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71 \begin{multicols}{3} % 3 columns
73 \section*{The Universal Operating System}
76 \includegraphics[width=0.5\columnwidth]{openlogo}
77 %\includegraphics[width=0.5\columnwidth]{openlogo-vsop}
79 \url{http://www.debian.org}
80 %\ndsection{Debian GNU/Linux}
88 was founded by Ian Murdock in August 1993 with the goal
89 to create an easy-to-install and maintain non-commercial GNU/Linux
90 operating system that would be able to compete in the
91 commercial market. Since then Debian established itself as an
92 independent and unique project driven by more than 3000
93 enthusiastic contributors all around the globe.
94 Principles of \emph{do-ocracy} and democracy backed up by evolving transparent
95 standards allowed Debian to deliver the most comprehensive operating system -- not
96 only by amount of integrated software, but also by
97 number of the supported hardware architectures.
98 % Current installer of Debian has been translated more that to 60 languages.
99 % (12 ??? officially supported architectures).
101 The high quality and openness of Debian made it the foundation of choice for
102 more than 120 derivative GNU/Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu and
105 \ndsubsection{Debian is}
106 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=0.8em]
107 \item[V\textnormal{ersatile}]\hfill\url{http://packages.debian.org}\\
108 Over 15000 software packages maintained by experts to provide
109 a stable system for \textit{any} field of application.
110 \item[S\textnormal{ecure}]\hfill\url{http://www.debian.org/security}\\
111 Security updates guarantee safe operation.
113 % \item[S\textnormal{imple}]\blank\\
114 % Single command is enough to install or upgrade single
115 % software or the entire system at once
116 \item[O\textnormal{pen}]\hfill\url{http://www.debian.org/social_contract}\\
117 All software is free and open-source (FOSS).\\
118 Debian is governed by public democratic processes.
119 \item[P\textnormal{opular}]\hfill\url{http://www.debian.org/users}\\
120 Used by governments, companies, educational institutions.
124 Original: Very Special Old Pale
127 Very (Special|Stable) Operating Platform
130 %\ndsection{Understand Debian}
132 \ndsubsection{Three Debian suites}
134 % Debian distribution comes in 3 major flavors
136 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,topsep=0em]
138 %\item[Unstable] \emph{Constantly changing distribution}\\
139 \item[Development]\hfill\emph{Unstable} (always \emph{sid})\\
140 Never \emph{released}, constantly evolving platform to integrate new
141 versions of software into Debian.\\
142 %entry point for the software to appear in Debian.\\
143 Despite its name, \emph{Unstable} is a good platform for those
144 requiring the most recent versions of software.
146 %\item[Testing] \emph{Constantly changing future release candidate}\\
147 \item[``Almost-ready-to-release'']\hfill\emph{Testing} (now \emph{squeeze})\\
148 % What to become a next \emph{Stable} release candidate.\\
149 Software versions known to be secure and of good quality.
150 % Software migrated from \emph{Unstable} which is known to be of good
151 % quality. Immediate updates are provided only
152 % to assure secure and robust performance. \\
153 \emph{Testing} provides a good balance between stability and recency
156 %\item[Stable] \emph{Official release}\\
157 \item[Official release]\hfill\emph{Stable} (now \emph{lenny})\\
158 % Software verified to be well tested and secure,
159 % Very stable (hence the name) and secure
160 % but might be lacking the most recent versions.\\% of the software.\\
161 % of not the most recent versions. \\
162 \emph{Stable} is released ``when it is ready'', \emph{i.e.} when
163 \emph{Testing} is assured to be robust. %, on average bi-yearly.
164 Complementary updates keep the
166 \emph{Stable} is the choice where stability and security are of
171 \ndsubsection{It has names}
173 The code names of Debian releases are names of characters from the Toy
174 Story animation, e.g. sid, squeeze, lenny. \emph{Unstable}
175 flavor always called \emph{sid}, while a new name chosen for every
176 upcoming release and assigned to \emph{Testing} to become a code name
177 of the release when it becomes \emph{Stable}.\\ At the moment
178 \emph{squeeze} is \emph{Testing}, and \emph{lenny} is \emph{Stable}.
179 As soon as \emph{squeeze} gets released, \emph{Testing} will be given
180 a new name -- \emph{wheezy}.
