I've tried Suse, Kubuntu, and finally Ubuntu and stuck with that. I'm happy with Ubuntu but wanted to try something different. Over several months I've become quite adept at using linux and solving my problems on my own. I really like the system repository and want my next try to have something like that or a easy install through .deb packages or .rpm. I was gonna try debian since ubuntu uses its system but I wanted to see what everyone else is trying out and enjoy.

I blundered across Debian in 2002 and haven't changed since. I like Debian stable (Lenny) myself. But if you want KDE4, you'll have to use testing (squeeze). Testing is at least as stable as Ubuntu, though may have a slightly older package sets.

If you want to try something really different, I would recommend Slackware or Gentoo. They are both excellent distros for learning because of the great amounts of documentation and limited hand holding (i.e. gui config tools).

Thanks I'm gonna give all three a try if they can be installed on a flash drive. Hopefully Gentoo and slackware aren't to hard to learn.

'Hard to Learn' is very subjective.

If 'needs much human input to get just right' = 'hard to learn' then Slackware at least is pretty hard to learn. That said, once you get used to 'learning' it, it is extremely rewarding and dependable!

Sasha

PS - I should add though, it can be as easy as pie too, you just gotta READ the docs! It really is not hard, but does require input.

I use Gentoo on my home machines and my laptop. It's a fun one to learn with because you get a good sense of how Linux works. Slackware, I've been told is also good in that way. With Gentoo, the documentation is usually relevant to exactly what you need and kept pretty current. Be prepared to spend a little time setting it up though. Everything is compiled from sources. But, there's a great source management tool to help with that.

Gentoo wasn't too hard for me, once I had already used redhat for a little while.

I agree with what nuwen52 says about the Gentoo documentation; in fact, I often refer to Gentoo wiki and other Gentoo sites when looking for non-distro-specific help; their documentation is excellent and very complete.

I have only used Gentoo itself for a couple hours though! I installed it, looked at it, then tried Slackware (with a couple others in between, over a several day period) and am still Slacking, so I cannot speak to how likeable Gentoo is. BUT, if I had high-speed, I would have re-installed Gentoo by now for sure, because I really really like compiling stuff, and the idea of the OS being compiled and installed on the fly really interests me.

Thanks you guys have perked my interest into trying gentoo first. Gonna google and see if I can install gentoo onto a usb drive so I don't have to mess with my HDD's.

if you feel daring.
try FreeBSD.


one linux you should try is
puppy
it's a masterpiece.

doh!

+1 for Gentoo and FreeBSD; as a Gnome addict, I liked those more than all the rest. OK, Debian too but it is not all that different from Ubuntu, especially if you moved from Debian to Ubuntu rather than the other way round.

It depends with what you want it for. There are different distro's for different purposes,e.g a stable one to serve as your server, one with the latest technology, best eye candy etc. I always try to define it's purpose first this way I only search for distro's that fulfill that particular purpose. In the end I have found myself running different distro's. I know you can you can pick any distro and tune it to fit your purpose but for the sake of time why not take something already customized for a particular purpose and make it work for you.