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Ubuntu to Debian
Since the beginning of when I got in to VPSes, I have been using Ubuntu server for all my boxes. However, lately I have been hearing a lot about Debian and am getting the idea that it might be better, if for no other reason than there are more tutorials for it and more people around here know it. Though I haven't committed to it yet, I am considering switching to Debian on a few of my VPSes and would like some idea of what I can expect. What's different, what's the same, what's better? I know Ubuntu is based on Debian, so I'm sure a lot of the commands will be the same, but I'd like to know if anyone has any ideas on how (or if?) I should go about a switch.
Comments
Pretty much everything (including commands) is going to be the same apart from different repos and more up to date packages with Ubuntu. You're going to need to backup and restore, it really depends what you have tweaked, what you have installed etc.
I really am not the expert on Debian and Ubuntu though. I'm sure others are much better informed about it than me.
You're saying Ubuntu has more up to date repos? That would definitely change things my perception of (and desire to switch to) Debian.
Not sure about Debian 7, but certainly from what I remember Ubuntu had more up to date packages. Could be mixing it up though.
Ubuntu generally has more up to date packages that's true, but that's also because it usually takes a while for Debian to give the green light for the packages.
Personally, there's no major difference between Ubuntu and Debian, except that in my opinion its easier to upgrade Debian from one major version to another (just edit the apt sources list and then update). I'm not a big Ubuntu buff but I did have the unfortunate experience of Ubuntu breaking on me every now and then.
Also, usually Debian comes with less "junk" (per se) than Ubuntu, and for LEBs that means Debian uses less memory than Ubuntu, but to each their own.
Debian is my favourite OS. Never had a problem.
Although not Ubuntu, CentOS used to be my favorite OS (bleh).
Then I tried Debain. Never have I looked back/had any issues.
Ubuntu has a 6 month development cycle. Debian has a multi-year development cycle. Because of that, some stuff in Debian tends to get out of date. One major consideration is the kernel. In Ubuntu, native kernel for stable is currently 3.8.0-19, whereas the current Debian native kernel for stable is 2.6.32-48
Ubuntu's packages are a mix from Debians testing and unstable branches, with a few thing custom-patched
@HalfEatenPie Some good notes here. I don't know what to make of your statement that Debian takes longer to clear packages. Do you think that's because they are more secure? As it is I wait long enough for things like PHP 5.4 in Ubuntu, so meh... As to the updating and "extras", one word: OpenVZ. You don't do upgrade releases on OpenVZ (most of my boxes), and providers decide what they install in their templates, so no big difference there. And anyway my smallest box is 128MB, which is enough that I'm not concerned about memory usage, especially since those boxes are mostly idle DNS boxes.
@Ishaq and @BK_ Glad to know you like it.
@Rallias Good explanation of the development cycle, noted.
@texteditor Though that sounds somewhat iffy, from the sounds of it what Debian considers unstable has actually been out for a while, so...
All in all, I prefer things to be more up to date (especially PHP 5.4, some good stuff in there. I usually do a PPA to get it on my 12.04 boxes), so Debian might not be for me.
They do have 3rd party repos for specifics like dotdeb would work for most of your web-based applications.
I think the biggest difference between the two is the prepackaged desktop experience. If you're using it as a server, then sometimes you can go a long time before actually noticing you're not using debian/ubuntu.
That's very good to know. I've actually spun up a DigitalOcean box for testing (obviously server, not desktop), and that is my experience so far as well. Thank you.
Great to know. At some point I was going to switch to Ubuntu from Centos, but then I discovered EPEL, Remi and RPMFORGE and now life is good.
When I was new to servers I ran CentOS because it was easy. I now am running ubuntu 13.04 on pretty much all my servers. Go with Ubuntu, lot's more documentation and easier support at least to me (possibly wrong about this).
@bcarlsonmedia I'm leaning in that direction. Debian doesn't seem as attractive after what I've heard so far here. I am curious, how do you run Ubuntu 13.04 on your servers? I haven't seen many providers that offer it, unless your boxes are KVM, then most places will let you use the ISO.
@DStrout Half KVM. The other half I use the built in Ubuntu Dist-Upgrade, at least planning to do so, I haven't yet because I'm concerned with application support for a couple apps I run. I'm testing it out on a OVZ VPS at the moment to see if it will all work.
Personally I prefer Debian and CentOS over anything else.. I don't like Ubuntu because it won't let you run as root (by default) which is frustating, even though I am aware that's not always the greatest idea.
Ubuntu also seems to have the most stuff on it by default, and the most Canonical spyware
That said, Ubuntu's documentation was nice when I was first starting out (my first "servers" were Pentium4 Dell desktops running Ubuntu server 11.04)...
My OpenVZ boxes are fine with root access
Seriously, though, IDK what Canonical would put on with a server install. I can understand the concern about the Amazon integration in the desktop version, but that's no issue on the server.
I was being somewhat sarcastic
I'm not that paranoid. But I still don't like Canonical all that much...
excuse me?
Don't be some software version fanboy and switch back to Shuttleworth's cash cow just because of that. Most folks on here don't even know that Ubuntu is Debian's cousin, with Debian being around a lot longer than Ubuntu and will be when Shuttleworth sells it off.
Soon, Ubuntu will be as bloated or more bloated than anything Microsoft can provide, with Amazon all integrated into it.
Dotdeb offers up to date packages and some repos are Debian/Ubuntu compatible like nginx. You can go with the stable or development third party version or what comes with Debian which offers you 3 choices.
Well... Think of it this way. To my knowledge, they "test" the new codes longer to make sure there aren't any issues. Therefore in the long run their packages can be considered more trustworthy because its behind slightly longer and have been tested longer. I mean take what I say with a grain of salt, but this is my own personal opinion and it hasn't failed me yet. I mean if you want the latest packages you can just edit the Debian package list and then upgrade to the latest Debian version with the latest packages.
He knows he's making a mistake by not running everything with sudo, but he just doesn't care. He's willing to risk making a mistake by not locking down root. Let him do whatever he wants.
Is there any attractive reason to switch if Ubuntu has everything Debian has and more (i.e. better software)? I know a lot of people don't like the commercialization of Ubuntu, but I don't care. As long as it works, and it does.
Yep, more than 200 distros come from Debian
. So basically I used to pack softwares that I need for specific purpose with debian, make a backup and call it "MyDistro"
@DStrout I've also been using Ubuntu since I've got my first VPS, almost 1.5 years ago.
Now I am playing around with my Raspberry Pi, I'm forced to use Debian instead of Ubuntu, since Ubuntu does not run on the Pi.
I can tell you that there is little difference in user experience between Ubuntu and Debian, is running it headless/'server'. Still I do not see a reason to switch over all my Ubuntu based VPSes to Debian
I started using Ubuntu but a few months ago I switched to Debian. I don't see much difference in them. The only reason I started using Debian is because of the minimal installs. We are still using Ubuntu on our production servers because of Java7 that is in the repo's and it is just running fine.
I don't think there is a answer to wich one is better. I like them both and as I already said, the only reason for me to use Debian is the minimal installs.
Totally agree, broer.
I just use ubuntu when more ram
Ubuntu at home, Debian on servers.
What are you running on these VPS? And do you need recent software?
For a lot of tasks, Debian is more reliable and more stable than Ubuntu.
In Ubuntu, it is trivial to either run as root, or enable root login, either by password or authentication key. As such, it should be a non-factor when comparing to Debian, and certainly not a reason to dislike it.