Over 30 years ago the late Ian Murdock wrote to the comp.os.linux.development newsgroup about the completion of a brand-new Linux release which he named "The Debian Linux Release". He built the release by hand, from scratch, so to speak. Ian...
  • @MagisterEnglish
    25•1 year ago

    I remember, I was 23yo and in a BSc Computer Science. At the time our teachers were more BSD, SVR4, Minix, and of course HP-UX, SunOS, AIX, IRIX, etc. They didn’t like Linux, but us, students, would download kernel and gnu utilities on like 8 floppies, to install on 486, and then the 10 floppies for X11, what a nightmare it was, like Arch today :)

    My first kernel install was v0.99. What a time :) I used Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, and now MX (still based on Debian) for a long time.

    • GigglyBobble
      13•1 year ago

      what a nightmare it was, like Arch today

      Disagree. Arch is smooth sailing in comparison. More like installing DOS in the early 90s.

      • @Magister
        3•1 year ago

        I don’t know, I installed Arch from the base archlinux-x86_64.iso followed the wiki and after boot I had a simple text login, I needed to configure ethernet network/systemd etc then install X and Xfce and all kind of stuff, like in the 90s :)

        I installed DOS dozens of time, in the beginning it was two 5"1/4 floppies and super easy to install, but there was no GUI nor network

        • @[email protected]
          2•1 year ago

          still, there’s a lot less ./configure;make;make install involved than it was on mid-90s linux :D

        • GigglyBobble
          1•1 year ago

          You also had to manually cut your partitions, then to manually setup everything after install - himem, mouse, sound… It was mostly loading drivers and in Arch it’s installing and configuring packages. Sure, it’s more complex due to vastly more possibilities but the actual doing is pretty similar. And there was no wiki back then. ;)

  • craigevil
    11•1 year ago

    Been using Debian Since Potato. Never had a real reason to use any other distro.

    • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏
      2•1 year ago

      Are they still named after Toy Story characters? I have Debian running on my selfhosted gear but never really paid attention to the release names - just the numbers 😅

      • craigevil
        3•1 year ago

        Yes. The current stable release is Bookworm. debian-distro-info --all buzz rex bo hamm slink potato woody sarge etch lenny squeeze wheezy jessie stretch buster bullseye bookworm trixie forky sid

  • @[email protected]
    7•1 year ago

    Kinda weird how they kind of just dropped ian murdock’s name in there without any further recognition of his tragic death

    • @MimicJar
      10•1 year ago

      I mean, is it? Yes Ian passed tragically but is a celebration of Debian the place to bring that up? Also should Ian only be remembered alongside his tragic passing?

  • @[email protected]English
    7•1 year ago

    Love Debian. Been running Stable on servers, and Testing or SID on laptops/desktops, for over a decade. Same installs still running and upgrading. Love the DFSG and all the platforms supports.

    I count Debian as proof humans are not irredeemable.

    • @ricdehEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Yep, I have 6 GNU/Linux distributions running concurrently on a variety of drives and devices and Debian is one of my favourites :)

    • @[email protected]
      2•1 year ago

      I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. I guess people don’t know that Ian Murdock was ghe creator of Debian, with the name coming from his own name and from the name of his partner at the time, Deborah, thus becoming Debian.

  • GigglyBobble
    -2•1 year ago

    I’m confused. You start doubting what I said and continue to confirm my point…?