Debian is 30 this year. Here's why it's still worth using.

Is Debian for you? Maybe!
In today's Sidtastic episode of Veronica Explains, I dive into Debian, the 30-year-old ancestor of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, and so many other Linux distros. We'll also talk about why this Linux distribution so well loved after so long, and who could benefit from using it. Maybe even... you?
If you want to help me make more videos, please visit support.linux.mom. You can also buy my t-shirt at vkc.sh/merch. Either way helps support the channel! Thank you!
0:00 Is Debian old and boring?
0:41 Debian turns 30 this year...
1:25 How does Debian update?
3:21 Flathub is your friend!
4:09 Apt is power - pinning and backporting!
5:07 Sid, btw - Debian's unstable branch!
7:21 So... who is Debian for?
8:25 Ask Veronica - what distro do you use on web servers?
#debian #linux #homelab

[@VeronicaExplains]

Addendum comment! 1. I didn't talk about Debian Testing in this video. That was deliberate, based on where we are in the release cycle at time of filming. I wanted to keep the video around 10 minutes and Testing is really its own thing. 2. Debian is one of the oldest distros, but there's certainly others worth mentioning- Slackware comes to mind. Debian's different though in that it's extremely popular in production work to this day, probably moreso than any other of the "classics". 3. You're right, I didn't mention [insert Debian-based distro here]. I wasn't talking about the "we're based on Debian" distros, I was talking about classic Debian. That was a design choice (for brevity mostly). 4. As always, if I covered everything in every detail you'd be here for decades. :P Lastly, if you want to support the channel, one of the easiest ways is to buy the shirt I'm wearing in the video! vkc.sh/merch. Thanks all!

[@foobar8894]

5. As always, if it's been here for decades, it probably covered every detail by now. That's Debian summarized...

[@ptw9993]

I've been running Sid on my desktop since the late 1990's, and it is actually stable enough for most users, plus it has the added benefit of not having the version reverting that 'testing' does whenever a new bug is found.

[@RonnyFebri]

And you now have a reason to less and less watch tv 😂😊

[@katanasteel]

I would love to hear the Testing version of the Debian explainer. Say in a few months time when bookworm rolls over and is labeled stable :)

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Debian Stable for servers, Unstable for workstations. I keep my Unstable upgrades down to once a month. Wondering what will break next helps to keep me on my toes. ;)

[@electricalbatross5797]

Remember, if it weren’t for Debian there would be absolutely NO Hannah Montana Linux. Always good to know where greatness begins

[@Mauser1965]

Sorry, just looked up from my cli. What's a Hannah Montana? What's a reddit, or this thing called twitter..?

[@luigigaminglp]

And no Justin Bieber OS either!

[@AddieDirectsTV]

I actually extracted the wallpapers from the HML ISO.

[@AddieDirectsTV]

@@Mauser1965 Miley Cyrus

[@mavez6322]

This is very true.

[@TAP7a]

“Some may call Debian boring” For many use cases, that counts as a feature rather than a bug, doesn’t it? :P

[@philomelodia]

Works beautiful. Just beautiful. Best set it and forget it distribution there ever was. You forget it’s there it’s so reliable. When it’s not there, you want it back like crazy. I miss my server.

[@deusexaethera]

It says a lot about the Linux user community that an OS that's stable and feature-rich is seen as boring. Is the OS the platform for your computing activities, or is it a toy you play with??

[@flintfrommother3gaming]

@@deusexaethera I mean playing around with your so called "Toy" by the GNU/Linux community isn't so bad but I get what you mean.

[@devoidbmx1]

Instead of boring, I find Debian peaceful. No clutter, things work. Its the ultimate productivity tool and provides calm and focus.

[@llamallama1509]

Been using Debian as my sole OS for about a decade. It's okay. It's been a long time since I spent time constantly distro hopping and trying new things, now I just want something that just works and I don't have to worry about. Debian fits that bill well enough.

[@mrkitty777]

2020 was my year of Desktop Linux, i suppose it's a different year for everyone.

