Why do you use debian?

[cds60601]

I think that your feelings are pretty close to many here when it comes to Arch and Debian. That seems to be the norm for many.

[kc1di]

I have used Debian off and on since 1994. I use it today because it's stable and has a great software.
Since then I've use most of the major Distros but I come back to Debian eventually. It's just solid.

[cds60601]

Why do you use debian and not another distrobution?

Why not.

[MrSteve]

when support stopped for windows 98SE i started looking at Linux and couldn't get it to work. some was hardware some was firmware mostly it was me. i didn't understand how Linux worked.
then through the post dropped a CD of Ubuntu Warty Warthog (i still have the CD), so i thought why not nothing else has worked and low and behold it installed and everything just worked. that was the start of my journey with Linux.

i staid with Ubuntu LTS until recently (snaps) and just as things weren't going to well Debian 12 was released. as Ubuntu is Deb based i thought, again, why not.
Debian 12 installed and again just worked so here i am using Debian 12 stable, which is similar to Ubuntu LTS, but also much further along in my understanding of Linux.

so here i am and here i will stay until something changes, which doesn't happen to often on Debian, thankfully ...

[hogrbe]

I have been using Debian since version 6. I tried other distro's too but in the end I always found myself back at Debian. It works, it is stable. I use it as desktop OS, workstation, as well as server without problems.

One of the things I really like about Debian is that it doesn't come fully packed with software that I have no need for. So I install Debian and add what packages I need and I have a crisp and clean OS running.

In addition, Debian is one of the few distro's that still provide an i386 version. At the SSGEOS we use Debian as primary OS on desktops, laptops and servers. We actually have Debian 10 running on a 2003 Compac EVO 24/7 to do atmospheric measurements and it works like a charm, faster than XP at the time.

[limotux]

I just installed Debian yesterday (so I am now like only 12 hrs old).
I have been on Linux since 2000.

To answer why I am using Debian:
1- I for long time preferred having a rolling release, my point is to install just one time without the need to install everything over and over when a new release comes out. It is not after "bleeding edge" software, I only care about installing only once! As per the discussion I had on my first post at viewtopic.php?t=155796
and as our friends there explained to me Debian can be simply upgraded without the need to reinstall.
2- For me it is better to have a stable system
3- Our friends here (at the same thread) comforted me about Grub, there was an issue with Grub we had when I was on EndeavourOS (then converted to systemd-boot). To be honest and fair, I have really enjoyed a complete full year on EndeavourOS. But, why would I need to update and reboot frequently (rolling release), Why not have a more stable and tested system.
4- Much more user friendly (especially for a non that techie like me though I'm on Linux since 2000!).
5- ....
6- ...
.
.
1001- I first installed it on VirtualBox and I was amazed. I felt Debian is a really smart OS.

I am sure I will find more as I use Debian.
A lovely Debian and a lovely community.

[Darkfoe703]

Uff... Is my first love!
My first approach to other SO was Debian 5 "Lenny" (on my AMD K6 II processor.). I been learn so much with Debian and his community. Later, I try other distribution, like Ubuntu and his flavors, Fedora, Slackware, Arch (my second love :$ ), Puppy Linux. Finally, I rested many years in Linux Mint.
Few days ago, I back to Debian, is an amazing SO for work, gamming, and any thing you will do.
Some time ago I felt the companies (maybe, is only my feeling) are more import than the communities in the open source ecosystem. Because that, I were decide return to Debian.

[Onsemeliot]

I mostly like the aim of stability and the fact that the Debian community is set-up without relying on a big company.

Unfortunately in Debian 12 I encountered a few annoying issues with applications like Firefox, Scribus and GIMP I never had before. I don't know if this is just bad luck or if over the years something has changed concerning the ability to provide rock solid reliability.

But it is nice, that I can easily select a desktop that fits to the sometimes very dated hardware during the installation routine without needing to jump through any hoops and having basically the same system underneath on all devices.

I actually prefer doing a clean install each time I switch to a new version. This gives me an opportunity to get rid of old stuff I no longer need. Therefore, it comes handy to me that Debian does have new releases only about every other year. But I have to admit that I skipped Debian 11 because I didn't get around to the hassle of installing a new system before version 12 was out. It is great that I still got security updates all this time with oldoldstable.

[hrsetrdr]

Why do you use debian?

Because the Debian User Forum admins don't get upset about necro-bumping a 14 yr. old thread. jk

Seriously though, I've used Debian since 3.1, before that having used Fedora Core,RedHat and some BSDs. Some of my machines are running Arch, which I love, but Debian's always got a place in my home net.

[jmgibson1981]

Fairly certain i posted here before but times change. I (still) use Debian because I have the option to use Flatpak or Snaps. I'm not obligated by default to use them (without hacking up the intended operation of the system that is). Also I can be certain that the base system won't bug out on me when I'm in the middle of writing code or something. Had that happen the last time I tried Arch. I had forgotten to enable autosave in the Ide and had been at it for 20-30 mins. Lost the whole file contents I was working. My fault on the autosave. But Debian wouldn't have crashed in the first place.