183 \ndsubsection{Three Debian components}
185 % Debian distribution comes in 3 major flavors
186 %Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)\\
187 %\url{http://www.debian.org/social_contract}
189 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,topsep=0em]
190 \item[Free as in freedom]\hfill\emph{main}\\
191 % This is the actual Debian with full support.\\
192 All software in \emph{main} is distributed under FOSS licenses
193 compliant with Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) to assure
194 complete freedom to use, modify, and (re-)distribute.
195 \item[Wanna-be free]\hfill\emph{contrib}\\
196 FOSS depending on \emph{non-free} 3rd party software.
197 % Software which, despite being free itself, depends on
198 % \emph{non-free} 3rd party software, rendering it useless without
199 \item[Somewhat free]\hfill\emph{non-free}\\
200 Software under restrictive licenses available at no charge.
201 % removing some freedoms
202 % (\emph{e.g.} non-commercial use only), but which is allowed to be
203 % used for free and re-distributed (\emph{e.g. NVidia drivers})
207 \ndsubsection{Debian enthusiastic experts}
208 % could be simply 'Debian People' or 'Debian Community'
210 Debian is the only major operating system developed
211 solely by volunteer individuals who collaborate via the Internet.
212 Debian developers, teams or individual contributors improve the operating
213 system not by writing new applications (in most cases), but by
214 \begin{itemize}[nolistsep,topsep=0em,leftmargin=1pc]
215 \item integrating existing software into Debian
216 \item fixing and communicating bug reports to original developers
217 \item assuring overall quality of the distribution
218 \item improving documentation and translations
219 \item providing user support
222 Packaged software in Debian have individual maintainers who are
223 often also users of a particular software, and who are therefore interested in its
224 reliable operation. Certain fields of applications have dedicated maintainer
225 teams, such as Debian-Science or Debian-Med.
228 \ndsubsection{How to get Debian}
230 %\subsubsection*{Stable}
231 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,style=nextline]
232 \item[Install on a hard-drive] \url{http://get.debian.net/}
233 \item[Boot from CD/USB] \url{http://get.debian.net/live/}
234 \item[Run in a Virtual Machine] \url{http://neuro.debian.net/vm.html}
235 \item[More options (e.g. buy pre-installed machine)] \url{http://debian.org/distrib}
236 \item[Testing/Unstable version] \url{http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer}
239 % \ndsubsection{Get \emph{Testing/Unstable} Debian}
241 % Install on a hard-drive or in a Virtual Machine\\
242 % \url{http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer}
245 \ndsubsection{How to install software}
247 GUI (Synaptic): \textit{Select and click ``Apply''}\\
248 \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{shots/synaptic-fslview}
250 Command line: \texttt{apt-get install <packagename>}
254 \ndsubsection{How to upgrade the entire system}
258 \quad\textit{Click ``Mark All Upgrades'', ``Apply''}\\
261 \quad\texttt{apt-get update; apt-get dist-upgrade}
263 \ndsubsection{How to get support}
265 \url{http://www.debian.org/support}
267 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,style=nextline]
269 % Use \emph{Synaptic Package Manager}
271 \texttt{reportbug <packagename>}
272 \item[Community support]
273 %\begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc]
274 %\item[Mailing lists]
275 \url{http://www.debian.org/MailingLists}\\
276 \url{http://forums.debian.net}\\
277 \url{http://ask.debian.net}
279 \item[Commercial support]
280 \url{http://www.debian.org/consultants}
284 \ndsection{Reasons to choose Debian}
285 \paragraph{It is maintained by its users}
287 If something needs to be fixed or improved, we just do it.
289 \paragraph{Unparalleled support}
291 Mail sent to the mailing lists often gets answers within 15 minutes (or less),
292 for free, and by the people who developed it. Compare that to typical phone
293 support: hours spent on the phone, for money, only to get someone who doesn't
294 know the system well enough to even understand your question.
296 \paragraph{You wouldn't be alone in your choice}
298 A wide range of organizations and individuals use Debian. See our Who's Using
299 Debian? page for a description of some high-profile sites which use Debian, and
300 have chosen to submit a short description of how they use Debian and why.
