Debian
The distro half the others are built on, and it behaves like it: slow, steady, quietly unkillable.
Facts
- Family
- debian
- Based on
- independent
- Release model
- Fixed release, roughly every two years
- Current
- 13.7 (trixie)
- Init system
- systemd
- Default desktop
- GNOME
- NVIDIA
- The nvidia-driver package from the non-free repository, enabled by hand.
- Systemd-free
- No
- 32-bit support
- No
- As of
- 2026-10-09
On the DistroWatch top 10
The universal operating system. Released when it's ready, thank you very much.
Debian is independent, which in this field means that other people's distros descend from it and not the reverse. Ian Murdock started it on 1993-08-16. The current release is 13.7, codenamed trixie, dated 2026-09-12. Releases are named after Toy Story characters, and the unstable branch is always called Sid, after the neighbour kid who breaks toys. The name itself joins Debra and Ian. The i386 architecture is no longer a regular one. Debian ships when it is ready, not before, and a large share of the rest of this page stands on it. It sits fourth on the chart, which is where a calm reputation lands you.
How the chooser scores it
Scores run from 1 to 5, and 5 is best for the user. They are opinion with a spreadsheet.
- StabilityStability: 5 out of 5
- Easy installEasy install: 3 out of 5
- Daily comfortDaily comfort: 4 out of 5
- Docs and helpDocs and help: 4 out of 5
- Fresh softwareFresh software: 2 out of 5
- GamingGaming: 3 out of 5
- DevelopmentDevelopment: 4 out of 5
- Old hardwareOld hardware: 4 out of 5
- ControlControl: 4 out of 5
- LightnessLightness: 5 out of 5
- NVIDIA, recent cardsNVIDIA, recent cards: 3 out of 5
- NVIDIA, older cardsNVIDIA, older cards: 4 out of 5
Caveats
- Packages are old on purpose. Very new hardware may want the backports repository.
- Proprietary NVIDIA drivers are a deliberate extra step, not a checkbox.
Community
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