Re: Why choose Debian?

[hpknight <hpknight@ao.net>]

"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