What's the BEST Debian Distro?

[DarkZyzx]

The fastest, easiest to use, most fun to toy with and change, has the most DE's, and sleekest Debian distro?
P.S. also the one with the easiest package manager.

Which one is it?

You help me decide. thnx
:popcorn:

[mssever]

Which is the best is a matter of opinion. Only you can answer that question. Also, by Debian distro, do you mean stable vs. testing vs. unstable or do you also include derivitives such as Ubuntu? In the end, it's still a matter of your opinion.

[ajgreeny]

The fastest, easiest to use, most fun to toy with and change, has the most DE's, and sleekest Debian distro?
P.S. also the one with the easiest package manager.

Which one is it?Being on the Ubuntu forum, I think the answer to this will be pretty obvious. But seriously, all of them as far as I know are using the same package manager, synaptic, though some have addapted it to become our Add/Remove Programs, or kubuntu's adept, if it still has it.

I have looked at Mint 4, which is very nice but no better than Ubuntu, and has a few things missing. It doesn't seem to have the same degree of choice in certain respects, though I suspect that is because I haven't tried very hard. I know it has all the codecs etc etc, but that takes about 5 mins on Ubuntu, once you know what you're doing so is no big deal to sort out. I've also looked at Mepis in various incarnations but just didn't like it, for some reason; similarly with PCLinuxOS. Have never tried debian itself, so can't comment on that.

I've got this Ubuntu machine running better than anything I've ever used before in about 20 yrs of computer use, from Dos to WinXP, and I see no reason to change. It would be very hard to beat Ubuntu, in my opinion.

[Antman]

My best debian distro is in my signature. But this may not be YOUR best debian distro. As I stated in your other duplicate posts... try them and decide.:guitar:

[SunnyRabbiera]

Mepis for me, easy to use and manage.
It comes with kde but you can install others too

[Incense]

Best is subjective, but I would place my vote behind DreamLinux or SIDUX. Both very nice.

[kellemes]

The fastest, easiest to use, most fun to toy with and change, has the most DE's, and sleekest Debian distro?
P.S. also the one with the easiest package manager.

Which one is it?

You help me decide. thnx
:popcorn:


Debian's package manager is dpkg. What branche you pull you packages from (stable/testing/unstable/experimental) doesn't matter for the package management.
Depending on where you pull your packages from you can make Debian the way you like it. If you want a bleeding edge system (including it's relative instability) like Ubuntu, you pull in packages from unstable, if you need it for a server you don't want to reboot for the next 35 years, you pull in packages from stable.

I use a mixed system, most packages are from Testing/Lenny and only some packages come from Unstable/Sid, but only when I need to.
This gives me stability and enough bleeding edge to be just perfect.

Also, I never need to upgrade my system, I just pull in new versions of individual packages I have installed, so I'm always up to date.

And so, there is no such thing as one Debian distro.

[smartboyathome]

I would say Linux Mint is good. They have a version based on debian now (no Ubuntu, just pure debian).

[kinematic]

My best Debian distro is.....Debian. The various offspring can be nice but Debian is still the mack daddy, one of the original source distro's and still very important in distroland.

[kerry_s]

all debian list-> http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=All&origin=All&basedon=Debian&desktop=All&architecture=ix86&status=Active

[init1]

Debian ;)
If you want something easier, I would recommend Dream Linux

[zetetic]

The best Debian distro is... Debian! I'm using Debian Lenny (a nice blend of stability and up to date packages).

Besides, with Debian testing you will be always up to date, and you'll never need to reinstall.

Long live the rolling distros.

[jrusso2]

The fastest, easiest to use, most fun to toy with and change, has the most DE's, and sleekest Debian distro?
P.S. also the one with the easiest package manager.

Which one is it?

You help me decide. thnx
:popcorn:

With those criteria I would say Linux Mint

[Antman]

The best Debian distro is... Debian! I'm using Debian Lenny (a nice blend of stability and up to date packages).

Besides, with Debian testing you will be always up to date, and you'll never need to reinstall.

Long live the rolling distros.