[Janner]

I was never a regular poster here but I had a few handles which I lost due to changing email addresses.

I use Debian mostly because my use case scenario. The only real reason I don't just use OpenBSD is because Debian has better battery iife on laptops. I find the arch linux install pointless compared to the Debian and OpenBSD style installers and flatpaks and backports and further obilterates any reason for me to use it. AUR also seems shady etc.. VOID has a small user base and slackware does not come with apparmor and firejail is not just an apt-get away. Also, Debian iis not commercial but OpenBSD is somewhat better in this regard.

[m4c-attack]

For me, my intro to Linux was through Chromebooks and the default distro was Debian. I played around w/ it for a few years as a complementary tool for ChromeOS.

In terms of taking the actual plunge to Debian running all my devices (save for my phone), it was an amalgamation of many random things. I started using the https://github.com/einaregilsson/Redirector extension which made me realize I can avoid paying w/ my data. I had an Android tablet that I rooted, and there I found out about deGoogling. My perfectly capable desktop was deemed incapable for Windows 11. ChromeOS made me realize that browsers can handle most of the day-to-day tasks, so Debian as a solution was feasible, etc.

Funnily enough, I didn't even grasp that Debian had a DE until I was doing the install process. I just assumed everything was launched via CLI thanks to my ChromeOS experience. It's been about 2-3 months since I made the plunge, and about a month since I stopped dual booting. The best piece of advice I'd give to other brand new is to measure your expectations. Your computer OS is something that you've likely used unconsciously for years, and so the transition to a new OS can be frustrating initially w/ lots of bumps and troubleshooting, but over time, it becomes more and more natural feeling.

[rhinjard]

1. Stability
2. Package management
3. Huge repositories
4. No Snap, Flatpak & immutable nonsense (Ubuntu, Fedora)
5. No flashy & useless techno nonsense (Void, Gentoo, Solus)
6. No bleeding edge
7. One of the few distro that plays nice with KDE Plasma
8. Huge user base

[revmacian]

I've been using Linux distros since around the year 2000, and I've used many distros. After some years I began to notice that many of the distros I liked were based on Debian. So, I gave Debian a try and I immediately realized why those distros were based on Debian, so I decided to cut out the middleman. Those distro developers based their offerings on Debian because Debian is amazing.

[pizza-rat]

I sometimes think about going back to Gentoo or Arch to see how newer stuff like Wayland progress is going, but then I remember compile times on Gentoo and the comparatively small repos on Arch, mainly in regards to libraries for compiling software from outside the repos. I had a few times on Arch where I wanted to compile something and it was a major PITA to hunt down the dependencies, whereas Gentoo and Debian tend to have them all in the repos.

[pjmbraet]

Because it is stable, really stable.
After a period of "distro-hopping" i used Debian for a few years but after assimilation of this computer it seemed Debian was uninstallable here whil Centos (only gnome what i dont like) installed Ubuntu on it untill they changed their Firefox to snap (what makes it unusable for eID-Belgium), then i started using Fedora here for a year or so but that has too much updates and cannot be called stable. Just for fun changed to Qubes but that distro really needs a PS2 keyboard and mouse to be able to connect other devices as a printer or a drawing tablet via usb. So finally figured out i have to choose the boot options in the UEFI on this motherboard ASRock X570 "steel legend". Specific: don't choose the usb to boot the istallation medium. Choose the second partiton of the usb with UEFI in its name as first boot option and the third partition that has also UEFI in its name as the second boot option. If you choose usb boot the usual way you get this screen on DebianInstallerBoot.jpg (Attachment).
After i figured that out i returned to Debian on my new computer. Because it is stable, not too much updates, easy to install my usb-printer and use my usb drawing tablet.
That is why i returned to Debian on this machine three years after building it. A releif using Debian again!

[AlexNox]

On my side, I a rather newbie using GNU/Linux distributions. I started with Ubuntu in 2020 then I switched a few times with a long period on Fedora 36. I decided to switch completely on Debian for the Bookworm release on both personal and professional computer. So far, the experience is almost perfect to me but I will wait for a longer experience to get a better opinion on it.

After i figured that out i returned to Debian on my new computer. Because it is stable, not too much updates, easy to install my usb-printer and use my usb drawing tablet.

Hello @pjmbraet ,

I saw that you were using a graphical tablet. Do you think that we can discuss about it as I have an issue with mine?

Sorry for polluting the post.

[Debmann]

It's solid as a rock

[Jay Young]

In 1996 I began with a large Slackware book. Soon after, I switched to Debian. I tried Ubuntu, successfully compiled Gentoo on a PowerPC decades ago, but I always kept coming back.

Bleeding edge never bothered me. Compile at install just took forever. I needed a stable working platform and Debian delivered every time.
Now I run Debian 12 on this old Thinkpad I'm typing this message on. Previous uptime was 202 days. I never restart, rarely need to update,
and it just works, solid, without fail, every single time.

[edbarx]

Lately, I received a laptop from my sister. I installed Debian and I am liking it. What I need now is some good systemd introduction to learn how to use it. After a period of almost 10 years, most bugs should have surfaced.