[@jameshorner6488]

For Server hardware I use Debian on the Hardware and Virtualize anything newer or less stable (ubuntu/arch/fedora), use stable on Desktop just for keeping it working, testing or backports usually have anything I need more recent versions of

[@nikoszervo]

I had nightmares installing proprietary firmware for wifi adapters using Debian while with Arch they were working out of the box. It's the only reason I dislike Debian. Otherwise, Debian + Snap gives the most stable experience plus not wasting time maintaining everything.

[@Tom-bb5kh]

What about security updates though?

[@Tatar_Piano]

The only distro worth hopping to is NixOs

[@aaronbrown4275]

Debian (and working in IT) has broken me of distro hopping. I one day got tired of fixing my crap after spending 8 hours a day doing the same for others and a friend half-jokingly stopped my ranting by suggesting installing Debian stable (with a big helping of salt). I've honestly never looked back. The single app I need the latest version of can be had with flatpack and I've never had a single issue since moving. I forget what I'm dealing with half the time because it never causes me problems.

[@The_Wandering_Nerd]

I use Debian because it's one of the few Linux distros that still maintain a 32-bit version, and I use it on some very old 32-bit netbooks I like to trot out now and then to use as "distraction-free" writing machines.

[@The_Wandering_Nerd]

@G.C.I. what word processor(s) do you use? do you run DOS on an old PC or do you use DOSBox or an emulator? how do you handle transferring data between old proprietary word processor file formats into stuff modern computers can read? I am intrigued by your ideas and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[@akse]

Yeah I'm currently looking to go back to some older Debian version for my old mini-ITX mini PC that I had running some Linux Mint for a long time. I tried to install some of the latest distros like Fedora 36 I think it was and the network adapter on that machine didn't work anymore at all. I remember it having issues with some newer Linux Mint versions also. So now looking to go some older Debian where it might still work.. or maybe the chip is just busted idk. But It used to work a while ago before I went on with the update route for the machine.

1:05 LOVE IT. Hearing "buster" I went "hey, that was a code name!". Then "stretch-ing"… I had a suspicion, and "bookworm" was the happy confirmation. Well done! :D

[@georgecagle3829]

As a long-time Debian user, I just wanted to say that this is an awesome introduction to Debian. Great video!

[@pizzafredda]

I was among those who bought a Linux distro, it was Debian. Paid 99 euros at the time, it was 2001 and I was 20. I still have the two books, a green and a blue one. Honestly, it was a great system though most of my devices were not supported and gave major headaches just to make a simple ADSL modem working. Ah, those cxacru times... cheers from Italy.

[@pizzafredda]

@@CallousCoder Well, right. I was serving in 2001, so 2002, sorry. "Widespread" it's how it should have been, but for different reasons it never got the stream. It's funny to imagine an AS/400 man behind a Linux terminal rather than some proprietary OS based on an open source one.

[@Benoit-Pierre]

i am one of those who got an Ubuntu cdrom shipped for free !!!

[@pizzafredda]

@@Benoit-Pierre Yeah. At the time they were giving away the Ubuntu disk outside the Faculty when I was at the university (I was studying Computer Science and there was a very small Linux community... in southern Italy Linux never managed to get mainstream before Ubuntu: that was a game changer). It was a major thing back then, as it was probably the real first distro which was really sort of "plug & play" instead of "plug & pray" as it came with a lot of pre-installed drivers and the possibility to test it live without having to make partitions and so on.

[@pizzafredda]

@@CallousCoder Solaris, exactly, though they went to zSeries in the r&d labs when I was graduating and switched to z/OS. I remember some people having headaches with migration of some program... When I was saying "plug & play" I wasn't talking about hot plug and hardware, but the fact that Ubuntu had already a vast support to the most common peripherals, which is something other distros didn't come packed with and this discouraged most users which weren't keen to terminal. Sorry if I may seem unintelligible but English is not my first language, thanks for pointing it out :)

[@pizzafredda]

@@CallousCoder Exactly, that's exactly what I wanted to say, well summarized. The problems people faced were mostly related with network devices such as routers and cards. It's true that most of the brands used the same chip but when there wasn't native support you had to tweak and get your hands dirty, which is fine for those who are not afraid of the blinking prompt of the terminal but if you ask someone to switch from Windows to Linux it's not that easy. Well today actually is, but in that era I guess it was scary. I stepped into your channel and you just gained a subscriber, solid Amiga fan here! :)

[@DirkDierickx]

debian stable + backports + flatpak = awesomeness.

