Other distros you would recommend beyond Ubuntu?

[kevdog]

Any other distros people have had good experiences with besides Ubuntu? Im thinking of trying out Sabayon on another laptop I have that is sitting here not doing anything.

[LaRoza]

Slackware, Arch

You didn't say what you wanted, so I don't know what yoiu are looking for.

[kevdog]

Sorry, I guess Im a little bit ignorant when it comes to other distros. Im not sure exactly what I want, other than to try another distro.

I guess the only thing I would like would be a more up to date repository. Packages in the ubuntu repositories (I think this probably goes for debian based distros) are usually old. Ive compiled many from svn since I like tinkering with new features. I wish Ubuntu's repositories were more updated or gave me an option to install newer beta versions

[starfry]

Generally I like Ubuntu because installing most things just works. I am not a fan of Gnome but have been using it since Feisty. I will try KDE on my next update which will most likely be Hardy.

My only real complaint is that, as much as I hate to say it, Windows has a better UI. I say this primarily because it is integrated well: you can drag a file from explorer and drop it into a mail, for example. I find stuff like that quite limiting in Gnome. Perhaps KDE will be better?

I run a server environment based on Linux From Scratch and, imho, that is the best distro. It isn't really a distro, more a concept, but for those with the patience and tech ability you learn loads and the system you use becomes more than just the desktop display.

[CAD-MAN]

Fedora looks quite nice, I may give it a go some time soon.

[AndyCooll]

Here would be a good place to start: Other OS Talk (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=147)

:cool:

[fuscia]

in case you haven't seen it - http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=147

i've had sabayon installed and came back. it uses gentoos package manager, which makes a lot of sense, but it's slow and painful to use. there are a whole bunch of live cd to try. why not spend some time trying out different ones? dream linux, slax, sidux, puppy and pclinuxos would give you a variety to look at.

edit: rav's the one to talk to about other OSs. he goes through them like i go through wallpapers.

edit2: looks like andy beat me to it.

[CaptainTux]

http://linuxlookup.com/linux_iso

In my early days if using Linux in 2002, I used this site. I could get the iso and it was less overwhelming than distro watch.

It has most of the distros a desktop user would want to play with.

[Insightfill]

I guess the only thing I would like would be a more up to date repository. Packages in the ubuntu repositories (I think this probably goes for debian based distros) are usually old.

I've not tried flipping repositories on Ubuntu, but couldn't you add "Debian unstable" to the repository list and go with it, if you want "latest and greatest" but with a minimal change otherwise. My understanding is that Ubuntu's latest release is usually built off of "Debian testing" which is usually pretty darn stable (whereas "Debian Stable" is where you get your "24/7 server with five nine uptime" or whatever".)

I'm going to have to fire up my old "vmware ubuntu image" and give it a whirl.

If that doesn't work, you could always actually install and use Debian Unstable directly.

The only gotcha I think is that you might need to add the Debian GPG key to Ubuntu to get it to add the repositories.