Debian vs Ubuntu -- ultimate fight?

[neocortex]

Hello ALL!
I believe this has been posted/discussed in one way or another, but, again: I use Linux now quite long back. Started in late 90s with some ancient SuSE, breaking for couple of years, and then, again, probably with Ubuntu 5.10. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS was so good to me. We were "happily married" few years. But, I changed my laptop, and then, wanted to try something more recent. Tried some, at the time contemporary Ubuntu, and then I realized my first disappointment with this distribution: too short life cycle. So, I moved to Debian testing. Was happy, again... But, again, bought new laptop and then, again, tried Ubuntu, then Debian etc. Thus, I am going back and forth -- Debian and Ubuntu for some time, and still, I am not clear which one should become my ultimate distribution.
On the one hand, I do like this "corporative" polish of Ubuntu (kind of nice curtail), but I hate 6-months need for upgrading. On the other hand, I never fully learned Debian, and never was sure whether I should go for testing or stable. In addition, Debian seemed to me "too free" (fanatically free, so to say). Finally, Debian was always more up to my taste being less shinny + bells + whistles, but simple and adjusted.

Hence, what would be your recommendations and why? Keep in mind that I need Linux for work, thus, seeking for stability and speed over fun and gloom.

Best,
PM

[neocortex]

No one can comment??!!

[ilovelinux]

First of all, Ubuntu is based on Debian anyways. I like both. On my netbook, I started with Mint Gloria LXDE (Ubuntu variant), but have added so many Jaunty and Debian components, that I guess I am running an Ubuntu/Debian mishmash. I've ended up creating something that worked out any glitches and runs nicely.

On my main system, I am partial to Fedora.

[gerard4143]

Hence, what would be your recommendations and why? Keep in mind that I need Linux for work, thus, seeking for stability and speed over fun and gloom.

What does that mean 'I need Linux for work'? Do we interpret this as - my Linux must be Debian based or a derivative?

[khakilang]

Its not necessary to upgrade Ubuntu. As long as you are happy and does most of the thing you want it to do. Beside there is other Distro that is base on Ubuntu like Linux Mint for example. Crunch Bang is base on Ubuntu also but I heard it switch to Debian now.

[neocortex]

What does that mean 'I need Linux for work'? Do we interpret this as - my Linux must be Debian based or a derivative?

No, it does not. Yet, I am quite used to Debian-based packaging and Gnome, and the rest, using either Ubuntu or Debian. The only thing is that I use Linux for my work, no Win/MacOS.

[jwenting]

As said, why would you want to have the latest everything all the time?
There's no need to upgrade every 6 months, let alone every few days.
Just pick a release that works for you (which will usually be the latest release at time of installation) and stick with it.
My old Linux server ran the same Debian release for several years before I replaced the entire machine with another one which then got installed with a version of Ubuntu I'd lying around. That one never got upgraded either until it was thrown out.
Current server runs Windows Vista simply because I couldn't be bothered to try to get Linux running on that laptop (usually I push old machines into a server role).

As to X vs. Y, I'm always extremely sceptical against anyone claiming such things.
There is no fight, there is no war, both can, do, and will coexist. Each has its purpose, each has its niche, its market.

[neocortex]

As to X vs. Y, I'm always extremely sceptical against anyone claiming such things. There is no fight, there is no war, both can, do, and will coexist. Each has its purpose, each has its niche, its market.

As I put in my initial e-mail: I love X and Y, both! My question was, regarding my needs and things that I dislike, what you, more experienced guys, think would suit me better.

PM

[jwenting]

As a Windows replacement for non-technical users, Mint or Ubuntu would be a better choice as there's less hacking in config files etc. to be done to get (and keep!) things working.
For servers, Debian is a better bet as it's more tweakable for optimal performance.

[khakilang]

Recently I was ask to service an old computer and make it work again. The spec was Pentium 450MHz with 256MB RAM with Video share of *MB RAM. At first I try Ubuntu but it was too slow so I try Debian and it went smoothly without a glitch. So I think hardware is also a concern when selecting Distro. Some maybe huge and some are smaller.

[jwenting]

All depends on your configuration. Ubuntu might install heavier frontends by default, doesn't mean it's more of a resource hog in theory though.