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I would recommend Debian GNU/Linux over Ubuntu for the following reasons: * Stability: I consider Debian testing/unstable more stable than Ubuntu stable (Try u

by pksadiq 10y ago

I would recommend Debian GNU/Linux over Ubuntu for the following reasons: * Stability: I consider Debian testing/unstable more stable than Ubuntu stable (Try updating an ubuntu with lots of package installed). * Privacy: Debian is more concerned about User's privacy then Ubuntu. If your iceweasel (now firefox) automatically connects to internet to load some data against your wish, you can consider this as a bug in Debian (and several other examples). * Community support: You get community support from both Ubuntu and Debian communities. * Truely free software 0: No non-free software by default. No binary blobs. But you may choose to have, if you wish to. * Truely free software 1: In Debian, if you solely install packages from 'main' repo, you can safely use it, even in commercial setup. But in ubuntu, there can be packages that may commercially have several restrictions (and those repos are enabled by default). Everything is from upstream: GNOME, wayland, flatpak ...

tsaprailis 10y ago
What's the switching to Debian learning curve like, regarding command line tools etc?
- binaryanomaly 10y ago
  Imho the differences are rather subtle. Ubuntu comes more consumer ready and pre-configured whereas Debian is "raw" and needs more initial setup effort.
  - lmns 10y ago
    Well, depends. Debian has so called "tasks". If you install one of the desktop tasks (e.g. task-gnome-desktop), it's as complete as any other pre-configured distribution.
    - binaryanomaly 10y ago
      Still the Desktop task is imho by no means comparable to what you get when you install Ubuntu Desktop. Ubuntu is more "turn key" ready what some again would consider as bloated. It's a lot about personal preference...
  - pksadiq 10y ago
    > Debian is "raw" and needs more initial setup effort. For some while I have been trying to write some hacky scripts[0] that would help users to configure their Debian systems really easily (consider the script as pre-alpha). [0] https://gitlab.com/sadiq/systemconf https://gitlab.com/sadiq/systemconf
blfr 10y ago
(Try updating an ubuntu with lots of package installed) Always do and don't remember any issues. Mostly, Ubuntu is Debian with some niceties thrown in like AskUbuntu, Unity, PPAs, or a release schedule.
- binaryanomaly 10y ago
  PPAs are really a distinct advantage over Debian. Wish this would get backported.
- pksadiq 10y ago
  > Always do and don't remember any issues. Have you ever tried updating an old Ubuntu (say, 14.04 LTS) with lots of -dev packages installed? I have had this issue several times, which made me force to switch one of my client's system to Debian.
- 6d6b73 10y ago
  I just updated Ubuntu last night..and it's no longer working. I would switch to Openbsd but I need VMs. I guess it's time to go back to the good old Debian
  - ymse 10y ago
    OpenBSD includes a hypervisor nowadays. http://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-6.0/man4/amd64/vmm.4 http://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-6.0/man4/amd64/vmm.4
  - gkya 10y ago
    If I were able to switch to a new OS now, I'd give a try to NixOS and GuixSD (especially to the latter as it fits my love of lisp and emacs). They bring a new paradigm to the table in package management. Unfortunately a bit busy nowadays...
major505 10y ago
I'm using mint in my notebook as the main SO just because it have NVIDIA suporte from the box. No neet to edit x11.org. Every time I open x11.org to edit, my life quaklity is decreased. And well mint works well enouth for my needs.
hashtagMERKY 10y ago
Thanks for this advice. I'm a bit of an ubuntu fanboi, but I've been getting a bit irritated by some of the stability issues and rough edges. I'll give Debian a try as soon as I have time.

by pksadiq 10y ago

tsaprailis 10y ago

What's the switching to Debian learning curve like, regarding command line tools etc?

binaryanomaly 10y ago
Imho the differences are rather subtle. Ubuntu comes more consumer ready and pre-configured whereas Debian is "raw" and needs more initial setup effort.
- lmns 10y ago
  Well, depends. Debian has so called "tasks". If you install one of the desktop tasks (e.g. task-gnome-desktop), it's as complete as any other pre-configured distribution.
  - binaryanomaly 10y ago
    Still the Desktop task is imho by no means comparable to what you get when you install Ubuntu Desktop. Ubuntu is more "turn key" ready what some again would consider as bloated. It's a lot about personal preference...
- pksadiq 10y ago
  > Debian is "raw" and needs more initial setup effort. For some while I have been trying to write some hacky scripts[0] that would help users to configure their Debian systems really easily (consider the script as pre-alpha). [0] https://gitlab.com/sadiq/systemconf https://gitlab.com/sadiq/systemconf

blfr 10y ago

(Try updating an ubuntu with lots of package installed) Always do and don't remember any issues. Mostly, Ubuntu is Debian with some niceties thrown in like AskUbuntu, Unity, PPAs, or a release schedule.

binaryanomaly 10y ago
PPAs are really a distinct advantage over Debian. Wish this would get backported.
pksadiq 10y ago
> Always do and don't remember any issues. Have you ever tried updating an old Ubuntu (say, 14.04 LTS) with lots of -dev packages installed? I have had this issue several times, which made me force to switch one of my client's system to Debian.
6d6b73 10y ago
I just updated Ubuntu last night..and it's no longer working. I would switch to Openbsd but I need VMs. I guess it's time to go back to the good old Debian
- ymse 10y ago
  OpenBSD includes a hypervisor nowadays. http://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-6.0/man4/amd64/vmm.4 http://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-6.0/man4/amd64/vmm.4
- gkya 10y ago
  If I were able to switch to a new OS now, I'd give a try to NixOS and GuixSD (especially to the latter as it fits my love of lisp and emacs). They bring a new paradigm to the table in package management. Unfortunately a bit busy nowadays...

major505 10y ago

I'm using mint in my notebook as the main SO just because it have NVIDIA suporte from the box. No neet to edit x11.org. Every time I open x11.org to edit, my life quaklity is decreased. And well mint works well enouth for my needs.

hashtagMERKY 10y ago

Thanks for this advice. I'm a bit of an ubuntu fanboi, but I've been getting a bit irritated by some of the stability issues and rough edges. I'll give Debian a try as soon as I have time.