What is Debian, and Why Do I Need It?

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short.
An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and does all the basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs.
Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.
However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.
A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project; hence the names: GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free.




Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 29000 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) — all of it free.
It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian — carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.

It's all free?

You may be wondering: why would people spend hours of their own time to write software, carefully package it, and then give it all away? The answers are as varied as the people who contribute. Some people like to help others. Many write programs to learn more about computers. More and more people are looking for ways to avoid the inflated price of software. A growing crowd contribute as a thank you for all the great free software they've received from others. Many in academia create free software to help get the results of their research into wider use. Businesses help maintain free software so they can have a say in how it develops -- there's no quicker way to get a new feature than to implement it yourself! Of course, a lot of us just find it great fun.
Debian is so committed to free software that we thought it would be useful if that commitment was formalized in a written document. Thus, our Social Contract was born.
Although Debian believes in free software, there are cases where people want or need to put non-free software on their machine. Whenever possible Debian will support this. There are even a growing number of packages whose sole job is to install non-free software into a Debian system.

You say free, but the CDs/bandwidth cost money!

You might be asking: If the software is free, then why do I have to pay a vendor for a CD, or pay an ISP for downloading?
When buying a CD, you are paying for someone's time, capital outlay to make the disks, and risk (in case they don't sell them all). In other words, you are paying for a physical medium used to deliver the software, not for the software itself.
When we use the word "free", we are referring to software freedom, not that it's without cost. You can read more on what we mean by "free software" and what the Free Software Foundation says on that subject.

Most software costs over 100 US dollars. How can you give it away?

A better question is how do software companies get away with charging so much? Software is not like making a car. Once you've made one copy of your software, the production costs to make a million more are tiny (there's a good reason Microsoft has so many billions in the bank).
Look at it another way: if you had an endless supply of sand in your backyard, you might be willing to give sand away. It would be foolish, though, to pay for a truck to take it to others. You would make them come and get it themselves (equivalent to downloading off the net) or they can pay someone else to deliver it to their door (equivalent to buying a CD). This is exactly how Debian operates and why most of the CDs/DVDs are so cheap (only about 12 USD for 4 DVDs).
Debian does not make any money from the sale of CDs. At the same time, money is needed to pay for expenses such as domain registration and hardware. Thus, we ask that you buy from one of the CD vendors that donates a portion of your purchase to Debian.

What hardware is supported?

Debian will run on almost all personal computers, including most older models. Each new release of Debian generally supports a larger number of computer architectures. For a complete list of currently supported ones, see the documentation for the stable release.
Almost all common hardware is supported. If you would like to be sure that all the devices connected to your machine are supported, check out the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO.
There are a few companies that make support difficult by not releasing specifications for their hardware. This means you might not be able to use their hardware with GNU/Linux. Some companies provide non-free drivers, but that is a problem because the company could later go out of business or stop support for the hardware you have. We recommend that you only purchase hardware from manufacturers that provide free drivers for their products.

I'm looking for more information.

You may want to check out our FAQ.

I'm still not convinced.

Don't take our word for it - try Debian yourself. Since hard disk space has become less expensive, you can probably spare about 2GB. If you don't want or need a graphical desktop, 600MB are sufficient. Debian can be easily installed on this extra space and can coexist with your existing OS. If you eventually need more space, you can simply delete one of your OSes (and after you see the power of a Debian system, we are confident you won't delete Debian).
As trying a new operating system will take some of your valuable time, it is understandable that you may have reservations. For this reason we compiled a list of pros and cons of Debian. This should help you decide whether you think it's worth it. We hope you'll appreciate our honesty and frankness.

How do I get Debian?

It's most popular to install Debian from a CD which you can buy for the price of the media at one of our many CD vendors. If you have good Internet access, you can download and install Debian over the Internet.
Please see our page about getting Debian for more information.
If you haven't yet, you may want to first look at the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO.
Don't forget to take a look through the packages we offer (hopefully you won't be intimidated by the sheer number).

I can't set it up all by myself. How do I get support for Debian?

You can get help by reading the documentation which is available both on the web site and in packages you can install on your system. You can also contact us via the mailing lists or using IRC. One can even hire a consultant to do the work.
Please see our documentation and support pages for more information.