+1

[jcwmoore]

for me it is

PenDriveLinux (http://pendrivelinux.com)

small and very portable, but it is still a full OS

[markharding557]

debian testing for me too

[DjBones]

i'm a fan of debian unstable .. but if i'm feeling less adventurous testing is great too

[regomodo]

I can't decide, Testing or Stable? I've used unstable for a bit, wasn't that unstable tbh.

[Pobega]

If you've got nothing to lose on your server, try Debian Sid. If the computer is critically important (Or perhaps the only one in your house) I'd use Debian testing (As I do). Testing is pretty up-to-date and very stable in comparison to Sid. On the other hand, stable is too old for home desktop users.

[r4ik]

Try Sidux it is rather cutting edge and dead easy.

[dptxp]

Try Sidux it is rather cutting edge and dead easy.

sidux is very impressive. 10 minutes to install. Fast to run.
Good hardware detection. GUI interface to install non-free.
But no SYNAPTIC. You use apt-get.
They have LITE versions too, 400+ MB. Do not try torrents.

[Antman]

sidux is very impressive. 10 minutes to install. Fast to run.

Installs within 6 min. on my systems... :)

When i install from my usb stick, it installs in 3 min. :guitar:

[Kateikyoushi]

Debian of course stable testing exp whatever floats your boat.

[polmir]

If You know Debian, You know Ubuntu. If You know Ubuntu You do not know Debian.

[Gen2ly]

Debian is awesome for PPC

[DarkZyzx]

If You know Debian, You know Ubuntu. If You know Ubuntu You do not know Debian.

Interesting statement....:lolflag:

thanks.... i guess that makes sense....:popcorn:

[p_quarles]

If You know Debian, You know Ubuntu. If You know Ubuntu You do not know Debian.
I agree with the sentiment, but have to say that they're not that different. Ubuntu adds a few usability tools, but by and large most things will work exactly the same.

[davtaine]

Installs within 6 min. on my systems... :)

When i install from my usb stick, it installs in 3 min. :guitar:

I installed sidux within 3 mins from dvd. My hard disk went broke and i have to install from the beginning. I didnt remember that it is so fast :)

[dptxp]

I installed sidux within 3 mins from dvd. My hard disk went broke and i have to install from the beginning. I didnt remember that it is so fast :)

It boots fast too. It runs fast too.

Hope you did not break your hard disk by installing in 3 minutes :)

[davtaine]

Hope you did not break your hard disk by installing in 3 minutes :)

No, :) I broke my hd before, That hard disk was old (and battered)

[kellemes]

If You know Debian, You know Ubuntu. If You know Ubuntu You do not know Debian.

You have a point indeed.. Debian isn't made with comfort in mind, seems to be more technical demanding I guess.

[Soldierboy]

You have a point indeed.. Debian isn't made with comfort in mind, seems to be more technical demanding I guess.

Not much more really. Its just that a lot of the 'comfort configuration' isn't done for you in Debian, it allows you to configure it the way you want to by default. Other than that there's almost zero difference (besides social contract, community, etc). Its a great stepping stone up from Ubuntu because you learn a lot more about Linux in general because of the configuring you have to do in Debian, which is minimal compared to other non-Debian-based distros.

[DarkZyzx]

bump

[Antman]

bump

So, which ones have you tried so far??

Ant

[DarkZyzx]

So, which ones have you tried so far??

Ant

I have tried all the *buntu distros (3rd party too) and Debian.
:popcorn:

[cprofitt]

My vote would go to Debian (stable) with some backports.

[RSLxH]

Dreamlinux 3.0. Just passed through Beta to RC1 and it is awesome.
http://dreamlinux.com.br/
http://dreamlinuxforums.org
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=dreamlinux

[k_chupe]

Dramlinux 3 all the way! http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/ -Kevin

[zubrug]

Sidux all the way.

You can do it the debian way or use smxi script, metapackage install is also great.
Forum is small with strict rules regarding non-free stuff, the sidux-irc is the place for that as well as the debian forums and countless other blogs etc.

