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Debian was founded in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, while studying at Purdue University. At the time, Linux distributions were mostly maintained by small groups or individuals, often without formal structure. Murdock envisioned a community-driven distribution with open governance, quality standards, and a commitment to free software.
The name “Debian” combines “Deb” (from Debra, Murdock’s then-girlfriend) and his own name “Ian”. The “Deb” in Debian was Debra Lynn Roundy, later Debra Murdock, who was Ian’s girlfriend when he created Debian in 1993. The name “Debian” is simply Deb + Ian.
From the outset, Debian emphasised openness, and subsequently attracted contributors from around the planet.
| id | Version | Code Name | Release Date | Support Ends | LTS Ends | Status | Definitive Kernel | Definitive Desktop | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.1 | Buzz | 1996-06-17 | historic | First Debian release | ||||
| 2 | 1.2 | Rex | 1996-12-12 | historic | |||||
| 3 | 1.3 | Bo | 1997-06-05 | historic | |||||
| 4 | 2.0 | Hamm | 1998-07-24 | historic | 2.0 | ||||
| 5 | 2.1 | Slink | 1999-03-09 | historic | 2.0 | ||||
| 6 | 2.2 | Potato | 2000-08-15 | historic | 2.2 | ||||
| 7 | 3.0 | Woody | 2002-07-19 | historic | 2.2 | ||||
| 8 | 3.1 | Sarge | 2005-06-06 | historic | 2.4 | GNOME 2 / KDE 3 | |||
| 9 | 4.0 | Etch | 2007-04-08 | historic | 2.6.18 | GNOME 2.14 / KDE 3.5 | Introduced udev and modular kernel | ||
| 10 | 5.0 | Lenny | 2009-02-14 | historic | 2.6.26 | GNOME 2.22 / KDE 3.5 | |||
| 11 | 6.0 | Squeeze | 2011-02-06 | 2016-02-29 | LTS | 2.6.32 | GNOME 2.30 / KDE 4.4 | First LTS coverage model introduced retrospectively. introduced easier installation for cloud systems. | |
| 12 | 7.0 | Wheezy | 2013-05-04 | 2018-05-31 | LTS | 3.2 | GNOME 3.4 / KDE 4.8 | Improved ARM support, multiarch, and security updates. | |
| 13 | 8.0 | Jessie | 2015-04-25 | 2020-06-30 | LTS | 3.16 | GNOME 3.14 / KDE 4.11 | systemd adopted as default init system. This sparked debate but dramatically modernisedboot management. | |
| 14 | 9.0 | Stretch | 2017-06-17 | 2022-06-30 | LTS | 4.9 | GNOME 3.22 / KDE Plasma 5.8 | Improved UEFI support. Improved desktop environments, security hardening, and multimedia support. | |
| 15 | 10.0 | Buster | 2019-07-06 | 2022-09-10 | 2024-06-30 | EOL | 4.19 | GNOME 3.30 / KDE Plasma 5.14 | AppArmor enabled by default. Better UEFI support, AppArmor security enhancements, and updated software stacks. |
| 16 | 11.0 | Bullseye | 2021-08-14 | 2024-06-30 | 2026-06-30 | LTS | 5.10 | GNOME 3.38 / KDE Plasma 5.20 | RISC-V introduced as official architecture. Enhanced ARM and RISC-V support, modern desktop environments, and secure defaults. |
| 17 | 12.0 | Bookworm | 2023-06-10 | 2026-06-10 | 2028-06-30 | LTS | 6.1 | GNOME 43 / KDE Plasma 5.27 | Modern toolchain and reproducible builds. Newer packages, improved cloud and container integration, and hardware support. |
| 18 | 13.0 | Trixie | 2025-08-09 | stable | 6.12 | GNOME 48 / KDE Plasma 6 | Current stable release. Features KDE Plasma 6, for those who wish to install it. | ||
| 19 | 14 | Forky | testing | Current “testing” version and it will eventually become the next stable release, probably in 2028. |
Debian’s contributions to the computing world are immense:
In a nutshell, Debian has evolved from a student-led project in 1993 into one of the most stable, versatile, and respected operating systems in the open-source world. It is widely used on servers, desktops, and cloud platforms, including the server that hosts GarfNet.
This is a overview of my adventures experimenting with a tiny Raspberry π4 8GB for Zoneminder GNU/Linux-based security system. Raspberry π4 for ZoneMinder Part 1 – Raspberry π4 8GB for Zoneminder (you are here) Part 2 – Update: Raspberry π4 8GB for Zoneminder Part 3 – Another update: Raspberry π4 for Zoneminder Background I have…
