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Updates From Debian
A couple of people noted that
"Linuxlookup.com is reporting the third update of Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (codename `woody') which mainly adds security updates to the stable release, along with a few corrections to serious problems. Those who frequently update from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages and most updates from security.debian.org are included in this update." Another reader writes "Looks like the Debian project just released
their old stable distribution (woody) with a huge numbers of security
updates, some removals and some less critical bugfixes. It's been a long
time that we had to wait for it, the last update was in November last year,
together with the break-in." And finally: pkarlos_76 writes "What's holding up Debian Sarge from release to stable? It's those lazy maintainers..... no actually it's just a few issues with security and bugs being quashed, and maybe you can help speed things up, especially if you are a maintainer, as your package will be left out if release candidate bugs are not fixed. Sarge Release Status Update available on Debianhelp . Even if you aren't a maintainer, any help with bug quashing, picking up orphaned packages or what not is always a Good Thing.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
It's niche is being so out of date that hackers are no longer familiar with it's versions of packages.
Debian GNU/Linux is quite ideological. The best writeup on it I've seen is Why Linux? Why Debian?
I wouldn't call it conservative: Debian comes with over 8000 precompiled packages, many of which are fairly recent (see distrowatch or others for version info).
Debian is a user-supported (noncommercial) distro that appeals to people with some experience with Linux or which believe in the GNU philosophy. The package manager (apt) is quite good. It is a well thought out distro & (arguably) has had the most succesful branches: Knoppix, Ubuntu, etc.
Anyway, if you want a modern flashy desktop based on Debian, look no further than here.
Please alter my pants as fashion dictates.
I work for a company that makes Linux "embedded" systems. First choice (and only choice) - Debian. One of our servers mirrors the Debian FTPs early in the morning, one hour later all the desktop machines sync with it. All the servers run Debian stable and rely on the security fixes. The systems that we sell all have stable on them too. The development platforms run on testing, and for the hardcore users, we also use unstable. Everything works fine. Sometimes an unstable machine will be, well, unstable, but I have never seen a "stable" give any problems whatsoever. In the beginning we made sure that the updates went well. 3 years later, we don't even bother looking. The installer is text, granted. dselect is a nightmare for beginners, granted. But the systems work, as in really, really work.