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Debian is known for an abundance of options.

The current stable release includes over 29, 000 software packages for 11 different computer architectures using the Linux kernel.

There are also packages for architectures using the FreeBSD kernel ( kfreebsd-i386 and kfreebsd-amd64 ).

These architectures range from the Intel / AMD 32-bit / 64-bit architectures commonly found in personal computers to the ARM architecture commonly found in embedded systems and the IBM eServer zSeries mainframes.

The Debian standard install makes use of the GNOME desktop environment.

It includes popular programs such as LibreOffice, Iceweasel ( a rebranding of Firefox ), Evolution mail, CD / DVD writing programs, music and video players, image viewers and editors, and PDF viewers.

There are pre-built CD images for KDE Software Compilation, Xfce and LXDE also.

The remaining discs, which span five DVDs or over thirty CDs, contain all packages currently available and are not necessary for a standard install.

Another install method is via a net install CD, which is much smaller than a normal install CD / DVD.

It contains only the bare essentials needed to start the installer and downloads the packages selected during installation via APT.

These CD / DVD images can be freely obtained by web download, BitTorrent, jigdo or from online retailers.