Who are you all anyway?

Debian is produced by almost a thousand active developers spread around the world who volunteer in their spare time. Few of the developers have actually met in person. Communication is done primarily through e-mail (mailing lists at lists.debian.org) and IRC (#debian channel at irc.debian.org).
The Debian Project has a carefully organized structure. For more information on how Debian looks from the inside, please feel free to browse the developers' corner.

Who uses Debian?

Although no precise statistics are available (since Debian does not require users to register), evidence is quite strong that Debian is used by a wide range of organizations, large and small, as well as many thousands of individuals. See our Who's using Debian? page for a list of high-profile organizations which have submitted short descriptions of how and why they use Debian.

How'd it all get started?

Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian was meant to be carefully and conscientiously put together, and to be maintained and supported with similar care. It started as a small, tightly-knit group of Free Software hackers, and gradually grew to become a large, well-organized community of developers and users. See the detailed history.
Since many people have asked, Debian is pronounced /ˈde.bi.ən/. It comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra.

Should You Use A Dedicated Server

  Finding solutions in dedicated server options is difficult. This is mainly the case because individuals do not know what they are looking at or looking for. What is a dedicated server and do you need one? If you are not sure- then you may want to keep reading! It can make a large difference in your website?s performance.

  The dedicated server is a web hosting solution that is advanced in that it allows you to own the complete server. It is not shared and it belongs to you and your needs. You will get a connection to the internet and the necessary things that you need and off you go. There are several different types of dedicated servers but what you should consider is whether or not you need this level of service or not. You can understand your need for a dedicated server by analyzing your daily use of the web. For example- does you website have about 3000 daily web users? If so- you will want to consider moving to a dedicated server. Also- if your website seems to be moving slower now than it did when you first began putting it up- you may also have a need for a dedicated server.

 Unmanaged or managed- that is the question! In unmanaged dedicated servers- you will get the server and the equipment that you need to run it. But in a managed dedicated server- you will get the help you need in getting all of it done and in maintaining it. You will have nothing to worry about besides the website's content.

  Whether or not you use a dedicated server is up to you. But- if you need to move to this level of hosting- it is wise to consider several options and to get it all together well. You will want to insure that you have the right specifications. To understand further what you need- look for options in purchasing a dedicated server right here on the web.

Installing Debian GNU/Linux via the Internet

This method of installing Debian requires a functioning Internet connection during installation. Compared to other methods you end up downloading less data as the process will be tailored to your requirements. Ethernet and wireless connections are supported. Internal ISDN cards are unfortunately not supported.
There are four options for installs over the network:

• Small CDs
• Smaller CDs
• Tiny CDs, USB sticks, etc.
• Network boot

Small CDs

The following are image files which are up to 180 MB in size, making them suitable for writing to small CD-R(W) media, 80 mm/3.1" in diameter. Choose your processor architecture below.

• amd64
• armel
• kfreebsd-i386
• kfreebsd-amd64
• i386
• ia64
• mips
• mipsel
• powerpc
• sparc

Smaller CDs

The following are image files which are up to 40 MB in size, making them suitable for writing to business card-shaped CDs (available in differing sizes, e.g. 58×75 mm/2.3×3" in diameter):

• amd64
• armel
• kfreebsd-i386
• kfreebsd-amd64
• i386
• ia64
• mips
• mipsel
• powerpc
• sparc

For details, please see: Network install from a minimal CD

Tiny CDs, USB sticks, etc.

You can download a couple of image files of small size, suitable for USB Sticks and similar devices, write them to the media, and then start the installation by booting from that.
There is some diversity in the support for installing from various very small images between the architectures.
For details, please refer to the installation manual for your architecture, especially the chapter Obtaining System Installation Media.
Here are the links to the available image files (look at the MANIFEST file for information):

