Devuan GNU+Linux is a Linux distribution forked from Debian in 2015. The project's primary goal is to provide a variant of Debian without the complexities and dependencies of systemd, an init system and services manager originally developed by Red Hat and later adopted by most other Linux distributions. Devuan's initial beta release was made available in April 2016, together with an upgrade path from Debian 7.0 "Wheezy" and a possibility to switch to Devuan from Debian 8.0 "Jessie". The distribution adopted Xfce as its default desktop.
To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
Colour scheme:green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
I used beowulf and chimaera and now daedalus and are lucky that it is there.
I use GNU/Linux for decades and I hold a LPIC-3 certification, therefore I know how the things are coming and going.
I prefer systemdr-free systems because of Keep it simple, and for example I use Devuan for Servers with sssd and PAM and Desktops - they do what expected with no opaque behaviour.
I use Alpine for my virtualization servers with lxc and qemu kvm, a further stage of systemdrfree, for example no udev, busybox, ...
Ever since I "upgraded" to 5.0, it's been a pain getting my networking apps and graphics drivers working. Spent half a day going back and forth with support forums, IRC, and everything in-between ! I think not enough care went into polishing up this release, it's sad because I really liked they didn't use systemd on a Debian install, now I am unironically looking for tips on how to use Debian 12 but without systemd (init), it's actually possible to use sysv-init again.. Devuan was useful years ago when Debian took this *option* from us, but atleast now it seems they learned from this, also is a small project with few people supporting it (which means better off just using Debian proper).
I have been using and managing Linux systems since 1997, I had the opportunity to test and configure both workstations and servers and I was a 'witness' to the entire evolution of this operating system. In the last eight years I have studied and used mostly Debian-based distributions, with or without systemd.
As far as Devuan is concerned, the change brought by removing systemd brought, compared to pure Debian:
- the impression of a faster startup, in fact systemd is practically faster,
- the feeling of a supple and fast operating system in use, although the content in the packages is identical to Debian,
- a sensibly more 'inflated' installation kit than Debian
- the feeling of 'self-satisfaction' of getting rid of the 'capitalist' system,
- big hardware detection problems on the sound side with pulseaudio, it requires interventions and additional settings, sometimes all these correct settings are useless, the sound still does not work without intervention at every start,
- the desktop manager ´lighttdm´, fully installed does not work allways and for this reason it was usually replaced with ´slim´, a bad idea because llightdm is the only one that also manages the launch of a virtual keyboard.
- it should also be noted the operational problems of NetworkManager in some cases, periodic disconnections for example.
Consequently, giving up systemd and moving from pure Debian to Devuan or other similar systems does not bring any benefit, moreover, it brings performance problems and waste of time. Plus the feeling for some older Linux users that they returned 20 years ago.
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