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Debian

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Debian
Debian OpenLogo
Screenshot of Debian 11 (Bullseye) with the GNOME desktop environment 43.4
Debian 11 (Bullseye) running its default desktop environment, GNOME version 43.4
DeveloperThe Debian Project
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial releaseAugust 1993; 31 years ago (1993-08)
Latest release12.8[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 9 November 2024; 21 days ago (9 November 2024)
Latest preview12 (Bookworm)[2]
Repository
Available in75 languages
Update methodLong-term support in stable edition, rolling release in unstable and testing editions
Package managerAPT (front-end), dpkg
Platformsx86-64, arm64, armel[a], armhf, i386, mips, mipsel, mips64el, ppc64el, s390x,[3] riscv64 (in progress)[4]
Kernel typeLinux kernel
UserlandGNU
Default
user interface
  • GNOME on DVD
  • XFCE on CD and non-Linux ports
  • MATE available on Debian's website
  • KDE Plasma available on Debian's website
  • LXQt available on Debian's website
  • LXDE available on Debian's website
  • Cinnamon available on Debian's website
LicenseDFSG-compatible licenses
Official websitewww.debian.org Edit this at Wikidata

Debian is a free operating system. It is a distribution of an operating system known as the GNU operating system, which can be used with various kernels, including Linux, kFreeBSD, and Hurd. In combination with these kernels, the operating system can be referred to as Debian GNU/Linux, Debian GNU/kFreeBSD, and Debian GNU/Hurd, respectively. Debian GNU/Linux is one of the most complete and popular GNU/Linux distributions, on which many others, like Ubuntu, are based.

Brief history

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The Debian Project officially started on August 16th, 1993, led by Ian Murdock. He was a computer programmer. Today, in this project, Debian is developed by more than 1,000 computer specialists all over the world.

The name "Debian" was taken after Ian Murdock and his wife Debra. Some people say or pronounce 'deb-ee-n' but others also say 'de-bi-an' or 'de-bai-an' and in Japan 'de-bi-a-n' and so on.

Development steps

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Software packages in development are either uploaded to the project distribution named unstable (also known as sid), or to the experimental repository. Software packages uploaded to unstable are normally versions stable enough to be released by the original upstream developer, but with the added Debian-specific packaging and other modifications introduced by Debian developers. These additions may be new and untested. Software not ready yet for the unstable distribution is typically placed in the experimental repository.[5]

After a version of a software package has remained in unstable for a certain length of time (depending on how urgent the changes are), that package is automatically moved to the testing distribution. The package's move to testing happens only if no serious (release-critical) bugs in the package are reported and if other software needed for package functionality qualifies for inclusion in testing.[5]

Since updates to Debian software packages between official releases do not contain new features, some choose to use the testing and unstable distributions for their newer packages. However, these distributions are less tested than stable, and unstable does not receive timely security updates. In particular, incautious upgrades to working unstable packages can sometimes seriously break software functionality.[6] Since September 9, 2005[7] the testing distributions security updates have been provided by the testing security team.[8]

After the packages in testing have matured and the goals for the next release are met, the testing distribution becomes the next stable release. The latest stable release of Debian (Buster) is 10.0, released on July 6, 2019. The next release is codenamed "Bullseye".[5]