• amd64
• kfreebsd-i386
• kfreebsd-amd64
• i386
• ia64
• powerpc
• s390

Network boot

You set up a TFTP and a DHCP (or BOOTP, or RARP) server which will serve the installation media to machines on your local network. If your client machine's BIOS supports it, you can then boot the Debian installation system from the network (using PXE and TFTP), and proceed with installing the rest of Debian from the network.
Not all machines support booting from the network. Because of the additional work required, this method for installing Debian is not recommended for novice users.
For details, please refer to the installation manual for your architecture, especially the chapter Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting.
Here are the links to the image files (look at the MANIFEST file for information):

• amd64
• armel
• kfreebsd-i386
• kfreebsd-amd64
• i386
• ia64
• mips
• mipsel
• powerpc
• sparc

SMS Servers, Pretty Cool Stuff

 SMS gateways or servers are powerful applications or programs that allow users to send a text message with or without the use of a mobile phone. More specifically, it is a device which allows the transformation of data from other media into data which can be processed on a mobile phone network, and vice-versa. A common use of this device is sending email to a mobile phone user.

 The email data is transformed as data able to be processed on the mobile network. Once received, if the recipient wishes to send back a reply, the reply which is sent out as mobile data will be transformed as email data once it passes through the SMS gateway. You can think of gateways as language translators or simply as aggregators.

Applications

 Applications of the use of an SMS server are numerous. Among its most common use is the sending and receiving of messages from PC to cell phones and vice-versa; communication between instant messaging and mobile phones; and email clients being able to communicate to mobile networks and mobile devices being able to access email clients.

Security

 Security issues cropping up from the use of SMS server deals mainly with issues of privacy and hacking. Data stored on the gateway can be stolen. So any user data is potentially vulnerable if security loopholes aren’t covered. This goes much the same for the messages being sent through the gateway.
Ways to protect sensitive or private information include removing messages or information which is not needed, obfuscating the first few numbers in the users’ phone numbers list and keeping only the last four, using encryption programs to try to protect sensitive data.

Commercial Uses

 Many websites and application now offers users services which require the use of SMS servers. Websites who do offer these services need SMS servers or SMS aggregators. These are companies that operate SMS servers that are able to support thousands of users without the system being overloaded. Security would also be top-notch by using SMS aggregators.
DIY SMS Servers

 It is possible to set up a homemade SMS gateway using your own mobile phone, an internet connection, and a piece of software or program. Be warned however that this is not commercially feasible (if you are planning to set up a gateway for the intent of profiting) due to the fact that using your own mobile phone account as base to send messages can be quite expensive, and due to the poor capability of this set up to support premium rate services.
SMS Gateways in the market

 There are many SMS server applications/solutions being sold in the market. Many of them offer stable and excellent messaging capabilities and have a more than capable security system to thwart most security threats. Purchasing and running them however still require the services of a capable IT or communications personnel. Due to the highly technical nature of this application, laymen would be hard put to make the software run properly. Debain servers have a special role they play to the SMS market, but i'll get into that later.

Basics of a Server

 For those of you who don't really understand where or how your web page is sitting on your hosting sever, this is a basic over view of how it works.

 A server is basically hardware and software and protocol. We will go over these three basics of your hosting server.
Server hardware.

 Server hardware is so similar to your old PC hardware that the price of server hardware has come down considerably. Down enough that it's tempting for a lot of us to host our own server. But that's a whole different article. All a server is:

• Very fast processor.
• A large amount of RAM.
• A vast amount of Disk Space.
• Connection to a T1 line (access to the outside world).

 The hardware is housed in very large office buildings. There are many racks of servers filling these climate controlled rooms. Most of the server host brag of their 99% or better uptime. This is very impressive and another reason to use a server host. How often have you re-booted your PC in the past?
Software. (Operating system)

 There different operating systems on the market. Most likely the software on your server is running Apache on Linux, an open source product. Servers need to be secured and an open source application is more likely to be less buggy and more secure then their larger competitor Microsoft. These servers use an interface for you to access and configure them, a control panel. Some control panels are more complicated then others. Depending how technical you are, this is a point of concern when picking a server host.
Protocol. (FTP)

 To get your page on the server you need to FTP (file transfer protocol). FTP is a client (you) server application. If you created your page on your desk top, obviously to share it you would need to get it on your server. It's also used to transfer files between your own pc to someone else's computer.
This is a very simplistic overview of what a server host is, but I hope it will give you a basic idea how it works.