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Debian is a Free Operating System . Its primary form, '''Debian GNU/Linux''', is a popular and influential Linux Distribution . Linux Distributions - Facts and Figures Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix and Free Software philosophies, and for its abundance of options — the current release includes over eighteen thousand Software Package s for eleven Computer Architecture s, ranging from the ARM Architecture commonly found in Embedded System s and the IBM EServer ZSeries Mainframe architecture to the more common Intel X86 architecture found in modern Personal Computer s. Debian GNU/Linux is the basis for several other distributions, including Knoppix , Linspire , MEPIS , Xandros , and the Ubuntu family. Debian is also known for its Package Management System (especially APT ), for its strict policies regarding its packages and the quality of its releases. These practices afford easy upgrades between releases and easy automated installation and removal of packages. Debian uses an open development and testing process. It is developed by volunteers from around the world and supported by donations through Software In The Public Interest , Inc., a Non-profit Umbrella Organization for free software projects. HISTORY Debian was first announced on 16 August 1993 by Ian Murdock , then a student at Purdue University . Murdock initially called his system the "Debian Linux Release".1 In the '' Debian Manifesto '', Murdock called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained in an open manner, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. He formed the name "Debian" by combining the first name of his girlfriend (now wife) Debra with his own first name. As such, Debian is pronounced as the corresponding syllables of these names in American English: but other pronunciations are common in different parts of the world.The Debian Systeme Martin F. Krafft p31 The Debian Project grew slowly at first and released its first 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995. The first ports to other architectures were begun in 1995, and the first 1.x version of Debian was released in 1996. In 1996, Bruce Perens replaced Ian Murdock as the project leader. In the same year, fellow developer Ean Schuessler suggested that Debian establish a Social Contract between the project and its users. Perens distilled the resulting discussion on Debian mailing lists into the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines , defining fundamental commitments for the development of the distribution. He also initiated the creation of the legal Umbrella Organization Software In The Public Interest . Bruce Perens left in 1998 before the release of the first Glibc -based Debian, 2.0. The Project proceeded to elect new leaders and made two more 2.x releases, each including more ports and more packages. APT was deployed during this time and the first port to a non-Linux kernel, Debian GNU/Hurd , was started as well. The first Linux Distribution s based on Debian, Libranet , Corel Linux and Stormix 's Storm Linux, were started in 1999. Though no longer developed, these distributions were the first of many distributions based on Debian . In late 2000, the project made major changes to archive and release management, reorganizing software archive processes with new "package pools" and creating a ''testing'' branch as an ongoing, relatively stable staging area for the next release. Also in that year, developers began holding an annual conference called '' DebConf '' with talks and workshops for developers and technical users.Debian Documentation Team. '' A Brief History of Debian ''. On April 08 2007 the Debian Project announced the official release of Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0, codenamed "etch". DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURES Software packages in development are either uploaded to the project branch named ''unstable'', also known as ''sid'', or the ''experimental'' branch. Software packages uploaded to ''unstable'' are normally versions stable enough to be released by the original ''upstream'' developer, but with the added Debian-specific packaging and other modifications introduced by Debian developers. These additions may be new and untested. Software not ready yet for the ''unstable'' branch is typically placed in the ''experimental'' branch. After a version of a software package has remained in ''unstable'' for a certain length of time (depending on the urgency of the software's changes), that package is automatically migrated to the ''testing'' branch. The package's migration to testing occurs only if no serious (''release-critical'') bugs in the package are reported and if other software needed for package functionality qualifies for inclusion in ''testing''. Since updates to Debian software packages between official releases do not contain new features, some choose to use the ''testing'' and ''unstable'' branches for their newer packages. However, these branches are less tested than ''stable'', and ''unstable'' doesn't receive timely security updates.2 Starting September 9 , 2005 3 a ''testing'' security team provides security updates.http://secure-testing-master.debian.net In particular, incautious upgrades to working ''unstable'' packages can sometimes seriously break software functionality. After the packages in ''testing'' have matured and the goals for the next release are met, the ''testing'' branch becomes the next stable release. The latest stable release of Debian (''etch'') is 4.0. It was released on April 8 , 2007 . The forthcoming version is codenamed "''lenny''." PROJECT ORGANIZATION The Debian Project is a volunteer organization with three foundational documents:
Currently, the project includes more than a thousand developers. Each of them sustains some niche in the project, be it Package maintenance, Software Documentation , maintaining the project infrastructure, Quality Assurance , or release coordination. Package maintainers have jurisdiction over their own packages, although packages are increasingly co-maintained. Other tasks are usually the domain of smaller, more collaborative groups of developers. The project maintains official Mailing List s and conferences for communication and coordination between developers. For issues with single packages or domains, a public Bug tracking system is used by developers and end-users both. Informally, Internet Relay Chat channels (primarily on the OFTC and Freenode networks) are used for communication among developers and users as well. Together, the Developers may make binding general decisions by way of a General Resolution or election. All voting is conducted by Cloneproof Schwartz Sequential Dropping , a Condorcet Method of voting. A Project Leader is elected