Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. The operating system we have created is called Debian GNU / Linux, or simply Debian for short.
An operating system is a set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and do all the basic household and lets you start other programs.
Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.
However, the work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.
Most of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project, hence the names: GNU / Linux and GNU / Hurd. These tools are also free.
Of course, things that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with more than 25,000 packages (precompiled software that is wrapped in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) - all for free.
It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of all the basic tools. Next is all the software you run on your computer. At the top of the tower is Debian - carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.
An operating system is a set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and do all the basic household and lets you start other programs.
Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.
However, the work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.
Most of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project, hence the names: GNU / Linux and GNU / Hurd. These tools are also free.
Of course, things that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with more than 25,000 packages (precompiled software that is wrapped in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) - all for free.
It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of all the basic tools. Next is all the software you run on your computer. At the top of the tower is Debian - carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.
It's all free?
You may wonder: why do people spend hours of their own time to write software, package it carefully, and then give all of that? Answers are as varied as the people who contribute. Some people want to help others. Many write programs to learn more about computers. More and more people are looking for ways to avoid an inflated price of software. A group grew to contribute as a thank you to all the great free software they received from others. Many academics make the free software to help get the results of their research into wider use. Businesses help maintain free software so they can have a voice in how to develop - there is no quick way to get a new feature than to implement it yourself! Of course, many of us just find it very enjoyable.
Debian is very committed to free software that we thought would be useful if commitment is formalized in a written document. Thus, our Social Contract was born.
Although Debian believes in free software, there are cases where people want or need to make non-free software on their machines. Whenever possible Debian will support this. In fact there are more and more packages whose sole job is to install non-free software into the Debian system.
You say free, but the CDs / bandwidth cost money!
You may ask: If the software is free, then why should I pay the vendor for a CD, or pay an ISP for downloading?
When buying a CD, you pay for someone's time, capital expenditure to make the disks, and risk (in case they do not sell them all). In other words, you pay for a physical media used to deliver software, not the software itself.
When we use the word "free", we are referring to software freedom, not that it at no cost. You can read more about what we mean by "free software" and what the Free Software Foundation to say about it.
Most software costs over 100 U.S. dollars. How can you give it?
A better question is how do software companies go with charging so much? Software is not like making cars. Once you have made a copy of your software, the production costs to make one million smaller (there is good reason Microsoft has so many billions in the bank).
Look at another way: if you have endless supply of sand in your backyard, you might be willing to give sand away. It would be foolish, though, to pay a truck to take it to others. You will make them come and get themselves (equivalent to downloading off the net) or they can pay someone else to deliver it to their door (equivalent to buying the CD). This is exactly how Debian operates and why most of the CD / DVD which is very cheap (only about 12 USD for 4 DVDs).
Debian does not make money from CD sales. At the same time, the money needed to pay expenses such as domain registration and hardware. Thus, we ask that you purchase from one of the CD vendors that donates a portion of your purchase to Debian.
What hardware is supported?
Debian will run on nearly all personal computers, including most older models. Each new release of Debian supports more general computer architectures. For a complete list of currently supported, see the documentation for stable releases.
Almost all common hardware is supported. If you want to ensure that all devices connected to your machine are supported, check out the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO.
There are several companies that make support difficult by not releasing specifications for their hardware. This means you may not be able to use their hardware with GNU / Linux. Some companies provide non-free drivers, but that's a problem because the company could then be out of business or stop support for your hardware. We recommend that you only purchase hardware from manufacturers that provide free drivers for their products.
I'm still not convinced.
Do not take our word for it - try Debian yourself. Because hard disk space becomes cheaper, you can probably spare about 2GB. If you do not want or need a graphical desktop, 600MB is sufficient. Debian can be easily installed on the extra space and can coexist with existing OS. If you eventually need more space, you can delete one of your OS (and once you see the power of the Debian system, we are sure you will not remove Debian).
As trying a new operating system will take some of your valuable time, it is understandable that you may have reservations. For this reason we compiled a list of pros and cons of Debian. This will help you decide whether you think it's worth it. We hope you will appreciate the honesty and candor.
How do I get Debian?
The most popular to install Debian from a CD that you can buy for the price of media in one of our many CD vendors. If you have good internet access, you can download and install Debian over the Internet.
Please see our page about getting Debian for more information.
If you have not, you may want to look first at the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO.
Do not forget to look through the packages we offer (hopefully you will not be intimidated by the number).
I can not manage it all yourself. How do I get support for Debian?
You can get help by reading the documentation available both on our website and you can install the package on your system. You can also contact us through mailing lists or using IRC. One can even hire a consultant to do the job.
Please see our documentation and support pages for more information.
Who are you all that?
Debian is produced by almost a thousand active developers spread around the world who volunteer in their spare time. Some developers have actually met in person. Communication is done mainly through e-mail (mailing lists at lists.debian.org) and IRC (# debian channel at irc.debian.org).
Debian Project has a carefully organized structure. For more information on how Debian looks from the inside, feel free to browse the corner of the developer.
Who's using Debian?
Although no precise statistics are available (since Debian does not require users to register), evidence is strong enough that Debian is used by various organizations, large and small, as well as thousands of people. See our Who's using Debian? page for a list of high-profile organizations which have submitted a brief description of how and why they use Debian.
How it can all begin?
Debian started in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution that will be conducted openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian was meant to be carefully and seriously put together, and must be maintained and supported by the same treatment. This started as a group, small closely-knit Free Software hackers, and gradually evolved to become a community, well-organized large developers and users. See a detailed history.
Because many people have asked, Debian is pronounced / de.bi.ən /. It comes from the names of the creators of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra.
Source : http://www.debian.org/intro/about
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