Help me choose a Linux Distro


Recommended Posts

I left Ubuntu and went to Debian. I am quite pleased with the move too. Debian has proven to be very stable with fewer bugs than other distros I've tried, and runs twice as fast on the same hardware, even when compared to Ubuntu 11.04 with the classic Gnome desktop. I don't know what they did in 11.04, but it is SLOW! Unity just feels way too dumbed down. I kept trying to tweak certain settings and add stuff to the panels for information and I felt locked in, so I left and I am thoroughly enjoying Debian 6.0.1. There's a netinstall CD that will do 32 and 64 bit both, you just pick which one when you boot from the disc.

I've been meaning to try a base Debian install for a while myself. I'm especially interested in GNU Hurd/Debian. It would be nice to use a fully GNU OS. including the micro kernel.

I have 11.04 running on a laptop, and while it's not perfect, I quite like it. I also like the direction of Gnome 3, which in some respects, is similar to Unity. I can't say that I've noticed any slow down, in fact, on the laptop I'm using it, it's actually faster than 10.10.

The IRC channels for Debian are much more helpful as well. Ubuntu just seemed like to much of a clusterf**k, Debian's devs in the IRC channels are for the most part very professional and very helpful with the one issue I did have. Another good thing is that about everything ran perfectly fine out of the box. All I had to do was go snag debian-multimedia so I could watch DVDs.

That's good to know. No doubt I'll have a few questions when I try it myself.

Hasn't anyone figured out that you can select the classic GNOME 2 desktop from the loggin screen? Yes you will have a few more tweaks after that, but they're all listed here: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/things-to-tweak-fix-after-installing.html (First thing I do is remove the overlay scrollbars and global menu, then change the single start menu to the triple "Applications, Places, Preferences" menu)

I don't see any reason to switch distributions over Unity. The classic desktop is right there, and it's just like 10.10.

Hasn't anyone figured out that you can select the classic GNOME 2 desktop from the loggin screen? Yes you will have a few more tweaks after that, but they're all listed here: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/things-to-tweak-fix-after-installing.html (First thing I do is remove the overlay scrollbars and global menu, then change the single start menu to the triple "Applications, Places, Preferences" menu)

I don't see any reason to switch distributions over Unity. The classic desktop is right there, and it's just like 10.10.

I didn't switch because of unity, I was fully aware that I could downgrade to Gnome 2 (in fact I mentioned it in the original post). I switched because the 11.04 update rendered my Ubuntu install completely nuked. The fact that Unity comes with it and the fact that I can't install any up to date software via Apt were just factors in my dislike of Ubuntu in general.

Hasn't anyone figured out that you can select the classic GNOME 2 desktop from the loggin screen? Yes you will have a few more tweaks after that, but they're all listed here: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/things-to-tweak-fix-after-installing.html (First thing I do is remove the overlay scrollbars and global menu, then change the single start menu to the triple "Applications, Places, Preferences" menu)

I don't see any reason to switch distributions over Unity. The classic desktop is right there, and it's just like 10.10.

Even the classic Gnome Desktop in 11.04 was sluggish for me, on a machine with 256 MB of video memory and 4 GB of RAM, even with the proprietary ATI drivers. I couldn't even drag a video around while it was playing without the whole desktop slowing down. When I would draw a square to select an area of the desktop it would lag. They also took the options to turn off Compiz out of the "Appearance" menu in Classic Gnome. Debian was fast and operational out of the box, and all I had to do was add my custom apps. Ubuntu is, in an effort to become more user friendly, becoming bloatware.

I'd say that Ubuntu 11.04 with GNOME 3 on it is a good solution, or openSUSE, which has GNOME 3 on it. No matter what you do, don't settle for GNOME 2, unless you like a boring interface. You seem to be a person who enjoys a fancy UI, so you pretty much have it down to Unity or GNOME. Sorry about that. :/ I guess that if you don't like either one, you should just bite the bullet or look for a different OS if this really bothers you. In the end I guess, it's all about what makes you happy.

I'd say that Ubuntu 11.04 with GNOME 3 on it is a good solution, or openSUSE, which has GNOME 3 on it. No matter what you do, don't settle for GNOME 2, unless you like a boring interface. You seem to be a person who enjoys a fancy UI, so you pretty much have it down to Unity or GNOME. Sorry about that. :/ I guess that if you don't like either one, you should just bite the bullet or look for a different OS if this really bothers you. In the end I guess, it's all about what makes you happy.

