Is Ubuntu LTS binary compatible with Debian?
They are not necessarily binary compatible. That being said, most packages will probably work fine. I've done this on occasion and I've never had a problem.
Although, it's not recommended to mix Debian and Ubuntu packages on a single system. If you're going to do it try to keep it at a minimum. If you're pulling in too much of the other, then perhaps you really just want the other. I'd say by the time you feel you need to add a foreign source you're probably running the wrong one.
The closer in time the freeze of the two releases (i.e., the freeze of Ubuntu LTS and Debian's release) the better compatibility you'll have.
If it's a third party package in deb format that says it's for one, it will almost certainly work on the other with few issues.
Keep in mind that this is anecdotal and just my experience. There really is no guarantee or even implication of cross-compatibility. Don't expect either the Debian or Ubuntu communities to give you much sympathy if things go wrong. In that event you're mostly on your own. As long as you're okay with that then feel free to give it a try.
No, Debian and Ubuntu are not binary compatible. Debian and Ubuntu may use different compilers with different ABI, different kernel versions, different libraries, different packages/version etc. As not all Ubuntu packages are in Debian (and vice versa) deb packages may also depend on uninstallable versions.
RedHat and CentOS are the same as CentOS basically gets all the source packages from RedHat and compiles them. But Ubuntu does much more like providing own packages, package own Software, use older or newer versions of upstream software, fix bugs etc.
So no technically they are not binary compatible.
I may made it sound worse than it is in reality. BUT it is important to understand that the relationship between Ubuntu and Debian is NOT anything like between rhel and CentOS
Ubuntu/Debian compatibility
tl;dr
Not technically, but many packages are.
How to get the best chance
Use Ubuntu LTS and Debian Stable, or Ubuntu and Debian Sid/Testing.
Differences
- Ubuntu and Debian use different compilers. AFAIK Ubuntu is compiled on the preceding Ubuntu, whereas Debian is compiled on the preceding Stable.
- Ubuntu and Debian have some libraries in different places.
- Ubuntu LTS uses upstart, whereas Debian uses systemd.
- Ubuntu and Debian have different package names.
How to make it work
Do
- Install only isolated packages.
- Install them only on non-critical machines.
Don't
- Add foreign sources.
- Install too many packages from the other distro.
- Install critical libraries from the other distro. For example, adding a browser from the other system is OK. Adding a libc6 isn't.