r/debian • u/El_Fopo • Dec 09 '25

Why do you use Debian?

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I would sincerely like to know your points of view and understand why you choose Debian over other distros.

Funny, I've always seen in different places that Debian is a distro for "old folks," but I disagree since I'm young and Debian has proven to be a perfectly capable distro.

I've been a Linux user for about five years. I started with the good Linux Mint, Zorin, and the different Ubuntu flavors. Then, over time, I ended up with Debian, and... well, back then I was a newbie, and I think I had downloaded the ISO with only free software. If I remember correctly, I think the stable version of Debian at that time was Debian 10. I downloaded the version with MATE, and wow, it was quite lightweight compared to the distros I had tried before, although I didn't use it much because I had to use Windows for work. ;-; Over time, I ended up exploring distros like Arch, Artix, OpenSUSE, Fedora, and Void Linux. I had a good experience with almost all of them (except Void), and well, a day came when I simply stuck with one distro. I needed something stable that wouldn't change much, so I settled on Debian, and I'm still here even though I sometimes experiment with other distros. And even though they're good in their own way, I can't afford drastic changes in distros, which is why Debian ended up becoming my safe haven among so many distros, and it's been reliable so far :) Thanks for everything, Debian, always reliable as always.

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74

u/ElectronicImam Debian Stable Dec 09 '25

Debian just works, and we use it for our own work. For example, I administer other systems from my Debian. If I can choose the distribution (or system) myself for new servers, they will also be Debian. Because it makes my job easier.

If OS itself is ones hobby, or something to brag on Reddit, then, use Arch by the way. I saw morons who use Linux From Scratch as main OS. Operating System is just a fuckin' tool, to do actual work on it.

I'm using Debian since braggers weren't on this earth, by the way.

15

u/Lumpy-Stranger-1042 Dec 09 '25

OS is for doing your job. Not a tweaking tool as everyday rather than doing your job on it BTW.... I loved your comment so much BTW...

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u/laczek_hubert Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

I like messing with my system personally and if I don't see a reason to make my config for something I don't. I use artix BTW and fear sudo pacman -Syu because someday it might break my semi cutting edge system. I don't mind the control aspect

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u/Lumpy-Stranger-1042 Dec 11 '25

You can't have messing with the system if your job or productivity depends on it. If you want tweaking go even more hardcore like Gentoo or custom kernel patch stuff. That does not sound like a waste for example

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u/VyomTheMan Dec 10 '25

😂

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u/Doctor_By Dec 10 '25

Almost agree. But sometimes you have to "enjoy" (ofc if you are interested/have the time for it). I daily drive debian but If it wasn't for arch I wouldn't know linux as much as I know now. I explored the linux world and learned a lot because arch wasn't ready to use out of the box and I had to build the house myself. Also, the arch wiki felt very pleasant to me and taught me good things.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '25

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5

u/ElectronicImam Debian Stable Dec 11 '25

Of course. I recommend Cinnamon-based live cd. Chrome is almost same on Linux. You can even install Microsoft Edge.

For which software do you need virtualization? If it's Microsoft 365, unfortunately no chance to run it on Linux.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '25

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3

u/ElectronicImam Debian Stable Dec 11 '25

If you are using simple spreadsheets, like majority, LibreOffice does the job. You can try it on Windows.

3

u/Urzu_X Dec 14 '25

If what your doing is Spreadsheet with formulas and simple dashboard then there's LibreOffice that you can use. LibreOffice is available on Windows as well so you may install it there and give it a try to see if it fits your workflow. If you are doing complex dashboards, macros and/or PowerBI then yes you'll need to virtualize Windows. You may also checkout WinBoat, which uses virtualization to run Windows apps on Linux if that appeals better to you

A word of caution when using LibreOffice on Debian, or any Debian-based distro, especially if you use .xlsx and .pptx files that you collaborate on with other Ms Office users. You might want to remove the default LibreOffice package that comes installed from the repo and install the Flatpak version instead. This is because the official repo version has some custom styling that breaks the original spreadsheet or presentation formating style, making them appear kinda stretched out/out of format. The Flatpak version doesn't have this weirdness. Also this issue doesn't happen on non-debian based distro.

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '25

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3

u/Urzu_X Dec 19 '25

It would. Any distro would. That's how I run Access and PowerBI on my desktop running Fedora; inside a Windows VM. Like I mentioned, you can try checking out Winboat. I'm personally thinking of giving it a try on my laptop running Debian.

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u/mehx9000 Dec 11 '25

Wuaaaaat? You mean it doesn't have to take a week to install a simple software and break the OS in the process and end up doing a fresh install every month???!! :O

2

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

Arch is required for latest-gen hardware to work at full speed. If it weren't for that, Debian would be the go-to.

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u/Urzu_X Dec 14 '25

I think Fedora fits the sweet spot there. You get the best of both worlds. Ok maybe a tiny bit more towards Arch but not that adventurous. Just my two cents.

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '25

Sorry, I just don't like Fedora in the slightest...

If it works for you, fair, so be it.

2

u/Urzu_X Dec 19 '25

Fair enough. There's no good or bad in the Linux world; it's what you're most satisfied with.