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Debian is a computer operating system composed entirely of free software. Its primary form, Debian GNU/Linux, is a popular and influential Linux distribution.

Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies, and for its abundance of options — the current release includes over eighteen thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures, ranging from the ARM architecture commonly found in embedded systems and the IBM eServer zSeries mainframe architecture to the more common Intel x86 architecture found in modern personal computers.
Debian GNU/Linux is the basis for several other distributions, including Knoppix, Linspire, MEPIS, Xandros, and the Ubuntu family.

Debian is also known for its package management system (especially APT), for its strict policies regarding its packages and the quality of its releases. These practices afford easy upgrades between releases and easy automated installation and removal of packages.

Debian uses an open development and testing process.
It is developed by volunteers from around the world and supported by donations through Software in the Public Interest, Inc., a non-profit umbrella organization for free software projects.

Debian was first announced on 16 August 1993 by Ian Murdock, then a student at Purdue University.
Murdock initially called his system the "Debian Linux Release".
Previously, Softlanding Linux System had been the first well-known attempt at making a Linux distribution out of various software packages, and was a popular option among Linux users in 1994.
It was the perceived poor maintenance and prevalence of bugs in SLS that motivated Murdock to launch a new distribution.

In the Debian Manifesto, Murdock called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained in an open manner, in the spirit of Linux and GNU.
He formed the name "Debian" by combining the first name of his girlfriend (now wife) Debra with his own first name.
As such, Debian is pronounced as the corresponding syllables of these names in American English: /'dɛbiən/ but other pronunciations
are common in different parts of the world.

The Debian Project grew slowly at first and released
its first 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995.
The first ports to other architectures were begun in 1995, and the first 1.x version of Debian was released in 1996.
In 1996, Bruce Perens replaced Ian Murdock as the project leader. In the same year, fellow developer Ean Schuessler suggested that Debian establish a social contract between the project and its users.
Perens distilled the resulting discussion on Debian mailing lists into the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines, defining fundamental commitments for the development of the distribution.
He also initiated the creation of the legal umbrella
organization Software in the Public Interest.

Bruce Perens left in 1998 before the release of the
first glibc-based Debian, 2.0.
The Project proceeded to elect new leaders and made two more 2.x releases, each including more ports and more packages. APT was deployed during this time and the first port to a non-Linux kernel,
Debian GNU/Hurd, was started as well.
The first Linux distributions based on Debian, Libranet, Corel Linux and Stormix's Storm Linux, were started in 1999. Though no longer developed, these distributions were the first of many distributions based on Debian.

In late 2000, the project made major changes to archive and release management, reorganizing software archive processes with new "package pools" and creating a testing branch as an ongoing, relatively stable staging area for the next release. Also in that year, developers began holding an annual conference called DebConf with talks and
workshops for developers and technical users.

On April 8, 2007 the Debian Project announced the official release of Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0, codenamed "Etch".

Software packages in development are either uploaded to the project branch named unstable, also known as sid, or the experimental branch.
Software packages uploaded to unstable are normally versions stable enough to be released by the original upstream developer, but with the added Debian-specific packaging and other modifications introduced by Debian developers. These additions may be new and untested. Software not ready yet for the unstable branch is typically placed in the experimental branch.

After a version of a software package has remained in unstable for a certain length of time (depending on the urgency of the software's changes), that package is automatically migrated to the testing branch.
The package's migration to testing occurs only if no serious (release-critical) bugs in the package are reported and if other software needed for package functionality qualifies for inclusion in testing.

Since updates to Debian software packages between official releases do not contain new features, some choose to use the testing and unstable branches for their newer packages. However, these branches are less tested than stable, and unstable doesn't receive timely security updates.
Starting September 9, 2005 a testing security team provides security updates.
In particular, incautious upgrades to working unstable packages
can sometimes seriously break software functionality.

After the packages in testing have matured and the goals for the next release are met, the testing branch becomes the next stable release.
The latest stable release of Debian (etch) is 4.0.
It was released on April 8, 2007.

The forthcoming version is codenamed "lenny."

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