Distro Hopper Stopper

Over the last two years i've played with countless combinatons of OS and GUI it's crazy. And still do. However it gave me an insight into exactly what I want from my OS and how I like it to run.

I've chosen Arch and have run it for some time as my primary OS on my desktop. I have a seperate partition and spare laptop for playing still (check out the screenshots thread! ) but Arch appears to be where my Linux loyalties now lie. It gives me just the amount of control I like without being overly difficult. I get to chose everything from the ground up and tweak it how I like. As much as I love every distro, and it's taken two years to get here, my own customised Arch just feels right.

I'm curious to know what was the distro that stopped you hopping, or at least the one you settled with full time on a particular machine or partition and why?

 

I use Arch, don't know if it's the one I'll stay with

Ubuntu is working just fine, but...the software in the repo's gets old (where oh where is FF 3.5) and updates are far and few between as the next release gets closer. IMHO the 6 month release cycle is yuck

Rolling release Distro's (Arch, PCLinuxOS) spoil one's soul.

Right now PCLinuxOS-LXDE is working the best of all I've tried, we'll see how long that last

 

Mint comes close to doing it for me. However, I do want to try Arch someday and work my way thru it. It sounds very appealing, just need to make the time for it.

 

Debian. I installed it, dist-upgraded it throughout new versions (no friggin new CD + reinstall), using testing and it's still solid.
It's not without problems, but if you want solid, this is it and nothing else.

Ubuntu sometimes has its appeal, but i haven't removed Debian yet. Right now i'm checking out Haiku (R1/Alpha 1 just out), that's a bit more interesting for me than trying other Linux based distros.
If i would try a bare bones distro, i think i'd try Slackware, book and all. Time does not help unfortunately.

 

heh: it's somewhat about 'time' and 'degree of difficulty/learning curve' for us seniors who may be prone to the odd fat finger typing episode.
Anyone want to offer a scale for dod ??
( never mind the bsd os'es much as I want too I just cannot config a bsd to my liking w/out breaking something )

Some letdowns recently:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=60568.0

Sort of: :'hard' to 'easy' for my recent tests
( not related to base just distro release )
Gentoo> Debian>Slack>Arch>Sabayon>Puppy>CentOS>Scientific>Absolute>Wolvix>SUSE>Mandriva>Mepis=Vector>Ubuntu>Mint=PCLOS
Issues re pkg management, networking,peripherals, mounting,printing, scanners, stability: how do you assess what's best; how do you "score" ??

Have to say I do like Arch as a combo of useability and finesse.
Currently have MINT as dual boot, and PCLOS, Arch & Mint in VM but that could change at any time LOL.

 

All the Slackware based distros i've tried (Wolvix, Zenwalk, Vector) have been rock solid. Sackware interests me alot and it's the only major distro i've yet to install. But a package manager that doesn't do dependencies is not that appealing.

I suppose that's the beauty of Arch for me. I can have a relatively customised system without too much of the hassle that comes with it. It's not too much more effort to set up and configure than a Debian or Ubuntu netinstall. I must admit I love Debian to bits, really love it. It's just a little too behind for my liking. Even Sid has some relatively old packages. Slim being an example.

 

I still havent completely found a distro hopper stopper.
i dont really have time to setup a disto such as arch or gentoo.
for the past few days ive been dual booting freebsd and it takes alot of setup. i think i will nuke it and try an easier linux distro soon.
atm im waiting until the distros i like have kernel 2.6.31 because that finally has drivers for creative x-fi sound cards. thats one of the main reasons up to now i havent used linux to much because music is very important to me and i hate having to switch the cables around to use on board sound for linux.
I like fedora,mandriva,debian and a few others I forgot for now.
Debian is pretty easy to setup these days. you can even use the graphical installer after choosing an alternate desktop environment.
I like the idea of sidux but i couldnt get it to install. can anyone name some rolling release distros other than arch?

 

It's in universe. Or add
https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ archive/ppa

 

I use it...

Did you try their support?

 

For the desktop Ubuntu.
I find it requires least fiddling to get the desktop how I like (in terms of software installed by default and how the OS/desktop is configured) and also was the first distro (of the ones I like) to work out of the box without fiddling.
Another reason is the release schedule, a good compromise between a rolling release and the Debian's "when its ready" release schedule.

For the server (web) I'm torn 50/50 between Debian and Ubuntu, mainly because there is so little difference
Currently using Ubuntu as was a good point to test as nothing critical on the server and afte 3 or 4 months of server a dozen small sites had no problems to decided to keep - I suspect we would not of had problems with Debian either.

 

I never hopped much. Used Suse and later Ubuntu since early days and still using them as my main desktop distros. Work, doesn't matter, whatever they give me ...
Mrk

 

I still have a boxed copy of SUSE 6

 

Due to being new to Linux I couldn't help myself but change distro on a regular basis. It was new and exciting (i need to get out more!) But the best thing it gave me was an insight into what I like and what I like my os to be. For instance it took running puppy to realise that I love JWM or TinyME to realise I love LXDE etc. To cut a long story short a customised Arch install with all the elements I like best is the option for me. It is a pain to set up and it's ongoing but is so simple to maintain once up and running.

 

Ya: finding that linux could work and all the different options was new and exciting -still is- after years of MS homogeneity and the closed loop, and it has been an exploration to find and experience whats on offer then apply to what I need.
Agree that Arch becomes the distro that can best be tailored: and that pacman = WOW !!
Now exploring what SUSE has on offer with Studio for tailored set-ups = genuine innovation in the willingness to engage and tap into user base imo.


EDIT: life moves on LOL, have just installed the Ububtu 64 bit into VM blew me away, printing detection and install, network, access to NTFS NAS, multimedia: outstanding.
Onwards and upwards.

 

havent had time yet.

 

I triple boot WinXP with Ubuntu 9.04 & CrunchBang on an aging Dell Dimension 3000 (3 GHz, 1 GB RAM). Frankly, some distros don't work with this gear. OTOH, Debian-based distros do fine.

 

Ageing 3Hz, 1 Gig Ram, really? Every disto i've tried runs on my P4 1.5 GHz, 512mb RAM prehistoric desktop (7 years and counting). Admittedly some may chugg slightly. Generally however, thay all run pretty smoothly. Especially if you tweak it a bit - turn off 3D effects, disable services etc.

 

The specs are decent for linux, I agree, but the machine is a Dimension 3000 and that's not cool with *many* distros. I tested Absolute linux two days ago and big problems; OTOH, Absolute at least installed OK on my IBM Intellistation.

True, I could research the matter further (and I have when the matter is critical: e.g., this machine ran afoul of the Intel graphics bug with the upgrade to Ubuntu 9.04).

 

arch seems easier than i first thought.
ive setup a virtual machine.
its a very nice distro and is very well documented.

 

Arch is a great distro, I loved running it. I blew it away when I was a Linux Admin because we moved to a Ubuntu setup that I needed to know inside and out. I would love to get back to Arch, but I haven't had the time to tinker as of late. Damn you Windows! You never realize how well linux works until you leave it after a few years and have to deal with a Windows Domain mashup again.....

 

Be warned that the Arch servers were recently rooted, and Arch has no package signing.

 

Firefox/Thunderbird in Ubuntu can be kept updated with Ubuntuzilla. Third party repos take care of the rest. The backports can be used to update KDE and GNOME between release cycles.

A rolling release distro gets updated periodically. In September, PCLOS was updated to KDE 4.3.1