Editing Debian (section)

=== Founding (1993–1998) ===
First announced on August 16, 1993, Debian was founded by [[Ian Murdock]], who initially called the system "the Debian Linux Release".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-04 |title=Chapter 1 – Introduction – What is the Debian Project? |url=https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/intro.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222010809/https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-intro.en.html |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |access-date=2014-06-22 |website=A Brief History of Debian |publisher=Debian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newsgroup |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.os.linux.development/Md3Modzg5TU/xty88y5OLaMJ |title=New release under development; suggestions requested |last=Murdock |first=Ian A. |date=1993-08-16 |newsgroup=comp.os.linux.development |message-id=CBusDD.MIK@unix.portal.com |author-link=Ian Murdock |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.os.linux.development/Md3Modzg5TU/xty88y5OLaMJ |archive-date=January 22, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=2012-06-13}}</ref> The word "Debian" was formed as a [[portmanteau]] of the first names of himself and his then-girlfriend (later ex-wife) Debra Lynn.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nixon |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=badSTnfeOoAC |title=Ubuntu: Up and Running |publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-596-80484-8 |page=3 |access-date=2014-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731133410/https://books.google.com/books?id=badSTnfeOoAC |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Before Debian's release, the [[Softlanding Linux System]] (SLS) had been a popular Linux distribution and the basis for [[Slackware]].<ref name="grassroots">{{Cite web |last=Hillesley |first=Richard |date=2007-11-02 |title=Debian and the grass roots of Linux |url=http://www.itpro.co.uk/135084/debian-and-the-grass-roots-of-linux |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526030921/http://www.itpro.co.uk/135084/debian-and-the-grass-roots-of-linux |archive-date=May 26, 2014 |access-date=2014-05-25 |publisher=IT Pro}}</ref> Murdock was motivated to launch a new distribution by what he saw as poor maintenance and the prevalence of [[software bug|bugs]] in SLS.<ref name="Scheetz 1998">{{Cite book |last=Scheetz |first=Dale |title=The Debian Linux user's guide |publisher=Linux Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-9659575-1-9 |location=Penngrove, Calif |oclc=42689229}}</ref>

Debian 0.01, released on September 15, 1993, was the first of several internal releases.<ref name="ChangeLog">{{Cite web |title=ChangeLog |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/ChangeLog |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106042725/http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/ChangeLog |archive-date=January 6, 2017 |access-date=2016-08-18 |publisher=[[ibiblio]]}}</ref> Version 0.90 was the first public release,<ref name="ChangeLog" /> supported through mailing lists hosted at [[Pixar]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1994-01-31 |title=Release-0.91 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/debian-0.91/RELEASE-0.91 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133319/http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/debian-0.91/RELEASE-0.91 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=2014-07-03 |publisher=[[ibiblio]]}}</ref> The release included the Debian Linux Manifesto, outlining Murdock's view for the new [[operating system]]. In it he called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained "openly in the spirit of Linux and GNU."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murdock |first=Ian A. |author-link=Ian Murdock |date=1994-01-06 |title=The Debian Linux Manifesto |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/info/Manifesto |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133321/http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/info/Manifesto |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=2014-07-17 |publisher=[[ibiblio]]}}</ref>

