When I got my new laptop two months ago, I needed to choose a Linux distro to install. Arch was my go-to for the last 15 years on desktops, but even though it usually works fine, breaking updates can happen. That's not what I wanted on a portable device I might need to take somewhere on short notice. Since Debian Trixie was about to be released, I decided to give it a try. After all, I'd been using Debian on servers for years, and it's always worked flawlessly.

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I recently bought a laptop that came with an RTL8852BE network controller. After installing Debian, I faced an issue with the wireless connection: it wouldn't disconnect or show any errors, but traffic would stop moving. So I went online, looking for a solution.

Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki

I found myself in a rather silly situation, where I had to replace my perfectly capable smartphone. Even though its battery wasn't good after eight years - once I'd finished a carsharing trip two minutes before it died - the device was more than sufficient for all my use cases. I could take pictures, chat in instant messengers, browse websites, read emails, use an online bank, and so on. From that perspective, it totally satisfied my needs.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich