What Makes Debian Different?

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problem in the past, who can help reduce your confusion. The strength of this

list is that developers lurk on the list as well as users, so there is the possibility

of getting expert advice from someone who understands your problem.

In addition, the debian devel mailing list is also open to public subscription.

Although its goals are far more technical in nature, much useful information

can be gleaned from lurking on this list. As with the user list, a simple e mail

to:

debian devel REQUEST@lists.debian.org

with the subscribe statement in the subject line will result in mail from

this list being sent to your e mail address. The volume of these lists is quite

high at times, which tends to scare folks away who are new to the Internet,

but the quality of response is usually quite high. This is in stark contrast

to other distributions, many of which don't even supply any e mail address

for questions. Those which do manage user mailing lists tend to be more

closed and less helpful to the average user. Much of the difference comes from

Debian's open development model, which welcomes the synergy created by

multiple points of view. The helpful nature of these lists is way above average

for this type of mechanism and most users find it a happy place to be while

learning the ins and outs of the Debian system.

These differences have made Debian a competitive system with the other cur 

rent leaders in the Linux community. The fact that Debian, without corporate

sponsorship, has created a distribution that competes favorably against others

with strong financial backing, is a surprising and remarkable achievement.