What Is Debian, and Why Servers Run It

What is Debian?

Debian is a free Linux operating system made by a community of volunteers, with no company behind it. People run it on servers because its stable release changes slowly and has a published support schedule of at least five years. As of 4 November 2026, debian.org lists Debian 13, codenamed Trixie, as the current stable release.

Debian is a Linux distribution. A distribution is the Linux kernel plus the programs, the installer and the package tools that turn it into a usable system. The kernel is the core of the system, the part that talks to the hardware. Debian collects all of that software and ships it as packages, which you install with apt. If you want to know how this model grew, read the history of Linux distributions.

Who makes Debian?

Debian's about page calls the project "an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system". Ian Murdock started it in August 1993. Its own pages put the number of active developers at around a thousand, and they work in their spare time. The constitution says it directly: "Developers are volunteers who agree to further the aims of the Project."

The project governs itself with written rules. The developers elect a Project Leader, who serves for one year. The developers can also overrule the Leader by a general resolution, which is a vote of all developers. If you want to see how that works in practice, read how Debian votes on general resolutions.

The Debian Social Contract sets out the promises the project makes to its users. The current text is version 1.2, ratified on 1 October 2022. Its first point is that "Debian will remain 100% free". Debian uses "free" to mean software freedom, and its about page says this does not mean "without cost". The name itself is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc., and the project says it needs money for costs such as hardware and domain registration.

What does a community project mean for the person running it?

The main difference shows up when something goes wrong, because there is no Debian vendor to phone. Debian's support page says support "is offered by a group of volunteers". You ask on the debian-user mailing list or in the forums, and you report bugs in Debian's public bug tracker. The package maintainer receives a copy of your report automatically. If that is not enough, the same page says you may hire a consultant.

The second difference is planning. Debian declares a release once the bug count in frozen testing is low enough, so the next stable release may have no date for a long time. As of 4 November 2026, debian.org says of the next release that "no release date has been set". You can plan around the dates of the release you already run, because those are published. You cannot plan around a future release until Debian names a date.

Debian stable, testing and unstable: what is the difference?

Debian keeps three main branches at the same time. Each name is a role, and a codename such as Trixie fills that role for a period. Debian's FAQ says the codenames come from Toy Story characters.

Stable is the released version. Debian's FAQ says it "does not break and has full security support". As of 4 November 2026, stable is Debian 13 Trixie. This is the branch to use on a server.

Testing is the next release while it is being prepared. Packages enter it only after a waiting period, and they must not introduce new release-critical bugs. Debian freezes testing before a release. When the bug count is low enough, it declares the frozen testing the new stable. As of 4 November 2026, testing is Forky, which debian.org lists as version 14 with no release date. Debian warns that testing "does not get security updates in a timely manner".

Unstable is always called sid. Most new uploads arrive here first, and packages then move to testing. Debian says this distribution "will never get released" directly. It also says sid is "subject to massive changes and in-place library updates", and the security team does not manage its updates.

The choice between them has more detail than fits here, so read which Debian branch to run on a server before you pick anything except stable.

How do Debian releases and support dates work?

The releases table on debian.org shows the pattern: the last three stable releases arrived in August 2021, June 2023 and August 2025, so they came about two years apart.

Each release gets two phases of support. The first is three years of full support, when the Debian security team looks after it. The second is two years of LTS (Long Term Support), which is a separate effort with fewer supported CPU architectures. A small update to a release, such as 13.7, is called a point release. It updates Debian 13. It does not start a new release.

These are the facts as read on debian.org on 4 November 2026:

• Debian 13 Trixie, stable: first released on 9 August 2025. Latest point release 13.7, on 12 September 2026. Full support until 9 August 2028. LTS until 30 June 2030.
• Debian 12 Bookworm, oldstable: first released on 10 June 2023. Latest point release 12.15, on 11 July 2026. Full support ended on 11 July 2026. LTS until 30 June 2028.
• Debian 14 Forky, testing: no release date set, and no support dates.
• Debian 11 Bullseye: the news on Debian's home page says its LTS reached end of life on 31 August 2026.

Debian 12 is the one to watch, because it moved to the LTS team in July 2026. LTS for Bookworm covers only i386, amd64, armhf, arm64 and ppc64el. A server still on Debian 11 has passed LTS, so read the Debian 11 end-of-life upgrade path now. Past LTS, the releases table also lists ELTS (Extended Long Term Support) dates, such as 30 June 2035 for Trixie. Debian's site says Extended LTS covers selected packages only, so do not treat it as the same thing as full support.

To see which release a server runs, read this file:

cat /etc/os-release

The ID line should read debian. The VERSION_CODENAME line names the release, so a Debian 13 server should show trixie. If you see bookworm, compare that name with the dates above.

Why do servers run Debian?