once per year by a vote of the Developers; in April 2007, Sam Hocevar was voted into this position, succeeding Anthony Towns . The Debian Project Leader has several special powers, but this power is far from absolute and is rarely utilized. Under a General Resolution, the Developers may, among other things, recall the leader, reverse a decision by him or his delegates, and amend the constitution and other foundational documents. The Leader sometimes delegates authority to other developers in order for them to perform specialized tasks. Generally this means that a leader delegates someone to start a new group for a new task, and gradually a team gets formed that carries on doing the work and regularly expands or reduces their ranks as they think is best and as the circumstances allow. A role in Debian with a similar importance to the Project Leader's is Release Manager. Release Managers set goals for the next release, supervise the process, and make the final decision as to when to release. A list of many important positions in the Debian project is available at the Debian organization web page . DEVELOPER RECRUITMENT, MOTIVATION, AND RESIGNATION The Debian project has a steady influx of applicants wishing to become developers. These applicants must undergo an elaborate vetting process which establishes their identity, motivation, understanding of the project's goals (embodied in the Social Contract), and technical competence. More information on the "New Maintainer" process is available at the Debian New Maintainer page . Debian Developers join the Project for any number of reasons; some that have been cited in the past include:
Debian Developers may resign their positions at any time by orphaning the packages they were responsible for and sending a notice to the developers and the Keyring maintainer (so that their upload authorization can be revoked). DEBIAN PACKAGE LIFE CYCLE Each Debian software package has a maintainer who keeps track of releases by the "upstream" authors of the software and ensures that the package is compliant with Debian Policy, coheres with the rest of the distribution, and meets the standards of quality of Debian. In relations with users and other developers, the maintainer uses the bug tracking system to follow up on bug reports and fix bugs. Typically, there is only one maintainer for a single package, but increasingly small teams of developers "co-maintain" larger and more complex packages and groups of packages. Periodically, a package maintainer makes a release of a package by uploading it to the "incoming" directory of the Debian package archive (or an "upload queue" which periodically batch-transmits packages to the incoming directory). Package uploads are automatically processed to ensure that the Upload is well-formed (all the requisite files are in place) and that the package bears the digital signature -- produced with OpenPGP -compatible software -- of a Debian developer. All Debian developers have Public Key s. Packages are signed to be able to reject uploads from hostile outsiders to the project, and to permit accountability in the event that a package contains a serious Bug , a violation of policy, or malicious code. If the package in incoming is found to be validly signed and well-formed, it is installed into the archive into an area called the "pool" and distributed every day to hundreds of Mirrors worldwide. Initially, all package uploads accepted into the archive are only available in the "unstable" suite of packages, which contains the most up-to-date version of each package. However, new code is also untried code, and those packages are only distributed with clear disclaimers. For packages to become candidates for the next "stable" release of the Debian distribution, they first need to be included in the "testing" suite. The requirements for a package to be included in "testing" is that it:4
Thus, a release-critical bug in a package on which many packages depend, such as a shared library, may prevent many packages from entering the "testing" area, because that library is considered deficient. Periodically, the Release Manager publishes guidelines to the developers in order to ready the release, and in accordance with them eventually decides to make a release. This occurs when all important software is reasonably up-to-date in the release-candidate suite for all architectures for which a release is planned, and when any other goals set by the Release Manager have been met. At that time, all packages in the release-candidate suite ("testing") become part of the released suite ("stable"). It is possible for a package -- particularly an old, stable, and seldom-updated one -- to belong to more than one suite at the same time. The suites are simply collections of pointers into the package "pool" mentioned above. DEBIAN RELEASES As of April 2007 , the latest stable release is version 4.0, code name ''etch''.5 When a new version is released, the previous stable is labeled ''oldstable''; currently, this is version 3.1, code name ''sarge''. In addition, a stable release gets minor updates (called ''point releases'') marked, for example, like 3.1r1. The Debian security team releases security updates for the latest stable major release, as well as for the previous stable release for one year Debian security FAQ: Lifespan . As version 4.0 ''Etch'' was release on 8 April 2007 , this means that the security team expect to support version 3.1 ''Sarge'' until April 2008. For most uses it is strongly recommended to run a system which receive security updates. The ''testing'' version also receives security updates Debian testing security team . Debian has made nine major stable releases:6 Due to an incident involving a CD vendor who made an unofficial and broken release labeled ''1.0'', an official 1.0 release was never made.15 The code names of Debian releases are Names Of Characters from the movie '' Toy Story ''. The unstable, development distribution is nicknamed ''sid'', after the emotionally unstable next-door neighbour boy who destroyed toys on a regular basis.16 PORTS Architectures As of the current stable release, the official ports are:17
The m68k port was the second official port in Debian, and has been part of five stable Debian releases. Due to its failure to meet the release criteria, it has been dropped before the release of ''etch''. Still, it continues to be available as part of the ''unstable'' distribution:
Ongoing efforts include ports to Hitachi SuperH and M32R architectures, big-endian ARM port (''armeb''), and 64-bit-only PowerPC port ('' Ppc64 ''). Kernels The Project describes itself as creating a "Universal Operating System" and several Ports of all Userland software to various operating system Kernels are under development: |
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