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Information Technology News Happy Birthday Debian
Information Technology News Happy Birthday Debian | Happy Birthday Debian |
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| by Davey Winder | |
| Sunday, 17 August 2008 | |
  
August 16th, 1993 is the date when the Debian Project was officially founded. A new Linux distribution at a time when Linux distributions were scarce enough. A distribution that was open to every developer and user as far as contributions when was unique. Featured Whitepaper
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It could, therefore, be argued that it is also the last of the real Linux distros. At least with any significant numbers behind it. One thing is for sure, Debian is the only Linux project of this size which has a social contract and even a constitution at the heart of the project organisation. Or how about the micro-packaging aspect of the distro which ensures system consistency across upgrades courtesy of detailed inter-package relationship dependency information? According to Wikipedia, Debian is known for strict adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies, along with an abundance of options: how does twenty-six thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures grab you? At the risk of sounding too much like a Debian fanboy, it is hard to argue with the fact that this teenage distro has turned into one of the most popular GNU/Linux operating systems today. Its stability is at the heart of this success, meaning that the likes of Knoppix and Ubuntu base themselves upon it. Like many teenagers, Debian also has a good sense of humour. Look at the revisions over the years and their accompanying version names: Buzz, Rex, Bo, Hamm, Slink, Potato, Woody, Sarge and Etch. All characters from Toy Story. This humour is revealed in even greater depth when you consider that the unstable distribution the project is always working, the one that is Still In Development, is called SID. No, not because of the still in development thing but rather because Sid is the unstable kid next door character in Toy Story of course. No wonder, then, that Debian fanboys across the world are organising birthday parties for a Linux Distro to take place at various times today. One of them can be seen in all its glory on YouTube. |
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