Back in 2002 - when I first got interested in Linux - I recall briefly accessing a Debian package/distro repository on Rice University’s network. Of course, as I had no previous knowledge of Linux, I couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at. Fast forward seven years, and Debian 5.0 (Lenny) is released to the public (earlier this year). The documentation required to install Lenny, though copious, was more accessible, and support was offered by friendlier community channels. In seven years, Linux had become much more mainstream, and Debian itself had gone from strength to strength.
A few days ago, I resolved to experiment with this “archaic” version of Linux, and I downloaded the network installer. Having used Linux From Scratch and Gentoo, I found Lenny to be incredibly easy to install, and it didn’t take long before I was staring at the default Gnome Desktop. I cannot say whether Debian will come with its fair share of problems, and it is too early to claim that I will stay with Debian forever, but so far I am loving it. Debian is fast, solid, reliable, and an absolute pleasure to work with.