[@sub-zero-kitty]

i was using telegram flatpak

[@mauriziotosetti2343]

Devuan stable + backports + flatpak is it better ?

[@sub-zero-kitty]

@@mauriziotosetti2343 yes cuz no fbi in yo pc

[@andymorin9163]

Gentoo + emerge + eselect repository (aka layman) = awesome

[@sub-zero-kitty]

@@andymorin9163 more like = fun

[@zurkke]

Another fantastic video, Veronica! I've been around your channel not a long time ago, but I really appreciate the format you follow, everything feels really personal without missing out on the details. As for Debian, well... I use it on my good old home server that I've set up from an old office machine! You can never really go wrong with Debian.

[@ma7eus97]

Your channel is amazing, Veronica. You have great energy and I love the way you explain things. You're awesome! Keep up!

[@BomimoDK]

I like how you lay out what Debian is about here. most videos just talk about DE and package managers when discussing different distros. It makes it very hard for newcomers or intermediates to get a real handle on the differences between distrobutions and as a consequence, sometimes I can't help but feel like the plurality of choices seems pointless on the surface to some extend. Hope you'll do more of these for other distros and maybe break down further under the hood for us.

[@MasterPJ86]

For me LMDE is the perfect sweet spot between Debian's stability and ease of use from the Linux mint team, plus a very nice looking updated and rock solid cinnamon DE, with the last update to cinnamon 5.6 LMDE has become an absolute stable and productive beauty.

[@noyota]

🌹

[@joseluisnavahernandez4350]

💥

[@Dom_Mason]

Yep, my second choice would be LMDE. Cinnamon as DE. LMDE5 looks sweet.

[@samyt681]

spirallinux

[@SprunkCovers]

LMDE is my distro to go after Ubuntu currently, simply amazing distro

[@mirabilis.development]

I found your channel by serendipity when searching for what is a commodore 64. Then enjoyed that you talk about Linux, the system I am learning about. Love the rhythm of the videos, they are great for non-native English speakers (my case). Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@enkiimuto1041]

I loved the way you explain things! Also, the subtitles are immensely appreciated, you are already very clear on your own, but this will help my gf that is starting to study IT and sysadmin, she isn't yet well versed in English by hearing. We'll binge your videos

[@droid8613]

Debian testing is a happy medium :⁠-⁠). It's definitely worth the look. I run testing on my laptop and it seems like a healthy balance between sid and stable.

[@eznix]

Debian has been my preferred desktop for several years. I do spend time in Arch from time to time, but I usually grow weary of the Arch updates after six months. Debian stable is perfect for me. Thanks for the video.

[@1pcfred]

I updated Debian while I watched this video. It was painless, of course.

[@imzesok]

Debian is kind of underrated. it can be whatever you really need it to be in terms of super stable, to moderately stable, or nearly bleeding edge, all depending on which version you choose. this makes it a pretty easy distro to default to. If I'm installing Linux, it's either gonna be Arch or Debian(or a derivative like Siduction which is basically Debian unstable made into a rolling release distro), though I do like checking in on Fedora from time to time. I like having the new shiny features, so I'm usually doing Debian unstable or Siduction.

[@thanook]

Couldn't have said it better myself! Great video, love your content!

[@drstefankrank]

I used Sid for some couple of years on my laptop with unattended-upgrades running every day. In that period of time, I learned to repair all sorts of things that can break in Debian. That was valuable time. Now I'm back on stable or testing in some cases.

[@Benoit-Pierre]

i have also switched to stable and it still breaks ...