302 \paragraph{The best packaging system in the world.}
304 Tired of old files from software three versions old cluttering your system? Or
305 installing a piece of software only to find it causes your system to crash
306 because of software conflicts? Dpkg, Debian's endured packaging system, takes
307 care of these issues for you.
309 \paragraph{Easy installation}
311 If you have heard that GNU/Linux is difficult to install, then you haven't
312 tried Debian lately. We are constantly improving the installation process. You
313 can do the installation directly from CD, DOS, floppies or even over the
316 \paragraph{Incredible amounts of software}
318 Debian comes with over 25000 different pieces of software. Every bit of it is
319 free. If you have proprietary software that runs under GNU/Linux, you can still
320 use it - in fact, there may even be an installer in Debian that will
321 automatically install and set up everything for you.
323 \paragraph{Packages well integrated}
325 Debian surpasses all other distributions in how well its packages are
326 integrated. Since all software is packaged by a coherent group, not only can
327 all packages be found at a single site, but you can be assured that we have
328 already worked out all issues regarding complicated dependencies. While we feel
329 that the deb format has some advantages over the rpm format, it is the
330 integration between the packages that makes a Debian system more robust.
332 \paragraph{Source code}
334 If you are a software developer, you will appreciate the fact that there are
335 hundreds of development tools and languages, plus millions of lines of source
336 code in the base system. All of the software in the main distribution meets the
337 criteria of the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). This means that you can
338 freely use this code to study from, or to incorporate into new free software
339 projects. There are also plenty of tools and code suitable for use in
340 proprietary projects.
342 \paragraph{Easy upgrades}
344 Due to our packaging system, upgrading to a new version of Debian is a snap.
345 Just run apt-get update ; apt-get dist-upgrade (or aptitude update; aptitude
346 dist-upgrade in newer releases) and you can upgrade from a CD in a matter of
347 minutes or point apt at one of the over 300 Debian mirrors and upgrade over the
350 \rotatebox{90}{\includegraphics[height=.9\columnwidth]{distro-dev}}
351 \rotatebox{90}{Description}
353 \paragraph{Multiple architectures and kernels}
355 Currently Debian supports an impressive number of CPU architectures: alpha,
356 amd64, armel, hppa, i386, ia64, mips, mipsel, powerpc, s390, and sparc. It also
357 runs on GNU Hurd and FreeBSD kernels besides Linux, and with the debootstrap
358 utility you will be hard-pressed to find a device that can't run Debian.
360 \paragraph{Bug tracking system}
362 Debian's bug tracking system is publicly available. We don't try to hide the
363 fact that software doesn't always work the way users want. Users are encouraged
364 to submit bug reports and are notified when and why the bug was closed. This
365 system allows Debian to respond to problems quickly and honestly.
368 \ndsection{Acknowledgements}
378 \begin{multicols}{3} % 3 columns
380 \section*{The Universal Research Platform}
382 \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{logo_tuned/label}
383 \url{http://neuro.debian.net}
384 %\ndsection{NeuroDebian Project:}
388 \ndsection{NeuroDebian is}
390 a Debian project that provides the Neuroscience community with a
391 stable and versatile research platform -- the Debian OS.
392 Since 2005, NeuroDebian integrates neuroscience software into the Debian
393 operating system to allow neuroscientists to benefit from the advantages of
394 the universal operating system in their day-to-day research activities.
395 The NeuroDebian repository
396 (\url{http://neuro.debian.net}) offers the latest research software for
397 all Debian suites (and various releases of Ubuntu).
398 The combination of a stable generic
399 operating system, Debian, and a variety of conveniently accessible research
400 software creates a versatile research platform for neuroscience that offers the
401 latest methodologies of the field to everyone, for free.
402 These advantages make NeuroDebian increasingly popular among
403 neuroscientists and scientific software developers.
407 \ndsubsection{NeuroDebian is NOT}
409 yet another Debian GNU/Linux derivative distribution. All work done
410 by the NeuroDebian project targets the official Debian operating system. This
411 approach helps to increase the longevity of the project by relying on the
412 efforts of thousands of Debian contributors.