Release history

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Legend
Release no longer supported
Release still supported
Future release
Version Code name Release date Ports Packages Supported until Notes
1.1 buzz 17 June 1996 1 474 1996[source?] dpkg, ELF transition, Linux 2.0
1.2 rex 12 December 1996 1 848 1996[source?] -
1.3 bo 5 June 1997 1 974 1997[source?] -
2.0 hamm 24 July 1998 2 ≈ 1,500 1998 glibc transition, new architecture: m68k
2.1 slink 9 March 1999 4 ≈ 2,250 2000-12 APT, new architectures: alpha, sparc
2.2 potato 15 August 2000 6 ≈ 3,900 2003-04 New architectures: arm, powerpc[9]
3.0 woody 19 July 2002 11 ≈ 8,500 2006-08 New architectures: hppa, ia64, mips, mipsel, s390
3.1 sarge 6 June 2005 11 ≈ 15,400 2008-04[6] Modular installer, semi-official amd64 support.
4.0 etch 8 April 2007 11 ≈ 18,000 2010-02-15[10] New architecture: amd64, dropped architecture: m68k.[11] Graphical installer, udev transition, modular X.Org transition. Latest update 4.0r9 was released 2010-05-22[12]
5.0[13] lenny[14] 14 February 2009 11 1[A] ≈ 23,000[15] 2012-02-06 New architecture/binary ABI: armel.[16] SPARC 32-bit hardware support dropped.[17] Full Eee PC support.[18] Latest update 5.0.8 was released 2011-01-22.[19]
6.0[20] squeeze[21] 6 February 2011[22] 9 2[B] ≈ 29,000 2016-02-29 New architectures/kernels: kfreebsd-i386, kfreebsd-amd64, dropped architectures: alpha, arm.[23] eglibc in favour of glibc.[24]
7 wheezy 4 May 2013 13 ≈ 36,000 2018-05
8 jessie 25–26 April 2015 10 ≈ 43,000 2020-04
9 stretch 17 June 2017 10 ≈ 52,000 2022-06
10 buster 6 July 2019 10 ≈ 58,000 2024-06
11 bullseye 14 August 2021 9 59,551 2026-06
12 bookworm 10 June 2023 64,419 2028
A 11 architectures 1 additional ARM binary ABI (armel)[15]
B 9 architectures with Linux kernel 2 architectures with FreeBSD kernel[23]
A Debian 4.0 Box Cover[25]

Due to an incident involving a CD vendor who made an unofficial and broken release labeled 1.0, an official 1.0 release was never made.[26]

For other platforms

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Debian has been ported to different architectures or platforms. One version, which is based on the developer release (sid) that has been ported to the Xbox is called Xebian.

Package

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Debian's official software package repository[27] includes, for example, UNetbootin.[28]

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References

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  1. ↑ "Updated Debian 12: 12.8 released". 9 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  2. ↑ "Debian Release Notes". debian.org. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Debian -- Ports". Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  4. ↑ "RISC-V - Debian Wiki". Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ Chapter 6 - The Debian FTP archives". Debian. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Debian security FAQ". Debian. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  7. ↑ Hess, Joey (2005-09-05). "announcing the beginning of security support for testing" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ "Debian testing security team". Debian. Archived from the original on 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  9. ↑ Schulze, Martin (2000-08-15). "Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, the "Joel 'Espy' Klecker" release" (Mailing list). {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ "Debian Wiki: Debian Releases > Debian Etch". Debian. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  11. ↑ Schmehl, Alexander (2007-04-08). "Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 released" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-11-01. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ "Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated". Debian. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  13. ↑ Brockschmidt, Marc (2008-03-02). "Release Update: Release numbering, goals, armel architecture, BSPs" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-11-01. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Langasek, Steve (2006-11-16). "testing d-i Release Candidate 1 and more release adjustments" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-11-01. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 released". Debian. 2009-02-14. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  16. ↑ Brockschmidt, Marc (2008-06-02). "Release Update: arch status, major transitions finished, freeze coming up" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-11-01. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  17. ↑ Smakov, Jurij (2007-07-18). "Retiring the sparc32 port" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-10-31. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ Armstrong, Ben (2008-08-03). "Bits from the Debian Eee PC team, summer 2008" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-10-31. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  19. ↑ "Debian -- News -- Updated Debian GNU/Linux: 5.0.8 released". Debian. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  20. ↑ "Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 – Release Notes". Debian. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  21. ↑ Claes, Luk (2008-09-01). "Release Update: freeze guidelines, testing, BSP, rc bug fixes" (Mailing list). Retrieved 2008-10-31. {{cite mailing list}}: Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (help)
  22. ↑ Claes, Luk. "Bits from the release team: Planning, request for help". Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Barth, Andreas. "Release architectures". Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  24. ↑ "Aurelien's weblog: Debian is switching to EGLIBC". Aurélien Jarno. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  25. ↑ "Artwork for Debian CDs". Debian. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  26. ↑ "Debian Wiki: Debian Releases". Debian. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  27. ↑ ArchLinux.org, "Official repositories," excerpt, "A software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer"; retrieved 2012-6-7.
  28. ↑ Debian, Package unetbootin; retrieved 2012-6-7.
Notes
  1. ↑ Support ended at Buster(10).

Other websites

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