Debian: stable, once you know which branch
Debian is a community system, not a help desk. Stable, testing and unstable do not get the same software. The package survey is sent only if you install popularity-contest.
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What to expect
Debian fits if you want a stable base and no vendor account. You still have to pick the branch. The project’s quiet stops at the statistics package, and at the software you add.
Who it is for
Debian fits if you want a stable system you update yourself, with no vendor account. It fits poorly if you want this week’s desktop, or an install that guesses every printer.
What you gain
You get a community the project says no single company can control, security updates for the life of the packages, and a live image with the Calamares installer. The Debian installer remains for people who want more settings. Stable has about 70,000 packages. Other distributions use it as a base.
What you take on
The name Debian does not say the branch. Stable moves little. Testing and unstable get newer versions, with the risk that comes with them. There is no commercial hotline. Unusual hardware may need a proprietary driver, which the project says is available when necessary, not included by default.
Privacy
The pages read do not describe usage telemetry turned on by itself. The popularity-contest package, if you install it, emails each week the list of installed packages and the access times of some files. The server anonymizes the result daily and publishes the statistic.
Installing Debian does not enroll you in that survey: the page says to participate by installing the package. Firefox, Chrome or the next repository can still call home. That is no longer Debian speaking.
The decision
Choose Debian stable if you want to know what will change, and when. Take another branch only if you accept the breakage. Do not confuse the lack of a vendor account with a silent computer.
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Debian
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