Debian contains support for shadow passwords since release 1.3. In addition,
the Linux library of Pluggable Authentication Modules (a.k.a. libpam
;) that
allows sysadmins to choose authorization modes on an application-specific basis
is available, and initially set to authenticate via shadow password.
Including full support for advanced authentication methods such as Kerberos, RSBAC and others is in progress.
Debian already has some support for non-English users, see How does Debian support non-English languages?, Section 4.8.
We hope to find people who will provide support for even more languages, and translate. Some programs already support internationalization, so we need message catalogs translators. Many programs still remain to be properly internationalized.
The GNU Translation Project ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ABOUT-NLS
works on internationalizing the GNU programs.
Complete Debian system on other architectures such as SPARC64 or SuperH is expected soon.
In addition to Debian GNU/Hurd, Debian is being ported to several BSD kernels, namely those from NetBSD, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
version 3.0.2, 28 January 2003