Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer2797047 - PeerSpot reviewer
Embedded Developer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Jan 14, 2026
Long-term platform has supported embedded work yet needs fresher packages and simpler sudo setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The best features Debian offers are that it is fast, simple, and long-term supported."
  • "About the features of Debian, of course, it is a slow distribution like many others."

What is our primary use case?

My main use case for Debian is as an everyday workhorse, and I provide Debian to some customers for embedded and non-embedded hardware.

For my work and for my customers, I use Debian to cross-build for some other ARM devices that are used for Gilbarco, which are used in many US gas stations to provide fuel to cars. I bought some QEMU to allow developers to run the ARM on computers. I installed Debian on every i.MX8 device, and I think there are thousands in the US market, plus some other thousands worldwide.

Regarding my use case and interesting projects, I recently used Debian for Amazon and then for some other GitHub actions, still as a QEMU.

What is most valuable?

The best features Debian offers are that it is fast, simple, and long-term supported.

That long-term support has helped me and my customers by being stable and running well. Debian has positively impacted my organization and my customers.

What needs improvement?

To improve Debian, the frozen, stable versions need to be more updated, and probably rolling updates like Fedora is doing would be a good idea.

Regarding needed improvements, I think sudo and the way sudo is configured, with visudo required, would help many newcomers to Debian because the learning curve on the configuration might have some challenges in the way it is done.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Debian for twenty years.
Buyer's Guide
Debian
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Debian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

That long-term support has helped me and my customers by being stable and running well.

About the features of Debian, of course, it is a slow distribution like many others. The setup is fast and efficient, but it is not doing much. I am an embedded developer and a Linux developer, so I am happy with that. I can customize more, but then the hardware support and the packages are old. However, I am looking for stability, so old probably means stable, but it is not for every user.

How was the initial setup?

My advice to others looking into using Debian is to not step out from the initial configuration. It might be hard, but you will learn something, and then everything will work.

What other advice do I have?

I think that sometimes while I am speaking, you say thanks because you think I have ended my speech or my phrase, and then it is not so smooth. I would rate this review as providing comprehensive feedback on my experience with Debian.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Jan 14, 2026
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Cloud Solutions Specialist at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Jan 4, 2026
Custom setup has secured databases and supports compliant growth in cloud deployments
Pros and Cons
  • "Debian has positively impacted my organization by bringing strong security and consistent compliance awareness."
  • "Customer support for Debian has been acceptable. We approached the Azure Debian support, and while it seems adequate, they need to improve somewhat."

What is our primary use case?

I have been using Debian for a while now. My main use case for Debian is running PostgreSQL and related infrastructure. A specific example of an application I'm running on Debian is PostgreSQL.

What is most valuable?

In my opinion, the best features Debian offers are its customizability. I can adjust the configurations to meet my specific needs.

Debian has positively impacted my organization by bringing strong security and consistent compliance awareness.

What needs improvement?

In terms of improvements, I think Debian is fine as it is. I'm not an expert, so for me, it is acceptable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Debian for a while now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In my experience, Debian is stable. The stability rating for Debian is approximately eight.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Debian's scalability for my organization is good. It scales well with my needs, and it is more reliable.

How are customer service and support?

Customer support for Debian has been acceptable. We approached the Azure Debian support, and while it seems adequate, they need to improve somewhat.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Negative

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have not used a different solution before Debian.

How was the initial setup?

I purchased Debian through the Azure Marketplace. My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing seems acceptable. We have also used Ubuntu as well. Comparing to Ubuntu, Debian is cheaper.

What was our ROI?

For the metrics, I am not certain, but I know that money has been saved. We are using a saving plan on it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing seems acceptable. We have also used Ubuntu. Comparing to Ubuntu, Debian is cheaper.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before choosing Debian, I evaluated Ubuntu.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for others looking into using Debian is that it needs to be widely used in organizations. I think a marketing strategy needs to be improved for Debian so that it can be widely used and penetrate the market. I would rate this review an eight overall.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Jan 4, 2026
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Debian
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Debian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2774466 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 10
Nov 3, 2025
Have hosted fast-loading websites and maintained secure servers through regular updates
Pros and Cons
  • "The best features Debian offers are its low weight, lightweight architecture, and faster response to services."
  • "I cannot say that I have seen a return on investment with Debian because I am a DevOps engineer, and it is my job to do this."

