Debian 2.0 (Hamm): The Strength of the Social Contract

It’s 1998, and while the tech press is obsessed with the "Halloween Documents" and the war between Microsoft and Netscape, the Debian project is quietly proving that a group of volunteers can build a world-class operating system. Debian 2.0, or "Hamm," is out, and it’s a massive milestone.

The Move to Glibc 2.0

Technically, the big change in Hamm is the transition from the old Linux libc5 to the new GNU C Library (glibc 2.0). It’s been a painful migration for the developers, but it brings Debian into modern standards and makes it much easier to port to other architectures. For the first time, Debian officially supports both i386 and Motorola 68k.

The Social Contract

What really sets Debian apart isn't the code, but the "Debian Social Contract" and the "Free Software Guidelines." While other distributions are starting to include proprietary "bloatware" to make themselves more user-friendly, Debian remains fiercely committed to freedom. If it’s in the "main" repository, you know it’s 100% free software.

# Installing software on Debian feels like the future
apt-get update
apt-get install gimp

The apt tool is still in its infancy, but it’s already miles ahead of the "dependency hell" we deal with in other distributions. It handles the downloading and configuration for you-it feels almost like magic.

A Solid Foundation

Debian isn't flashy. It doesn't have a corporate marketing budget. But its commitment to stability and open standards is making it the preferred choice for the servers in our lab. We’re currently migrating our internal web server from Slackware to Debian 2.0 because the package management is just so much more reliable. Linux is growing up, and Debian is leading the way.