> I am interested in why people prefer Debian to other Linux > distributions. Please explain the top few reasons why you chose Debian > rather than something else.
I use it because of it's superior package maintenance system, the volume of quality checked packages available, the free policy and of course the stability. That said I currently use the unstable Debian, but it is still stable. My father decided to run Linux as he got tired of all the Windows viruses. He do not know much about computers so in the end he was almost afraid to turn the computer on because of all the warnings in the media. So I decided that there will be no point in teaching him to install Linux by himself and therefore I could use the best even though not the easiest[*] to install distribution. I chose Debian even though I had only used it a couple of months myself prior to this. The reason for doing this is of course stability, but also ease of maintenance. My fathers machine is physically 1000 kilometers from where I live so I had to have a system that could upgrade packages without breaking the system. I have earlier used RedHat and the RPM system, but since this has nothing that even come near to apt, the choice was simple. For the few (3 I think it was) packages I needed to install, but where only available (at the time) as RPM, I simply used alien. There are many RPM packages out there, but few are QC-ed like the debian packages. To all the people working with the Debian distribution I want to express a big Thank you and keep up the excellent work! [*] Of course this is relative. I find Debian easier in many respect compared to the other "even-your-mother-can-install-this" distributions. Installing a distribution is something you don't have to do too often so it is the maintenance that takes time. Luckily this is done by over 500 volunteers working on the Debian project. -- Preben Randhol ---------------------- http://www.pvv.org/~randhol/ -- +---+ "There was, I think, never any reason to believe in any innate | ! | superiority of the male, except his superior muscle." +---+ -- Bertrand Russell, Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind (1950)