The dev's are always on the forums and the irc, problem solving is thus very fast and effective. No threads with hundreds of post's on top of dozen's of 'solutions' that have yet to solve the problem.

[Antman]

Sidux all the way.

+1

[handydan918]

I have tried all the *buntu distros (3rd party too) and Debian.
:popcorn:
What?! You tried Mepis, and you're still looking?!

I don't believe it.

:)

[notwen]

Running Etch and loving it. Been running Debian Stable since Potato and haven't once had a issue.

Debian Stable would get my vote. =]

[sujoy]

Debian Testing (currently Lenny)

[Pogeymanz]

So far, I've tried Debian Lenny, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, simplyMEPIS, Fluxbuntu, DSL (if that counts)

And Debian Lenny is the best so far, followed by Xubuntu (I just like XFCE)

[Ripfox]

Ubuntu

[souneedalink]

Debian of course...

[markharding557]

all the others are based on debian but only debian IS debian

[greymongrey]

sidux for me, by a mile. I wish I had the time to try Debian proper. I know it would be one great OS to use. However, my next two Debian based OSes to try will be Dreamlinux and Unbuntu 8.04. After that, who knows, my choice of best Debian Distro may change.

[deepclutch]

No doubt!Debian Lenny is the best distro :D!

[deepclutch]

all the others are based on debian but only debian IS debian
Bingo!\\:D/

[anantshri]

My best debian distro is in my signature. But this may not be YOUR best debian distro. As I stated in your other duplicate posts... try them and decide.:guitar:

WELL after looking at your signature i found FEDORA and OPENSUSE, the fact is all though i love both of them but they are distro's of GNU / LINUX not DEBIAN.

I would say Linux Mint is good. They have a version based on debian now (no Ubuntu, just pure debian).

I agree to you

My best Debian distro is.....Debian. The various offspring can be nice but Debian is still the mack daddy, one of the original source distro's and still very important in distroland.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY i agree to you kinematic

coz there can be no such thing as good old debian and you can only realize its true potential after you work on it for few months.

[DarkZyzx]

WELL after looking at your signature i found FEDORA and OPENSUSE, the fact is all though i love both of them but they are distro's of GNU / LINUX not DEBIAN.

Debian is GNU/Linux... it's just a distro. It has the deb package system that many other distros use now as well. Fedora and OpenSUSE are other linux distros. Debian is a Linux distro.

:popcorn:

[chamane]

Hi,

For up to date systems, I would prefer Geubuntu, Freespire, Sidux or Mint. For older ones, something like Elive, DreamLinux, Shift or Debris. For old PCs, I would go for Damnsmall, Antix or Beafanatix. But if I had to choose only one Distro, I think I would go for Debris. It's very light and complete and still based on Ubuntu Gutsy.

Chamane O:)

[deepclutch]

^am hearing most of the distros for the firzst time :p

[RAV TUX]

Hi,

For up to date systems, I would prefer Geubuntu, Freespire, Sidux or Mint. For older ones, something like Elive, DreamLinux, Shift or Debris. For old PCs, I would go for Damnsmall, Antix or Beafanatix. But if I had to choose only one Distro, I think I would go for Debris. It's very light and complete and still based on Ubuntu Gutsy.

Chamane O:)

Debris (http://debris.moonmind.net/) is a new one for me, Thanks for the post.

[greymongrey]

I think you've made RAV TUX happy. He has a new toy to play with now. :)

[Caraibes]

I agree that there are a bunch of great Debian derivatives.

However, I am now running Debian Testing on my main box, and Debian Stable on various other PC's that I don't have time to always update...

I feel that Debian Testing with a proper sources.list is the best you can get.

Sid seems a bit intimidating, but Testing is a good compromise for a main desktop...

