Debian and Ubuntu: Mutual Symbiosis

I believe that Debian and Ubuntu are an example of mutual symbiosis. In other words, their relationship is advantageous to both entities. (Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on this subject. I am just an observer)

How does Ubuntu benefit from Debian?

- Based on one of the best Linux distributions
- Inherits over 15,000 packages (applications) from Debian
- Great community and dedication to free software

How does Debian benefit from Ubuntu?

- Packages that are created/improved for Ubuntu can easily be made for Debian
- Ubuntu provides patches for all of the packages that it modifies from Debian
- Ubuntu has the best community around, providing support and goodwill
- Ubuntu is growing extremely fast, and may become the Linux desktop leader
- Canonical employs dozens of open source developers

Mark Shuttleworth made an awesome presentation at a DebConf where he talked about the relationship between Debian and Ubuntu. Here is a video of that presentation. Towards the end of the video, Mark draws a picture on the board to illustrate how Ubuntu regularly synchronizes with Debian. I have slightly modified his diagram and posted it below:



As you can see, Ubuntu is not a "fork" of Debian. It is in Ubuntu's best interests to funnel any improvements into Debian so that the regular synchronization process will be easier. Mark has also written an excellent article explaining the relationship between Debian and Ubuntu. He starts by explaining the commonalities between the two distros, and then goes on to discuss areas in which they differ.

If you want to read some concerns about the Ubuntu/Debian relationship, read this article written by Ian Murdock (he is the "ian" in Debian). There has also been some tension between people who get paid to work on open source software and those who remain unpaid volunteers.

In closing, I wanted to express my desire for these two communities to come together as allies and friends. There have been some adversarial attitudes expressed, and I want to discourage this from continuing. I will leave you with some relevant quotes by Mark Shuttleworth.

Ubuntu benefits from a strong Debian, and Debian benefits from a strong Ubuntu. - MarkShuttleworth

Every Debian developer is also an Ubuntu developer, because one way to contribute to Ubuntu is to contribute to Debian. - MarkShuttleworth

We incorporate Debian changes regularly, because that introduces the latest work, the latest upstream code, and the newest packaging efforts from a huge and competent open source community. Without Debian, Ubuntu would not be possible. - MarkShuttleworth

Do you agree with my analysis of the Debian/Ubuntu relationship?

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