[@drstefankrank]

@@Benoit-Pierre but far less often. :)

[@matikaevur6299]

practice of destruction is theory for construction :) sorry, in my native it sounds better .. And yes, using Sid as daily desktop was good education. I think i could still write most of xconf myself :P

[@pmmeurcatpics]

@@matikaevur6299 that sounded good actually! How does it sound in your native language?

[@Wandering_Horse]

I recently ran deb for about 3 years but started having issues with screen sharing in zoom meetings for school. I could get it fixed but then zoom would update and it would break again. I switched up to pop os, and while the update intervals are the inverse, everything just works. Which for my school needs is very important. Right tool for the job.

[@KWCommuter]

Love these videos, Veronica. Keep them coming. You have an awesome sense of humor.

[@uksoidgsiujasd89892]

I'm new to the channel, and I need to say that I loved your style and charisma, I became a subscriber. I've been testing distros since the Debian 6, I've run away a lot of the KDE Plasma version because I removed the taskbar and didn't know how to put it back. Today I'm a fan of KDE Plasma since I decided to change to GNU+Linux in 2018, I've used many distros, even the simplest and lightest ones (and it always lacks some functionality). When I migrated a year ago to the programming area, I decided to settle on debian (after trying macos and even windows and finally manjaro / biglinux / garuda linux), i t's so satisfying to turn on the computer and know that it will start normally and everything is working well. (I used Sid for a while, but something always broke). I will always recommend Debian!

[@ThatNateGuy]

I love all of your doodads and stuff you have around the room.

[@ruhnet]

Debian rocks! It’s my goto for servers and any machine where I care about stability and consistency.

[@neilsmith9220]

A great presentation, Veronica. Detailed but you keep it fun and interesting. Only been using Debian since Bullseye and I'm absolutely loving it, particularly with backports. Just subscribed.

[@immanuelkantholz9033]

I love your shirt, it made me chuckle.

[@DavidMorash]

Great overview. I run Debian as my development environment at work simply because it never breaks. The only "odd" thing I do is build vim from source to get it to support the plugins I use/experiment with. For some build infrastructure, I've recently started running a few Ubuntu Server machines as they use fewer resources.

[@jesse7631]

Another great video Veronica!

[@FHangya]

love the vid. love the explanation. love everything! Thanks so much ^^ (Manjaro Xfce user here ^^)

[@jimmx2]

Awesome episode! and love that classic Nes tetris!

[@danilom3166]

That advice was gold!

[@GenericSweetener]

Your videos are good for my soul!

[@hwy9nightkid]

OMG that intro! love it

[@spuds7677]

Love the shirt!

[@gregmosier5908]

Major props for the "Year of Hell" reference! Love the shirt, will have to order one for sure.

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

I've been watching your vids only a few months, but they are so good and informative. Also, entirely unrelated... love your hair- it's so gorgeous!

[@Xur______]

Just wanted to say that the way you explain things is wonderful. I got into watching tech youtubers from "distro review" type videos. The way you explain Debian here is great! Would love to see you break down more distros in this way, ie explaining what sort of uses cases they are good for, what sort features set them apart from other distros, package management and release cycle, overall "philosophy" behind the distros ie "debian stable, arch bleeding edge, gentoo total control/customization, etc" and overall history.

[@danielchen2616]

Thans for your hard work.I really love your videos.

[@paulbrzeski4237]

OMG the layers of meta comparing Sid to the Year of Hell from VOY. Amazing

[@shakerlakes]

Enthusiastic thumbs up! This is the first video of yours I've ever seen. You're a terrific presenter.

[@thatjpwing]

I've been using Debian on at least one machine since the late 1990s and I've always been pleased with how it performs. My desktops run on something built on top of Debian and again, very stable. apt just makes sense to me. Even though I've been using Linux in some way since 1997 or so (yay for buying Linux Mandrake at Kmart in late '98!) I have never dabbled with Arch. I should do that. But Debian continues to be my go to, especially on servers.

I tried Arch not long ago… nope, not my thing. Installation needs to be… not painful like Arch is. I didn't suffer that much in '96 installing Rex.

