A Brief History of Debian

version: 2.28 (2023-02-15)

Debian Publicity Team

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Abstract

This document describes the history and goals of the Debian project.


Table of Contents

1. Introduction -- What is the Debian Project?
1.1. In the Beginning
1.2. Pronouncing Debian
2. Leadership
3. Debian Releases
4. A Detailed History
4.1. The 0.x Releases
4.1.1. The Early Debian Packaging System
4.2. The 1.x Releases
4.3. The 2.x Releases
4.4. The 3.x Releases
4.5. The 4.x Releases
4.6. The 5.x Releases
4.7. The 6.x Releases
4.8. The 7.x Releases
4.9. The 8.x Releases
4.10. The 9.x Releases
4.11. The 10.x Releases
4.12. The 11.x Releases
4.13. Important Events
4.13.1. July 2000: Joel Klecker died
4.13.2. October 2000: Implementation of Package Pools
4.13.3. March 2001: Christopher Rutter died
4.13.4. March 2001: Fabrizio Polacco died
4.13.5. July 2002: Martin Butterweck died
4.13.6. November 2002: Fire burnt Debian server
4.13.7. November 2003: Several Debian servers hacked
4.13.8. May 2004: Manuel Estrada Sainz and Andrés García Solier died
4.13.9. July 2005: Jens Schmalzing died
4.13.10. December 2008: Thiemo Seufer died
4.13.11. July 2009: Steve Greenland died
4.13.12. August 2010: Frans Pop died
4.13.13. April 2011: Adrian von Bidder died
4.13.14. May 2013: Ray Dassen died
4.13.15. July 2014: Peter Miller died
4.13.16. February 2015: Clytie Siddall died
4.13.17. December 2015: Ian Murdock died
4.13.18. September 2016: Kristoffer H. Rose died
4.14. What's Next?
A. The Debian Manifesto
A.1. What is Debian Linux?
A.2. Why is Debian being constructed?
A.3. How will Debian attempt to put an end to these problems?