What I do best when all by myself, jogging my Grey cells, is tinkering with Linux Operating System. Installing multi boot setups, with multiple Linux distributions. learning about they differ, how polished or rough they have been baked etc.
However, one Linux distribution towers above all when it comes to my personal Operating System for serious work. I use Debian 13 Trixie GNU/Linux as my primary desktop operating system. I use it for everything computing- web browsing, learning, Youtube, coursera, Udemy, read forums. I also get to use it when I do non-desktop computing on alternate processor architectures like the Broadcomm SOCs based on ARM cortex 64 bit architecture, such as the Raspberry Pi 4 computer on a card.
I’ve suffered from cataract for several years before surgery in May/June 2025. The Alcon EDOF lenses gave me new eyesight akin to a second life. I realized how important vision is for sanity. The slow and steady blurriness in the left eye was mistaken for aging eyes. I assumed it to be normal for eyeglass numbers to increase as we age. This misunderstanding was a huge, colossal Himalayan blunder.
Vision got so bad that reading 3 feet away from 32″ 4K computer screen was near impossible. The letters on screen appeared like insects stuck to a wall
I had given up my desktop computer life. I experienced too much panic, anxiety, and depression. I could not imagine spending the rest of my life without indulging in computer tinkering. Sadly, the thought never crossed my mind, that I might have cataract. Only old people get. I was just entering the evening of middle age, and hey who’s going to get old here anyway !
Luckily, all that is behind me. My eyes have regained their ability to read sharply and clearly. They have zero numbers for far and near sight. It feels like an eclipse of the Sun is over and the brightness has returned.
Since getting my vision back, I am back at the desktop computer, tinkering with Linux, what I love best. I upgraded the ignored computer by installing 32 GB extra RAM. This upgrade takes it to 64GB total. I also added a few more 500GB SSD disks. The motherboard I have supports 6 SATA disks alongside the 2 M2.NVME sticks.
Windows is my OS for dealing with MS Office / Visual Studio and exclusive Windows software. It serves me well as I pay for everything on it via subsription. However the thought which is so anti FOSS (Free and Open Software), that I have no motivation to use it daily. I have been dual booting Ubuntu/Fedora Linux workstation loaded on my second 448 GB M2.NVME for a while as a daily driver.
Even if they are free and way superior to Windows, they are tiring to use. They have constant updates and a 6-month release cycle, just like Windows.
I like a long, stable, engaged relationship. Ubuntu based on Debian LTS offers 3 years Long Term Support (LTS) versions too. However, I am not happy with what Canonical, makers of Ubuntu, introduce their modifications to the software. I wish they would keep the desktop pure. Pushing snaps package management, backports, heavy modifications to Gnome, making its own appstore, bother me. No doubt they bring a lot of bling and polish. Its heavily modified software is good for newbies. Yet, I don’t like it, being a purist.
Once again I decided to shake things up and go back to the roots of Ubuntu and so many other distros – Debian GNU/Linux
Debian is not just another distro. It is a philosophy, one which embodies the spirit of Free Software / Opensource Software like none other. It is a purely community-driven Linux distro. Its singular aim and philosophy is to offer a Free OS for anyone who wants to use it. There are no strings attached. It has allowed so many distros to take life, even commercialize like Ubuntu, make a leading security distro like Kali Linux, make other distros for hosting their custom desktop environments like Cinnamon (Linux Mint Debian Edition)
Debian GNU/Linux is this altruist community based distro. It powers a large part of the internet via itself and its offspring like Ubuntu and others. It does not have a pro subscription to buy. nor any other hidden costs. One can donate to them via paypal. Ironically I can’t due to some geographical restriction on donating from India to their account.
They release a new stable version once every 2 or 3 years. As they state, they do this once we are ready. Mostly taking a time snap-shot of software to be included which will last out 2-3 years. There is no race to upgrade to the latest release of the Linux Kernel, or the Gnome desktop. The latest point release of Firefox and other software can make it complex and messy. Once installed it just works and it has everything one needs. Why fix if it ain’t broke. LTS versions help them to keep the updates restricted to only security patches which make the OS rock solid. The community will not waste their energy and time heavily modifying the DE. They won’t add their logos everywhere as if to “brand” their version. Gnome DE is released by the Gnome team without themes. It has no logos, and there are no changes to the default behavior of anything. They only add their own background, which is chosen via a community contest.
Even computers like the Raspberry Pi has their OS based on the stable release of Debian. They follow Debian releases and upgrade their software.
It vibes with my life philosophy I stated earlier. Go for stable, steady, non-bling. Br under the radar and just deliver the goods. I also like that they are humble and grounded. They nourish an entire ecosystem of derived distributions. These distributions can choose to be flashy, lots of bling, heavily modified and customized for their needs. The foundation they build on is pure stone solid.
By being one down, Debian GNU/Linux is one up.
I also have always loved that they have named their stable distro releases after Toy story characters. The current release I have installed on my desktop is Debian 13 Trixie. The last one was Bookworm. The one before was Bullseye. Over the years, many Toy Story characters have been used. Examples include Woody, Potato, Sarge, Buster, Lenny, Squeeze, Wheezy, Jessie, and so on.
I am a fan of Gnome desktop. Debian is neutral and offers every open source desktop environments like KDE Plasma, XFCE, Cinnamon, LXDE and others. Gnome is what I identify with. as a Debian GNU/Linux setup.
The world is upgrading to Windows 11, which I also have for my Windows 10 desktop. Yet, on my primary OS – Debian GNU/Linux – where there is no controversy, and need to upgrade hardware. They quietly keep baking a stable release and release it as and when they can. Another of their attitudes which vibe with mine is that releases are predictable. They are not targeted at a particular year and month after the last release. The primary goal is stability and until they get it right – they delay a release. More information here ==> [https://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases]
As Linus Torvalds famously said in his 2001 interview in the documentary “Revolution OS”
“An operating system is something you never ever supposed to see. Nobody ever uses an operating system. They use programs on their computer. And the only mission in life of the operating system is to help those programs run.”
This captures everything that Debian GNU/Linux stands for. It summarizes why it is so wonderful to use as my primary operating system.
