Is Debian any good

[ViN86]

Any old box you have laying around will make a good Linux box.

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by ViN86

Any old box you have laying around will make a good Linux box.

I know- just with my finances I have to do this slowly- little bit at a time.

Hopefully within' a few weeks I'll have a Q6600 based rig that I can use as a server. Then, for dabling with linux I'll be able to throw an Opty 175 based rig together a few weeks later.

I have most the components now- just missing a handful of items. Sucks, really.

[Drolfrawd]

Brill mates. I am going to download tonight, and start the job of Installing tomorrow night, If Mrs Drol can spare me some time.

[DiscipleDOC]

Drol, what made you choose Debian? Just curios....

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by DiscipleDOC

Drol, what made you choose Debian? Just curios....

Cause 'Buntu is for newbs like me

[Sean_W]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

Cause 'Buntu is for newbs like me

You'll be surprised how many hardcore Linux users' use it. I've done with distro switching and want something that I get up and running quick, so I stick with Ubuntu.

I've always found Debian quite boring, but it's good if you want a good stable distro with less bugs.

Originally Posted by Sean_W

You'll be surprised how many hardcore Linux users' use it. I've done with distro switching and want something that I get up and running quick, so I stick with Ubuntu.

I've always found Debian quite boring, but it's good if you want a good stable distro with less bugs.

No doubt.

[Drolfrawd]

Originally Posted by DiscipleDOC

Drol, what made you choose Debian? Just curios....

It's been around a long time and the other day i was doing a job one Dc one TS and 5 thin clients. I think they were HP 5350 or soemthing like that, however they were running Debian as their operating system. I had time to look around and play a little. It seemed very quick and stable. The RDP feature worked flawlessly, and it also had support for citrix and a few other more exoctic VM's/remote support. Also it looks to me like a more traditional type Linux distro, if thats the right word.
Like i said earlier , i am getting it downloaded later tonight and will get started with the Install tomorrwo night. I'll keep you posted with progress

[t3hl33td4rg0n]

If you plan on installing Boxee / MythTV / XBMC - I would go with Squeeze. They have newer packages and its close to going to the stable branch.

Other than the nvidia driver (b/c my GPU is dying) and problems with gdm3/x11vnc, haven't really had any problems.

[Drolfrawd]

It's alive

[Sean_W]

And.........?

[wnd]

I wouldn't be using Debian for ten years straight if it wasn't good. :-) That being said, Debian is not aimed at Joe Average, but rather to someone with ideology. Debian doesn't come with proprietary packages, drivers or such. In other words, it's more or less likely that you'll have to worry about your graphics card and WiFi yourself. Most of the time it is easy to find everything you need from a few "unrestricted" repositories, but default installation doesn't include these, still.

As for Debian stable/testing/unstable/experimental, well, you have a choice. Stable is just what it promises: packages that work, and won't break when you update your system. Stable receives security and bug fixes backported to old version, which means application won't be broken because of new features. Stable is pretty much guaranteed to stay the way it was when you first installed it.

Testing is where new stable is tested. Testing receives updates from unstable every now and then. Unlike in past, nowadays testing also receives security updates.

Unstable is where things happen. Unstable is where most of the development is done, so when new versions are available, this is where you'll find them in timely manner. It is worth noticing that while unstable is the first to receive the latest and the greatest, security team does /not/ cover unstable. Unstable may break your system, and there's noone you can cry about it.

Experimental is a sub-distribution (on top of unstable) playground for new things that are likely to break your system unless you know what you're doing. Finall, volatile has packages that keep changing for whatever reason.

I've used unstable as my desktop OS for ten years without much trouble. During that time I have never rendered my system unbootable, but such events are not unheard of. I have, however, rebooted to new kernel just to realise that nvidia's graphics card is no longer initialised. Each and every time there has been a way to resolve the issue, but you'll have to be ready for it. Similarly, I have used stable for my home server for ten years. The only issue I have had with stable was after a major kernel upgrade, when harddrive devices changed. This meant only the root filesystem was mounted at boot and others were not. Switching to UUIDs instead of device paths solved the issue once and for all.

I'd recommend stable wholeheartedly for server, and desktop for most. For those who're more concerned about new software, I'd recommend trying testing for desktop. One shouldn't choose unstable unless they know what to do when things break up.

All in all, I love Debian, and I've had much less trouble with it than with Ubuntu. If it works for you, use it.