Debian -- The Universal Operating System
Description: Debian GNU/Linux is a free distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system. It is maintained and updated through the work of many users who volunteer their time and effort.
Keywords: debian, GNU, linux, unix, open source, free, DFSG

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## 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.

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## Getting Started

The latest stable release of Debian is 4.0. The last update to this release was made on July 26th, 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

`[08 Aug 2008]` Mar del Plata to host 8th Debian conference
`[26 Jul 2008]` Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated and support for newer hardware added
`[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

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

`[01 Sep 2008]` DSA-1634 wordnet - stack and heap overflows
`[01 Sep 2008]` DSA-1633 slash - SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting
`[26 Aug 2008]` DSA-1632 tiff - buffer underflow
`[22 Aug 2008]` DSA-1631 libxml2 - denial of service
`[21 Aug 2008]` DSA-1630 linux-2.6 - denial of service/information leak
`[19 Aug 2008]` DSA-1629 postfix - programming error
`[10 Aug 2008]` DSA-1628 pdns - DNS response spoofing
`[04 Aug 2008]` DSA-1627 opensc - programming error
`[01 Aug 2008]` DSA-1626 httrack - buffer overflow
`[01 Aug 2008]` DSA-1625 cupsys - buffer overflows

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.