Recommendations, please.

Basic info: 3+ year old HP computer with quad-core Athlon chip; 12 Gigs or RAM; 2 TB HDD

Came with Windows 8 installed which I upgraded to Windows 10 while the upgrade was still free.

I did create a 500 Gig Windows Partition and used the rest of the 2 TB for a Linux Distro.


HOWEVER,I also have been using a Linux Distro for several years prior to that on a 2001 computer with a 1.4 Athlon Chip, 1536 MB of RAM, and a 320 Gig HDD and thus far, all my Linux Distros ran well on it.
I upgraded to Linux Mint Debian Edition 2 Mat (Betsy) and all was well. Have upgraded to LMDE3 (Cindy) Cinnamon (Mate no longer available) and am having a terrible experience)


[B][COLOR="Red"]FINALLY, MY QUESTION: I am obviously considering switching to a different rolling distro which installs easily and is fairly simple to run like my LMDE2 Mate. I would appreciate some suggestions.

Thank any and all.
tlcmd

Are you asking advice for your 3-year old computer or your 17-year old computer?

For your 17-year old, I recommend reinstalling LMDE 2 and continue using it for the time being, with a goal to retire the aging hardware by the first of the year. If you really want to keep it running past that date, my advice is to research "best distro for old hardware." (My personal pick for aging hardware is AntiX.)

For the 3-year old, you can probably run any distro you want. I recommend to research the most recent "Member Choice Award: Desktop Distribution of the Year" thread: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ar-4175620800/ (My personal pick for rolling release is Arch.)

A final thought, why rolling? Why not stable? You mention you had a "terrible experience" with a software upgrade, and you miss LMDE 2. Why not install a long term support distro, theme the MATE desktop to look like LMDE 2, and enjoy smooth sailing for the next 3-5 years?

I've never been interested in a rolling release, though I played with Arch in a VM once just for the experience, but I've heard good things about Manjaro. It's based pm Arch, but I gather from the podcasts I listen to that it's a bit more stable.

And, of course, OpenSUSE Leap has a stellar lineage.

For rolling, I second Manjaro, it's about as easy as they get.

My personal favorite is Void, it's not exactly beginner friendly but it's minimal, fast and has a great package manager.

As mentioned above. No matter how good a rolling distro is, there will be times when it'll break.


Let us know what you choose.

For anyone with some Linux experience, I'll always suggest AntiX or MX Linux.

Both Debian based, not rolling releases, but updated regularly - been using AntiX for years, on old & new computers, desktops, laptops, & netbooks.

I've used manjaro and opensuse tumbleweed and they're both stable. Manjaro's probably slightly more reliable with wifi, in that tumbleweed can take a little setting up where manjaro tends to work 'out of the box'.

Agree with the assessment of Manjaro for rolling releases: it is easy to install and works very well. Rolling releases are inherently not as trouble-free as periodic release distros, although that really depends on the base which they are built. Arch, which Manjaro is built on is very good.

I would also recommend Void, especially if you are looking for a systemd-free solution, but the distro has a small team and has suffered form some political issues in the past year, plus their package selection is small. Void is very fast and works very well though. FYI - the installer is VERY rough around the edges, but workable.

Tumbleweed I would not recommend if you are looking for stability: it is like Fedora in that it is bleeding edge, which never equates to a problem free experience, at least in my experience...your mileage may vary.

Then there is always Gentoo and Funtoo, but you must like long compile times and many hour install....not for those who want something up and running quickly...

snowpine: I already have LMDE2 on the 17 year old computer. I am asking about the 3 1/2 year old one. I like Linux Mint, but their new LMDE 3 Cinnamon is a bear with which to work. SO I'd appreciate your input on the best rolling distro.

Thanks
tlcmd

More info for all y'all: I am 77, a still a licensed MD here in Greensboro, N.C. My undergraduate degree was Chemistry prior to going to med school. I've worked with computers since we got our first one; an 8086 IBM with a "massive" 20mb HDD. Have been through new computers with Windows 95, 98, (luckily skipped ME, 2000 & Vista), XP, 8, & 10.

I researched the Linux distros back in the early 2000 and settled on LINUX MINT 8 or 9; upgraded to LMDE Mat when it came out and then to LMDE 2 Mate. I'd probably stay with LMDE 3 if I could get Mate, but Cinnamon is all they offer. In my search for a rolling distro back around 2010, I looked at Arch, considered at that time to be the better of all the rolling distros. Tried it and was rebuked for asking "a dumb" question on their forum, so moved on. Loved LMDE2 Mate, but sadly it is no longer offered and their forum support ends 1 Jan 2019 for that distro. Hence I am searching for a good solid rolling distro and from the previous comments, Monjaro looks like a good solution[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/B], but I did want to let all y'all know that while I may not be a computer guru, I am reasonably intelligent and do have experience with Linux.

Thanks for wading through this info. Still seeking recommendations.
tlcmd

Good to know, thanks for the background - agree with your assessment of the Arch forums: they can be brutal, so can irc...Manjaro is far more user friendly in terms of install and support.

Doesn't LMDE have Mate in the repository? Mint no longer has a KDE edition but I think you can still install KDE with the package manager.

I don't understand why you are considering moving to a rolling release distro just because you don't like using Cinnamon on LMDE3, which isn't one. Why don't you just switch to Mint 19 MATE if you like that desktop environment?

My recommendations for you, either:

1. Install Linux Mint 19 MATE edition and configure it with the "look and feel" of your beloved LMDE 2 desktop. Then you will have a nice stable and familiar operating system, supported for the next 5 years.

or

2. Install Arch (my personal favorite rolling release distro) with MATE desktop and configure it to look and feel like LMDE 2.

You already have some great suggestions. Another you may want to consider is PCLinuxOS:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/

It can more aptly be described as semi-rolling - the underlying plumbing remains fairly stable and the user facing applications that most are interested in are frequently updated allowing you access to the latest and greatest. About every 5 to 7 years you may have to reinstall when the underlying framework is updated or when there is a major change in the DE, eg going from KDE4 to KDE5. The forum is friendly and they have a mate edition as well as a KDE edition.

If you really want a rolling release, I'd recommend PCLinuxOS or Manjaro. Arch really does seem to be aimed at the computer hobbyist rather than the computer user. It's a good quality distro but it does require a bit more knowledge and work. PCLinuxOS is very definitely aimed at the home user and it has a friendly community. Although the default GUI is KDE, they do seem committed to their Mate version.
https://www.pclinuxos.com/get-pclinuxos/mate/

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