Debian Celebrates 15th Birthday
Fifteen years ago, on Saturday the 16th of August, 1993, Ian Murdock wrote an email to the comp.os.linux.development newsgroup , announcing his upcoming Debian Linux Release.
"I’ve totally re-created the release, in other words, I haven’t just made a few changes to SLS and then called it a new release," Murdock wrote on the SLS (Softlanding Linux System) mailing list.
The SLS was the first Linux distribution, compiled in 1992 by Peter McDonald, that consisted of more than just the basic Linux kernel and a few rudimentary tools. SLS did bring the graphic X Windows System with it, but caused a series of problems that led to dissatisfaction in the Linux community. About one month before the Debian release, Patrick Volkerding published version 1.0 of Slackware, which – unlike the brand new Debian – was a mere modification of SLS.
Murdock was concerned with transparency and freedom of his distribution in accordance with the values of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The Debian developer community grew quickly, and the project developed a sophisticated internal structure with a constitution, a corporate contract, and guidelines for the organization. Debian was especially admired for dissolving the packet-dependency. Security leaks were posted on public mailing lists, which increased the potential number of developers who could patch the leaks quickly.
Debian worked so well that an increasing number of commercial and non-commercial providers began to build their own distributions from Debian’s packet-system. Ubuntu, one of the best-known Debian-derivatives, has since overtaken Debian in popularity, to the dismay of some members of the Debian community.
The distribution is also frequently used in large migration projects in the public sector.For example, Debian is the Linux of choice in Munich, Germany; the Austrian version of Vienna’s Wienux is based on Debian; and the Spanish region of Extremadura uses it for its schools and councils with GNU/LinEx.
Officially, the next stable version of Debian 5.0, code-named Lenny, will be released in September.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.