The support dates are public and long. Debian says its free LTS extends stable releases to at least five years. A server you install today on Trixie has dates you can write in your plan, and you do not pay to reach them.

Stable moves slowly. Debian's FAQ says testing has more up-to-date software than stable, which means stable carries older versions. You can see this in the GNU C library (glibc), the core library that most Linux programs use. As read on Debian's package tracker on 4 November 2026, oldstable has 2.36-9+deb12u14, stable has 2.41-12+deb13u3 and testing has 2.43-7. A server admin usually wants this, because a program that worked on Monday should still work after updates on Tuesday.

Stable has a security process. Debian's security FAQ says the security team supports a stable distribution for three years after its release. Those updates only help if they reach the machine, so check that they do with a fix for unattended upgrades that are not running. To check a server against published security flaws, known as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), read how to check your server for known CVEs.

Images and packages are easy to get. Debian's site says official cloud images exist for major cloud platforms, and it counts about 70,000 packages in stable. SSD Nodes provisions Debian as well. Check your dashboard for the versions on offer. Day-to-day package work is the same apt you may already know, and the difference between apt remove, purge and autoremove applies here too.

How does Debian relate to Ubuntu and Linux Mint?

Debian defines a derivative as "a distribution that is based on the work done in Debian", and its derivatives page lists Ubuntu. The main contrast is who is in charge. Ubuntu's about page says "Canonical is the publisher of Ubuntu", so Ubuntu is a company product. That same page says Mark Shuttleworth gathered a small team of Debian developers who together founded Canonical. For the story of how the two projects came apart, read why Debian and Ubuntu split.

Ubuntu runs to a fixed rhythm. Its LTS releases arrive every two years with five years of standard security maintenance. As of 4 November 2026, Ubuntu's release cycle page gives Ubuntu 26.04 LTS standard maintenance until May 2031. Ubuntu also ships interim releases. Ubuntu 26.10 came out on 15 October 2026 with Linux kernel 7.3, and it has only nine months of support, until July 2027.

Linux Mint describes itself as "Based on Debian and Ubuntu". Mint also has a separate edition called LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition), where the package base comes from Debian. LMDE 7 is based on Debian 13 Trixie.

When is Debian the wrong pick?

You need very new packages. Stable carries older versions, so an application that requires a recent library may refuse to build or start. Debian's partial answer is backports, which are packages taken from testing and recompiled for stable. You add the trixie-backports suite as shown in the official backports instructions, then install one package with apt install -t trixie-backports <package>. Debian warns that backports "cannot be tested as extensively as Debian stable" and are supported on a best-effort basis. It also recommends that you opt in per package. Moving the whole server to testing is a worse fix, because testing does not get timely security updates.

You need a vendor who answers the phone. If a contract or an audit requires a named supplier, Debian's volunteer support model will not satisfy it. A hired consultant may help you, but that is a different thing from a vendor who owns the operating system.

You want a release that lasts longer than five years. Trixie's LTS ends on 30 June 2030. Ubuntu's release cycle page lists Expanded Security Maintenance for 26.04 LTS until May 2036, so compare those dates if you plan to leave a server alone for a long time.

Your software vendor names another system. Read the vendor's list of supported operating systems first. If it names only Ubuntu or Enterprise Linux, a working install on Debian will not help you when you ask them for support. In that case, start with how to pick an OS for your VPS. If you end up on a Red Hat style system, the dnf and apt command equivalents will shorten the move.

FAQ

Is Debian owned by a company?

No. Debian's about page describes it as an association of individuals, and its constitution describes the developers as volunteers. The developers elect a Project Leader for one year at a time. The Debian trademark is registered to Software in the Public Interest, Inc. Ubuntu is different, because Canonical publishes it.

What is the current version of Debian?

As of 4 November 2026, debian.org lists Debian 13 Trixie as stable, with point release 13.7 from 12 September 2026. Debian 12 Bookworm is oldstable, and Forky (version 14) is testing with no release date. These names change over time, so check debian.org/releases for today's state.

How long is Debian 13 supported?

Debian lists full support for Debian 13 Trixie until 9 August 2028. Long Term Support (LTS) then runs until 30 June 2030, with fewer CPU architectures. Debian lists Extended LTS dates after that, but Extended LTS covers selected packages only.

Can I run Debian testing on a server?

You can, but it is a poor fit where you need security support. Debian says testing "does not get security updates in a timely manner", and it points people who need security support to the stable release. Use Debian stable on a server, and use backports for the few packages that must be newer.

Is Debian the same as Ubuntu?

No. Debian lists Ubuntu as a derivative, which means a distribution based on Debian's work. Debian is run by volunteers, while Canonical publishes Ubuntu. Ubuntu LTS releases come every two years with five years of standard security maintenance. Debian stable gets three years of full support and two years of Long Term Support (LTS).