[@experimental0000]

Typically if a distro is "boring" that means it's stable and you just install it and forget it - by "forget it", I mean it gets out of your way and you can just get stuff done without having to worry about the OS keeping things running smoothly. I'll take that kind of boring any day vs something that I _have_ to tinker with to keep it running well enough to try and do work/play instead of sacrificing those to keep the OS fixed. (Venn from LinuxGameCast runs Debian XFCE for his systems since it lets him dial in his DAWs and other tools (and games) the way he wants for their show)

[@stopsystemdhate]

Great video Veronica! Was hoping you would delve into the more "interesting" side of Debian's offspring (ex. Rebecca Black OS), but I realize it's probably beyond the scope of the video. Would love to see you cover the more niche side of the linux world and share your thoughts on stuff like Nix OS, Void, also BSDs. Would be interesting to hear a sysadmin's perspective.

[@ShaunPrince]

Thank-you for this unexpected coverage of my favourite distro. Even though I thought I knew everything already, I still enjoyed your video. Maybe at some point you could show and speak about the Linux distribution family tree from distrowatch. Thank-you.

[@wolfiedgr8t]

I love your t-shirt ❤

[@send2gl]

Great video, I've been an Ubuntu user for around 10 years now but am currently trying MX Linux as my main desktop. I have Arch and Debian installed on an external disk. Still have an Ubuntu-Server installed with a very light iceWM as a GUI.

[@sweettalkinghippie]

Great video and I love the shirt.

[@jamess1787]

That remark with version names was bang on. Way to go.

[@cdibona]

Thanks for talking about debian. So great!

[@richardkoerper1630]

Love your Amiga references.

[@blackie5566]

I'm a Debian user since "Sarge" and it never has let me down. I just love it - Since two years I'm using the unstable version - which is IMHO the best rolling release I have ever used. Thank you your great video!!! 🙂

[@Dwonis]

Nice subtle Boing! in the chart background :)

[@robbylock1741]

I'm a retired Unix/Linux Sys Admin. For stability and security, for me it's still Slackware, followed by Debian Stable for non-commercial use. For enterprise servers, for me the only choice has been RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) Oh and in case you are wondering, my current "daily driver" is Fedora's MATE-Compiz spin as my desktop. That said, it's JMHO and what is best for you is what works for you! That's the beauty of having all the various distros to choose from!

[@JohnGMeadows]

My first bistro was Slackware 2.01 (or thereabouts) running on a 486, around 1994/5. Bought a book that came with the CD. Things have changed!

[@kefka900]

I still have my old Red Hat from 2002ish. I think its with the old Mandrake and Novell Netware CD's.

[@robbylock1741]

@@kefka900 We ran Netware at one of the places I worked - yeah them were the days! And I still have a set of Red Hat floppies ... some place!

[@robbylock1741]

@@JohnGMeadows I think I had the same book! And while I mostly run Fedora on a number of different laptops and desktops, I still run Slackware (now 15.0) as my file server/backup server (waves to Patrick!) on an older HP workstation that has a DAT tape drive - yeah my life is backed up to tape!

[@michaelwright2986]

@@JohnGMeadows That's a great typo, and suggests a name for a site for trying out different varieties of Linux: The Distro Bistro. I hereby release the title into the public domain.

[@satrian]

A Voyager reference? Now I understand better why I love this channel.

[@garymcc3748]

I'm relatively new to linux. Just discovered and love the channel!

[@garlicengineer9498]

Heya, I'm new to your channel, and I love your content style! I've been a Linux geek for 15 years, and today, The Algorithm brought me to your channel for the first time. Tbh, this one was probably one of the best KZbin channel recommendations I've had in years. Looking forward to following your content (and binge-watching your older content)! /g 👏👏👏 brava!

[@EdyGaby-ll4qc]

I am a beginner in linux, been using it for almost a month and i am using Debian Sid. It never broke on me and if i want to do something, it just works! After using windows my whole life , debian brings me so much joy and its such a beautiful distribution, i dont think im ever gonna switch from it

[@padcom]

Lovin' the C-64 in the background!

