Ubuntu has me locked in.

[shane2peru]

Ok, sometimes I get tired of the 6mo cycle and I want longer term usage. However I look at the hardy that is still running on my wifes computer and can't go back to it, it is too ... hmm outdated. So I love the large amount of packages and can't seem to find another distro that offers such a large package base except Debian. I looked at using debian for a more of a longer life cycle, however the latest stable debian is running Gnome 2.24 (we are on 2.26) Evolution is also outdated. It seems that I have been trapped into sticking with the newness of Ubuntu, but not liking the constant upgrading. I have tried a ton of other distros, but always find myself back at Ubuntu. So I guess I just live with the 6mo life cycle, and love my new software. Do you have any other ideas? Oh, also my other critic for a distro is that it must be simple. I have installed Gentoo, and Slackware, and know how to do that sort of stuff, but I don't have the time to mess around with that. It isn't a lack of technical ability on my part.

Shane

[Greg]

How about Debian Testing? It's relatively stable, has a relatively long life, not so out of date packages, and when it becomes stable, all you need to do is change the repos list so it once again becomes a Testing system.

Oh, and of course there will be a million replies of Arch, which I don't think fits your wants right now, no matter how much I like it.

[Vostrocity]

What's wrong with the short cycle? The version upgrades are completely painless for me.

[Bölvaður]

Oh, and of course there will be a million replies of Arch, which I don't think fits your wants right now, no matter how much I like it.

I agree, you should rather look at pclinos, fedora or testing debian (not stable). There might be other rolling release distros you might want to check out I do not know.

[Greg]

Fedora is rolling release? Since when?

[hanzomon4]

Fedora is rolling release? Since when?

Since it ain't

Wouldn't arch be perfect for this.. I've never used it

[Therion]

It seems that I have been trapped...
Well, yeah. Duh. That's how we do things, Shane.

You're... One of Us now. There is no leaving.

[Greg]

Since it ain't

Wouldn't arch be perfect for this.. I've never used it

While Arch is indeed rolling release, the OP stated that although he's played with Gentoo and Slackware and the like (which incidentally the source based distros happen to be rolling release) he doesn't want much work. While Arch remains relatively stable after setup, and runs great, it's been compared to a car that runs perfectly with little maintenance after the initial setup but every few months catches on fire. It simply lacks the stability for what the OP is requesting.

[madjr]

i think shuttleworth was talking about something like this on his blog

[shane2peru]

PCLinuxOS I have looked at and installed, it is lacking packages, and not a Gnome distro (I failed to mention that) when I tried the Gnome side, the forums were extremely slow for replys, and the regular PCLinuxOS wouldn't help because I had Gnome installed. Plus not enough packages for my liking. Nice distro other than that.

Fedora, also not a rolling distro. I have thought about that one too, and even installed it. I think it came up short as far as packages.

Arch, is not simple. :) I tried that one too.

I think it is a trap to keep me in Ubuntu. They indeed have me.

Shane

[monsterstack]

Another vote for Debian Testing (currently Squeeze). There are four levels of stability with Debian:

Stable - it will never crash, at all, ever.
Testing - some applications might feel a little clunky, but the whole thing is very stable (more so than Ubuntu, in my experience).
Unstable - Cutting-edge stuff, but liable to blow up every now and again.
Experimental - You get the code as soon as it's written. Only for masochists.


People get the impression that because it's called the testing distribution, that it's somehow comparable to one of Ubuntu's alphas or betas, but this just isn't the case. The applications go through a very long period in the Unstable and Experimental phases before they filter down to testing. Really neat stuff.

[Pogeymanz]

Try Sidux.

It is basically Debian Sid, but with some emphasis on stability. If I remember correctly, they just take packages from Sid, but delay and/or patch them so that your system isn't as unstable as Sid, but SLIGHTLY less bleeding edge as well. Therefore, it is rolling release and require less fiddling than something like Arch.

I think Sidux is exactly what you are looking for.

[monsterstack]

Try Sidux.

It is basically Debian Sid, but with some emphasis on stability. If I remember correctly, they just take packages from Sid, but delay and/or patch them so that your system isn't as unstable as Sid, but SLIGHTLY less bleeding edge as well. Therefore, it is rolling release and require less fiddling than something like Arch.

I think Sidux is exactly what you are looking for.