417 \ndsubsection{NeuroDebian software coverage}
420 \url{http://neuro.debian.net/pkgs.html}
422 \textit{Electrophysiology:} BioSig, Sigviewer, Brian, \ldots\\
423 \textit{Machine Learning:} PyMVPA, scikits.learn, \ldots\\
424 \textit{Imaging:} AFNI, FSL, Mricron, NiPy, Voxbo, \ldots\\
425 \textit{Psychophysics:} PsychoPy, PyEPL, PyOptical, \ldots\\
428 \ndsubsection{Benefits from Debian integration}
430 \begin{itemize}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc]
432 % rephrase to outline the benefit, not burden
433 \item Debian standards and policies guarantee quality and robustness
435 \item Debian's centralized bug tracking system provides a unified
436 single-point of entry for bug reporting and troubleshooting for any
439 \item Debian makes software available through a world-wide distribution
440 network, thus offloading bandwidth demands
442 \item Other Debian contributors handle large-scale aspects of
443 deployment, quality assurance, porting and integration at the level
444 of the entire distribution:
446 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc]
447 \item[Porting] Software sources get built for 11 hardware
448 architectures and 3 kernels (Linux, HURD, kFreeBSD). Porter teams
449 maintain build infrastructure and help make the code
451 \item[QA] Whole-archive rebuilds assure robustness of packaging and
452 warn about upcoming problems (core libraries upgrades) beforehand.
453 \item[Internationalization (I18n)] Translator teams help localize
454 software for more than 60 languages.
457 \item Neuroscience software becomes a 1st-class citizen within the Debian
458 project, which guarantees its availability, longevity, smooth
459 installation and upgrades.
461 %\item Participation in the Debian community helps to assure Debian's
462 % aptness for the neuroscientific software demands
470 \ndsubsection{How to get NeuroDebian}
472 \textit{Debian/Ubuntu:} \url{neuro.debian.net} repository \\
473 \textit{Others:} NeuroDebian Virtual Machine
475 % Here place a left-top corner of OSX with seamless mode
477 \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{../shots/mac_vm_mricron}
480 \ndsubsection{Developers oriented information}
484 \ndsubsection{Who is using NeuroDebian}
487 %\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{usage_worldmap}
489 buga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga dugabuga duga
493 \def\blank{\hspace{0em}\vspace{-1em}}
496 \ndsubsection{Work-in-progress}
497 \begin{description}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,style=nextline]
498 \item[Increased coverage]
499 \textit{Electrophysiology:} NEURON, OpenElectrophy, \ldots \\
500 \textit{Matlab/Octave toolboxes:} SPM, EEGLAB, \ldots \\
501 \textit{Distributed computing:} Condor \\
502 \textit{Imaging:} Connectomeviewer, Freesurfer, MIPAV \\
504 \epigraph{Having FreeSurfer integrated into the Debian operating system by the NeuroDebian team would have enormous benefits for us, and for the thousands of users of FreeSurfer across the world.}{Prof. Bruce Fischl}{Director, Computational Core at Martinos Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA}
505 \item[Improved quality assurance]
506 Extended integration and regression testing
507 \item[Available snapshotting service]
508 % Entire NeuroDebian repository for any given past moment
509 All versions of packages readily available
510 \item[Data as the 1st class citizen]
511 \url{http://neuro.debian.net/datasets.html}
512 \item[Universal availability]
513 % \begin{itemize}[nolistsep,leftmargin=1pc,topsep=0em]
514 % \item Virtual Appliance enhancements
522 \ndsubsection{Testimonials}
525 \url{http://neuro.debian.net/testimonials.html}
530 \epigraph{The approach taken with NeuroDebian is plainly the most appropriate
531 approach to software distribution for the dominant platform in brain
532 image analysis, and I have great confidence that this project will be
533 a major asset to the neuroscience community in facilitating the
534 distribution of stable software, improving the reliability and
535 replicability of analyses, and in helping to improve software
536 development practices.}{Prof. Daniel Y. Kimberg}{Director, Data
537 Processing Facility, Center for Functional Neuroimaging, University of
538 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA}
540 \ndsubsection{Acknowledgements}
542 NeuroDebian is grateful to all Debian developers and contributors for the
543 development of Debian OS, and to Prof. James V. Haxby (PBS Department,
544 Dartmouth College) for his continued support and endless supply of
545 Italian espresso (\url{http://neuro.debian.net/coffeeart.html}).
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