Debian

Debian

Where it began, in the dim and distant past when dinosaurs roamed the earth and they were all called Mabel and lived at number 42.

My journey not yours!

My Linux journey started in the late 90s, when my usual computer magazine came with a Linux distribution on the cover CD.

Back then the concept of downloading an ISO at home was inconceivable to me due to my connection to the internet being a 56K dial-up modem. Which I may add never connected at 56K.

So I burned the ISO to a CD and played with it for a while and tossed it to one side. I don't even remember what it was, but based on timelines it was likely something like Slackware.

I was even then becoming very disillusioned with Windows, both the 9x implementations for home users and the NT implementations for business users. I was being drawn to alternatives like BeOS and BSD and every now and then I'd check out a Linux distribution, but back then I found myself annoyed at the lack of information available. But that would soon change.

One day I was wandering around PC World and noticed a retail copy of SUSE Linux 6.x with a user manual and telephone support for a reasonable price, so I purchased it. That was the true beginning of my Linux journey.

I installed SUSE, got some support to get my hardware working and lived in it for a while, kinda happy but not completely. In search of more documentation I found a copy of The Red Hat Bible which came with Red Hat 6 installation CDs, so I decided to give that a go. Installed it and... hated it. I spent so much time in dependency hell I thought the Devil was my new boss!

Then I got a copy of Mandrake and gave it a try! I actually liked Mandrake and had it not been taken over by a corporation I may have lived there, but as they did I decided to move on, jumping from distribution to distribution until one day I installed a copy of Debian.

A revelation! An operating system that didn't force a reboot when it felt like it, didn't insist that, in the middle of my current workflow, I install this imperative update that was going to render my machine unusable for hours. Didn't crash because something went wrong with the DirectX version... I could seriously whinge for months but I won't.

At this point I decided to take the plunge, either I was going to use Linux from now on or I was going to go back to Windows. So I deleted Windows from my main workstation and just had a removable drive with Windows on, you know, Just in case!

Just in case never happened, I found most of the software I wanted, what came up short, I compromised on. Life is after all about compromise! Ask my wife!

I settled and Linux became my workflow, but interestingly I'd been working in it for about a year before I realised the only time I used Windows was at work and I resented having to do that!

Sometime later I made another realisation. When I lived in Windows my workflow went something like:

• I need to do a job on the computer.
• Boot computer.
• Wait for Windows to load.
• A few weeks later...
• Windows now logged in and settled, now I can start work.
• WAIT! Windows needs to install updates.
• Windows now needs a reboot.
• Windows sits during its reboot saying installing ... whatever!
• Windows does this frequently!
• The update completes but now the update has broken something.
• Time to identify what was broken! Fix it!
• Now I can load the software I wanted to use in the first place.
• But we are now 2 hours in and it's time for bed!

This became normalised by Microsoft and it's wrong!

Now when I use Linux my workflow goes something like:

• I need to do a job on the computer.
• Boot computer.
• Login to my computer.
• Open the software I need to use.
• Do the job.
• Shutdown the computer.

Anyone notice the difference here?

I did, as a result I have never used Windows at home again. Nor will I ever do so. The situation has worsened since then, but that is no longer my problem if you are a Windows user... It's yours!

Brave new world

I genuinely can't imagine that I would still be using computers today if I had continued down the Windows route. A lot of people don't, they've turned to tablets and phones and a lot of people don't even own a laptop, let alone a desktop computer.

So would I advise you to use Debian? No I wouldn't!

Would I discourage you from using Debian? No I wouldn't!

So what am I saying? I am saying choosing a distribution is like choosing a new suit, a pair of shoes or a car; it's personal choice, I can't decide for you. I can tell you how much I love the Debian route. I can tell you, beyond some unknown upset, that I will continue to live in the Debian landscape.

But I can't tell you that you will be happy here.

Download some live ISOs, boot into them and have a play, find out which one works the way you want it to.

Find the one that makes you smile and happy to use your computer again!

I did and it was Debian, but yours could be Ubuntu, openSUSE, Arch and yes even Slackware. But don't let anyone else push you into using anything because you won't be happy with someone else's choice. But if you give it a try I am sure you'll be happy with your own choice.

There is no right answer here! Only the wrong choice, and if you try Linux and it's not for you then go back to Windows or try macOS. Don't stick around because it's the current trend.