In my experience, the best features Debian offers are its stability, predictability, behaviors, and strong package management, which are crucial for a reliable system. Updates are well-tested, dependencies are handled cleanly, and the system remains reliable over a long period, which is very important for production and embedded Linux environments.
When comparing Debian with other Linux distributions, Debian stands out for its stability and conservative package updates. Updates rarely introduce unexpected changes, making our system more reliable over time. The package management handles dependencies very cleanly, making installs and upgrades predictable and easier to manage, reducing downtime and debugging efforts compared to faster-moving distributions.
One particularly useful feature is how Debian handles package information with tools like apt-cache and apt-policies, making it easy to understand package versions, dependencies, and where a package is coming from, which helps during debugging. Additionally, I find the Debian DPKG tool very useful, among other tools that aid in integration.
In my case, Debian provides stability and reliable versions, as I have noticed very few system breakages after updates. The reliable package updating process in Debian is very dependable, which helps me considerably in my organization for reliable application development.
Using Debian, we experience significantly fewer bugs after deployment, resulting in smoother deployments owing to Debian's stability.
Debian support is excellent. While it does not have traditional paid customer support like some commercial distributions, the Debian community and documentation are very strong. I find that relying on community support and documentation has been more than sufficient to solve any issues I have faced.