Why Debian Is Perfect as a Desktop OS (2024)

I have always had a thing for new and shiny software. I wanted to try new software even before it got released for the general public to use. I beta tested many software. I tried all the Windows releases starting from Windows 98.

Eventually I got tired of trying out Windows versions. I wanted to try something new, something that I could get hooked on. I found Linux.

Like most people, my journey to the Linux world started with Ubuntu. Ubuntu’s huge community and unparalleled documentation made it easy for me to find my way through the Linux world.

I used Ubuntu on and off for about a year. I tried all available desktop environments and several standalone window managers. But I got bored again and started distro-hopping.

I had distro-hopped for a couple of years before I settled down with Debian. I wanted an OS with a stable base, least problems and with abundance of software. Debian Stable had everything I needed with a little annoyance.

The software in Debian’s Stable repository is a bit outdated. This was a showstopper for me at first. I then got my priorities straight and realized that the benefits of using Debian Stable far outweigh the annoyance of using old but stable software.

Debian has three software branches: stable, testing and unstable. New released software enters into Debian’ unstable repository first. After a certain period of time, or until no major bug remains, it then enters into the testing repository.

Debian Stable is released usually every two years. It endures a freeze cycle of couple of months before getting released. So software in it gets pretty old by the time it is released.

Debian Stable version is damn stable as software and libraries in it go through rigorous testing. This stability makes Debian Stable a perfect server OS. And it’s also the same reason why average users shy away from using Debian as their primary OS on desktops. That’s where Snap and Flatpak packages come in.