ubuntu vs debian
 

dear all,

i am currently a slackware user, though i'm thinking of moving to debian to have more control on my system mantainance, and because i'm a gnome lover.

right now, slack (which i used to love and still appreciate a lot) is quitting on gnome, and i have too much dependance on things like dropline for it to have all the packages i need.

i'd like to have a flexible yet mantainable system, to configure to my likings.

would you think ubuntu would be better for me than debian? i know this is a typical unanswerable question, what i am looking for here is that i believe users opinions - your opinions - count more than anything i could read on ubuntu itself.

thank you,

cheers,

aj.

Ubuntu
 

I've been using Debian for about two years, and Ubuntu since its initial release. I have to say, (especially with Hoary), that Ubuntu is by far the better distribution for desktop use. The little extras which are included with Ubuntu make it far more attractive to me than Debian for a home OS. (Newest Gnome, update manager, themes, applets, and especially the forums). Debian has a larger repository of software, but for me it always seemed like it was barely strung together. Also, having an OS which installs and gives you a desktop environment (whereas debian brings you to a command prompt) is very nice. Althought Debian's packages are a bit newer, I've found the Ubuntu release schedule to be much more enticing. Packages seem to break less often with the Ubuntu release schedule.


Hope this helps.

i been using Ubuntu (warty) full time for about 6 weeks

once i found the way to setup a root account on the system other then sudo
everything just fell in to place

no major problems with it at all ...

Re: Ubuntu
 

When was the last time you tried installing Debian? By default, Debian Sarge's installer brings you to gdm/GNOME, unless you select a barebones install (i.e. no GNOME or any other GUI installed).

thank you for these replies.

let me rephrase that.

i'd like to have a linux box that i can easily select what i really need (not the standard 16,000 packages installed all over the place), mainly compile from source (not linux core like gentoo, but softwares) - and for both of these reasons i really enjoyed the slack experience. but, i'd also like to have a package management that does work (seems that apt-get really IS unbeatable), easily update things like gnome 2.10 without the need to ask to anyone, X.org (not XFree), and a good community behind.

would you suggest ubuntu with this in mind? isn't it a little too out-of-the-box? just asking.

cheers,

aj.

it does not come over burdened with programs and only installs the gnome desktop
i found it very easy to setup and use
and with synaptic theres not much u cant in/unin-stall ...

it just seems to be user friendly

Debian does not have X.org or Gnome 2.10, so just on that count alone you'd be better off with Ubuntu (hoary).

If ur on dialup you might wanna go with Debian because Ubuntu only comes with one CD of applications and i found it to be lacking. I love it but i spend alot of time downloading simple stuff from the net (like devel tools - there are almost none on the CD)

Ubuntu looks nice, no way of denying that, but as you are a Slackware user you might like Debian better,
because of the possibility to install what you want right from the start. I used Ubuntu for a while and it did
not seem to want to give me the resolution I needed on my monitor (old thingy,but I like it). I had fun installing Debian, just as I had installing
Slackware. In Ubuntu, just stick the CD rom in and that's it. That's why I did not like Mepis either.
APT-GET is for Debian. I once updated a Mepis install : total nightmare, had to re-install...
Well, just my opinion ;)

I also come from slackware, my change to ubuntu seems unavoidable.

1. I used too many hours to make slackware fit my taste, at least the things could be done in my way.

2. ubuntu has better i18n support

3. the python repository is awesome. http://higgs.djpig.de/ubuntu/www/hoary/python/
(I use python from command line programs, xchat scripts to the company's intranet or the cash register that I programmed)

thank you all for these precious thoughts.

currently i'm still on slack, considered debian (but read of too many issues related to updates - the whole reason ubuntu started off AFAIK), reading documentation of archlinux.

definitely will propose ubutnu to linux newcomers.

cheers,

aj.

I have just installed the hoary preview. Very nice distro, I find it quite tempting to switch to it as my main distro.

Ubuntu is very nice and user friendly. Every peice of hardware in my PC worked properly with no modification nessecary. Ibelieve it even comes with ATI drivers preinstalled (big plus for me). Ubuntu is lacking alot of software though, but I don't use most of the programs that other distros pack into their 5 CDs anyway. Gimp, OpenOffice, GAIM, Firefox , and somekind of multimedia player is all I need.

Yeah, it lacks quite a lot software, but just has sufficient for someone who wants to surf the web, check email and write a few documents. The lack of extra packages in CD format is probably not very good for those that don't have high speed internet connections and therefore cannot use the online apt repositories.

Ubuntu is nice. But for geeks, Debian is far more flexible.