CentOS Linux vs. Debian OS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
CentOS Linux
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
CentOS Linux is a Linux distribution is an enterprise OS platform compatible with its source RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Its end of life was announced for December 2021.N/A
Debian OS
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Debian OS is an open source operating system.N/A
Pricing
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Considered Both Products
CentOS Linux

No answer on this topic

Debian OS
Chose Debian OS
For our Linux servers, we felt that Debian suited us better than any alternative we've used previously, for a number of reasons.
Although RedHat could be said to have advantages with being backed by a very large company with a bucket full of cash, this does mean it has a more …
Chose Debian OS
As they are all a Linux distribution with many years of development, they all fulfill their specific function as an operating system, but something that differentiates Debian OS by a lot from the others is its resource management, which is very good, in addition to being safe …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Small Businesses
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(21 ratings)
9.3
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
CentOS LinuxDebian OS
Likelihood to Recommend
Open Source
In any role where you need raw server power, CentOS Linux is extremely well suited. It is extremely stable, and in my experience, probably the most stable of the Linux distros available. It has a very wide base of support from 3rd party sources for additional functionality that do not come already in the CentOS Linux distribution itself. It is not as appropriate for situations that are customer facing or end user facing. For those, I recommend Ubuntu Linux. But for everything server & compute related, I recommend CentOS Linux.
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Open Source
My favorite way to use Debian OS is to run shared, hosted, network applications for easy segmentation of apps so that when doing work on one you don't have to effect or take down others. I would not use it is for a daily use desktop style OS. For that I would stick to Windows, macOS, or a distribution of Linux that is already geared towards a daily use desktop OS.
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Pros
Open Source
  • First of all, CentOS is one of the most secure and stable OSes straits from the box.
  • High performance on the average hardware.
  • In most of my scenarios—easy and quick deployment.
  • Huge KB community that helps to build and support different services on CentOS.
  • Versions lifecycle.
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Open Source
  • The APT package manager is dead simple to use, and the APT repositories contain pretty much every package you can think of. If there's something missing from the standard repositories, there's a good chance a third-party repository can be added to fill the gap.
  • Debian OS releases are often considered, "boring". But that's a good thing! The Debian developers do not make changes for change's sake and this means new releases are very predictable and intended to cause as little drama as possible.
  • Debian is such a widely used and popular Linux distribution, that practically all Linux software vendors officially support it.
  • The Debian community is huge, especially when you consider Ubuntu is derived from it. If you need help with anything, you'll usually find it has been asked before and already has a resolution.
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Cons
Open Source
  • CentOS is not a great desktop platform. Although some would disagree with that statement, I think that CentOS is better suited to life as a server.
  • Since CentOS is community-supported some software vendors will not officially support it because it isn't Red Hat.
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Open Source
  • The installation could include suggested partitioning schemes for those beginning users or those who have their first approach with Debian OS
  • offer encryption of the home partition or the entire hard drive by default
  • an improved visual package manager and if it could be native it would be very well received
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Usability
Open Source
No answers on this topic
Open Source
Debian is one of the most well-thought-out, logical, and intuitive Linux operating systems you can use. Configuration, package management, file system layouts, etc, are all based on many years of usage, and it's very rare to find anything surprising or confusing in everyday usage. Package management and updates are handled by APT in such a way that once configured, you can almost guarantee your system will behave as expected for the lifetime of its service. Top-notch system integration provides all the tools you'd expect from a modern Linux system, with all the stability you demand from a demanding server OS.
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Support Rating
Open Source
Again, written documentation is excellent, even on the older versions. The support community is the best. It is comprehensive and I would say that it global because it transcends national boundaries. Also, you find all types of people using CentOS to do all sorts of things so you are bound to find someone to talk to if there are problems.
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Open Source
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Open Source
CentOS is based on RHEL, so it really came down to the costs when making the selection between our options. RHEL offered more support and features, but nothing that we specifically needed. CentOS is fully customizable, something Windows Server was also lacking in many ways. The stability and speed was unmatched in comparison to Windows, and we were not utilizing any Windows-specific software to require us to use the Microsoft alternative. My years of experience have also made it a breeze to set up and configure new CentOS instances, leading me to stay where I'm comfortable.
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Open Source
When compared to others, Debian runs smoother and faster and has great support for feature set with it. Even installing other supporting tools or IDEs for development work is pretty easier. With few simple commands and a good internet connection all the debian packages from the Internet can be easily fetched and installed on you systems
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Return on Investment
Open Source
  • CentOS's support of RPM packages makes it very easy to replicate RHEL servers for development or testing in cheap / free environments
  • CentOS's minimalistic desktop environment requires additional tweaking / packages if you want to have a usable desktop environment with the niceties of other modern distributions. As a result, if developers want to use CentOS, they'll need to spend more time customizing it than other distros.
  • CentOS's easy customization from the command line lends itself well to our virtualization infrastructure where setup can be easily scripted to modify CentOS's configuration files.
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Open Source
  • Due to it's low resource requirement, we are able to run more applications on less physical hardware
  • Because of it's versatility, we are able to learn Debian well and run our applications off of the same base operating system. That saves time and expertise requirements.
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