Whoops, didn't see the above post on here. Anyway, just disregard what I said. I hope you find XFCE to be a very good UI for you. I've actually tried it, and it's not that bad.

  • 10 months later...

I would love to try Arch Linux.. I'm still pretty new at Linux but know enough that it shouldn't be a problem for me to get it going.. only issue I have is what I downloaded, I am not sure what I'm missing, but I boot to command line.. No GUI? Did I miss a step? (be easy lol) ... I've heard GREAT things about Arch Linux but I can't seem to get it going on my laptop... Should I download the NetInstall Image? Core Image? Is there a decent guide to follow so I can at least get the GUI? Thanks for any help/tips!!

yes use the netinstall image if you can, that will install the latest version of all the files you choose in the installer

and check out the arch linux beginners guide, there's a link to it right on the arch linux front page

this is how i got started out with it, i recommend starting with a VM though because if it goes anything like it did with me it will take a few installs to get everything figured out

but once you do it's cake :)

What about Zorin OS? It claims to be the gateway for Windows users to turn to Linux.

http://zorin-os.com/

It even has an XP & Windows 7 interface. I would like to say Linux Mint 12, but if you have an AMD video card, their driver for it is buggy. However, Mint 11 runs perfectly. I mention Zorin because I have it also, and will probably dump both Ubuntu & Mint in favor of Zorin. It's kinda hard keeping up with 3 Linux OS's, & Windows 8 DP also.

Cat

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • AMAZON needs to take total accountability for this.
    • Server Summit had a heap of announcements, ADCS changes are baller.
    • Nice, hope they *finally* fixed the issue with the NTFS driver where the system would completely brick during large file copies using the built in driver. It's been broken for years requiring me to use the older, slower, NTFS-3G FUSE driver.
    • Windows 11 KB5094126 BSODing, freezing, forcing BitLocker lockout, breaks OneDrive, and more by Sayan Sen Microsoft released Windows 11 KB5094126 and KB5093998 last week as the latest Patch Tuesday updates. Following that the company also published the accompanying dynamic updates under KB5094149, KB5095971, and KB5094156. While Microsoft has so far not acknowledged any major problems with the release, some users online are running into problems. These range from OneDrive and Dropbox access issues, BitLocker recovery lockouts, to blue screens and BSODs. The most common one seems to be happening with HP systems wherein affected users say they hit 0xc0430001 BSOD (blue screen of death) error code after the KB5094126 update. We wonder if this could be related to the recent bug we covered on HP devices wherein the ongoing Secure Boot certificate updates are leading to similar issues. While we are not certain, users affected by this issue likely need to ensure that the boot.stl file is included on the installation media (such as a USB installer or ISO), if the above-mentioned dynamic updates are deployed. If this file is missing, computers may fail to boot from the installation media and could display the error 0xc0430001. This STL file is used by Secure Boot to verify that the boot files are trusted, so it must match the same Windows version and system architecture. To ensure the file is included, Microsoft recommends using the Update WinPE script, which automatically updates the image and handles the required files. Alternatively, you can manually copy the boot.stl file from the Windows\Boot\EFI folder on a Windows device and place it in the matching folder on your installation media before deploying the updated image. Aside from blue screening some users also note their systems have been freezing following the update. This could be happening to Lenovo PCs specifically. In the case of the OneDrive and Dropbox access issues, a user figured out that there could be a conflict with UAC. He explained: "Okay, so I did some digging, and in our environment KB5094126 breaks OneDrive and Dropbox in Explorer. I went through all our GPOs and found out that the combination of disabling UAC and having my user being a local admin breaks OneDrive in Explorer. ... If I enable UAC again, then it works, even with KB5094126 still installed." Hopefully, Microsoft will look into these issues. Source: Microsoft forum (link1, link2, link3, link4), Reddit (link1, link2, link3, link4)
    • It is when it's a desktop in my house though for a PC that's lightly used and not really important when it is. If it was a laptop, it would be a different story. The real solution is varied and begins starting at post #22 in that thread.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      138
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      80
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!