Debian 12

Debian 12 features install options, new packages, and a new position on non-free firmware, making it more accessible to the average user.

- Bruce Byfield

Installing Debian 12, codenamed Bookworm, I was struck by how much the distribution has changed in the 24 years since I first installed it (Figure 1). Around the turn of the millennium, Debian already had a formidable reputation. It was one of the half dozen leading distributions, but it was widely viewed as an expert's choice, and its developers were viewed as members of an elitist club obsessed with radical forms of governance. In fact, I once heard Eben Moglen, the lawyer behind the GNU General Public Licenses, describe the project as an example of syndicalist anarchism in action. By contrast, in 2023, Debian has mellowed, quietly becoming more accessible, with even its once notoriously vicious mailing lists functioning more responsibly.