Hmmm sounds a bit testy to me when did you try the LMDE? Before January 2nd? THAT IS WHEN THE RESPIN WAS RELEASED !!! If you tried the earlier version it did fail on newer equipment give it another try ( I read your blog and think you should re-visit AGAIN) !

I never said that you should.

It does not support your new hardware. And that is only true, as long as Testing is in freeze. After that it will support newer hardware than Ubuntu. So a general statement is just injustice.

Super new user, not super new hardware.

But you are right, arguing makes no more sense here.


@tiredofbilkyyaforallican: Even after the respin, the kernel is still 2.6.32 and does not support his Wifi out of the box.


@Vinter: aptosid is in no way a distro meant for beginners.

@tiredofbilkyyaforallican and darkduck, I have a strong feeling that Mariebee is not looking for the constant debate of whether or not a certain distro supports new hardware and such, and to be honest, I don't see supporting new hardware as being a make it or break it factor when choosing a linux distro. That is, unless you build a new computer every three months and use the latest and greatest and most expensive hardware you could find.

@Vinter, I think you have some facts down about Ubuntu, but I also think that your opinions really are personal to your own tastes. For example, my parents, if they can turn the computer on and get some work done, they are happy with whatever operating system they have. Some linux users can be like this too. For someone who spends a lot of time at computers, customization can go a long way to making tasks go a lot quicker.

I have to disagree with you about not recommending Ubuntu. I haven't tried some of the other distros that are recommended for ex-Windows users, but Ubuntu was a very nice transition into the Linux world for me, and quite often I tend to use Ubuntu for a lot of things unless I'm really getting down and dirty with something. I can agree that with Ubuntu, sometimes I don't feel like I am in control of my system (wait a second, when did I install that library?? Oh it installed as a required package for this other package I don't even remember installing either) however, sometimes that just doesn't matter. On Slackware, I've been able to get most things working, but once in a while I'll sit down for 2 hours or so to try to work out a problem such as flash player on 64-bit (thank god for the Square Preview) or I still have issues with printing over a network to a Windows HP printer (that's because it's HP connected to Windows though). Both of those issues I didn't even have to worry about in Ubuntu because, well simply said, Ubuntu did it for me.

Ubuntu is a good linux distro for new users, but as I understand more and more about other distros I find shortcomings in Ubuntu. As far as Mariebee is concerned, I would take my best guess at user-friendly and easy to setup to being key factors right now.

Like several of the other users have said, get a virtual machine going of some kind and just try out some linux distros. If you have problems right off the bat then you might want to try something else. It will be true that no one linux distro will run perfectly with no problems forever, but you can tweak it as needed in the long run.

1 members found this post helpful.

@tiredofbilkyyaforallican: Even after the respin, the kernel is still 2.6.32 and does not support his Wifi out of the box.

My point is that this person is SLAMMING a distro just on the basis of his biased opinion. How can he even give a good blog on a subject without any proof other than one computer,I at least try EACH distro on a multitude (minumum of 3) of computers BEFORE I say it is good enough for me or not ! Besides if he tinkers (can we google???) there is probably a workaround for this. I actually had an Acer that was not very Linux friendly but after a little bit of research and some tinkering it worked flawlessly.These are what I base my findings on not try it once and to hell with it !
Ubuntu or any of the Mint flavours are very good for a newbie to get his/her hands dirty with.

Iuppiter iratus ergo nefas.

Just because you can type latin doesn't mean you are smart or right !!!And I am not angry . you should be testing on more than one computer instead of chucking a distro this is a half-assed job of blogging just to see your name in print!

By the way; excerpt from LQ Rules: All member-created content should be in English. This allows our moderators to ensure all content complies with all LQ rules. Understand?

Sorry, I just missed a point...

Initial question of Mariebee was about the system which can suit her needs. Please re-read it.
As long as she mentions graphics, videos, Win7 etc, I can assume she has pretty much new hardware. The last time I tested LMDE it did not run on my pretty much new hardware. On that basis I warned that new hardware can be a problem for Mariebee. She is free to use this information. Or not. It's better than simply loose another Linux user only because OS which was recommended does not support her network or graphic card.

About testing system on different laptops. Sorry, that is not my task. There are official testers for those systems. Have you seen my name in the list? Nope. I have 2 laptops which I can test system on. Actually only one if we're talking about DVD-based distro. I run my blog on that basis. If system can run on that particular hardware or not, and what kind of user experience I have. If you don't like this approach, you are free to avoid reading the blog.

Ditto.

Hi,

The continued debate is off topic and not addressing the OP's request.

So everyone should cool down, take a deep breath and GET BACK ON TOPIC. Stop this arguing within the OP's thread.
@darkduck
How is that constructive to the thread?

@tiredofbilkyyaforallican & @darkduck;
Get back on topic everyone!

Well I'm new to Linux(Ubuntu mostly) for almost a year. It's funny but one of the reasons I was reluctant to switch is one of the many reason I stick with it. I was always told you have to spend a lot of time in command line type stuff and I was tired of figuring out stuff with Windows so why would I want to learn a whole new frustration. What a pile of crap. Ubuntu is so easy. User friendly almost to a fault. It's 10 times easier than any Windows and I spend next to no time in the terminal. And the people that will help you are just amazing. I finally have control over my computer. I got the M$ monkey off my back. Whooaa!!
1. Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 10.10(my favorite)
2. Zorin 4(for people you are trying to convert... has Windows 7, XP and Mac Look-a-like feature)not really my thing because I didn't need and convincing to switch. But I do like all the features of software and eyecandy working straight out of the box. Pretty cool like that.
3. Mint is very nice.
4. Puppy 5.1.1 is the bomb for old pc's. Blow the dust off and fire that Puppy up. Wow... pretty impressive. I wish I still had my 486 dx2-66 to give it a try. No need to throw away old computers. What a friend.

Windows free at last.

Puppy already has 5.2 version.

That's one thing I just don't understand about Linux distros... why do they insist on bringing out so many new versions. Ubuntu for example. Since I started into Linux with Ubuntu 9.10 there has been 10.04 and 10.10. Every 6 months there is a new one. Work out the bugs then bring out a new one. I wish they would just refine the one version and be done with it.

Hi,

Gnu/Linux is ever evolving. As to why each has a different cycle is dependent on the development team.
Rolling releases are always improving as they say until they stumble.

Fixed releases have a longer cycle and tend to be considered stable even through release candidates some changes will continued to be made before a stable release.

It is the user's choice as to the type of Gnu/Linux they want to use. I'm not a distro-hopper and just check out the ones I feel that will aid in diagnosis & trouble shooting. Eye candy is nice but it does not work the way I want it to.

Slackware all the way!