I am familiar with Redhat (Fedora?) and Ubuntu Linux. But I have never used Debian that I know of, and I don't know if it is Linux or what. What is Debian and what is it good for? Who would use Debian?

Google is your friend

Now I remember. Ubuntu is Debian just like Red Hat is Fedora. I had originally tried Google, and just got bunch of nonsense about free software and Berkeley sockets or something.

The relationship is less close than that. Debian is known as one of the hardcore geek distros, while Ubuntu targets the casual user more.

QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerNow I remember. Ubuntu is Debian just like Red Hat is Fedora. Actually these two relationships are reversed. Fedora is a community supported distribution that is based on and tracks the commercially supported Red Hat. On the other hand, Ubuntu is a commercially supported distributed built on top, and tracking, a community supported distribution, i.e, Debian.

I think debian's target audience is, or at least was, a more purist type of user but without the fanatical bent of OpenBSDers. They were one of the first distros to get packaging 'right', had/have notoriously long release cycles emphasizing stability over the most recent feature...Also, how can you not want to install a distro that names its releases after Toy Story.Interestingly, Ian Murdock (the 'ian' in debian) is now working on the OpenSolaris project...Anyone here use OpenSolaris?

They got famous for screwing the SSL package royally.

According to the creators of Ubuntu: Debian is "the rock upon which Ubuntu is built". Many other popular distributions of linux such as Knoppix, Mepis etc. are also based on Debian.I personally have been using Debian stable since the past 7 years and have been very happy with it. The good thing about Debian is that once your system is set (which might take a few hours depending on your skills specially on laptops) then it is good for a few years and you can be really productive doing actual work. Installing/removing packages is very simple and the OS makes sure that everything happens cleanly (ie with time you dont built up cruft of unnecessary program/system/config files) and your system "always" stays lean and mean.Ubuntu is basically a newbie friendly version of Debian. My only complain is their fast release cycle. I mean who in their right mind reinstalls the whole OS every 6 months. (Debian otoh makes releases every few years)Here's the setup I use, both on my laptop and desktop1. Debian base install (under 500 Mb; since I am a command line junkie)2. A minimalist window manager without useless eye candy, widgets and bloat (In fact I use JWM which is less than 0.5Mb)3. Intel compilers/MKL and other numerical libraries4. Vim as my editorMy setup in fact pretty much mirrors the setup of my school cluster and hence I can develop even when I dont have internet access. Here's a screenshot from my old trusty thinkpad http://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jwmdr6.pngOne other cool thing with linux is that I can tweak my config files and am able to extract more battery life by precisely controlling parameters like swappiness, idle hard disk time outs, disabling unnecessary logging etc.