It's a good choice. I think it requires a little bit more expertise than vanilla Debian, and you do have to keep an eye on what it is you're installing sometimes. But other than that, it is really impressive how they manage to make Sid a use-able distro. smxi's script makes upgrading pretty easy, too. And if you ever do find yourself in a situation where the latest update borks something, it's not a problem to roll-back to the version before, and wait to see if it has been fixed by the next update. I think that happened to me about twice in the six months I used it. Pretty cool stuff.

[sloggerkhan]

Foresight or something conary based, maybe. Only problem is that a lot of the conary based distros don't have near as large package library.

[Rainstride]

Ok, sometimes I get tired of the 6mo cycle and I want longer term usage. However I look at the hardy that is still running on my wifes computer and can't go back to it, it is too ... hmm outdated. So I love the large amount of packages and can't seem to find another distro that offers such a large package base except Debian. I looked at using debian for a more of a longer life cycle, however the latest stable debian is running Gnome 2.24 (we are on 2.26) Evolution is also outdated. It seems that I have been trapped into sticking with the newness of Ubuntu, but not liking the constant upgrading. I have tried a ton of other distros, but always find myself back at Ubuntu. So I guess I just live with the 6mo life cycle, and love my new software. Do you have any other ideas? Oh, also my other critic for a distro is that it must be simple. I have installed Gentoo, and Slackware, and know how to do that sort of stuff, but I don't have the time to mess around with that. It isn't a lack of technical ability on my part.

Shane

hmm... you could use hardy and just add some ppa's to keep you stuff as up to date as possible.

[LowSky]

Even the maintainers of Ubuntu Question how long they can continue the 6 month cycle. At some pointthe changes become so minimal that each release is indistinguishable from the last.



hmm... you could use hardy and just add some ppa's to keep you stuff as up to date as possible.

which is a decent idea, but the PPA's sometimes dont run well after a few upgrades. Also enabling backports in Ubuntu could help.

Right now I'm using Arch, and while it isn't too fun to set up, it does seem faster than Ubuntu. Because it is a rolling release you are free to upgrade at anytime or t leave thins as is, heck with Ubuntu you can do the same.

So conclusion stop upgrading and stop checking out any information relating to software updates.

[philcamlin]

i like the short ones because the upgrade work

[Chemical Imbalance]

For Debian Testing, just change the sources.list to "Testing" not "Squeeze" and voila! You have a rolling release.

Testing does have buggy packages. Nm-applet and gksu were broke last time I tried that.

Arch also has broken packages everytime I try it. Hal was broken last time I gave it a serious go.

Rolling releases sound great, but they are too buggy for my liking.

I always return to Ubuntu...

[Rainstride]

Even the maintainers of Ubuntu Question how long they can continue the 6 month cycle. At some pointthe changes become so minimal that each release is indistinguishable from the last.




which is a decent idea, but the PPA's sometimes dont run well after a few upgrades. Also enabling backports in Ubuntu could help.

iv never had much trouble with ppa's, though iv only started using them in a pretty good amount for 9.04. though hardy was a little funny about certain things. im sure he should be ok, just so long as he doesn't add anything too big, pidgin, openoffice.org, banshee, that kind of thing shouldn't give much if an trouble.

i always had backports on with hardy.

[67GTA]

+1 for Debian testing. Once you install it, just keep updating.

[snowpine]

A huge +1 for Debian testing or sidux.

[Phreaker]

+1 for Debian Testing

[keplerspeed]

But after trying debian you notice thats its not that much different... and you still rather ubuntu right??? ha.. so your not locked in. You just like it.

[shane2peru]

Try Sidux.

It is basically Debian Sid, but with some emphasis on stability. If I remember correctly, they just take packages from Sid, but delay and/or patch them so that your system isn't as unstable as Sid, but SLIGHTLY less bleeding edge as well. Therefore, it is rolling release and require less fiddling than something like Arch.

I think Sidux is exactly what you are looking for.


A huge +1 for Debian testing or sidux.

Hmm, the first time I read this I didn't realize it was sidux I read sid, being debian unstable. I found sid, downloaded it and am installed it now. Really looks nice, we will see how it goes. I think this could very well be what I'm looking for. I have never seen it before and frequent distrowatch. :) Thanks!

Shane