Hi,


I know I should just try both and get with which one I like more, but every time I get to download something I eat up all the bandwidth in our wireless home network.

I want to build a desktop, and I decided that I'm going to install one of these OSes. I have already tried Debian in my laptop.
The features I want are:

amd64 (true 64bit, not 32bit) support
greatest stability, least chance to mess up suddenly
if kde, it should be < 4. Tried Kubuntu w/ kde 4 in a vm and hated it.
good support for sata 3.0gb/s, core i7, 6GB of RAM

applications I want:

blender 2.48a
inkscape
the gimp
code::blocks or dev-c++...
pidgin
wine
openoffice

I want to use it mainly for game developing and gaming (newer games such as fallout 3, farcry 2)

What are the pros and cons of Slackware and Debian? And in GNOME and KDE?

Thank you.

For starters Slackware is 32-bit only so it leaves you with Debian
Theres unofficial 64-bit multi-lib port of slackware called Slamd64 that you could try though.

If you don't like manual compiling a lot, then I'd go with the Debian.

If 64-bit is the deal breaker, then pure Slackware won't cater to your needs. Slamd64 will, however. Debian will do both.

If you desperately want Gnome, Slackware doesn't come with Gnome, though you can get it through a number of projects (gnomeslackbuild, dropline etc.). Debian comes with Gnome by default, though KDE is available too. Slackware 12.2 comes with KDE 3.x by default, though the next version of Slackware will have KDE 4, so that's something to bear in mind. My understanding is that Debian Lenny has both KDE3 and KDE4 available. Which you choose is largely a matter of preference; they both have windows and allow you to click on things; the rest is all slightly inconsequential really.

All those programs are available on SlackBuilds.org for Slackware, and are almost certainly in the Debian repositories; if they're not, you can build them.

Support for you hardware is down to the kernel version you have. Slackware 12.2 is at 2.6.27.7, Debian currently uses 2.6.28.5. My understanding is these should support i7 processors just fine.

I have no idea about gaming.

Slackware is a pretty stable distro and let you learn alot but as others said, no 64bit version, but other distros unofficial for it.

If bandwith is a problem, download a Debian minium iso(134mb), which gives you a base system and you can install everything you need, online of course. But you only install what you need/want not alot of other stuff you may not want.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/da.../amd64/iso-cd/

Thanks for replying, I think I'll just stick with Debian... I don't desperately need GNOME, but it's the only thing I've tried that I like. I haven't tried any kde before 4.
I really never liked compiling stuff manually anyway... Except for when they're my own programs.