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Debian is better than Ubuntu?

Off-Topic discussions about science, technology, and non Debian specific topics.
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J697
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Joined: 2011-03-16 01:39

Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#1 Post by J697 »

I currently have Ubuntu 10.10 and have had it for a while. I just today wanted to see what Debian was. It looks good, but I was wondering. Is it better than Ubuntu, if so in what ways? Can Debian launch Ubuntu things, I assume it can, because those applications are made for Linux and not a specific Linux distro, right?

Also, first post so hey! :D
Member No. 26476

julian516
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#2 Post by julian516 »

I'll assume you are serious and not some time-wasting troll.

I think it goes like this.

a) At a technical level do not confuse Debian with Ubuntu. They are different and you cannot mix repositories without problems at some point. Debian is Debian. Ubuntu is Ubuntu. Ubuntu may have come from Debian but it has long since moved to the other side of town.

b.) The philosophical differences are large and significant. (Please read the Debian social contract. They mean it.) Ubuntu is using Linux to build digital appliances that shield people as much as possible from what the OS is doing and requires. (Attention! You need upgrades! Click here for upgrades! This is otherwise known as the Redmond tango.)

c.) Debian assumes you both want and need to know what the OS is doing and why it is doing it. So the touch-stone is that you must be willing to invest in a learning experience. In a nutshell if you just want to use Linux stay with Ubuntu.

If you want to learn about Debian Gnu/Linux then go to Debian. And be willing to learn. Spend time with Debian documentation. It is very good.

Your reward, among other things, is a level of stability that Ubuntu sacrifices save perhaps in its LTS releases. There is a price for that relentless 6 month release cycle. Nothing is free.

Now for the tricky part:

Don't tell anybody that Debian is really enjoyable. Tell 'em it's very hard. It requires super-human intelligence, etc. It's all part of the game.

Welcome to Debian!

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stevepusser
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#3 Post by stevepusser »

It's preferable to use packages built on Debian to run on Debian. Ubuntu packages may install and run, but use them only as a last resort...Boxee, for example, provides only Ubuntu deb packages, but they do run on Debian Squeeze.
MX Linux packager and developer

confuseling
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#4 Post by confuseling »

It's not even apples and oranges, because apples aren't made out of oranges.

Is fruit better than apples? Well, some fruit's good, some you might not like. Sometimes it's hard to choose between, sometimes you stop paying attention and it goes all mushy.

The forums are quite good though, partly because people request that you search them (and the documentation) before asking questions. Believe it or not, this one comes up quite a lot...

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=60419
The Forum's search box is terrible. Use site specific search, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... terms+here

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Mr James
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#5 Post by Mr James »

From a functionality (as opposed to a philosophical) view:
Ubuntu is a preconfigured and pretweaked installation of Debian intended to provide a user with a working system and a set of common applications for the ordinary user who does not know or care to know (the vast majority) what functionality is in what package and what setting is in what file. It also provides technical support for a fee.
Ubuntu is like a ready made PC or laptop you get from Dell. Debian is like building your machine from individual components.

Edit: Debian is way more reliable and bug free than Ubuntu but Ubuntu is way more dumbed down.
asus S551L laptop :: debian stable :: dwm

AnimeHendrix
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#6 Post by AnimeHendrix »

There so similar that it's almost a non-issue. If you want something more stable, pick Debian. If you want something with a larger desktop userbase, pick Ubuntu.

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TobiSGD
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#7 Post by TobiSGD »

There is only one person on this planet that can say if Debian or Ubuntu is better for you: you.
Just give it a try, may be install it into Virtualbox, and see which of the two will fit you better.

exploder
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#8 Post by exploder »

Debian and Ubuntu are both good operating systems, I find myself preferring Debian though. Debian is very resource friendly and responsive on my hardware and it's also very reliable. There is a slight learning curve with Debian but the documentation makes things easy enough in my opinion. With Ubuntu I had to fix things that updates broke fairly often, Debian on the other hand seems to provide better tested updates and the system seems to just get better with age.

To be perfectly honest, when I did my net install of Debian 6 x64 I never imagined I would be so impressed with it.

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sossego
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#9 Post by sossego »

It's NERD WAR III !
Let my desire and hope surpass my expectations;
And give me the strength to persevere through doubt.
Grant me the wisdom to exceed my bounds.
Let my eyes always see through the dream fog of childhood,
so that every moment may be treasured.

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bmc5311
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#10 Post by bmc5311 »

J697 wrote:I Is it better than Ubuntu....
Image

if you have to ask, you probably wouldn't understand the answer.

JohnDeere630
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#11 Post by JohnDeere630 »

bmc5311 wrote:
J697 wrote:I Is it better than Ubuntu....
Image

if you have to ask, you probably wouldn't understand the answer.
I gotta remember that...awesome answer!

Hilarious
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#12 Post by Hilarious »

I don't get what all this "Debian is Ubuntu with a learning curve" is about. Debian was the first Linux distro I used full-time, and here's exactly how it went:

1. Download netinstall CD, run it.
2. Pick username and password, wait 30-40 minutes for downloads and install to complete, log in.
3. That's it. You get all software with the same package manager you use in Ubuntu, including Java, Flash, and everything else. What does Ubuntu do by default, install Compiz and remove GIMP?

I think it's safe to say that most major distros are a pleasure to use these days, they're all fine choices.

