I note that Ubuntu is not mentioned as your distro.
As a long time Ubuntu dev release tester and Ubuntu user I can tell you that if you look at the Ubuntu Forums and have used them before that usage is down. Many Ubuntu users are leaving for other distros.
There is a reason for this. Ubuntu has, starting really with 10.04, done some really strange things with dependencies of packages. They are also continually removing configuration tools (Gnome is big on this too).
The testing community there has been gutted. Where in 10.04 we had somewhere in the area of 125 experienced testers, 12.04 had 12.
There are some very large problems there. Stepping on users right to free speech (it seems friendly criticism is against the rules now) is driving more away.
This is good for Linux Mint (Ubuntu respin) and Debian mainly but some other distros are benefitting too.
Linux Mint also puts out LMDE. Linux Mint Debian Edition. I have, as I said, tested several Ubuntu pre release OS's and used many released OS's. LMDE does a better job of taming the instability of Debian testing. It, like the Ubuntu LTS releases, is based on Debian testing. I am not particularly a fan of their package management system that allows LMDE to be so stable but I have it installed on here and it is very reliable and stable. More so than say 12.04.
I used to recommend Ubuntu to noobs. Now it is LMDE.
Personally, I use Debian testing, currently Wheezy as my production OS. Squeeze, Debian stable, on which 10.04 was based, is my secure install and no harder to set up than Ubuntu if you follow the advice on the sources.list thread on these forums;
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...e-list-330913/
The difficulty of setting up Debian compared to Ubuntu was much more true in the time of Ubuntu 8.04 and Lenny (Debian 5) than it is today.
When Wheezy is released it will be ahead of Ubuntu 12.04 as that is frozen to the packages in the Wheezy repo that were current when it was released.
All Ubuntu releases except the LTS releases are based on Debian Sid (Debian unstable). This makes them pretty up to date but not up to Sid as it continues on.
The Ubuntu definition of stable is conciderably different than the Debian definition. While 10.04 and Sqeeze will have a very similar end life date, Squeeze will be supported longer.
Wheezy will obviously be released later than 12.04. It will also be much more stable and have some newer packages.
I keep mentioning Ubuntu LTS because that is the Ubuntu stable release. Their regular releases are actually the preperation stage for the next LTS. Some of them are great. I particularly liked 9.04. This is why they are not supported for as long as the LTS.
Debian testing is "based" if you want to look at it that way on Sid too. Packages migrate there directly from Sid.
If you want cutting edge go with Sid and be careful. If you want stability go with Squeeze.
If you want uncertainty go with Ubuntu.
I will say that the last Ubuntu-testing release that I participated in testing was Xubuntu 12.04 and it, inspite of the "improvements" on Xfce by adding Gnome packages that make it harder to configure but add little except a larger base install size of about 20% over a Debian testing Xfce install (and Debian includes things like aptitude that Ubuntu removes), is a very nice OS.
The Ubuntu/Canonical thinking seems to be that what users want is the same lack of choice that they get with MS installs. This will make the transition easier I guess.
If someone is trying to switch from an OS that they are dissatisfidied with to something different, I think this approach is silly. Such people are obviously able and willing to learn something new and want something different.
Try not to be so defensive. You appear to like Ubuntu. Use it. This is Linux, it is your box and your choice.
The OP on this thread asked a question, in the Debian section, specifically about the relative stability of Debian releases due to confusion over the numerical designation and code name of Squeeze.
Folks are trying to explain what Debian means by stability and that Debian 6.anything is the same as Squeeze.
I am sure that the OP is perfectly able to go to any of the other distro areas of LQ and look into those distros with folks that use them.
Probably capable of even getting several Live CD/DVDs of several distros and trying them.
Many of the people that spend most of there time on LQ in the Debian section are ex Ubuntu users of long experience. Due to starting with Ubuntu and getting tired of their treatment by Ubuntu they have decided to use the source of Ubuntu.
The LM forum is also full of ex Ubuntu users for similar reasons. I do not see the point of LM as it is a respin of Ubuntu which is a respin of Debian. A respin of a respin seems silly to me.
On of the best testers of Ubuntu dev releases in a pillar of the LMDE forum. Loves it. They do a great job.
One of the main differences between Ubuntu and LMDE is that if you decide that you are ready to actually control your own computer and maintain the real Debian, you can switch to the Debian repos and have full compatibility.
Do not try that with an Ubuntu install.
, this is real confusing to me. I see
