You can use apt-get commands for managing applications in both Debian and Ubuntu. You can install DEB packages in both distributions as well. Many times, you’ll find common package installation instructions for both distributions.

So, what’s the difference between the two, if they are so similar?

Debian and Ubuntu belong to the same side of the distribution spectrum. Debian is the original distribution created by Ian Murdock in 1993. Ubuntu was created in 2004 by Mark Shuttleworth and it is based on Debian.

Ubuntu is based on Debian: What does it mean?

While there are hundreds of Linux distributions, only a handful of them are independent ones, created from scratch. Debian, Arch, Red Hat are some of the biggest distributions that do not derive from any other distribution.

Ubuntu is derived from Debian. It means that Ubuntu uses the same APT packaging system as Debian and shares a huge number of packages and libraries from Debian repositories. It utilizes the Debian infrastructure as base.

That’s what most ‘derived’ distributions do. They use the same package management system and share packages as the base distribution. But they also add some packages and changes of their own. And that is how Ubuntu is different from Debian despite being derived from it.

Difference between Ubuntu and Debian

So, Ubuntu is built on Debian architecture and infrastructure and uses .DEB packages same as Debian.

Does it mean using Ubuntu is the same as using Debian? Not quite so. There are many more factors involved that distinguish one distribution from the other.

Let me discuss these factors one by one to compare Ubuntu and Debian. Please keep in mind that some comparisons are applicable to desktop editions while some apply to the server editions.

read article: https://itsfoss.com/debian-vs-ubuntu/