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  • I've been using Debian for 20 years now, since Debian 3.1 "Sarge".

    My first distro was Knoppix, and it was incredible that I could run a Linux desktop from a CD without installing it. Back then I had something like 96 MB of RAM and my computer was an already ancient Pentium II. And yet it worked fine. This opened my mind about what a computer can actually achieve so I asked around forums in my country and met a guy who had the installation media for Debian. I only had dial-up so downloading DVDs was impossible.

    Installed it and used it non stop since then. I'm running Debian Testing with the Unstable and Stable repositories pinned at a lower priority.

    It's hard to describe but the first time I used Linux it just felt like home. I have used DOS 6.x and Windows since 3.1 but it didn't feel like I was in control of the computer; in retrospect it felt something like an amusement park instead of the engineering marvel it really was. We take it for granted now and don't completely realize that we have actual super computers in our pockets!

    Debian was the epitome of this, for the first time I could understand and control the entirety of the software and best of all: it is a community effort. Smart people all around the world donate their time and skills to create something to improve humanity. What's not to love and appreciate?

  • Debian-head here, daily driving it for the last 5 years. I distrohopped a lot before but Debian made me stay, mainly because of its stability and the fact that it's community driven.
    It's getting harder everyday making your needs fit your ethics, but this is one of the few cases and it makes me feel good with my choices.

  • I love Debian because it just works, its administration is completely open, and there's a lot of software support.

  • I have been using Debian - it's the only distro I've used in my 3 years of Linux as a daily driver, and I started using it in VMs instead of Ubuntu a while before that.

    I also like stability and Debian's community-oriented nature.

    I am currently on Testing for my desktop, but plan to either go stable or do a reinstall when Trixie hits stable - I'm tired of rolling release and my programs changing frequently. I have really enjoyed Debian 12 + Flatpaks on my Thinkpad, so I think I will do that when summer rolls around.

  • Hell yeah, debian stable on my servers and testing on my laptop. #perfection

    • Indeed ❀

      • Ubuntu is moving towards a closed environment with their snaps (when using apt install firefox, it installs a snap. That is just plain wrong). But they are doing other weird things as well.

        RedHat, well: IBM. They mangled the whole Centos thing right before eol of the old one and the intro of a new version. Currently, when you legally decide to share the source code of Redhat, you are allowed to do that (according to the GPL) but Redhat will cancel your subscription after you do that,

        So, yes, technically you are allowed to share the source code, but they will kick you out of the building.

        All in all, Debian is the only one left for serious consideration in my servers / desktops.

  • Are You on stable or testing repo? Do You use flatpaks?

    • I'm running Debian on multiple computers and laptops. This screenshot is of my desktop running Debian Trixie and yes I use flatpaks!

      • I see. Im asking because software in debian is old and so I wonder if this bothers desktop debian users or maybe they like it this way. If I were a debian user I would probably stay on testing to get some packages faster. Thanks for a reply!

47 comments