FYI, here's my sources.list:

deb http://ftp.br.debian.org/debian/ lenny main non-free contrib
deb-src http://ftp.br.debian.org/debian/ lenny main non-free contrib

deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main non-free contrib
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main non-free contrib

#debian multimedia repository (http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/24283/)
deb ftp://linorg.usp.br/debian-marillat/ testing main
deb-src ftp://linorg.usp.br/debian-marillat/ testing main

# Official site for latest version of skype.
deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

# Google picasa
#(wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add - )
# or (gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv A040830F7FAC5991 && gpg --export --armor A040830F7FAC5991 | sudo apt-key add - )
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free

### Opera Browser (http://deb.opera.com/) ###
deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ lenny non-free

[deepclutch]

here is my Debian Sid (apt-pinned ) /etc/apt/sources.list :

# If you get errors about missing keys, lookup the key in this file
# and run these commands (replace KEY with the key number):
# gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv KEY
# gpg --export --armor KEY | apt-key add -
#
# If you have a gpg key URL use (replace URL with the key address):
#
# wget -q URL -O- | apt-key add -
#
# If you have a gpg key file use (replace FILE with the key file):
#
# apt-key add FILE

#testing security updates
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main
#deb-src http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main

#testing repository
deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
#deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free

#unstable repository
deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
#deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

#experimental repository
deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ experimental main contrib non-free
#deb ftp://ftp.se.debian.org/debian/ experimental main contrib non-free

#debian-unofficial
deb http://ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free restricted
#deb-src http://ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free restricted

#debian multimedia
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main

#rarewares
deb http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/ ./


OH! and u need :

localhost:~# cat /etc/apt/apt.conf
APT::Default-Release "unstable";
APT::Cache-Limit 100000000;

and:

localhost:~# cat /etc/apt/preferences
#Explanation: see http://www.argon.org/~roderick/apt-pinning.html
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=testing
Pin-Priority: 200

Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 10

Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian
Pin-Priority: -1

:D and not to say u have a good broadband connection with night unlimited plans or so :lol:

[oneup]

Best for a complete newbie who has little interest in computers who just wants to work with one would be Xandros 4 home premium,its not free in terms of cost but at less than £40.00 / $80.00 complete with handbook and crossover office plus usual linux distro office etc,it has realplayer and other items a newbie might not want to search for it represents the nearest to win XP ease for uninformed user !

[deepclutch]

^ur yet to see more capable distros than that cr#p baby ;)
for eg: linux mint?

[jdhore]

I think the best Debian distro is Debian Testing. It's the perfect mix between up-to-date-ness, stability, ease of use and general awesomeness.

[Caraibes]

I think the best Debian distro is Debian Testing. It's the perfect mix between up-to-date-ness, stability, ease of use and general awesomeness.
I totally agree !!!
;-)
I am very appy with my Debian Testing install... Mostly vanilla...
I use mostly the Gnome/OpenBox combination, which i fast & light, or Fluxbox (with PCManFM)...
All te best to my fellow readers !

[polmir]

I think the best Debian distro is Debian Testing. It's the perfect mix between up-to-date-ness, stability, ease of use and general awesomeness.

I like it.

[keratos]

DEBIAN

I use lenny/sid and its great for tghe average desktop use.

Starting from a [tiny] netinst image that I created on a USB stick, I booted and installed a minimum base + desktop:

From here I selected a local (fast LENNY) mirror and installed xfce4, xserver-xorg, synaptic and xfburn (downloaded as not in repos).

To improve response and reduce bloat in the kernel, I fetched 2.6.22 tree and applied patches to get to 2.6.22-3 (lenny) then copied the /boot/config... to /usr/src/linux... and "make oldconfig" followed by "make menuconfig". Take out all the unnecessary support, drivers, modules, reduce buffers and cache, plus tweaks to clock cycles (HZ=1000),hyperthreading, SMP, IO Schedulers, latency, tickless etc.

Now I have a system that is more responsive than my Vector Linux, Arch linux and Zenwalk linux install on the SAME disk.

I've used various benchmarks that consider the integrated thread route through the hardware but these are not really essential because I can just tell and just know the response is fantastic.

All is not well though because I compiled in libata support for my IDE VIA chipset however one disk failed and the other was connected at UDMA33 - groan - a known bug!! Ah well, it was experimental. Back to ide-disk then !!


So, Debian for me.


