I love using Debian. I think it is so interesting that so many distros have been or currently are based on Debian. While I prefer vanillia Debian, I wanted to list all of the Debian based distros (non-Ubuntu) I know of and categorize them based on what makes them unique.

Daily Drivers (Ease of use):

LMDE - Linux Mint + Debian, no Ubuntu, Mint polish
MX Linux - MXTools is helpful
Deepin - Beautiful, preconfigured desktop, from China.
Peppermint_OS – Lightweight, cloud integrated, snappy
Neptune - Polished KDE Plasma on stable Debian w/newer kernels.
SpiralLinux – Pure Debian with modern defaults (Btrfs, ZRAM).
SolydXK – Simplified XFCE/KDE desktops for stability.
Lingmo OS / Mauna Linux / Br OS - Recent, beautiful desktops (China/Brazil)

Modern/Atomic (Immutable):

Vanilla OS - Atomic updates, can run Fedora/Arch apps via Apx.
blendOS - Atomic, lets you choose DE (KDE, XFCE, etc), can install applications from other Linux distros.
Nitrux - Immutable, no systemd (OpenRC), Maui shell, immutable, heavy reliance on AppImage

High Performance and Gaming:

Siduction - Rolling release based on Debian Sid.
SparkyLinux - Great for gaming, newer drivers.
PikaOS - Gaming with high-performance kernel opimizations.

Multimedia/Creative:

AV Linux (MX Edition) – Preconfigured w/low-latency kernel for audio production.

Minimalist:

BashCore - Ultra minimalist, branding free CLI environment.
Slax - Modular, tiny, runs from a USB stick.

Performance and Old Hardware (Lightweight):

antiX - No systemd, runs on a toaster (256MB RAM)
CrunchBang++ (#!++)- Minimalist, Debian + Openbox, continuation of original Crunchbang.
BunsenLabs - minimalist OpenBox, keyboard centric.
Window Maker Live - 90s NeXTSTEP look, fast, retro.
Puppy Linux (DPup) - Runes entirely on RAM, fast.
Elive - Enlightenment desktop, high-end looks for 20 year old hardware.
Damn Small Linux - Stays under 700MB.
wattOS - Low power consumption and simplicity.
Q4OS – Trinity desktop, can mimic Windows XP/7.
Commodore OS Vision - Retro computing aesthetic.

Security, Privacy, and Stealth:

Qubes OS - Isolates everything inside Xen VMs, has Debian and Fedora as default templates.
Tails - Amnesic "Snowden" OS, leaves no trace on hardware.
Whonix - Extreme privacy via dual-VM gateway/workstation.
Kodachi - Hardened, pre-routed live OS alternative to Tails.
Septor – Surf the web anonymously.
Kicksecure - Hardened Debian layer (the base for Whonix).

IT and SysAdmin Toolbox:

Kali Linux/Parrot OS - "Hackerman" suites for penetration testing.
GParted Live/Dr. Parted - Disk partitioning
Grml/Finnix/Knoppix - "Oh Shit Buttons", emergency ktis for broken PCs.
SysLinuxOS/Kaisen - Built for network admins and system integrators.

Servers, Cloud, and Self Hosting:

Proxmox VE - Server, machine host for VMs
TrueNAS Scale - NAS, built for ZFS storage and applications.
OpenMediaVault - Turns old hardwrae into NAS
umbrelOS/StartOS/YunoHost - self-host your own cloud.
Univention (UCS) - Professional Debian for corporate identity mangement.

Network & Radio Engineering:

Live Raizo – Specialized lab environment for network admins to simulate and experiment with complex network topologies (integrated with GNS3).
Skywave Linux – Built for Software Defined Radio (SDR) and shortwave enthusiasts. Preconfigured with specific drivers and software needed to communicate on the airwaves.
VyOS – Network OS for routers and firewalls.

Embedded, IoT, and Media:

Raspberry Pi OS - OS specifically for Raspberry Pi
DietPi - lightweight, optimized base for hobbyist boards.
OSMC - Turn hardware into dedicated Kodi media center.
LinuxCNC - Controls heavy machinery and 3D printers.

