On 2016-12-15 at 14:49:25 -0700, William Hermans wrote:
> Ubuntu is a go to Distro for systems that may be running newer( current )
> hardware, that may not be supported by another distros out of the box.
> Ubuntu is also good for desktop like situations. Where someone may want an
> OS that "just works", and looks good, with desktop hardware acceleration.
This is a point where the way Debian works may require some explanation.
Debian is very picky on the topic of licensing / Free Software: if
something is not Free Software (according to the DFSG_) and its sources
can't be compiled using just Free Software it is not included in Debian
"proper" (``main``).
.. _DFSG:
https://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
This however includes a number of packages that are sometimes required
to work with some hardware, and those are being made available because
lots of users actually need them (at least, when Debian is legally able
to distribute them, of course), but they are relegated to ``contrib``
(free software that requires non-free software somehow to work) and
``non-free`` (really non-free software).
The latter includes the firmwares required e.g. by most wifi cards and
making them works is as easy (once you know the trick) as googling
"debian wiki <wifi card model>", finding out which firmware package you
need to install from non-free, do so, and reloading a kernel module /
rebooting.
Other hardware that may be problematic of course is new hardware which
requires a new kernel, and if you're not already using testing (as
mentioned in the other email), usually there is always one in backports.
--
Elena ``of Valhalla''