Also Debian user remembering the last official release:
this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2026
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It's interesting to me that Debian has this image of long time between releases. Mint for example is based on Ubuntu LTS which releases every 2 years, but I haven't seen the same jokes about Mint.
Because Mint does release minor releases every 6 months
Debian does minor releases every so often, too. For example the current version of Trixie is on its 7th point release (12.7). Trixie was released last August.
True, though I guess they don't change the OS (only the repos), and don't advertise/celebrate it as much...
But complaining or anything, just thinking “out loud” why people could feel this way about Debian but not Mint
Not only with intervals but also with quite old software. Sometimes software versions are so old that they are no longer compatible with the upstream version. Although, to be honest, I haven't used Debian for so long that I can't even name the applications that lagged behind like that.
In general, Debian is indeed incredibly stable, but if you need to install it on the latest laptop (for example, Intel Core Ultra X9), it will be a real hell.
UPD: except perhaps for using sid. But then you lose the only advantage - stability.
Honestly, in the age of Flatpak and containerization (as well as Debian often being well-supported by upstream projects for script or package-based install), I feel like the age of Debian packages isn't that annoying anymore; anything important gets security patches, and it's easier than ever to use 3rd party software without breaking your system. I will add that Debian seems to be much better these days at making sure either a reasonably up-to-date version ships with a release (and can be kept secure during a stable cycle) or not shipping it at all as to allow the user to install it themselves.
I remember back in just 2021 when it took months after Firefox ESR 78 went EOL for them to update Bullseye to 91; recently, it only took them a few days after 140's EOL to switch to 153 (and 91-115 and 115-140 happened without much note either), which isn't perfect, but much better than it was.
If you need to install it on a new laptop, backports often has you covered. I ran a backports kernel for about a year on Debian Bookworm to get my laptop's Wi-Fi modem working; I was able to quit using the backports kernel once Trixie came out.
If you are using only Docker, you don't need a Linux distribution at all. Just install alpine slim, busybox, or any Kubernetes worker node build.
Flatpak, much like snap, appimage, and other programs trying to shove old, hole-ridden libraries down my throat under the pretext that "the build is too complex," is not the kind of software I would welcome on my PC. I'd rather build the application by hand.
- Alpine is still a Linux distro, just a lighter one. Also, busybox is a set of standard utilities as an alternative to coreutils; I have no idea how it’s particularly relevant here.
- The thing is, I’m not using only Docker. I also use native nginx as a reverse proxy, for which I like Debian’s defaults, as well as SyncThing, which are both well-maintained packages in Debian. Also I kind of prefer glibc distros. While glibc kind of sucks, so much stuff I like using prefers or requires it; for instance, last I saw, mDNS/Avahi resolution on BusyBox was kind of a pain in the rear.
- Most of what I use Flatpak for isn’t network-facing or opening unverified files anyway; the most important applications I do run the native Debian version. Honestly, truth be told, you are correct that I do often prefer native versions and will run the native Debian package if possible (and considering the current age of stable, a lot of them really aren’t that old; Inkscape is basically still the latest version, for instance, while Firefox is always kept to the latest ESR); at some point, though, I do find a Debian package that is too behind to do what I do (though rare, TBH), and despite some issues with Flatpak, at the end of the day, I need to just get a piece of software installed and get on with my day. In that case, I just do a Benjamin Sisko:
Honestly, in the age of Flatpak and containerization (as well as Debian often being well-supported by upstream projects for script or package-based install), I feel like the age of Debian packages isn’t that annoying anymore; anything important gets security patches, and it’s easier than ever to use 3rd party software without breaking your system.
i was pleasantly surprised in 2023 to learn that debian was still king in the server space and precisely because of this -- i remember doubting trying debian on my personal hardware because of the age of the packages back around 2004.
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Speak for yourself. I hate going back to old local Pis or servers I haven't updated in years and realize that I'm 2+ releases behind and the one I'm on is already end-of-life.
Also, don't worry, Debian has plenty of Toy Story characters left for many years of releases to come!
Debian is honestly goated. Like I love me a nice boring stable distro that just keeps on chugging. I have done such crazy stuff to Debian and it just refuses to care. It's like a nokia phone that got run over by a car and still works.
It’s the same for me for my Fedora install on my laptop, I installed version 38 when I got my laptop and now it’s on version 44, next week I’ll upgrade it to 45. It’s been rock solid, never had any issues with it.
Jumped on the Fedora ship with 36.
Updating to 43 or 44 broke my install so seized the occasion to try Silverblue instead of Workstation.
It’s even better although the immutable side has its limitation, so I’m happy to have another computer for these.
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Debian is basically exactly what I want out of a daily driver. Everything is exactly where I expect it to be every time I go to use it, nothing ever breaks because of a rolling update, and it's not like I can't just go get the flatpack if I absolutely need the most recent features on an app.
Debian is also perfectly capable of running more bleeding edge stuff if you really wanna do it. I built niri from source on it. Works great.
Running my workstation and server on Debian stable. Debian always. Debian forever. 
Amazing for a server. Both my servers run Debian and I have had no issues.
I run it with KDE for my daily driver & gaming and it is very boring and stable, which is what I want in my PC. Debian is 99% of the time supported.
I recommend it.
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I run it on my daily driver laptop and I'm happy as a clam.
I did run it for a couple of year in the past. It was solid.
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Debian the foundation of the modern world. Or at least we wish it was.
it is. at least in the digital world. good chance it's running the server you are receiving my message through
Yeah, Debian is my favorite server software by a mile.
Yeah, Debian is my favorite ~~server~~ software by a mile.
FTFY
What the fuck is a mile
Debian has become my favorite server OS. Some more specialized distros are great for specific use cases, but for 90% of my stuff, I just install Debian and chill.
I only ever deploy and develop on Debian. Community run distros all the way. I had bad experiences with Redhat decades ago and do everything I can to avoid it or its siblings.
Debian has faults but it is often a taste thing. I like systems that give me upstream with minimal patches, like Arch. I moved to Arch on all desktops/laptops. The Debian devs repeatedly doing dumb shit with ssh patches was part of that. Arch is not unreliable but it is unstable. All that means is that software updates which aren't backwards compatible sometimes require intervention . To be clear that is not a fault with Arch but it does make it much less suitable for long hassle free server deployments. Also Arch doesn't have the Debian security announce list or maintain a stable production environment for years with backported security fixes and unnattended security updates.
I surfed a few distros before landing on Debian. It solved (almost) all the issues I had with Linux. Debian for life.
I should install Debian to replace my current Ubuntu install at some point. Might move some services I run to a VM to reduce effort when reinstalling my OS. Then it's just install steam and copy over my game backup folders. Plus with a VM I can easily move it to a proxmox mini PC if I ever get round to buying one.
How does Debian do level and security updates? Are they generally a good pace but userland starts consistent?
They backport security updates to the existing software versions on stable, which causes the packages to be secure without introducing new behavior. Feature updates only occur with a new stable release I believe.
Exceptions exist, for example rsync recently got a new upstream version to fix 33 CVEs: rsync.NEWS
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Debian 14 is here?
It's not. Post is confusing.
No, not until 2027. I don't really know why this meme was posted at this exact moment.
I really need one of these shirts
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