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73 Comments
- andersonmanly, on 10/12/2007, -5/+47You wouldn't HAVE Ubuntu were it not for Debian. Remember your roots.
- Garda, on 10/12/2007, -13/+39Debian is the base for an incredible number of other distros. It's too big and important to ever die. Once people get bored of all the Ubuntu hype things should settle down.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31Another 12 year old ubuntu user who's been using it for 3 days and calls himself a 31337 h4x0r.
- Llan, on 10/12/2007, -13/+31Why should people get bored of Ubuntu. Its appeals to much more people. To use Debian, you have to be crazy to a certain degree, Ubuntu just works. That's at least three orders of magnitude in the number of people it may reach.
- shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20ubuntu isn't even in the articles contention.... the friction between ubuntu and debian is mentioned but more to the effect of demonstrating the childishness that some debian supporters have succumbed to.
- jdrivein, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Debian is not dying at all. Any distribution has its own problems, Debian has its share as every one else. Gentoo is probably the most troubled one nowadays since it developed very fast until two years ago, when its growth stopped. And problems aroused.
- Jumangi, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23Debian is not "50 times more stable" than Ubuntu. Thats just stupid, jealous Debian fanboy blathering.
- Scruffydan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16@t1m1
That is the strength of debian... but that does not appeal to most users. most users are not Linux geeks. That is where ubuntu comes in.
Different tools for different jobs/users. - CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I think there are some Debian developers who are going through burn-out. Debian is big, there are a LOT of developers. 99.9% of Debian developers aren't quitting, aren't complaining (much), are just sitting down and getting the work done.
Read Debian Weekly News. See the kinds of things people are doing on the inside, rather than just what gets press on the outside. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/
Never forget that "if it bleeds, it leads". Sensationalist headlines mean clicks and ad revenue, boring blue skies and puffy clouds don't. - grayapple, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14As long as places like digg.com run Debian, I don't think it'll die just yet.
- Wyzard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11"The reason I switched away from Debian was because a bug introduced into libcairo in testing made fonts in all GTK programs disappear, rendering my entire box essentially unusable. It took a week to get fixed."
This was in the unreleased, unsupported testing branch of Debian. And it's any surprise that a stable release of Ubuntu doesn't have this problem?
Upgrade your system to Edgy and see how well that works for you.
I don't understand why people choose to run a branch that exists for the specific purpose of finding bugs, and then complain when it has bugs in it. It's great if you want to help test to make the next release better, but to complain when something isn't fixed immediately is just wrong. - andersonmanly, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13No, Debian is not dying. Why do people keep bringing this up?
- spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16Er... I have a minimal terminal install on my Ubuntu server... Care to elaborate?
- t1m1, on 10/12/2007, -16/+25I've been a Debian user for years now. Longer than Ubuntu even exists.
And I have to say that I never even considered using any deriverates - they're much too overloaded. For example I don't want to have a bluetooth service running in the background that I'll never actually use.
That's something where Debian still gives you much more freedom. You can just install a minimal terminal system and apt-get the rest.
Plus, Debian will probably not die because it is often used as a server system. It's stable - that is, about 50 times more stable than Ubuntu. - AhronZombi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13you cant kill an idea
- springfield, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11The simple fact is that Debian users are just that, they're users and don't feel the need to let everyone know what OS they boot. Debian isn't dying it's just it's users aren't marketeers.
- bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Well, if Debian dies Ubuntu will be gone 6 months later -- so I'd say no.
- ericcc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I've used straight Debian and Ubuntu. Ubuntu is just easier for day-to-day basic home computing use. It's just that simple. Ubuntu users don't deny it's Debian roots, it's just that Debian could (or would) never provide the no-nonsense, straight forward experience that less technically inclined users need. I don't understand how all what all the arguing is about it's a very simple issue.
- Stalks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I agree. The company I work for has been using Debian for nearly a decade. We have a production server that has an uptime of nearly 4 years. You can't buy that sort of stability.
- Wyzard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ubuntu is based on Debian, and depends on all the work Debian does as input to their own release process. If Debian went away, Ubuntu would suddenly have vastly more work to do on its own.
- Wyzard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Much of it, yes. Things like NetworkManager and the newer GNOME are already in etch.
Remember that being a desktop distribution isn't Debian's main goal like it is Ubuntu's. That's why Ubuntu exists. - mrmorris, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8I still find Debian the best server OS compared to Suse and Redhat. I am not convinced it is dying and attribute this Digg story as a sensational news item.
- tropican8, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4All major Linux distros have suffered from problems. Debian is no different. Despite "political turmoil", Debian's Testing branch has made some real progress towards becoming stable this winter, and in some cases had later versions of packages from upstream developers than Ubuntu for a while.
Debian won't go the way of Sorcerer, its far too big. The power struggles won't have any serious impact on anything but development time, which IMO is already far ahead of the usual schedule. - coastie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5HP supports Debian. So unless HP goes, then I don't think that one of the Linux greats will go down either.
- rabidwalrus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"For example I don't want to have a bluetooth service running in the background that I'll never actually use."
