4 ms·

Why not Debian?

by dfc 14y ago

Why not Debian?

kunai 14y ago
Debian stable tends to be too stable for my tastes; Fedora is much more bleeding edge. It's just a matter of preference, really.
- csense 14y ago
  Fedora? Bleeding edge? I've heard that Red Hat is what's holding a lot of people back in the Python world, because their Python version is so ancient.
  - Symmetry 14y ago
    Fedora is bleeding edge, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is not.
- chao- 14y ago
  If it's fresh packages you want, surely you know there's more than just stable. Have you given Sid a try? I've been running it for years on my non-server machines, and I haven't had any more or less problems with it than other bleeding edge distros.
- colanderman 14y ago
  Debian testing is pretty great. I personally use a mix of testing, unstable, and experimental on my desktop, and a mix of stable and testing on my server.
- dfc 14y ago
  I have ran unstable for 10+ years. The only problems I have ever had were graphics related and required downgrading to an older version of an X11 library. Debian unstable has never put me in a position where I could have lost data.
obviouslygreen 14y ago
+1; this was my thought as well. The problem, though, is that I can no longer say to people, "you should try Linux! Ubuntu is predictable, stable, and easy to use." I don't know if Debian has a similarly friendly desktop distribution, but unless they do, I'll now point people to Linux Mint. Granted... I think this has been a better choice since Unity came into the big picture, not because it's bad, but because it's unfamiliar.
- keithpeter 14y ago
  "I don't know if Debian has a similarly friendly desktop distribution" Debian Wheezy (currently testing but which will be the stable release soonish) provides Gnome 3.4 desktop but with the options of xfce4, KDE and lxde. A recent install using defaults onto a low spec netbook was basically easy. See http://www.sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux_debian-wheezy-install-from-dvd1.html http://www.sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux_debian-wheezy-instal... When Wheezy goes stable there will be live images which can be installed from.
  - obviouslygreen 14y ago
    Thanks; I'm aware of Debian's release cycle, but am not entirely sure how "non-Linux-person-friendly" the stable release is. Which is my own fault, since I've settled for Ubuntu for so long. It's great to hear it installs well on netbooks! I'm typing this on an Ubuntu Aspire One, though I always use OpenBox to replace whatever Ubuntu comes with since I'm comfortable with it. Will definitely check out Debian stable as an alternative (which is a bit funny coming from Ubuntu... an alternative to an alternative).
    - keithpeter 14y ago
      I'm a 'non-windows-admin' user and recently had to install Win7 and drivers on a thinkpad T60 for my sister as my usual CentOS/Ubuntu/Debian wasn't what she wanted. Took me a bit of time and some googling. I think anyone that can reinstall Windows with drivers could manage a Debian install provided they check the wifi card (available firmware) and graphics drivers (not Optimus basically) first. Gnome 3.4 with Gnome Shell is perhaps a bit heavy for an Atom based netbook although I find it usable.

Why not Debian?

by dfc 14y ago

Why not Debian?

kunai 14y ago

Debian stable tends to be too stable for my tastes; Fedora is much more bleeding edge. It's just a matter of preference, really.

csense 14y ago
Fedora? Bleeding edge? I've heard that Red Hat is what's holding a lot of people back in the Python world, because their Python version is so ancient.
- Symmetry 14y ago
  Fedora is bleeding edge, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is not.
chao- 14y ago
If it's fresh packages you want, surely you know there's more than just stable. Have you given Sid a try? I've been running it for years on my non-server machines, and I haven't had any more or less problems with it than other bleeding edge distros.
colanderman 14y ago
Debian testing is pretty great. I personally use a mix of testing, unstable, and experimental on my desktop, and a mix of stable and testing on my server.
dfc 14y ago
I have ran unstable for 10+ years. The only problems I have ever had were graphics related and required downgrading to an older version of an X11 library. Debian unstable has never put me in a position where I could have lost data.

obviouslygreen 14y ago

+1; this was my thought as well. The problem, though, is that I can no longer say to people, "you should try Linux! Ubuntu is predictable, stable, and easy to use." I don't know if Debian has a similarly friendly desktop distribution, but unless they do, I'll now point people to Linux Mint. Granted... I think this has been a better choice since Unity came into the big picture, not because it's bad, but because it's unfamiliar.

keithpeter 14y ago
"I don't know if Debian has a similarly friendly desktop distribution" Debian Wheezy (currently testing but which will be the stable release soonish) provides Gnome 3.4 desktop but with the options of xfce4, KDE and lxde. A recent install using defaults onto a low spec netbook was basically easy. See http://www.sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux_debian-wheezy-install-from-dvd1.html http://www.sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux_debian-wheezy-instal... When Wheezy goes stable there will be live images which can be installed from.
- obviouslygreen 14y ago
  Thanks; I'm aware of Debian's release cycle, but am not entirely sure how "non-Linux-person-friendly" the stable release is. Which is my own fault, since I've settled for Ubuntu for so long. It's great to hear it installs well on netbooks! I'm typing this on an Ubuntu Aspire One, though I always use OpenBox to replace whatever Ubuntu comes with since I'm comfortable with it. Will definitely check out Debian stable as an alternative (which is a bit funny coming from Ubuntu... an alternative to an alternative).
  - keithpeter 14y ago
    I'm a 'non-windows-admin' user and recently had to install Win7 and drivers on a thinkpad T60 for my sister as my usual CentOS/Ubuntu/Debian wasn't what she wanted. Took me a bit of time and some googling. I think anyone that can reinstall Windows with drivers could manage a Debian install provided they check the wifi card (available firmware) and graphics drivers (not Optimus basically) first. Gnome 3.4 with Gnome Shell is perhaps a bit heavy for an Atom based netbook although I find it usable.