Debian GNU/Linux 5.0, codenamed "Lenny", was released over the weekend; in this gallery we take you through the install process and basic desktop functions.

After booting from a minimal CD image, we were greeted with the venerable Debian install options. Leaving the textual install to the purists and clinically insane, we opted to take the less brave "Graphical install" option.

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When selecting the appropriate time zone, the interesting choice of "Lindeman" appeared within Australia. Could this be Lindeman Island?

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The installer selected a reasonable amount of space for the swap partition — putting to rest the notion that swap should be twice the available RAM. At this point we were intrigued by the screenshot button in the lower left corner of the dialog. It indeed takes a screenshot, but where will it store it when it is about to format the disk?

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The appropriately named "popularity-contest" allows users to provide feedback to Debian, the results of which can be viewed here.

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The standard express package installation selection. I'll take one desktop with the lot please.

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This is the time you go do those errands that you've been putting off for weeks.

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Upon rebooting we were presented with this spartan GRUB selection.

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Never fear that Debian would remain textual for too long, the GDM dialog shows that even the most conservative of distros can be pretty.

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This is the default GNOME desktop, complete with notice that there has been a kernel failure. I never noticed any kernel failure.

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Harking back to the GNU side of its name, Debian does not include a branded version of Firefox, instead preferring a Free version of the browser called IceWeasel that is unencumbered by Mozilla's trademark requirements. A similar situation exists for Thunderbird which is known as IceDove.

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Mozilla software aside, you'll find all the software that you've come to expect from a standard Linux distribution. This shot shows the Synaptic package manager that provides a GUI for deb package management.

(Credit: Chris Duckett/ZDNet.com.au)