Okay, then get rid of it, like I did:
System -> Administration -> Boot-up manager -> uncheck "Bluetooth services"
If you don't like something about Linux then change it! - Nodren, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6@d8cam:
debian is a linux distrobution, its considered one of the bigger ones, along the lines of gentoo and redhat, from which other distrobutions root off of(ubuntu comes from debian, fedora comes from redhat, etc)
now i dont see debian dieing, if anything ubuntu is the best thing that ever happened to debian. i started doing linux admin on CentOS(which is a red hat based distro) but i only really got into linux after installing and using ubuntu on a regular basis. i'm now much more fluent in configuring and managing a debian based distrobution then a red hat based distrobution.
does this mean i'd install ubuntu as a production server os? HECK NO! but i'd certinately recommend a debian based OS. with sites like howtoforge.com which cater more to debian(and theres is certinately nothing wrong with that) and all the different tips you can pick up for ubuntu, its alot easier to find support through a google search for a linux problem you're having on a debian based system then compared to other distros. - aaarg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4i for one certainly doubt and sincerely hope debian never "dies." i do use ubuntu more, but it came from debian and ubuntu is as good as it is as a result of coming from debian. i really dont understand this stand-offish bs between both camps. hopefully we can move past this crap and continue to use these awesome distos without all the politics that have come about.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Can any distribution that has spawned so many other popular distributions ever really die? As long as its community feels like their strict stability and open source ethos is worth working on, it will live.
- LiterateWolf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Debian is a great base for a distro but the developers need to actually write code to update it more often and release up to date, modern versions that can work with a wide range of computers and have an install method that is easy for beginners like Ubuntu's or Red Hat's anaconda.
- CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/
http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/
Or would you prefer to follow the HURD?
http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/ - pukupi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Debian remains one of best server distros out there.
- CovardeAnonimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3that's pretty much a trolling.
other community supported distros also removed proprietary code from their base installs, other projects also have dissenting among the members and a lot of politics.
just check old archives and you'll see a lot of bickering in the 90's about KDEs situation, back when QT wasn't GPLd.
this kind of thing comes and goes. just give it time. - diggduggjoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have brought this up in the past with severe negative reactions, but why not create a donation/result based system for Debian. I am not a programmer, but there are projects I would like to support, if I knew for sure the money I donated went where I wanted action to occur.. What makes Debian nice is it is driven by users not "Freaks in Suits". That said, the users should be made more prominent.
That is the one thing open source fails to do, they never try to create a permanent link to the users. To let the users guide some of the projects by having the users pay for a few more programmers or at least 1 dedicated programmer. That is the number one reason most projects do not get money from me. I feel I would be pouring cash into a system without any controls. I could be giving someone some bling instead of getting the item I want created, fixed or enhanced. I feel users will come forth with more "incentive" when they feel they will actually get the result they desire. It can be simple or complex, but why not have a donation linked to the development of a particular device driver or application?
I suppose it is not unlike a bank asking for a donation and promising to make a better bank. Most users would prefer that you state exactly what will be done and then they offer up cash when a system was instituted that would prove work was actually progressing.
What open source needs is a developer/user network. Remember most users are not programmers or at least not a programmer on every project. Why should anyone need to be an expert to figure out the status of a project and how financial support would speed up the work. Make that clear and more user support will come. - Buelldozer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Has netcraft confirmed this?
- GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ubuntu simply can't exist as it does without Debian. Not even Mark Shuttleworth has enough money to long sustain a project of the size of Debian which he would have to do if it went under.
Ubuntu is diversifying its base in future though. There are talks of switching to smart among other things.
If Debian did go under it would simultaneously kill nearly every user friendly Linux project with it. Left would just be Mandriva (which is struggling) and SUSE though its package management isn't good enough to be used by non-techs. - AlexMax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I sure hope Debian isn't dying. It's the one linux distribution that I've absolutely adored. I've tried my fair share of other distros, Red Hat, Slackware, Gentoo, and even Ubuntu for a while. Out of all of those, Debian was the only distribution I've found whose installation and day to day use I've found to be absolutely painless. I can have a minimal install up and running in 10 minutes, and a couple hours later have a working installation that has exactly what I want and not much more. Morever, I like how it insists on making idealogical stands, because if they don't, who will?
The day Debian keels over is the day I simply give up on Linux. That said, I kind of doubt Debian will simply die, there are too many people who have interest in keeping it alive. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'd say Solaris 10 on UltraSPARC would give you that sort of stability but I take your point. The stable Debian releases are very stable.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Stupid article. People in the debian community and those who still use debian know it will not die, and if it does then I switch to freebsd on my desktop computer too :P
- diggduggjoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I will look into that Ubuntu bounty. That may be a great start for creating a user driven distro.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2gentoo is in dire straights. some badass devs need to go clean portage's clock.
- lordfoul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nope Debian is not dying.
- baalzebub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Debian is ok
- ericcc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That was just a movie.
- harisund, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am guessing the reason people think Debian is dying is merely this: Debian users are not zealous fan boys. They don't go around hailing Debian. They know what they are using, they know how powerful their operating system is, they know how to be productive with it, and that's it. Consequently, Debian is simply not marketed enough.
- MikeDawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Poster:
Numerous important distributions, such as Linspire, Knoppix, and today's most popular distribution, Ubuntu, have sprung from it. Things have changed.
Uggh. . . This whole Ubuntu thing is making me sick. Get over yourselves. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ubuntu has a bounty program and most of its patches end up in Debian.
- Magwich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've used a lot of Linux Distros including Ubuntu, and Debian is what I prefer. I don't think it is dying at all. In fact, Etch seems great to me, a major improvement from Sarge.
- noamsml, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2For me? Pretty much. When I want a user-friendly distro, I use Ubuntu. When I want a geek-oriented distro, I use Archlinux. That pretty much covers my Linux needs.
For others? Probably not. Debian still has a large following, and is the base for many distros including the affordmentioned Ubuntu. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Pulse is thready , HR=40 , MAP=55...yea it`s dying.
- diggapleaze, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1smart is just a package manager to replace apt-get and synaptic. Ubuntu would still rely on .debs for packages.
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