What is Debian?
Debian is a free operating system (OS) for your computer. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux.
Debian GNU/Linux provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 18733 packages, precompiled software bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine.
Getting Started
The latest stable release of Debian is 4.0. The last update to this release was made on February 17th, 2008. Read more about available versions of Debian.
If you'd like to start using Debian, you can easily obtain a copy, and then follow the installation instructions to install it.
If you're upgrading to the latest stable release from a previous version, please read the release notes before proceeding.
To get help in using or setting up Debian, see our documentation and support pages.
Users that speak languages other than English should check the international section.
People who use systems other than Intel x86 should check the ports section.
News
[27 Apr 2008] Debian is participating in the 2008 Google Summer of Code
[13 Apr 2008] Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 updated
[29 Feb 2008] Security Support for Debian 3.1 to be terminated
[17 Feb 2008] Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated
[28 Dec 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 updated
[27 Dec 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated
For older news items see the News Page. If you would like to receive mail whenever new Debian news comes out, subscribe to the debian-announce mailing list.
Security Advisories
[14 May 2008] DSA-1577 gforge - insecure temporary files
[14 May 2008] DSA-1576 openssh - predictable random number generator
[13 May 2008] DSA-1571 openssl - predictable random number generator
[12 May 2008] DSA-1575 linux-2.6 - denial of service
[12 May 2008] DSA-1574 icedove - several vulnerabilities
[11 May 2008] DSA-1573 rdesktop - several vulnerabilities
[11 May 2008] DSA-1572 php5 - several vulnerabilities
[06 May 2008] DSA-1570 kazehakase - various
[05 May 2008] DSA-1569 cacti - insufficient input sanitising
[05 May 2008] DSA-1568 b2evolution - insufficient input sanitising
[05 May 2008] DSA-1567 blender - buffer overrun
[02 May 2008] DSA-1566 cpio - programming error
[01 May 2008] DSA-1565 linux-2.6 - several vulnerabilities
[01 May 2008] DSA-1564 wordpress - multiple vulnerabilities
For older security advisories see the Security Page. If you would like to receive security advisories as soon as they're announced, subscribe to the debian-security-announce mailing list.