Help me choose a Linux Distro

[Flawed]

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.

[OuchOfDeath]

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.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

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.

[Gerowen]

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.

[Prince781]

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.

[Prince781]

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.

[ViperAFK]

Opensuse's gnome 3 repo is still kind of glitchy as is ubuntu's. For stable gnome 3 I'd recommend arch or fedora 15 which comes out in a few weeks.

[xxxxxx.xxxxxx]

If you want to stay on the path of Linux - Debian

If you want something new to learn - FreeBSD

(Y)

[OuchOfDeath]

If you want to stay on the path of Linux - Debian

If you want something new to learn - FreeBSD

(Y)

That's a bit of a biased point. Debian isn't "on the path of Linux". That's nothing more than opinion.

[jbarcus81]

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!!

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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 :)

[+Warwagon MVC]

Justin Bieber Distro!

[blade1269]

Hey,

I say mint...

[catilley1092]

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