From working with the major Linux distributions (software built around the Linux kernel to ease installation, administration, and use) over the years, LinuxForce learned that not all of them are as open, flexible, functional, secure and easy to maintain as they would have you believe.

Debian GNU/Linux, however, is in a class of its own.

Debian is the most stable and popular non-commercial Linux distribution. It is maintained by a global community of over 1,200 registered developers dedicated to improving and enhancing its functionality. As a result, new versions of Debian are released only when they are ready. Compare that to commercial operating systems like Windows, which release new versions, ready or not, to ensure an ongoing revenue stream. Debian, on the other hand is free. Period.

The package management tools in Debian are so well-developed that even commercial Linux distributions such as Red Hat have implemented Debian's technology to handle their packages. Debian's base has been adapted by other distributions such as the popular LiveCD Knoppix, the commercial Linspire for desktop users, and the very popular non-commercial Ubuntu for desktop users. Debian is an innovation leader that has already spawned a generation of other innovative distributions.

Debian itself has been available since 1993. LinuxForce has been developing Debian-based systems since 1996.

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Additional reasons to choose Debian include:

• Easy upgrades
• Inclusion of more than 25,113 integrated software packages
• Rock-solid stability, there is no need to reboot for standard updates or upgrades
• Superior system security
• Proven reliability in real world situations by thousands of demanding commercial, industrial, academic and non-profit organizations around the globe
• The most carefully thought out policy of any computing platform
• Provides significant consistency among packages
• Requires separation of configuration, code, and data
• Packaging modularity requirements allow for a smaller footprint
• Consistent help interface: Man pages are required, info(1) is optional
• Institutionalizes the value of working to support 100% of users without disadvantaging any type of user
• Default configurations should work for most users without configuration
• Much, much more!
• Relatively straightforward configuration and upgradeability
• Source code availability to help us find bugs, fix security flaws without waiting for patches, and customize features to better meet your business objectives
• Support by a community that includes over 1,200 registered developers
• The most cosmopolitan Linux distribution with large installed bases in every region on SpaceShip Earth making it uniquely positioned to benefit from the growing trends of globalization
• Supported by a guiding vision in its Social Contract and Software Guidelines that will ensure a dedicated army of people from all around the globe to keep Debian improving on a sustainable basis
• Democratic governance structure that helps ensure success moving forward
• The best bug tracking system of any Linux distribution to rout out bugs and misfeatures.
• Like the Linux kernel, Debian developed as the spontaneously collaborative initiative of hundreds and eventually thousands of individuals. Phenomena that spontaneously organize have a primacy in their constitution that is rare, special, long-lived and fundamentally re-orienting for society and markets (as Woodrow Wilson observed, "the highest and best form of efficiency is the spontaneous cooperation of a free people")
• The synergetic effect of these advantages is that our Debian-focused development is less expensive and more robust than if we based our software on other Linux distributions
• More advantages are discussed in the Debian Advantages HOWTO.
• Manoj Srivastava's Talk Why Linux? Why Debian? thoughtfully addresses even more considerations

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Debian Projects Targeting Important Market Segments

• Debian-Lex: Debian for Law Offices
• Debian-Med: Debian for Medical Care Practices and Research
• DebianEdu: Debian for Education
• Debian for Non-Profit Organizations
• emdebian: Debian for embedded projects
• Debian on the Desktop: The Universal Operating System as your Desktop
• Debian Usability Research
• Debian-Accessibility: Debian for blind and visually impaired people
• Debian AGNULA/DeMuDi: Debian for multimedia applications
• Debian Jr. Project: Debian for children from 1 to 99
• DebianGIS: Debian for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) applications and users

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Other Companies and Organizations Worldwide Who Choose Debian

• The Franklin Institute Science Museum
• Aker Philadelphia Shipyard
• The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
• Charter High School for Architecture and Design of Philadelphia
• The Constitutional Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
• Chester County InterLink (CCIL), West Chester, PA
• Cyber Incident Detection & Data Analysis Center
• Greenfield Manufacturing Co. Inc.
• Artificial Intelligence Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Doshisha University, Japan
• Greenpeace Spain
• T-Mobile in the Czech Republic
• The Register, UK

...and many more on the official page at debian.org: Who's using Debian?

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