Debian vs Ubuntu

With hundreds of distributions available, it can be a daunting task to pick the Linux distribution that is right for you. Debian and Ubuntu are arguably the most popular distributions out there. New users switching over to Linux from an operating system like Windows often have a hard time understanding the differences between the different distributions available. In this post, we’ll go over the differences between Ubuntu vs Debian and help you pick the right distribution for your needs. Let’s start!!!

Comparison between Debian vs Ubuntu

1. Ubuntu and Debian

Ubuntu is a linux distribution developed by Canonical. Owing to its ease of use, it’s one of the most popular linux distributions available today.

Debian is a linux distribution created by an all-volunteer development project. It’s a popular choice for servers because of its stability.

2. Ubuntu is built on Debian

Ubuntu is built on the Debian infrastructure which means there are a lot of similarities between the two. For example, they share the same packaging system – APT. They also share a large number of packages and libraries. The location of configuration files, logs, etc is also mostly similar.

Although Ubuntu is derived from Debian, it has its own distinctive user interface, separate developer community, and a different release process.

3. Target Audience

Debian as an operating system is geared more towards veteran users that know what they’re doing and need the OS to be stable and secure. Debian also uses all free and open-source software by default.

Ubuntu, on the other hand, is very well known for being a beginner-friendly distribution. It aims to be as simple as possible and also has easy support for third-party and proprietary drivers. As a result, Ubuntu is compatible with more modern hardware by default.

4. Release Cycles

Another significant difference between the two is the release cycle.

Ubuntu releases an LTS or “Long Term Support” version every two years in April. The ‘enterprise grade’ releases of Ubuntu are the ones that are most used. Almost 95% of ubuntu installations are LTS releases. LTS releases have support for up to 5 years.

Every six months between the LTS versions, an interim version is released. The interim versions have support for upto 9 months.

Ubuntu versions are usually named in the following format, YY.MM (Adjective + Animal)

The latest LTS release is 20.04 ( Focal Fossa ).

The latest interim release is 21.04 ( Impish Indri ).

Debian on the other hand has no official release cycle. It has three branches that are actively developed – Stable, Testing, and Unstable.

The “stable” branch is the production release of Debian which has a new version approximately every 2 years. The software used in the stable branch is often very old.

The “testing” branch has packages queued to be accepted into the ‘stable’ release. The testing release has newer versions of software than the stable branch.

The “unstable” branch is usually run by developers testing out new features. As the name suggests, this release can be buggy and result in frequent issues.

5. Software Availability

Both operating systems have a huge software repository. However, Ubuntu has the option to use PPA ( Personal Package Archive ) which makes it very easy to add additional repositories to your package manager. Although it is possible to add PPAs to Debian, it is not recommended as it might break your install.

Ubuntu also has proprietary software in its official repositories, which means that users with more modern hardware can easily install proprietary drivers and get their system working.

Debian has only free and open-source software in its repositories. This might be an issue for users that have hardware that only has proprietary drivers.

6. Package Management

Both Ubuntu and Debian have the same package management system, APT. Debian focuses on free and open-source software and so it might be a hassle to enable repositories with proprietary software.

Ubuntu also developed a universal package management system called Snap. Snap aims to make installations simpler and avoid dependency hell. However, snaps have received criticism for being slower and taking up more hard drive space.

7. Installation Process

The installation process for Ubuntu is pretty straightforward. You download the ISO from their website and once you boot the live system, there’s a clean and easy-to-use installer that will set everything up for you.

For Debian, the default ISO does not have non-free firmware which usually results in the OS not recognizing the wifi or graphics drivers. Debian offers a separate non-free ISO that contains proprietary firmware but it’s not that easy to find and you might have to do some digging.
New users that are not aware of this end up having a bad experience with Debian.

8. Drivers and Firmware

Debian’s commitment to using only free and open-source software means that by default, only free software is available in its repos. This might prove to be a headache for new Linux users with modern hardware that requires proprietary drivers.

Ubuntu includes free and proprietary firmware as well. During installation, the best drivers are automatically installed and configured for you. Even if they are proprietary.

9. Desktop environments

Both Ubuntu and Debian install the GNOME desktop environment by default. However, it’s possible to opt for a different desktop environment in both distributions.

For Ubuntu, you can go with the different flavors like Kubuntu (KDE) or Lubuntu ( LXQt ).

The Debian installer allows you to choose which desktop environment to install during the installation.

10. Gaming

Gaming on Linux is always going to be a little more complex than Windows. However, we’ve come a long way and more games are adding Linux support every day. Ubuntu, with its support for proprietary NVIDIA drivers and smooth setup for Optimus laptops, offers a much smoother experience when it comes to gaming.

Since Debian focuses heavily on using only free and open-source software, it can be very time-consuming to get everything working on Debian.

11. Stability

Debian is well known for its rock-solid stability. It is a very popular choice for production machines and servers. If stability and consistency are more important to you than being able to run the latest versions of software, then Debian is your best option.

Ubuntu has a very regular release cycle and the updates are usually very stable. Most users will not encounter any bugs. Users using niche, proprietary software might occasionally encounter some bugs. However, there’s a huge community online to help you out with any issues you might run into.

12. Support

Since Ubuntu is backed by a corporate, Canonical, you can hire their support team if you need help with setup, updates and troubleshooting.

A team of volunteers run Debian and so it doesn’t have the option for professional support. Although there is a very active community of users online that would be happy to help you.

Conclusion

This was all about Debian vs Ubuntu. Both are both excellent operating systems. The choice comes down to how comfortable you are with Linux, whether you’ll be needing support for newer hardware and if you’re open to a little tinkering.

With all that in mind, If you’re a beginner just starting out with Linux, you should definitely go with Ubuntu.