Debian turns 23
Debian is my favourite OS[0]. I've been using it full time for years: I use it on my desktop and laptop (Debian testing), and servers (Debian stable). I've installed it with big success on parents and siblings computers, and the extended family's computers.<p>Debian takes freedom seriously[1]<p>It's getting better with age:<p>- Since Sarge (2005) there's been release every ~2 years<p>- Debian LTS allows you to run Debian securely for 5 years (with caveats)<p>Things I agree with, that may be somewhat controversial:<p>- Debian takes packaging software seriously (it splits the application and development files)<p>- Debian follows the FHS (e.g. config goes in /etc, data goes in /var/lib, etc)<p>- Debian stable is stable. Apart from security patches, it really doesn't change.<p>Other great things:<p>- Debian is a great base to build on (see the many derivatives[2])<p>Cool things to come:<p>- Reproducible builds[3]<p>[1] <a href="https://www.debian.org/social_contract" rel="nofollow">https://www.debian.org/social_contract</a><p>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Derivatives" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Derivatives</a><p>[3] <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds</a><p>[0] I think Debian is one of the few Linux distros that can truly call itself an OS, as opposed to just a "distro"