this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
258 points (88.6% liked)
Linux
60406 readers
922 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Why would Debian be unacceptable?
Cause Debian is an out of date rock.
If you need a rock it's good
But it's still a rock for better or worse and rocks are a pain in the ass to do anything with that isn't just having it sit there.
Because holding back updates makes the system insecure and unstable.
Are you really saying that Debian is an unstable distro? Regarding security, can you name one security update Debian did ever fail to apply on time? Because it's pointless to compare feature updates and security updates.
The reason Debian is known to be "outdated" regarding features only is exactly why it's considered one of the most, even if not the most, stable distro. Because it's long time tested between upgrades.
Debian is a stable server distro, but in the desktop space users expect everything to just work and while Fedora is usually backwards compatible, Debian isn't always forwards compatible.
As for security updates, IDK.
I'm operating mostly of second-hand information I vaguely remember, I'm not an expert on these things so I'm not really the person to be discussing this with. There's surely a reason Linus uses Fedora over Debian though.
My subjective opinion: he uses it because of bleeding edge kernel version. And it is surely, for him more than anyone else, an important point. But it doesn't mean older kernels are not secure, they can be patched when needed. And the "needed" varies, for some distro it means it's just not the last one, for others that additionnal and interesting features are added. For Debian, it means patching vulnerabilities if there are, or take the required time to offer a tested and coherent pack of updates. Because otherwise there is for now, no need. Testing is a specific point that no other distro has ever did better than Debian, but the same reason why it feels old to many and not enough up to date, regarding features.
I'm obviously a Debian advocate, but I'm not saying it's in general the best distro, there are none. Only best for some usage, and not for others.
But it doesn't make it unsecure (that's partly why it's one of the most used server side) and "holding back" updates. :)