Choosing a new distro. Don't worry, I do have a list of preferences.
 

I'm trying to find a new distro after being really disappointed with Kubuntu. I have been through Ubuntu 8.04 to 9.10 and then to Debian for a while.

Ubuntu was a little buggy for me, a lot of things did not work as they were supposed to. Debian was fine in that department but I had a few problems with the differences in user management. For example I couldn't open truecrypt containers because the graphical file manager needed super user rights. Having to open the file manager through the terminal wasn't such a big deal but it was a bit annoying. Purely my fault for not tinkering enough with it.

My big problem with Debian was its restrictiveness in using outdated versions. I remember using a Pidgin version 6-8 months older than the newest version. Naturally there's some delay between a program's new version and the version in the reps but this was too much. Likewise with Firefox, it was several version older than the newest.

Now for some preferences about what I want to use it for.
1. Desktop applications. Open office, Firefox, IM's, Thunderbird etc. Preferably the newer original versions (no Iceweasels etc.). This is going to be installed on my main laptop that I use for everything.
2. I prefer KDE but wouldn't avoid Gnome if it was the only choice.
3. I need it to be secure and stable although stability doesn't have to be rock solid if I have to use 1 year old programs.
4. I write small programs from time to time, nothing much but I'd like for it to have the option of doing that easily. Meaning that it should allow for small time developing.
5. I don't mind configuring text files, using the terminal or tinkering as long as there is good documentation and everything works as it should.
6. I like flash, restricted codecs, etc.
7. I'm dual-booting with XP, so anything that will mess with that is out of the question.

For now I'm between Debian KDE and OpenSUSE but I'm looking for more options. BSDs are also an option although I've never used one yet.

Hello,

For some reason after reading all of that, Fedora comes to mind; Ever try it? I have been using Fedora for years now, and it's still my favorite distro.

Cheers,

Josh

I haven't thought of Fedora before. I like what I see in the reviews. The only problem is the short lives of each release. I'm looking for something a bit more permanent. That's one of the gripes I had with ubuntu that I forgot to mention.

Have you looked into Slackware? Your usage patterns/requirements are remarkably similar to mine and that's what I use. If you're interested in BSDs it is probably one of the closest in philosophy to them.

1. Slack packages primarily stock (as much as possible) applications including Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin. Open Office (or better yet, LibreOffice) is easily installed from slackbuilds.org.
2. Check - version 4.5.5
3. Secure and Stable - core philosophies.
4. Stock install comes with pretty much all the most common tools/languages. Rarely do you have to install anything other than the odd library to get a program to compile.
5. Yes, the main methods of configuration.
6. Not included, but easy to install from slackbuilds.org. Although I'm pretty sure common formats like mp3 work in bone stock installation.
7. Boot loader installation is optional during setup.

Version 13.37 (ok, the name is also a bonus point) is just out so lots of recent software is installed. There is also always the option of running slackware-current. The use of stock packages without modification also allows (typically) easy installation of almost any software (albeit managing dependancies can be more difficult than using a package manager, but in practice is rarely a problem because of the full featured stock development installation).

Hope this doesn't sound like too much of a fanboy post (and is useful); but I guess it shows I'm satisfied with my distro choice ;-)

Ahh ok. Well honestly, I never had any problems at all with Fedora. I use it for everything I do, even my server. It has never let me down.... :)

Just another Option
http://www.kanotix.com/changelang-eng.html

I didn't really consider Slackware until now. I've read up a bit about it and it seems like the perfect choice, especially the part about being a distro that helps you actually understand the underlying OS. That's always a plus and I planned to satisfy that with more experimental installs in VMs but I guess it might be better if I do it directly. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm still open to suggestions though.

It's just that upgrading from version to version is a pain sometimes. I over-customize some stuff so doing it all over again really gets old after the second time. I'm trying to avoid that. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll probably try Fedora in another box at some point.

Interesting distro, never heard of it before. Based on Debian with fresh programs. I'll look into it.

Ok cool, that works out then. One more suggestion - BSD ;)

Hi,

I do not distro-hop. Sure, some LiveCD's for utilities and diagnostic work when trouble-shooting. My preference is Slackware. I've used Slackware since the very first release cause it met my home *NIX needs free. Even used it in the LAB.

Do not consider myself a "fanboy' since I am older than dirt and know when something is useful or not.

As they say: If you want to learn Gnu/Linux then use Slackware. You will find loads of help from users in the Slackware forums.

Look at Get Slackware Linux section of 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links! You will find loads of useful links. Have Fun!
:hattip:

You could also consider Arch. It's a bit difficult to install and requires command-line knowledge, but that might be OK with you since you said you don't mind using the command line and configuring text files.

Its repositories have very new versions of most software, and include commonly used proprietary software (such as Flash and proprietary codecs) easily available.

Finally, it's rolling-release, which means you never have to reinstall it to upgrade.

But which one? The choice is smaller than the dozens of linux distro's out there but as far as I've seen, BSDs tend to differ alot between them.

Well, I'm not very happy distro-hoping with my main OS. I wanted to settle for some time with Debian but then I went and installed Kubuntu for ease of use due to lack of free time to learn about the system and now I have to switch again. Perhaps I'll keep the distro I choose this time for longer.

Given that you've used Slackware for almost two decades now which is damn impressive in computer time, what would you say are its main disadvantages?

Rolling release is great and I've been reading about Arch since your suggestion. But I've read somewhere that the packages are not digitally signed. It seems a bit hard to believe. What could be the advantages of such a security hole?