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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What are the differences between the 'base' of various Linux distributions? (self.linux)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by Sunny to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I've been using linux desktop for a year or so now. One noteable thing i keep seeing is that one person will say I dont like XYZ distrobution because of its base. But I am still a little unsure what is meant by it. I am assuming the main difference between each base is the choice of package management(?). But what other factors/aspects that are important for the average user to know about each 'base'? This is probably quite a broad question to a rather technical answer, but appriciate any answers, and i'll try my best to understand and read up :)

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[–] bisby@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Debian aims for rock solid stability

To be clear, Debian "stability" refers to "unchanging packages", not "doesn't crash." Debian would rather ship a known bug for a year than update the package if it's not explicitly a security bug (and then only certain packages).

So if you have a crash in Debian, you will always have that crash until the next version of debian a year or so from now. That's not what I'd consider "stable" but rather "consistent"

[–] schwim@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well, in fairness, I didn't name it.

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You're right. There are multiple definitions of the word stable, and "unchanging" is a valid one of them.

It's just that every where else I've seen it in computing, it refers to a build of something being not-crashy enough to actually ship. "Can't be knocked over" sort of stability. And everyone I've ever talked to outside of Lemmy has assumed that was what "stable" meant to Debian. but it doesn't. It just means "versions won't change so you won't have version compatibility issues, but you'll also be left with several month to year old software that wasn't even up to date when this version released, but at least you don't have to think about the compatibility issues!"

[–] schwim@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I agree. I used Debian for a very long time but found a move to Sid for fresh packages to be a frustrating experience so I just moved to an ubu based system.