"Steve R. Hastings" wrote: >I am interested in why people prefer Debian to other Linux >distributions. Please explain the top few reasons why you chose Debian >rather than something else.
I started out in the Linux world with Redhat 5.2, which was a good place to start. Seemed easy enough, RPMs were great .. until you try to install something like Gnome that has 18 levels of RPM dependencies. When I got a job at a local ISP, I found that 90% of the servers were running Debian (slink at the time) and most of the guys who worked there highly recommended using it. In the last couple years I've been in contact with just about every major distribution of Linux, and I find Debian to be the most stable and easiest to manage. My machine at home started out as Debian 2.1 about 2 years ago, and I've gradually dist-upgraded to the current "unstable" with very few problems .. nothing I couldn't solve within a few minutes. I find the "unstable" releases to work well enough to be used on production web servers even. Aside from the incredible package management system, the Debian developers do a great job of keeping things working well together. I like the fact that many of them are immediately available via e-mail or even live online chat (irc.debian.org, #debian). The last time I filed a bug report, the package maintainer and I conversed on IRC and the problem was solved in about 5 minutes. While you rarely see Debian sold in stores bundled with tech-support packages, I find that Debian support is much easier to find than with other distributions. I have mixed feelings about using Debian as a "newbie" distribution. I see a lot of current distributions targeting the masses, trying to make Linux sooo easy that anyone can do it. Personally I like the Debian installer (even though it can take up to 17 disks now ;) , particularly with the advent of broadband -- which makes apt-get even better. While the Debian installer may not be stupid-user friendly, it is extremely flexible. I figure just let people learn on their own like I did :) In short, I like Debian because of the superior package management, the quality of the packages (and they're all in one place!), and the way the maintainers keep everything going smoothly.. --Henry SysAdmin/Tech AO.net
