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The Debian Project is a
worldwide group of volunteers who endeavor to produce an operating system
distribution that is composed entirely of free software. The principle product
of the project to date is the Debian GNU/Linux software distribution, which
includes the Linux operating system kernel, and thousands of prepackaged
applications. Various processor types are supported to one extent or another,
including Intel i386 and above, Alpha, ARM, Intel IA-64, Motorola 68k, MIPS,
PA-RISC, PowerPC, Sparc (and UltraSparc), IBM S/390 and Hitachi SuperH.
Debian motivated the formation of Software in the Public Interest,
Inc., a New York-based non-profit organization. SPI was founded to
help Debian and other similar organizations develop and distribute open
hardware and software. Among other things, SPI provides a mechanism by which
The Debian Project may accept contributions that are tax deductable in the
United States.
For more information about free software, see the Debian Social Contract
and associated Debian Free Software Guidelines, or the Debian What Does Free Mean?
page.
The Debian Project was officially founded by Ian Murdock on August
16th, 1993. At that time, the whole concept of a
"distribution" of Linux was new. Ian intended Debian to be a
distribution which would be made openly, in the sprit of Linux and GNU (read
his manifesto provided as an appendix to this document for more details). The
creation of Debian was sponsored by the FSF's GNU project for one year
(November 1994 to November 1995).
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.
When it began, Debian was the only distribution that was open for every developer and user to contribute their work. It remains the most significant distributor of Linux that is not a commercial entity. It is the only large project with a constitution, social contract, and policy documents to organize the project. Debian is also the only distribution which is "micro packaged" using detailed dependency information regarding inter-package relationships to ensure system consistency across upgrades.
To achieve and maintain high standards of quality, Debian has adopted an extensive set of policies and procedures for packaging and delivering software. These standards are backed up by tools, automation, and documentation implementing all of Debian's key elements in an open and visible way.
The official pronounciation of Debian is 'deb ee n'. The name comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra.
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A Brief History of Debian
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