Debian is my preferred Linux distro as well, but it has traditionally been a pain in the ass to

(a) get crypto packages installed if you're in the US (this may be a historical defect, I haven't installed a recent debian)
(b) use "non-free" software, where "non-free" means "free, but not compatible with the GPL"

The whole apt system is excellent though.  If it wasn't GPL'ed, I think Apple would've used it.. a shame really, because unix-style software distribution on OS X is a pretty painful process if you don't know precisely what you're doing.. and most people don't.  Fink doesn't count.
Posted by Bob Ippolito at Sun Mar 7 18:23:18 2004

Bob Ippolito is mistaken. Non-free is for software that doesn't meet the Debian Free Software Guidelines. These are the same as Open Source Definition. There is software which is GPL incompatible that meets the DFSG and is included in Debian. A typical example would be the old-style BSD License with the advertising clause.

The DFSG is not a weakness, it is one of the reasons that Debian is so great. I could write loads about why I think this is, maybe another time.

The crypto front has been fixed, it was never really a problem anyway, you just have to include the non-US lines in your /etc/apt/sources.list. If anybody has to take the blame it must be the Government of the USA, not Debian.
Posted by Edward Betts at Mon Mar 8 11:38:45 2004