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luceerose
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Debian IS better than Ubuntu

#13 Post by luceerose »

I started on Ubuntu & tried a lot of different Linux distros. What I found was simply that I liked the deb-based distros more than the rpm-based ones. So I stuck with Ubuntu for a while, then decided to try the distro where it all came from.
I found that I liked Debian very much, mainly because it comes without a lot of the unnecessary bloat that comes with Ubuntu. So I can have a nice lean system running only what I need/use & nothing more.
So, once I figured out how to install nvidia drivers properly with Debian, I switched. And I'll never go back to Ubuntu.
I think I know enough about Linux now that I would never bother with a second-hand distribution like Ubuntu/Mint/blah/blah/blah.
If I want deb, I'll use Debian & If I wanted rpm, I'd use Fedora.

PS.
Community-wise...
It may take longer to get a response here than the Ubuntu forums, but when you do get a response at the Debian Forums it's from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
Also, at the Ubuntu forums, you can't say "sudo passwd root"
Linux 😎

kbyte
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#14 Post by kbyte »

I kind of think that if you have to ask that question, you will be better served using Ubuntu. I know I was.

I started with linux when I started with computers and knew nothing about either. I tried many distros and the first Ubuntu (4.10 maybe?) installed the easiest for me, on the hardware I had.

I continued to experiment with everything linux but Ubuntu was my fall back resource for accessing the web and doing my work. As I came to have a better understanding of the linux community and the ins and outs of setting up my hardware Debian became the better choice for me.

Everyone is going to be a little different but I came from an absolute total ignorance of computers in 2003 to feeling quite comfortable with Debian as my primary system. And I will add, at the risk of offending some, I do not do things the Ubuntu way, nor the Debian way. I have learned to do it my way.

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rdonnelly
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#15 Post by rdonnelly »

Debian to me means speed and efficiency. I started in 1992 with Dos and Windoze 3.1, I have used OS2 and a few of the other versions of windoze, Linux Mint (Ubuntu) it was alot better then windoze, or should I say a ton better? Now I am using Linux Mint Debian, and I am not going back, even if FF4 is not in the Repos yet. :lol:
The OS: Linux Mint Debian 64 Gnome
The Hardware: 3.7 GB Memory, Processor x 4 = Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M430 @ 2.27GHz
The Name: Bob

cynwulf

Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#16 Post by cynwulf »

Linux Mint != Debian - so you are not running Debian. There is a LMDE forum: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewforum.php?f=141

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Anzhr
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#17 Post by Anzhr »

cynwulf wrote:Linux Mint != Debian - so you are not running Debian. There is a LMDE forum: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewforum.php?f=141
In that LMDE and their upcoming other editions use the Debian testing repositories they are and the advice given here will be relevant to users.

In that Debian stands for more than just an excellent GNU/Linux distribution but also represents a deep commitment to FLOSS through its Social Contract and sets a standard for freedom I understand and would not argue your point.

But the distinction between Debian and its philosophy and Debian as a distribution that is the basis for others that use its repositories should be clear.

Saline and Crunchbang are Xfce and Openbox Debian distros in that they use Debian stable. LMDE and the Mint Xfce, Fluxbox, and likely soon KDE and LXDE are Debian testing distros.

That they circumvent some issues by adding codecs and firmware blobs is really only what the majority of Debian users wind up doing anyway in some measure. As for the Minty green stuff, since Spacefun is the official Debian artwork we have no right to be shirty about anyone else. :lol:
Xfce, Wheezy

cynwulf

Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#18 Post by cynwulf »

Anzhr wrote:In that LMDE and their upcoming other editions use the Debian testing repositories they are and the advice given here will be relevant to users.
So... because some derivative uses the debian repos, this forum is supposed to provide support? I think not...

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Anzhr
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#19 Post by Anzhr »

cynwulf wrote:
Anzhr wrote:In that LMDE and their upcoming other editions use the Debian testing repositories they are and the advice given here will be relevant to users.
So... because some derivative uses the debian repos, this forum is supposed to provide support? I think not...
This forum's advice is directly applicable to those systems. Unlike Ubuntu, the packages are unaltered. Everything functions the same. So unless the issue has to do with some particularly Minty thing (like Mint Update or whatever the Mint thing is that gets rid of the border around the names of icons on the Xfce desktop) the advice given will be applicable. Advice given based upon Debian to someone running Ubuntu could break something so an Ubuntu user should ask on their forums. I see no reason to turn someone away when one can help. But you might. As is your prerogative.
Xfce, Wheezy

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dust hill resident
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Re: Debian is better than Ubuntu?

#20 Post by dust hill resident »

It's true that Debian is better than Ubuntu, but that might change in the future. It depends on how many people use it. If you use something that not many people use, you gain a great deal of points for your success in computing. But if you're using something that everyone uses, that's no good. It's nowhere near as cool when things are like that. So then, your choice of OS should be based on the personal image of yourself that you want to show everyone. If you want to look like a responsible family man, you might choose Windows 7. But if you want to be a super master of computing, you might even use Windows 95. You can get massive amounts of cred for using Windows 95 nowadays, it's quite old and practically nobody uses it.
There's a man called Nathan Lineback, he's probably got one of the highest scores around. Check out his site: http://toastytech.com/
I don't know if he still uses it, but he stuck with Windows 95 for the longest time. Even if he isn't using it any more, all the points he accumulated from using 95 for all those years won't just vanish. I'll bet he's got enough cred to use even Windows 7 and still hold the title of computing master.

Anyway, most of us here use Debian, so we're all in quite good standing. But you need to keep a look out, because I've heard that many new users are starting to use Debian by now. You might find that you're not getting the same level of credibility from Debian as you used to. Be careful.

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