[@dfs-comedy]

All my boxes use Debian (or derivatives like Raspberry Pi OS or Armbian.) It's very stable and does what I need. I'm also so used to the administrative commands and file layouts that I can't be bothered to learn non-Debian-derived systems like Fedora or Arch. (First distro I used was actually Slackware, followed by Red Hat, but once I found Debian, I stopped distro-hopping.)

[@DolevRavid]

Great video! I liked it!

[@chaslinux]

About to grab Debian to install on a 32bit 2006 iMac - lots of fun. BTW this was the 1st video that came up when I searched KZbin for Debian. Congrats on ranking Veronica, well deserved!

[@atom-88]

Thank you for the Debian Video Veronica, Been using Debian for awhile now but used to distro hop a lot but prefer the rock solidness of Debian I can manage with the older software as shiny (Latest) isn't always better. Thanks again and please take care, already left a huge👍.

[@socvirnylestela5878]

i forgot to sub this channel. cool content. debian was my first distro, opensuse is my current since last year.

[@ianworsley4052]

Just found your channel great content keep up the good work! (I use debian btw)

[@NahrAlma]

I use Mint right now, but I am very interested in switching to LMDE. I might just do it once LMDE 6 comes out. Thanks Debian Team

[@samyt681]

Look into spiral likux

[@esra_erimez]

Wow, that thumbnail is amazing!

[@billysherman2702]

I use LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) as my daily driver now. I believe it's the best all around distro at this time.

[@higet1]

As always interesting. Thanks Veronica. Greetings from Russia

[@wocket42]

Not only turned Debian 30 years. My current desktop Debian installation turned 26 years! End of 1996/start of 1997 I installed Debian and only did upgrades afterwards! Obviously I copied it with tar/cpio/rsync to new disks and file systems, but it's still the original installation! Packages have been migrated about 99% to 64 bit over time. Also I went the systemd free route and did an in place migration to Devuan at the right time. A few files remain of the original installation from 1997, though.

[@KeritechElectronics]

I've used Debian for almost 11 years now, since squeeze was stable, learning things a lot throughout the process. I'm on testing/sid rolling release for the software, would use stable on servers or other high reliability production use. Aptitude FTW. Had OBS break in deb-multimedia, went back to sid, it worked, stayed this way until they fixed it, ha. Oh, and I loved the release name part!

[@johnjoyce]

Great bass line in the outro

[@mikehosken4328]

I was surprised that you didn’t mention the testing branch of Debian

[@VeronicaExplains]

I was considering that, actually. If I was doing a tutorial about customizing Debian I would definitely discuss Testing. I left it out here for brevity- most of the questions I get are about Stable or Sid. Besides, with a new version due for release this year, Testing is going to become a whole heap, potentially worthy of a separate video.

[@mikehosken4328]

@@VeronicaExplains thanks for everything you do. I tend to think testing as Debians rolling release. I have used debian for over 20 year and use stable and old stable for servers and critical systems and testing for desktops. Sid is mainly used to build packages, well in my buildd server it is.

[@locnar1701]

My Last job had SID in production before I rebuild the system... That is all I am going to say about that... Oh, and Love your puns, well done.

[@uandmeboth12]

Agreed with what you said here. Like the T-shirt. :)

[@jeremyscott2486]

Just found your channel. Very happy I did. I’m a new Linux user (still dual booting) and your vids are very informative and entertaining. You are better than sliced bread😊. Good stuff!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you so much! Welcome to Linux and I'm hopeful that the videos are helpful!

[@xellaz]

I currently run MX Linux for personal use which is Debian-based and it suits me well after a few additions and changes. Arch-based distros are nice and all but it breaks more than I wanted it to be whenever there's an update or I tweak something. 😅 My first Linux is Linux Mandrake... bought it from CompUSA I think... I had the box with the CD back then..

