Graduating from Ubuntu. What's the next logical step?

[Starks]

I'm thinking about moving on within a year or so. Where should I go next?

Fedora? Arch? Something else?

I'm looking for something that isn't a pain in the *** to use, but also can be run in a PPA-esque bleeding edge environment

[JordyD]

If you read the wikis and have a good knowledge of the command-line, Arch is pretty easy to set up. It's bleeding edge.

[-grubby]

I don't think you can "graduate" from an operating system. Sure, you can install another one to learn some more, but there's no reason why you should have a time limit on how long you can use Ubuntu.

[Hogosha]

i do love the people who call ubuntu the baby linux or linux for dummies. Yes, it one of the most user friendly of the Linux environments but if you want to compile your own os, more power to you. I am going to keep my ubuntu if you please.

[Regenweald]

Arch. because that is about the only answer you'll get in Ubuntu Forums. Apparently it's the last word in computing :P

I'd try FreeBSD and compile a custom kernel specific to my hardware, I read the documentation on it recently and feel like i can already do it.

[sefs]

Don't forget there is stuff like opensolaris and herd out there to be dabbled in.

[toupeiro]

I think its sort of silly to essentially say you're graduating from linux, and you want to move on to linux (arch, fedora). Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch are all really wrapping paper. If you want to move on, try solaris or BSD.

[stwschool]

OpenSolaris is very very cool, though possibly a bit too easy? Put Virtualbox on your machine and try out a whole bunch of stuff. Try Arch and Gentoo if you really want to know what goes on under the hood, and BSD and Solaris if you want to try other varieties of *nix. Fedora is more bleeding edge than Ubuntu and is probably useful if you need Red Hat skills (ie what's in Fedora will eventually be in Redhat), but other than that, for me it doesn't buy you much that Ubuntu can't give you.

[Frak]

Go get NetBSD, set it up, configure it, and try to make it as close to Ubuntu as possible. Then you'll be a master...

But, if you're normal, you'll gain new skill, but you'll have an even greater appreciation of why Ubuntu exists, and how much easier it is to use than manually compiling and configuring every application you want to install. While manual labour isn't bad, if you're like me that just wants a working system that's been at least tested for stability before release, you'll appreciate it.

[overdrank]

I'm looking for something that isn't a pain in the *** to use, but also can be run in a PPA-esque bleeding edge environment

Where's the challenge. :)

[Nburnes]

Why not go for Gentoo?

[Frak]

Where's the challenge. :)
Explaining to your professor that the reason your work isn't in on time is because someone uploaded a bum kernel patch?

Sounds challenging to me ;)

[Skripka]

Arch. because that is about the only answer you'll get in Ubuntu Forums. Apparently it's the last word in computing :P

I'd try FreeBSD and compile a custom kernel specific to my hardware, I read the documentation on it recently and feel like i can already do it.

I'll second The Arch rec. Come to the Dark Side, we gots Tacos.

[DigitalDuality]

Arch, def.