is not a big deal.
4. You get the choice of either fully-free software, or mixed. I'm pragmatic, so I care about non-free stuff's availability.
5. Long and rich history of development. It ensures survivability of the distribution. I don't have to worry that next year it could suddenly vanish.

Mr. Lumbergh
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Re: Why do you use debian?

#455 Post by Mr. Lumbergh »

F37U5G0D wrote:Why do you use debian and not another distrobution?
Ahh, but I do use another distro. :wink: I have PCLOS installed on here too. Simple to use and I know it inside and out. When I first got into Linux back in 2005, I had that on the laptop and Ubuntu on the desktop. It eventually won as Ubuntu got more and more Microsoftish in their approach to things. It's only ever given me real grief twice in 15 years. I can get in there and do maintenance on everything else installed on this multiboot box (4, soon to be 5 OS's) because I'm so familiar with it at this point.
Debian appealed to me because of the huge range of available packages and pretty much infinite customization options. You can always find installation destructions for Debian for just about any package; a lot of other distros don't have this compatibility. I liked the concept behind Ubuntu Studio with its tweaks for audio and video production, but I still don't like Ubuntu. Debian lets me run the same tweaks such as the realtime kernel and JACK audio, which makes it a perfect alternative if you hate Windows and your Mac is too old to run a modern DAW. I can even set up JACK for my audio interface while still using Pulse for the HDMI out and built-in audio. It doesn't come pre-loaded with a bunch of crap; everything on here is there because I installed it, even the GUI. It can be a great general-purpose distro or one built for a specific task. And of course apt; it's far and away my favorite PM.

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