[@meatgeorge]

You have to remember to ask yourself what the latest and greatest actually gives you. For me, the important one is the desktop. If its just stability updates on the latest and greatest then no big deal. However the main DEs seem to be in overdrive. The next version of KDE Plasma (5.27, the last KDE 5.x release) brings a revamp to its multi-monitor support (something I personally have waited years for), a revamped Discover brings both Flatpak permission settings as well as a revamped home page, plus KWin window tiling improvements. I don't really want to wait for get those benefits. As for GNOME I hear its a double edged sword, each release brings new features that improve the experience, but each new version breaks half your extensions. So maybe a more controlled release might be the better way to go there.

[@corsairfilip]

Very funny review, I was move to Debian 7 back these days. Now I have all my servers and computers on Debian. It is awesome distribution.

[@hardi_stones]

I used apt all the time in my past job (5 years), creating Deb packages and resolving dependencies. I can certainly say apt is powerful as you say.

[@sugaryhull9688]

I've been using Debian Stable since version 8 and I love the stability. I got my distrohopping out early on and settled there ever since

[@syrefaen]

Sid for me exploded faster then arch and thubleweed for me. Cool video and good explanations!

[@gotoastal]

Debian was the distro I stayed on the longest at in my journey of hopping. Eventually, I really did feel I was fighting the distro though with Sid and jumped to Arch for a few years. Since then though, I've switched to NixOS and as far as I can tell, this is where I'll be for a long while until something like Guix piques my interest over Nix. That said, I'm likely going to install Debian again on an old Chromebook because another place where Debian shines is supporting old and odd hardware. There is very little support for distros out there for ARM v7, but I feel with Debian, I'd have the confidence to trust that support will last for quite a while.

[@squirrel6687]

Yaay! Geek Pun at the beginning! Sid, unstable, is a rolling release. I started with Debian after a bit of research. Inspiron 8200 with all experimental hardware working. Over Christmas day, startx worked! Gnome was awesome then. SuSe was easy to get started by miles but had its issues with dependencies. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint didn't do it. Even trying to change Mint into Debian didn't work. Upgrading Ubuntu to the next release was hell. Debian is the next best thing to sliced bread. I also used Sid for a desktop. It was okay until there were problems requiring one to go under the hood. Looking at list changes helps a bunch. Holding off until all packages that you require and it's dependencies becomes available helps. The biggest issue with SID IMHO is the changes that occur and the subsequent breaks that happen when the district shifts major gears such as sysv to systemd and from Xorg to Wayland. Apt does well; however, good old tools and tools one's become accustomed requires a new learning curve. Sometimes these swooping changes render old packages unusable. Hey install both, keep the old, or install the new are decisions, decisions, decisions. The best advice to a Debianite is to download, read, and digest the latest Debian Reference manual, gulp. I am after 20 years hoking around. Oh yeah, like as in p.s., *untu LTS versions are based on Debian Testing IIRC. It's pretty decent. Another note, Bookworm is about to go through a freeze next month. Bookworm, the upcoming stable, and testing are tit for tat at this moment. Go needs! Fine teacher you are.

[@zerocool3466]

Best debian video ever Veronica 🙌🤗🤗. Always love pkg lol

[@tokoshiro5]

great content, also cool voice, and editing (Slackware dude who surrendered to Debian here)

[@Chrisg457]

I love using Debian. I have used pretty much everything under the sun from Ubuntu to Gentoo, and I have no problem calling Debian my main OS. For someone who has little time, I need something stable and reliable, and none do it better than Debian.

[@Bunstonious]

I personally have a soft spot for Debian and back in 2007 I actually used it as my main desktop distribution for a while. The main thing I don't like about Debian for using it primarily or as a desktop system is the package lag which I find absolutely limiting when I want to use recent packages (like Wayland or recent Gnome or KDE releases) and so I find myself tending more towards Tumbleweed or Fedora (I have recently found myself in love with recent Fedora releases). That being said however I have a few small servers that I use mostly with Docker and Debian is perfect for that as the requirements are minimal and so it'll fit on a small VM and docker keeps the software it uses up to date. I also use it for my Minecraft server due to the low overhead and it has all but replaced basically all of my Ubuntu server distributions except the ones that I can't be bothered replacing. But I think I'll always use Debian in some capacity, just probably more on the lightweight server side.

