看看 19 年前 Ian Murdock 在 email 中發表的目標宣言，有幾點時至今日仍深深影響著 Debian 的發展。雖然 Ian Murdock 在 1996 年離開了這項計劃(自行創業去了)，但 Debian 在往後的幾任計劃領導人的努力推動之下，已成為當今最重要的自由軟體作業系統。
1) Debian will be sleeker and slimmer. No more multiple binaries and manpages.
2) Debian will contain the most up-to-date of everything. The system will be easy to keep up-to-date with a ‘upgrading’ script in the base system which will allow complete integration of upgrade packages.
3) Debian will contain a installation procedure that doesn’t need to be babysat; simply install the basedisk, copy the distribution disks to the harddrive, answer some question about what packages you want or don’t want installed, and let the machine install the release while you do more interesting things.
4) Debian will contain a system setup procedure that will attempt to setup and configure everything from fstab to Xconfig.
5) Debian will contain a menu system that WORKS… menu-driven package installation and upgrading utility, menu-driven system setup, menu-driven help system, and menu-driven system administration.
6) Debian will make Linux easier for users who don’t have access to the Internet. Currently, users are stuck with whatever comes with SLS. Non-Internet users will have the option of receiving periodic upgrade packages to apply to their system. They will also have the option of selecting from a huge library of additional packages that will not be included in the base system. This library will contain packages like the S3 X-server, nethack and Seyon; basically packages that you and I can ftp but non-netters cannot access.
7) Debian will be extensively documented (more than just a few READMEs).
8) As I put together Debian, I am keeping a meticulous record of where I got everything. This will allow the end-user to not only know where to get the source, but whether or not the most recent version is a part of Debian. This record will help to keep the Debian release as up-to-date as possible.
目前 Debian 的計劃領導人 Stefano Zacchiroli 的主要目標是改善 Debian 和其衍生套件之間的和諧關係(就是 Ubuntu 啦)，以及要把 Debian 推進 FSF 認可的自由軟體作業系統的名單之中。Zacchiroli 為此建立了 Derivatives Front Desk 工作平台，以便衍生自 Debian 的套件相關技術可以回流貢獻給 Debian；另外，也成立了一支工作小組專門負責改善不符 FSF 自由軟體作業系統列表的缺失。
Debian 目前最新穩定版是 6.0.5(代號 Squeeze)，預計明年春天推出新版 Debian 7.0，也就是 Wheezy。Debian 6 目前總計包含套件數約計 29000 多個，其發展風格和安全穩定性，可說是 Linux 社群中最優良的模範生。
恭喜 Debian 歡渡 19 歲生日，在此誠摯的祝福 Debian 未來的發展能更加成長茁壯，並能橫跨多螢平台，為自由軟體社群持續保留一股無上的清流氣息！
来源：自由軟體技術交流網
