Home > Debian
Debian, created by the Debian Project, is a widely used distribution of free software developed through the collaboration of volunteers from around the world. Since its inception, the released system, Debian GNU/Linux, has been based on the Linux kernel with many basic tools of the operating system from the GNU project.Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies, and its plethora of choice: the current release contains over eight and a half thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures, ranging from the ARM architecture commonly found in embedded systems and the IBM s390 mainframe architecture to the more common x86 and PowerPCPowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple- IBM- Motorola alliance, known as AIM''. The PowerPC was the CPU portion of the overall AIM platform, and is the only part to exist to date. History The history of the PowerPC begins architectures found in modern personal computerThe term personal computer or PC has three meanings: IBM's range of PCs that led to the use of the term see IBM PC. A generic term used to describe all microcomputers (mentioned here). A generic term sometimes used to describe a computer based on IBM's ors.
The Project describes itself as creating "The Universal Operating System" and develops portIn computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. Porting is usually required because of differences in the central processing us to other kernelsIn computer science, the kernel is the fundamental part of an operating system. It is a piece of software responsible for providing secure access to the machine's hardware to various computer programs. Since there are many programs, and access to the hard, including that of GNU HurdThe GNU Hurd is a Unix-like kernel that sets the base for the GNU operating system. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project as free software under the GPL. The Hurd aims to surpass Unix kernels in functionality, security, and stability, NetBSDNetBSD was the first of the freely redistributable, open-source versions of the BSD Unix-like operating systems to produce a formal release, with NetBSD 0. 8 (May 1993). NetBSD and FreeBSD are derived from the original UCB 4. 3BSD via the Networking/2 rel, and FreeBSDFreeBSD is a Unix-like operating system descended from Unix via the BSD branch through 386BSD and 4. It runs on processors compatible with the Intel x86 family, as well as on the DEC Alpha, the UltraSPARC processors by Sun Microsystems, the Itanium (IA-64. Those ports have yet to be officially released so, currently, Debian is exclusively a GNU/Linux distribution.
Debian is also notable for its package management systemA package management system is a collection of tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages from a computer. The term is most commonly used with regards to UNIX-like systems, particularly Linux, as th and APT, the Advanced Packaging Tool in particular, its strict policies regarding the quality of its packages and releases, and its open development and testing process. These practices afford easy upgrades between releases without rebooting and easy installation and removal of packages.
Debian is supported by donations through Software in the Public Interest (SPI Inc.), a non-profit umbrella organization for free software projects.
