Item: Debian OS
Rating: 10
Author: Jon Daley

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have used Debian OS since I inherited a personal desktop in 1995. I now run it on multiple computers at home, and my kids are more familiar with XFCE than Windows... I also use it on all of my web servers for my business. There have been a few hiccups over the years, though mostly were due to kernel issues that I would have seen on any distribution.

I used to run the "testing" distribution, but have migrated to the "stable" distribution, not because it is more stable, but I just want to spend less time upgrading.

I highly recommend Debian OS - very little "extra" cruft, and I have made lots of old hardware work that had been rejected by others as "too slow", but just needed a simpler OS on it.

Pros and Cons

easy to use
easy to install
open source software

sometimes I have trouble with drivers; took me a while to figure out that my HDMI TV was overriding my onboard sound card.

Return on Investment

Having no software cost for my business has made me much more profitable, and I never need to worry about a license expiring and crippling features.

Alternatives Considered

Ubuntu and CentOS Linux

Though Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian OS, (and I occasionally use resources from Ubuntu on a Debian system), I find Debian OS to be more user friendly and less likely to force me or bother me with upgrades, etc.

Key Insights

Do you think Debian OS delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Debian OS's feature set?

Yes

Did Debian OS live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Debian OS go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Debian OS again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

It is appropriate in all scenarios. Particularly when looking for truly open source/free licenses and you are concerned about distributions that use more closed source/more restrictive licenses.

Debian OS is excellent!

Overall Satisfaction with Debian OS