The Debian project released the 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995.<ref name="releases">{{Cite web |date=2013-05-04 |title=Chapter 3 – Debian Releases |url=http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-releases.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817004510/http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-releases.en.html |archive-date=August 17, 2011 |access-date=2014-06-22 |website=A Brief History of Debian |publisher=Debian}}</ref> During this time it was sponsored by the [[Free Software Foundation]] for one year.<ref>{{Cite newsgroup |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.os.linux.misc/A30TG4KRx4Y/WKi_Yx0iuTAJ |title=The FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian |last=Stallman |first=Richard |date=1996-04-28 |newsgroup=comp.os.linux.misc |message-id=gnusenet199604280427.AAA00388@delasyd.gnu.ai.mit.edu |author-link=Richard Stallman |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.os.linux.misc/A30TG4KRx4Y/WKi_Yx0iuTAJ |archive-date=January 22, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=2014-08-22}}</ref> Ian Murdock delegated the base system, the core packages of Debian, to Bruce Perens, while Murdock focused on the management of the growing project.<ref name="Scheetz 1998" /> The first ports to non-[[IA-32]] architectures began in 1995, and Debian 1.1 was released in 1996.<ref name="history4">{{Cite web |date=2013-05-04 |title=Chapter 4 – A Detailed History |url=https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-detailed.en.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221235707/https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-detailed.en.html |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |access-date=2014-08-01 |website=A Brief History of Debian |publisher=Debian}}</ref> By that time and thanks to [[Ian Jackson (computer programmer)|Ian Jackson]], the dpkg package manager was already an essential part of Debian.{{sfn |Krafft |2005 |pp=31–32}}

In 1996, [[Bruce Perens]] assumed the project leadership. Perens was a controversial leader, regarded as authoritarian and strongly attached to Debian.{{sfn |Hertzog |2013 |p=9}} He drafted a [[social contract]] and edited suggestions from a month-long discussion into the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines.<ref>{{Cite mailing list |last=Perens |first=Bruce |title=Debian's 'Social Contract' with the Free Software Community |mailing-list=debian-announce |date=1997-07-05 |url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/1997/msg00017.html |access-date=2014-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060610070939/http://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/debian-announce-1997/msg00017.html |archive-date=June 10, 2006 |url-status=live |publisher=Debian |author-link=Bruce Perens}}</ref> After the FSF withdrew their sponsorship in the midst of the [[Free and open-source software|free software vs. open source debate]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's Time to Talk About Free Software Again |url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/1999/02/msg01641.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716055445/https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/1999/02/msg01641.html |archive-date=July 16, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Perens initiated the creation of the legal [[umbrella organization]] [[Software in the Public Interest]] instead of seeking renewed involvement with the FSF.<ref name="history4" /> He led the conversion of the project from the [[a.out]] to the [[Executable and Linkable Format|ELF]] executable format.<ref name="Scheetz 1998" /> He created the [[BusyBox]] program to make it possible to run a Debian installer from a single [[floppy disk]], and wrote a new installer.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Perens |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Perens |date=2000-11-01 |title=Building Tiny Linux Systems with Busybox–Part I |url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4335 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606231721/http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4335 |archive-date=June 6, 2014 |access-date=2014-06-05 |magazine=[[Linux Journal]]}}</ref> By the time Debian 1.2 was released, the project had grown to nearly two hundred volunteers.<ref name="Scheetz 1998" /> Perens left the project in 1998.<ref>{{Cite mailing list |last=Perens |first=Bruce |title=I am leaving Debian |mailing-list=debian-user |date=1998-03-18 |url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/1998/03/msg01628.html |access-date=2014-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706171832/https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/1998/03/msg01628.html |archive-date=July 6, 2014 |url-status=live |publisher=Debian |author-link=Bruce Perens}}</ref>

Ian Jackson became the project leader in 1998.<ref>{{Cite mailing list |last=Perens |first=Bruce |title=Ian Jackson is the next Debian Project Leader |mailing-list=debian-announce |date=1997-12-01 |url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/1997/msg00037.html |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909035450/https://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/1997/msg00037.html |archive-date=September 9, 2015 |url-status=live |publisher=Debian |author-link=Bruce Perens}}</ref> Debian 2.0 introduced the second official port, [[Motorola 68000 family|m68k]].<ref name="releases" /> During this time the first port to a non-Linux kernel, [[Debian GNU/Hurd]], was started.<ref name="d1">{{Cite mailing list |last=Grobman |first=Igor |title=debian-hurd... is up! |mailing-list=debian-hurd |date=1998-07-14 |url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/1998/07/msg00000.html |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018224515/https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/1998/07/msg00000.html |archive-date=October 18, 2018 |url-status=live |publisher=Debian}}</ref> On December 2, the first Debian Constitution was ratified.<ref name="constitution" />