Difference between Debian and Ubuntu. From Debian vs Ubuntu performance to Debian vs Ubuntu security, this post tries to explains the basic differences between both the distros.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: General Concept
On the question of “Is Ubuntu a Debian fork? Or spoon?”, Mark Shuttleworth writes “Yes, Ubuntu is a fork. No, it isn’t. Yes it is! Oh, whatever.” He adds that how Ubuntu is a more evolved form of Debian with much ease of usability and customization. To start, let us note that both are Unix-like operating system which are free. Now for the differences:
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Release
- Both, the Debian and Ubuntu distributions are released on a fixed model. While Debian has three different releases; stable, testing, and unstable.
- Ubuntu is released according to a strict release schedule. Ubuntu has a new release every six months and offers three editions: Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Core (Internet of Things). A new Ubuntu releases occur every six months, while LTS or long-term support releases occur every two years.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Name
- The word “Debian” is a portmanteau of the first name of Ian Murdock’s then-girlfriend Debra Lynn and his own first name – Deb+Ian.
- The name Ubuntu depicts the Southern African philosophy of ubuntu, which means ‘human-ness’. According to Canonical, Ubuntu can be loosely translated as “humanity to others” or “I am what I am because of who we all are”.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Logo
- The Debian “swirl” logo was designed by Raul Silva in 1999. Another theory suggests that the logo is derived from the chosen character for the first named Debian release, which has a swirl in his chin.
- Ubuntu’s logo is a graphical representation of 3 people holding their arms out, making a circle. The Ubuntu logo depicts the philosophy of ‘human-ness’.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: History
- The Debian Project was started by Ian Murdock in 1993 And Debian 0.01 was released on 15 September 1993 and the first stable version, Debian 1.1, was released on 17 June 1996.
- Ubuntu is currently funded by Canonical Ltd and Ubuntu’s first release was Ubuntu 4.10 Trusty Tahr, released on 20 October 2004.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Codename
- Each Ubuntu release is given an alliterative code names, using an adjective and an animal (e.g. Ubuntu 18.10 “Cosmic Cuttlefish”). Also note that with the exception of the first two releases, Ubuntu code names are in alphabetical order. It makes it much easier to determine which release is newer.
- Debian releases are named after characters from Toy Story.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Desktop Environment
- With each release Debian offers CD images specifically built for Xfce, the default desktop on CD, and DVD images for GNOME, KDE and MATE. Note that Cinnamon Desktop Environment support was added with the release of Debian 8.0 Jessie.
- GNOME 3 is the default GUI for Ubuntu Desktop (Since Ubuntu 17.10), while Unity is still the default GUI in older Ubuntu versions.
Debian vs. Ubuntu: Package Management
- Ubuntu supports PPA or Personal Package Archive. PPA is a software repository for uploading source packages to be built and published as an Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) repository by Launchpad.
- Debian doesn’t support PPA traditionally, but Debian has access to online repositories that contain over fifty thousand packages, the largest collection of software in the world.
After knowing about these differences, deciding on whether to use “Debian or Ubuntu”, it all depends on the ease of use and also on if you are a beginner or an expert.