The first version of Debian 12 arrives with more than 100 unresolved bugs. This is something that we must take into account before venturing to use this Linux since, although they are minor bugs, they can affect the user experience of this distro. Debian version 12.1 should be released in the coming weeks, so it may be advisable to wait for this update to be released before venturing out, especially if you don’t have much knowledge of Linux.
What’s new in Debian 12
One of the novelties, quite controversial, of this new Linux is that, from now on, the ISO image will include free software, even if it is not free. Until now, Debian boasted of having exclusively free software, but starting with Bookworm, users will be able to choose whether or not to install free, but proprietary software. In this way, if we need, for example, to enable the graphics driver, or a Wi-Fi card, we can do it from the same ISO, without having to download anything else. Sticking with the ISO, the default desktop is GNOMEin its version 43. In addition, we can choose other desktops, which have also been updated, such as Pipewire, WirePlumber, DE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE and Xfce.
As for the kernel, those responsible for this distro have opted for the version 6.1. It is true that it is not the newest version that we can download and install right now (the latest, right now, is 6.3), but it is the version that we guarantees support until 2027. Also, this version has removed 10% of all packages included in version 11, as they are considered obsolete and unnecessary. But instead, has included more than 11,000 new packagesso the total number of packages that make up this distro is almost 65,000.
Other relevant changes that we can highlight from this new Linux are:
- Debian 12 uses the Adwaita theme, albeit with a new abstract wallpaper called “Emerald”.
- New fonts, including Google Fonts.
- New implementation of malloc.
- The Syslog Daemon is not installed by default.
- GRUB no longer runs os-prober by default.
And finally, among the programs included as standard in this distro we can highlight, for example, LibreOffice 7.4.5.1, Evolution 3.46.4-2, Transmission 3.0 and Mozilla Firefox ESR. In addition, for developers, the most common tools and dependencies have also been updated, such as Nginx 1.22, Emacs 28.2, PHP 8.2, systemd 252, Python 3.11.2, Perl 5.36 and Vim 9.0.
download and install
Debian 12 ‘Bookworm’ is now available so that all users who want to give this great Linux a chance can download and install it completely free of charge. To do this, we will only have to download the latest ISO available. If we want an image compatible with old hardware, or smaller, we will also have it on this website.
Once the ISO is downloaded, we can install it by recording it to a USB and starting the computer with it. The installation wizard is very simple, and the start-up process will not take more than a few minutes.
We simply have to follow the steps indicated by the wizard. We will have to choose the basic configuration of our distro, the desktop and the packages that we want to install, configure the user and the partitions that we want to create. Once the initial configuration is complete, we just have to wait for the files to finish copying, restart the PC and that’s it, we can start using Debian 12.
Also, if we have 11, we can update to version 12 by following these steps:
- Open the “sources.list” file with the command “sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list”.
- Change the “deb” and “deb-src” lines to:
- deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free contrib
- deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free contrib
- Run the following r, clean and reboot:
- sudo apt update
- sudo apt full-upgrade
- sudo apt update
- sudo apt autoremove
- sudo apt clean
After the reboot, our Debian 12 “Bookworm” will be ready to go.
First impressions
Despite having a controversial release due to the 100 bugs that could not be fixed before release, Debian 12 is having a more than outstanding reception from the community. Many of the users of version 11, in the stable development branch, have already made the jump to the new version and, apparently, they have done so without those bugs and release problems affecting them.
In any case, we remind you that version 12.1 will arrive in the coming weeks with these 100 expected fixes and other improvements. And so yes it will be a great time to upgrade.
Facebook Comments
Disqus