What is our primary use case?

My main use case for Debian is for websites hosting. I use Debian for some NGINX and Apache websites, for example, websites with static pages or some other customers with e-commerce content.

What is most valuable?

The best features Debian offers are its low weight, lightweight architecture, and faster response to services. Debian's lightweight architecture and faster response help me in my day-to-day work by allowing me to host websites and achieve faster response times, which keeps my customers happy. Debian has kept my workflow secure by maintaining system stability with day-to-day or monthly updates with security patches, securing the system from external attacks. I am satisfied that there are regular updates and security updates that keep the system stable.

What needs improvement?

I believe security improvements should continue, and I think Debian is in good shape as it is. Debian was easy to set up.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working in my current field for four plus years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Debian is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Debian's scalability for my needs is excellent. As the growth of our infrastructure is required, we can host many Debian servers. For our organization, as we are a service provider, we are using this on our public clouds for different customers, and it handles this very well.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed customer support for Debian. I never had to contact the Debian help center, and whenever I had a query, I used Google to search for it and found very helpful information from public platforms.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have not used a different solution before Debian. I have been using Debian for a long time and have not used any alternate solution yet.

How was the initial setup?

I found this interview very well AI-controlled. I appreciate it and think the use of AI is done very well.

What about the implementation team?

Before choosing Debian, I evaluated no other options. I have been using Debian only because it was part of my KT sessions during training in my initial onboarding, and then I continued my journey with Debian without experiencing different tools.

What was our ROI?

I cannot say that I have seen a return on investment with Debian because I am a DevOps engineer, and it is my job to do this.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is much better than Microsoft Windows, so I really appreciate the pricing model.

What other advice do I have?

My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We are a service provider company, so we work for different companies to provide them with IT infrastructure-related services. I believe Debian is clear and has been well covered. I have given this review a rating of 9.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Nov 3, 2025
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
reviewer2796933 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Science at a outsourcing company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 20
Jan 15, 2026
Daily work has become smoother and old hardware runs efficiently while community help stays active
Pros and Cons
  • "Debian's best features are that it is very light and very comfortable for even older computers."
  • "Debian should have a reset feature; if something goes wrong, such as when I have installed or modified any root file, there should be a reset feature to restore my initial default settings."

What is our primary use case?

I use Debian for programming, maintaining my website, and learning Linux scripting. I also encourage my friends to use open-source operating systems such as Debian, Ubuntu, or any other Linux variant.

I am using Debian on my personal computer and also on my friend's computer. I am not using Debian at work.

I use Debian for all purposes and all of my computer activities, not for any specific feature or particular use case.

What is most valuable?

Debian's best features are that it is very light and very comfortable for even older computers.

Regarding speed, Debian feels light and comfortable to me, and it has significant community support. If anyone encounters a problem in Debian, they can connect to the Debian community and receive help very quickly. This is the main reason I use Debian, and I love using the terminal.

Since using Debian, I have noticed that whatever I need for my work is already available in Debian. The Debian community is very active, and if any new feature or concern comes up, as soon as they update Debian mirrors or the apt repository, I can install and use it.

What needs improvement?

Debian should have a reset feature; if something goes wrong, such as when I have installed or modified any root file, there should be a reset feature to restore my initial default settings. Additionally, I think Debian should allow for the removal of all dependencies when a particular requirement is not useful, as sometimes we install many things without knowing what they are.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Debian for almost twelve years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Debian is stable for my needs.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very easy to scale Debian up or down if needed.

How are customer service and support?

When I have needed help with Debian, I received very quick support from the community.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Linux before Debian, and I was using Ubuntu prior to that, with Windows preceding those.

What was our ROI?

There is nothing as such for return on investment, but I do not need a new computer to run Debian or a highly configurable computer. I can run Debian on my old computer as well, which is very useful for saving money.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I considered Ubuntu before choosing Debian.

What other advice do I have?

Since I support using open-source applications, my advice to others looking into using Debian is to embrace the freedom to use everything without limitations. I encourage people to use open-source applications and operating systems such as Debian and any Linux variant, so that what they are using remains open-source and useful to all.

Debian is doing a great job, and they should keep it up. Thank you.

I should note that since I mentioned I am using Debian on my personal computer, there were many questions regarding my workplace or my organization, so the questions should be classified based on earlier questions. I would rate this review an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Jan 15, 2026
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Debian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Debian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.