No, this is not a post about undergarments, it is about the underpinnings of one remarkable Linux distribution. Debian is remarkable for a number of reasons but all are second to it’s policy regarding software packaging. Debian’s package management stands alone in the Linux world. Many people will argue that fact, they will be wrong. You may have heard the “apt” vs. “yum” type of debate, those are irrelevant. What matters is not the installation tool set but the quality of the package being installed. This is where the “Debian Policy” comes in and trounces the alternatives. Martin Krafft in his book The Debian System: Concepts and Techniques does a wonderful job of highlighting the virtues of the policy. I highly recommend the reading of the book (the second edition seems imminent) and a skimming of the policy itself.

If you’re more interested in undergarments you can look here or here.