Most Up-To-Date Debian Based Distro?

Spirrwell · 03-21-2017, 02:33 AM

Hi there!

This isn't a question specifically related to the Debian distro itself, so I figured I'd ask here.

I'm familiar with Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and whatnot, but I've found that they aren't the most up-to-date. When messing with an Arch based distro, Manjaro, I found it to be one of my best experiences, but I did run into a few compatibility problems with some stuff I work with.

So as the title asks, what is the most up-to-date Debian based distro that doesn't have hardware compatibility quirks with newer hardware?

Namely I run an i7-6700K and a NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti. For some reason I seem to have so much trouble with the drivers on Mint and Ubuntu running with the newer hardware, and it's not brand new any more. I liked that Manjaro gave the option to install the proprietary drivers for my graphics card and whatnot right out of the box. If I could find a Debian based distro that does that, that would be fantastic.

If I could avoid KDE or Unity, that would be cool too. I quite like Cinnamon or even something GNOME based.

There's just so many out there, that it's hard for me to choose one.

I just want to make an effort to get away from Windows as much as possible. Windows 10 is just sucking more and more for me.

beachboy2 · 03-21-2017, 05:10 AM

Spirrwell,

Welcome to LQ.

Here is a list of Debian-based distros:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego..._distributions

I have written a short blog about siduction which is a rolling Linux distribution using Debian Sid (Unstable):
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ginners-36550/

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?di...tion=siduction

https://forum.siduction.org/

https://news.siduction.org/

Debian Sid (Unstable):
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianUnstable

Manjaro may still be more up to date compared to Debian.

Manjaro review:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/m...6-10-xfce.html

Antergos:
https://antergos.com/

hydrurga · 03-21-2017, 08:03 AM

If you like Mint, but want something more cutting-edge, you could try LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition, based on Debian Stable) and enable the Debian backports repository:

https://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

P.S. Just a side note that I've found with Mint that if I really want/need the latest version of a package, it's almost always available from somewhere e.g. a PPA, a private repo, the authors' website etc. So, although I tend to stick with the standard Mint/Ubuntu repos for most software, for particular software I use other (reputable) sources to install the most up-to-date versions.

Habitual · 03-21-2017, 08:25 AM

Arch is a rolling release, and the others aren't?

Debian Testing?

DavidMcCann · 03-21-2017, 01:24 PM

The answer is out there:
http://distrowatch.com/search.php
Searching for a rolling-release distro based on Debian Unstable came up with Semplice (very nice), Siduction, and LinuxBBQ.

273 · 03-21-2017, 01:36 PM

If you're willing to be careful about which upgrades you allow, paying attention and not lewtting thinmgs be removed, then Sid if well worth using.
Sid may mean you make a mistake and X11 stops working for you for a few weeks but that is fairly rare and things like the kernel and NVIDIA drivers are up to date. For example, a little laptop I recently repaired and upgraded has a touchpad that causes issues with Debian Stable but is fine on Sid. I like having up to date graphics drivers for my 970 on my desktop also.
I know you mention debian based but there's nothing wrong with Fedora for cutting edge either.

Edit: I may now have to go home and try to install Fedora as I am sure I read somewhere that Wayland is may work on NVIDIA now.

Spirrwell · 03-21-2017, 03:32 PM

Oh I had no idea there was already a tool (distrowatch) that could help sort through the different distros. I think I may give Siduction a try.

But yeah, I have nothing against Fedora. I believe I tried it out a couple years ago. However, I'm actually a programmer for a Source engine based game on Steam that's multiplatform, and Valve's set of tools for building their Source SDK is very particular. (and old) There's that and I just want something that's pretty comfortable to use with the least amount of problems possible.

Traditionally once things are setup I don't really have much of a problem running Linux, but my Windows 10 install just is getting so bleh.

But thank you all! I've got a new SSD on the way, and I definitely think I'll be trying out Siduction on it.

jefro · 03-21-2017, 03:55 PM

I might be tempted to install Ubuntu and go directly to kernel ppa and get kernal 4.10.4

rokytnji · 03-21-2017, 09:31 PM

Meh, if I want to walk the edge in AntiX . I just can uncomment

Quote:

You have been warned

Unlike the Debian Releases unstable and testing, experimental isn't a complete distribution. Experimental is a staging/collaboration/experimental area for development, when it is known that a package has problems or may have problems. Some packages/developers don't use experimental, they just put the new versions in unstable. The migration of packages from experimental to unstable is entirely at discretion of the packagers. Even if there are a lot less consistency requirements for packages in experimental, they are autobuilt on the best effort basis by official Debian Package Auto-Building infrastructure.

To configure APT

An /etc/apt/sources.list entry for experimental is:

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian experimental main

To install an experimental package

To install an experimental package, do:

apt-get update
apt-get -t experimental install packagename

To upgrade an experimental package

if the package has changed in experimental and you want to upgrade it, do:

apt-get update
apt-get -t experimental install packagename

Things like

Code:

$ uname -a
Linux biker 4.10.1-antix.1-686-smp-pae #3 SMP Mon Feb 27 12:47:06 EET 2017 i686 GNU/Linux

I just have other ways of doing this.

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianExperi...tal_repository

http://smxi.org/

Nobody is building what I do. As yoda said. Do or not do. There is no try.

Siduction is capable of what I just posted also.

https://manual.siduction.org/sys-admin-apt

Code:

$ cd /usr/local/bin
harry@biker:/usr/local/bin
$ ls
<snip>
inxi
<snip>
smxi
harry@biker:/usr/local/bin

Code:

cd /usr/local/bin && wget -Nc smxi.org/inxi && chmod +x inxi

or

Code:

harry@biker:~
$ apt search inxi
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
inxi/stable 2.1.28-1 all
  full featured system information script

inxi-gui-antix/jessie,now 0.3.1.1 all [installed]
  Simple gui front end to inxi script for antiX.

smxi-inxi-antix/jessie,now 0.3.8 all [installed]
  Installs smxi-stub and inxi script for antiX.