BTW *buntu are doing fantastic and have certainly raised the Debian flag. *buntu in my view is progressing well and the momentum for a Linux distro is fanstastic. Each day we see new converts on the forum here, moving from XP/Vista. I think its important to focus on the community spirit and support, for which there is no like-for-like other. Linux is so flexible and even in the Debian ancestor tree, there are many flavours to use, many to learn, many to spend a late night with !! In the end, does it matter what anyone thinks....just go out and try them, try whatever takes your fancy, after all...

ITS ALL OPEN AND FREE.

(but dont forget to contribute in some way/fashion) ;)


"If its not THE Debian, then its not Debian!"

[Vorian Grey]

I think the best Debian distro is Debian Testing. It's the perfect mix between up-to-date-ness, stability, ease of use and general awesomeness.
I agree. It is more awesome that I ever dreamed. I didn't have a clue until I tried it. I thought Debian based distros was good but there ain't nothing like the real thing.

[anticapitalista]

If you have low RAM (ie 128MB) and want a fast debian Lenny livecd (Debian itself does not [yet] provide a Lenny or Sid Or Etch livecd) , go for antiX. You can easily add the sid repos to get bleeding edge and a fast to boot linux distro.

If you have a lot more RAM on a modern box and you like KDE, sidux is the best choice.

[dmn_clown]

Debian is a Linux distro.

No, Debian is the universal OS based around gnu, linux is just a kernel that can be replaced:

http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/
http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/
http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/

[keratos]

No, Debian is the universal OS based around gnu, linux is just a kernel that can be replaced:

http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/
http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/
http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/

No!!

Since you like to provide links, I thought I'd reciprocate ;)

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-intro.en.html

have a read!

[Ace2016]

Its too hard to choose between the latest version of ubuntu and debain sid, yes sid is unstable but its always up to date, but ubuntu has to be upgraded in cycles but has the cool addons made by the ubuntu devs so i can't choose :(

[Vorian Grey]

Why not choose both?

[DarkZyzx]

Why not choose both?

:KS
Haha, that's the best way to go!
:popcorn:

[polmir]

Testing-weekly-builds (http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/i386/iso-cd/)

[deepclutch]

^gr8 !:D

BTW,Debian's Gnome is always much faster than sluggish Ubuntu Gnome .donno what patches and tweaks ubuntu fellas had done :? :roll:

[ubuntu-freak]

The lack of package maintainers for Ubuntu worries me sometimes, but it's not at a critical level, and I love how Ubuntu is put together.

Everyone should run Debian Sid if they have a spare system in my opinion, or dual boot I guess - it's great fun and teaches you a few things. Oh and let's not forget Sid enables you to preview new software/drivers.

Nathan

[Awayne]

I use Debian STABLE on pretty much everything I run, I don't like constant streams of updates and 2 upgrades a year. My laptop at the moment though is running Sarge, purely for memories of trying to get it to work with hardware years ago. Giving Sidux a shot later on to see what it's like, even though I don't like the thought of using the Sid branch. I always stick with Debian so that gets my vote. :)

[deepclutch]

no candies anymore :cry: Debian Sid Gnome is slow for past 3 weeks :?

[keratos]

no candies anymore :cry: Debian Sid Gnome is slow for past 3 weeks :?

uninstall something

:)

[Shakey_Jake33]

I must admit, I've gone over to Debian Testing this week, and I'm in love. I get everything I loved about Ubuntu - Gnome-centric, apt-get etc, but without the mollycoddling. You learn something new all the time, thanks to the lack of hand holding, yet never so much that it's a chore to use. It's constantly updated with the newest updates, yet not much that it's volatile like Sid. And it's rolling release, which is definitely my preference.

It definitely feels faster to use than Ubuntu too, and you soon realise why - it really does install a pretty barebone system, and lets you sort out the rest. Stuff like NTFS-3G which I assumed would be default by now. But this surely means that a huge amount of the unneeded extras found in a default Ubuntu install are not installed by default either.

[deepclutch]

well,Im thinking of removing ~/.gnome dir's.if that also doesnot improve speed,will apt-get --reinstall install gnome-session and other packages :p