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The Debian System Explained

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the solid-oak-log-for-the-distro-debate-fire dept.

An anonymous reader writes "XYZComputing has a great interview with Martin F. Krafft, the author of "The Debian System". From the article: 'Despite Debian GNU/Linux's important role in today's computing environment, it is largely misunderstood and oftentimes even discounted as being an operating system which is exclusively for professionals and elite users. In this book Krafft, explains his concept of Debian, which includes not only the operating system but also its underpinnings. Debian is not only a robust and scalable Linux distribution, but it has many other features which are worth looking into, like its open development cycle and rigorous quality control.'"

2 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Source by 101percent · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I actually use Mac OS X and don't use gentoo so please don't say I'm a zealot. But... the only distro that makes sense to use in my mind for GNU/Linux is a source based distro such as gentoo because its all about freedom right, so why would you use a pre-packaged distro? Using gentoo you can practically exercise your freedoms, along with sourcemage and others. Furthermore when using binary packages you can never know what that package does, so unless you compile it yourself you can't be sure. Wait. Actually Ken Thomson or someother wrote about how you can't trust compilers because they can interject code into your binaries. So really you can't trust any programs. Which is why the "GNU is more secure" mantra is patently false. Stop being paranoid Mr. Stallman and just suck it up. Debian could have backdoors too.

    So in the end use Debian if you want a 2 year old system made of binaries that you can't trust, or use a source distro which you also can't trust (at least your exhibiting your freedom in that case). Personally I choose OS X.

  2. Re:yeah, but you can't really search for packages by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I have an alias set up that allows searching from the command line quite easily ....
    Then, to look for something like... libvorbis, I would just have to do this: ...
    And it returns this: ....
    Easy as pie.

    That was easy as ABC! I'm sure my Aunt Tillie can figure this one out all by herself.

    --
    May the Maths Be with you!