[@enigmaster84]

Even though I started with Kubuntu in 2007, Debian (Stable) is home for me, especially with Xfce ♥ I try other distros in VMs just to get out of my comfort zone, to see what's new, or to see what other distros ship and customise but I like my desktop the way it is. Besides, starting from a minimal install I feel I can really make it whatever I want. It's called "The Universal Operating System" for so many reasons, and this is one of them. PS: also, Synaptic. I'd love to see it on non Debian distros.

[@NuAngelDotNet]

Okay, not sure why KZbin decided this was your video to blow up with a huge view count, but I'm glad they did. As someone who was thrust into a Linux sysadmin role a little over a year ago now, I've been on a journey to learn all the new things I could... the servers I'm in charge of are Ubuntu based, which I know as a Debian derivative, and so I watched this video to see if I should consider, when the time comes, just dropping to Debian or sticking with Ubuntu LTS - your overall topic for this video AS WELL AS your ask Veronica segment helped me decide to stick with Ubuntu. Add to that an awesome striped shirt with thumb holes and a t-shirt with RJ-45 crimping order and I'm an instant subscriber. Don't feel like just because KZbin is blowing up your videos that suddenly you need to do anything differently. You've got a back-catalog for newcomers like me to enjoy and those of us who subscribed did so because we like your content the way it is. Keep it up!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you SO MUCH for this comment. It's been a rough few days for comment spam, and I've had a hard time reading through the crud to get to the real humans. This is the kind of positivity I hope we all can spread in the Linux space. Thank YOU!

[@troylambert1601]

i learned 2 things this episode, Debian is for everyone, and you should quit using Arch, you should use Sid instead.

[@Yun-gi7rc]

Thank you for making English subtitle.

[@relsre]

@VeronicaExplains 2nd this, subtitles are super useful for people who: - have difficulties in hearing - don't have adequate audio output on their devices - just prefer to watch the video without audio! Thanks Veronica for taking the time to add them in~ 🙂

[@ChaseCares]

Great video! Is that bottom in the background? It's amazing how nice command line system monitors look nowadays.

[@ChrisStoddard101010]

I use Sid on my daily driver, but on my laptop, I use Stable plus Flatpaks. Mind you, I have very few problems with Sid, however, if something does come up, I do not want to be dealing with it when I am travelling, or even just messing around in a coffee shop. Be sure to install apt-listbugs and apt-listchanges, pay attention to them when they come up with issues and you will be fine. Also make sure you keep Testing in your sources.list and use pinning, so if something breaks you can pin the Testing package higher than Sid, so you can roll back to an earlier version until the Sid package is fixed. It is also a good idea to get into the habit of updating your system on a weekly basis, so you do not get too far behind and don't use "apt dist-upgrade", use " apt upgrade", unless you have a specific reason for doing so.

[@malfunction5448]

Great video! I'm a fan of stability and when I found debian, I was well-pleased. As I am no longer doing sysadmin work, I've migrated to Ubuntu, some machines on LTS and some on the non-LTS, so I get the best of both worlds. Or, maybe the worst of both worlds?

[@EHKvlogs]

I recently installed debian 12 with kde, i am loving it.

[@nickmusco8038]

Im about to start tinkering with a Thinkpad that needs a lighter os and have been checking out your videos and you have me convinced. Would you recommend arch for this situation? I particularly play online fps and run simulators on my desktops and would like to have this laptop as a carry around I can bring to work. I figured a lighter os would open up more vram for the integrated graphics to at least get me a few more frames per second....thanks for the informative content and spreading the knowledge 🤙

[@philipcollier7805]

You are so right about Sid. I love a lean, fast, Sid machine - but it does break way more than Debian Testing.

[@imaginaryuser]

I almost gave up on Linux many years ago when I was learning to use it due to the constant stream of bugs in ... everything. Debian stable saved me. It was the first distro at the time which just worked. Things have gotten a lot better these days where even Arch is super stable most of the time. But I'll always be indented to Debian!