Concept in Definition ABC

It is, without a doubt, the draft from free software best known to fans of computingAlthough it is not one of the most popular among the layman, and although many people confuse it with a GNU / Linux distribution, it is actually much more than that.

System history

The Debian project was founded by Ian Murdock (died December 2015) on August 16, 1993 as a collective project for the creation of a operating system free, in whose bosom all those people who wanted to collaborate in the most varied aspects should have a place.

The call social contract Debian sets the guidelines for how the organization behind the operating system should function. The Constitution Debian regulates the organization and its structuring, as well as the tasks and the role of each managerial role are distributed.

Beyond Linux

Although Debian offers a GNU / Linux distribution, which is the best known of the project, the platform software created is kernel independent, so you can use other than Linux.

Linux was born from the hand of Linus Torvalds (from whom it takes its name as "Linus' UNIX”), And was quickly adopted as the core of the GNU project founded by Richard Stallman, who had pioneered the creation of a system completely free operation, building -programming- practically everything necessary except for the kernel, so it could not run.

The arrival of Linux ran in parallel with the work on The Hurd, the kernel that Stallman had planned for his system, which is currently still in development phase (already executable, that Yes).

Debian can also work with the FreeBSD kernel, enjoying great stability and safety that it provides.

Various architectures

Besides being able to work with various kernels, Debian is also available for different architectures hardware: from the most common x86 and x86-64, the burgeoning ARM, to the already abandoned PowerPC, through Alpha and S / 390.

The foundations of other GNU / Linux distributions

In addition to being an operating system in itself, ready to equip any computer, Debian is also the foundation on which other systems and platforms are built, especially in its Linux “flavor”.

Thus, distributions as famous as Ubuntu are based on Debian, taking its code source and programs, and adding a experience from Username and utilities that complement it. Another case is the thriving Linux Mint, or Steam OS, Valve's GNU / Linux operating system to turn a computer into a game console.