Mobile Distros:

Mobian - Debian for phones and tablets.
PureOS - FSF endorsed, famous for Librem 5 convergence.
Droidian - Allows Debian to run on standard Android hardware.
LuneOS - Spiritual successor to Palm webOS.
FuriOS – OS for the FuriLabs FLX1, includes Waydroid.

Philosopy and Geopolitics:

Devuan - Protest against systemd
Endless OS/Emmabuntüs - Built for schools and developing world.
Astra/BOSS/Pardus/UOS - State sponsored distros (RU,IN,TR,CN).
openKylin - Community version of China's Kylin OS.

You could also consider Debian Pureblends, like Debian Med and Debian Edu.

Did I miss any? Please let me know, I will edit the list. Thank you!

#Debian #GNULinux #GNU #Linux #Privacy #SysAdmin #Tech #OpenSource #LMDE #LinuxMint #Mint #MXLinux #Deepin #PeppermintOS #antiX #SparkyLinux #BunsenLabs #Elive #AVLinux #NeptuneOS #KaliLinux #Kali #Tails #Whonix #Proxmox #OpenMediaVault #GRML #FINNIX #Knoppix #RaspberryPi #Pi #VyOS #Devuan #PureOS #Nitrux #EndlessOS #Emmabuntüs #Siduction #Bashcore #VanillaOS #TrueNAS #TrueNASScale #WindowMakerLive #Neptune #blendOS #crunchbang #Mobian #Droidian #FuriOS #LuneOS #Slax

Find of the year and #2 of my 2025 Distros is:

#Lilidog

https://lilidog.org/

It's a Debian-based distro with a well-thought-out emphasis on easy design customization (looking minimal and pretty out of the box), expanded install scripts, and repository options, as well as lightweight speed.

You don't often see what's happening in the Arch-based distro world happening in Debian, but Lilidog offers a mix of #Arco and #Archcraft, in the spirit of #Crunchbang.

Hi, I'm #NewHere!

https://friendica.world/display/84b6ef2b-6867-84e3-1ed0-e30045555845

@SolusSpider Fond memories of #CrunchBang. Lost track - will have to check #BunsenLabs out.

Time to fire up a #VM.

Finally got my hardware brightness buttons to work in #BunsenLabs.

1. With root permission, append this string:
acpi_backlight=native
Between the quotes in the line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_DEFAULT=" "
Which is found in the file:
/etc/default/grub

2. Run in terminal:
sudo update grub

3. Reboot

4. Use hardware backlight keys as normal.

This took me over a week of scorched retinae to unearth. Now i post it here.

#Linux #Debian #Debian12 #CrunchBang #CrunchBangPlusPlus #oldlaptop #i915 #acpi #grub

@RandamuMaki To be fair I'm just now getting back into Linux in earnest after some years. I've only recently learned/was reminded about #Wayland even being a thing (for reasons I don't remember, I didn't use it before). I am of course generally wary of anything new in the computing world, because new changes always seem to bring disruption to things that previously worked and make them stop working suddenly (or even worse: expect me to adapt my workflow), but #Xorg is showing its age, and we all have known it for a while.

I used #WindowsXP almost to EOL before switching to Linux after a few months using Win7 and complaining about how ugly and clunky and Vista-esque I thought it was. I eventually settled on a #CrunchBang and #Windows8.1 dual-boot in 2014 that stuck for a while before I decided I'd finally cave and try Windows 10 in 2017-ish, which — shockingly — managed to last 7 wholeass years, until just these last few weeks, when the limits of my tolerance to gaslighting-borne insanity have one again been not only met, but effortlessly crushed by the #enshittification brigade.

Anyway, all that to say, that even if #OpenBox is on the way out, that doesn't mean I'll stop using what I like if nobody is willing to offer me a good enough motivation to do so. I am fickle in what I consider deal-breakers, but also (and for the same reasons) rather stubborn against entertaining new prospects because they usually aren't what I want, or are exactly what I *don't* want (official Old Head™️ status, give me my AARP card).