What is Debian (Linux OS)?

Debian is a Linux-based OS that was created in 1993. The main goal of the operating system is to be error-free. For this reason, the system focuses primarily on stability and dur­ab­il­ity. Here, we’ll explain what the Debian Linux OS is and its ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages.

What is Debian?

Debian is one of the most popular systems based on the Linux kernel. It is con­sidered to be one of the oldest and most stable Linux dis­tri­bu­tions. For this reason, Debian is a par­tic­u­larly popular operating system choice for servers. Fur­ther­more, Debian is one of the most in­flu­en­tial Linux dis­tri­bu­tions, which is why many newer dis­tri­bu­tions are based on it, such as the extremely popular Ubuntu. Like almost all Linux-based operating systems, Debian is open source and free of charge.

What are the ad­vant­ages of Debian Linux OS?

Debian is one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems for good reason. The main ad­vant­ages of the dis­tri­bu­tion include:

1. Stability: The biggest advantage of the Debian Linux OS is its stability. Every software package is thor­oughly tested before it is made available for download in the official software catalog. The same applies to new versions of the operating system itself. Debian is also very future-proof due to the OS having been reliably main­tained and updated at regular intervals for over 30 years.
2. Software support: Debian is one of the oldest and most wide­spread Linux dis­tri­bu­tions. In addition, Debian serves as the software found­a­tion for Ubuntu, by far the most popular Linux operating system. Therefore, it is hardly sur­pris­ing that the Debian software catalog offers more packages than any other.
3. Hardware support: In addition to excellent software support, Debian also offers excellent hardware support, es­pe­cially for various CPU ar­chi­tec­tures. In addition to x86 and ARM, Debian can also run on the MIPS and PowerPC ar­chi­tec­tures, which are not as well known.
4. Good help and support: The extensive and diverse Debian community is ready to help users with issues and largely replaces the paid support offered by other systems. However, help is rarely necessary, es­pe­cially when it comes to in­stall­a­tion. Despite the com­plex­ity of the dis­tri­bu­tion, the in­stall­a­tion process is intuitive and quick.
5. Open source: If you are a developer yourself, you can also work on your own solution as almost all com­pon­ents are open source.

What are the dis­ad­vant­ages of Debian Linux OS?

As with any other system software, there are some minor drawbacks as well. When it comes to Debian, the dis­ad­vant­ages of using the operating system are:

1. Lack of modernity: The Debian Linux OS is con­sidered one of the most stable Linux dis­tri­bu­tions, but this stability comes at a price, with Debian being a fairly con­ser­vat­ive OS in terms of updates. Due to the long and extensive testing of each software package and each release of the operating system, some newer features and apps are not yet supported. Therefore, Debian often feels less modern than other open-source or pro­pri­et­ary operating systems.
2. Difficult to get started: When using Debian, it’s quite clear that the focus of the operating system is more on its ro­bust­ness than on user-friend­li­ness. For example, setting up the system and running it is much more complex than with Ubuntu or Linux Mint.
3. Lack of support for pro­pri­et­ary ap­plic­a­tions: Many pro­pri­et­ary programs such as the Microsoft Office ap­plic­a­tions Word, Outlook or Share­point are not available for GNU/Linux dis­tri­bu­tions. For this reason, you often have to resort to al­tern­at­ives such as Lib­reOf­fice or Alfresco.

How secure is Debian?

The co­oper­at­ive work of numerous community de­velopers also pays off when it comes to security. If security vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies are dis­covered, it usually only takes a couple of days before new, corrected packages are uploaded. But security gaps like these are usually a rarity because the vast majority are dis­covered in the testing and de­vel­op­ment phase and fixed before the release of a new stable version. The intensive test phase also gives Debian a high level of stability, meaning that it almost never crashes.

Those re­spons­ible for the Debian project also attribute great im­port­ance to en­cryp­tion. By using packages of the open-source security software GnuPG, as well as the pro­pri­et­ary pendants PGP, email content can be protected and then combined with an SSL/TLS cer­ti­fic­ate. This provides optimal pro­tec­tion for sending and receiving emails. SSH (Secure Shell) can also be used to establish au­then­tic­ated and encrypted con­nec­tions to other machines, which can also com­mu­nic­ate via the network protocol.

Is Debian the right Linux OS for you?

To reduce Debian to a specific ap­plic­a­tion area wouldn’t do the system justice. The Debian dis­tri­bu­tion is a true all-rounder since it supports various hardware ar­chi­tec­tures, has tens of thousands of ap­plic­a­tions ready for in­stall­a­tion, and is an extremely secure and stable system. But due to the com­plex­ity of the system, and the fact that some software isn’t always up to date, certain al­tern­at­ives like the de­riv­at­ive Ubuntu represent a better choice for home computers, es­pe­cially for newcomers to Linux. The real strength of Debian lies in its use as a server system. The stable version, which includes long-term support, is ideally suited to any project that needs a reliable and prac­tic­ally error-free system as its found­a­tion.

What changes were made to the Linux-based OS in Debian 12?

Debian 12 has been available for download since June 2023. Debian 12 is an LTS release (Long-Term Support) of the operating system. This means that this release will receive security updates for five years. In addition, there are many other updates that Debian 12 users should be aware of. The most important updates are sum­mar­ised below:

• Linux kernel update to version 6.1: The new Debian version is equipped with the LTS Linux kernel 6.1. Among other things, the new kernel supports Rust as the official kernel pro­gram­ming language. It also ensures greater hardware com­pat­ib­il­ity (including newer Intel and AMD CPUs) and various file system op­tim­isa­tions.
• Package manager op­tim­isa­tions: The apt package manager now has a new archive for pro­pri­et­ary firmware, as well as some op­tim­isa­tions.
• Software updates: Most Debian software packages have been updated to a newer version.
• Improved hardware and software support: Debian now has better support for Apple Silicon, Apple File System and some CPU ar­chi­tec­tures, including ARM64.