First, don't hit me in the face please, i have read what i found here
I've been with Linux/GNU for about a year now (used Ubuntu 10.10 only) and now came to realize Ubuntu is rather bloated and slow for a proper UNIX system. Also Ubuntu seems to be a dead-end as Unity is something I won't get familiar with.
What i'd like to see?
1. Rock stable and secure system.
2. Low resource consumption.
3. Not bloated eg. i don't need all that useless software that's packed by default (as is with Ubuntu)
4. Relatively large variety of software available - thing i really like with Ubuntu (and should be true for Debian as well).
5. Compiz and conky support
6. (optional) good hardware support - for instance i have smart card reader in my system i never got functional under Ubuntu.

I'm not all-libre software type of person - proprietary driver for instance are ok, if not preferred.

No particular preference in desktop environment, although i've used mostly Gnome 2.

Whatever the installation type - all i'm interested is the end result.

All i could figure out are eihter Debian or Fedora. Is Debian THAT much better than Ubuntu?

System:
HP Compaq 8510w
Nvidia 570M
3GB of RAM
2.4 GHz dualcore

Hello,

Better is a word that depends on the preference of the one who uses it. All Debian users will definitely say that Debian is better, as will Ubuntu users when it comes to Ubuntu, and Slackers when it comes to Slackware for example. All Linux users however will agree that Debian is very stable and secure, has very low resource consumption, is not bloated like Ubuntu and the likes, has a very large repository of software packages you can choose from, will support compiz and conky and has pretty good hardware support. I wouldn't look to Fedora if you're looking for a very stable system. Fedora is the 'testing' ground for Red Hat and you need to be aware that sometimes your system will be broken after an upgrade/installation and that you'll need to fix it.

If you go with Debian I suggest the netinstaller and install only what you need.

Kind regards,

Eric

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If your primary problem with Ubuntu is it's bloat and relatively poor performance, you may want to give Xubuntu a try. Xfce is similar to but significantly lighter than Gnome. Xubuntu has the same repositories as Ubuntu, so a broad selection of decent software is available. I, too, don't care for Unity.

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+1 for Debian net installer.

Build it the way you want.

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Debian, Slackware
Doesn't really depend on the distro, but more on the desktop environment. Debian comes with Gnome 2, but Gnome 2 is a dead end, so maybe you want to try XFCE.
Debian and Slackware come with a good amount of software by default. It isn't really easy to do a minimal install of Slackware, especially for new Slackers, but with Debian's net-installler it is IMHO a no-brainer to get a lean system.
Debian has a large repository, Slackware can install almost anything, but mostly you have to compile from source (but there are the SlackBuilds and helper-programs for that).
Both should run on nearly any distro.
Since the hardware is handled by the kernel, it is not much difference in hardware support between the distros.

SO, simply said, go for Debian or Slackware.

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Alright, think i got my answer - will give Debian a go.
Thanks!

In that case try "Advanced Options" "Expert Install" and enable "non-free" repositories so that you do minimal editing of /etc/apt/sources.list.
Good Luck.
You will find Debian will run quite a bit faster than Ubuntu. Also looks like your hardware specs can run virtualbox to test other distro's like slackware, xubuntu, etc.

Gentoo (really made for custom building)
Slackware (fast, has external repo's with builds for applications, but is not as large as gentoo's or debian's)
Debian (minimal install, cli only, and than build up from it)
Optionally: CentOS/redhat ES (also minimal install, cli only, and build up from there)

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