The Debian
Project is an association of individuals
who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating
system that we have created is called Debian
GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for
short.
An operating system is the set of basic programs
and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an
operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental
program on the computer and does all the basic housekeeping and
lets you start other programs.
Debian systems currently use the Linux
kernel. Linux is a piece of software started
by Linus
Torvalds and supported by thousands of
programmers worldwide.
However, work is in progress to provide Debian
for other kernels, primarily for the
Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers
that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement
different features. The Hurd is free software produced by
the GNU
project.
A large part of the basic tools that fill out the
operating system come from the GNU
project; hence the names: GNU/Linux and
GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free.
Of course, the thing that people want is
application software: programs to help them get what they want to
do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing
games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 15490
packages (precompiled software that
is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your
machine) — all of it free.
It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the
kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the
software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is
Debian — carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all
works together.
It's all free?
You may be wondering: why would people spend
hours of their own time to write software, carefully package it,
and then give it all away? The answers are as varied as
the people who contribute. Some people like to help others. Many
write programs to learn more about computers. More and more people
are looking for ways to avoid the inflated price of software. A
growing crowd contribute as a thank you for all the great free
software they've received from others. Many in academia create free
software to help get the results of their research into wider use.
Businesses help maintain free software so they can have a say in
how it develops -- there's no quicker way to get a new feature than
to implement it yourself! Of course, a lot of us just find it great
fun.
Debian is so committed to free software that we
thought it would be useful if that commitment was formalized in a
written document. Thus, our Social
Contract was born.
Although Debian believes in free software, there
are cases where people want or need to put non-free software on
their machine. Whenever possible Debian will support this. There
are even a growing number of packages whose sole job is to install
non-free software into a Debian system.
etch 版本 将为下一个DEBIAN
的4.0 稳定版本,发布 sid 要成为 debian的 test 版本 .使用debian
整体上除了字体外 更专业 一些 所以难上手 但使用起来真是无与伦比 ,
有更大的团队支持,更多的软件资源 , 更快的软件升级.
为什么使用Debian GNU/Linux ?
Debian GNU/Linux is a free
operating system, developed by more than a thousand volunteers from
all over the world who collaborate via the Internet. Debian's
dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature, and its open
development model make it unique among GNU/Linux
distributions.
The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its
dedication to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to
provide the best operating system possible.
Debian也有一些很重要的功能:
1) 他不包含商业意图并且不按照市场规则运作。
2) 他有一个非常优秀的漏洞跟踪系统,问题将在48小时内得到解决。
3) 他从一开始就是想开发一个完善和可信的操作系统。
4) 他是由全球的志愿者一起开发的。
每个新的版本都对一些新的硬件体系提供支, 现在他支持Alpha, ARM, HP PA-RISC, Intel x86, Intel IA-64, Motorola 680x0, MIPS, MIPS (DEC), Power PC, IBM S/390, Sparc并且可以工作在Sun UltraSparc和Hitachi SuperH。他是Linux系统中支持硬件体系最多的平台。