Using debian as desktop os

[pheon]

Hey, İm currently using ubuntu 12 as my os. İs debian good as ubuntu? worth to use? thanks for answers.

[JasonHippy]

Ubuntu is based on Debian, so other than the UI (No Unity or Gnome 3 in Debian. Debian 6 uses Gnome 2.6) there aren't really many differences.

The main differences are:

1. By default, Debian tends to use slightly older, better tested packages. Which pretty much assures a stable and relatively bug-free desktop experience. Whereas Ubuntu tends to use newer, more bleeding edge packages. And because of this Ubuntu is often quite buggy after a new release. But to be fair, any major bugs are usually fixed within a few weeks. Incidentally, in my experience it's worth holding off upgrading your Ubuntu installation until a month or so after any new release to give time for any initial bugs to be fixed by the time you upgrade. :)

2. Because of Debians free software guidelines, Debian doesn't have any non-free software installed by default. So there is no built-in support for non-free multimedia audio/video codecs, no flashplayer plugin etc. Whereas Ubuntu gives you the option of installing non-free codecs in the installer. So with Debian, if you want to use non-free codecs/software you'd have to install them manually by adding some additional, external repositories to your sources.list.

Despite these minor differences, Debian is great! A really stable OS with a large (if slightly dated) selection of additional software.

Personally I like to use the latest, greatest, bleeding-edge versions of my favourite software. So I was a Ubuntu user from versions 7.10 to 10.10. But I'm not a fan of Unity or Gnome 3 (and I'm not keen on KDE either). So when Ubuntu 11.04 came out I started using Xubuntu and did a bit of distro hopping to find something which suited my needs better.

In the end, I settled on Arch Linux with Openbox and dwm as the window managers. But that's just me! :)

[CimmerianX]

You should also take a good look at Linux Mint. Latest version is based off ubuntu 12.04 desktop but gives you a more 'classic' GUI instead of the ubuntu garbage that is loaded by default now.

[knowill]

Debian is a more customizable os

[peaceman]

As it was mentioned above - Ubuntu is based on the testing branch of Debian with its own patches. That's why Debian is faster and more customizable. But be ready for rough edges)) E.g. outdated software, unless you use testing or unstable branches of Debian. I advise you to try Linux Mint Debian edition. It's a well-prepared Debian testing.

[JorgeM]

I would also suggest Linux MInt.

[androtheos]

Because of Unity I also recently stopped using Ubuntu. I have been using Crunchbang linux which is also based on debian but uses Openbox for the desktop. I am really enjoying the simplicity of Openbox, it just gets out of your way and lets you work.

The only reason I use a distro other than debian is for the added audio / video / non-free software support out of the box. If you get by without these things I wouldn't bother to switch your distro. After all none of the others mentioned would exist without Debian (except Arch).

[JasonHippy]

Because of Unity I also recently stopped using Ubuntu. I have been using Crunchbang linux which is also based on debian but uses Openbox for the desktop. I am really enjoying the simplicity of Openbox, it just gets out of your way and lets you work.
The only reason I use a distro other than debian is for the added audio / video / non-free software support out of the box. If you get by without these things I wouldn't bother to switch your distro. After all none of the others mentioned would exist without Debian (except Arch).

Yes, I used Crunchbang for a while during my distro hopping phase. Completely forgot to mention it in my previous post. I've got to say, I really liked Crunchbang. And I run fairly old and/or low-spec hardware too, so the lightness of Crunchbang was a definite plus and being Debian based it's instantly familiar. And Openbox is extremely intuitive too. I'd definitely recommend Crunchbang to anybody wanting to get away from Ubuntu and Unity. I just fancied switching to a light distro with a rolling release schedule.... Hence choosing Arch! :)

Arch requires a lot more manual configuration and general Linux know-how than most other distros. But IMHO this is a good thing because after installing the base system, you can tailor your install to meet your own needs. For example; My arch install is pretty minimal. Very few services running on startup and no graphical login/display manager. So it boots really quickly. After logging in, I just get a full screen terminal session. So I can fire up vim and work on projects or do sys-admin stuff from the command line. And whenever I need to run windowed/GUI applications, I run a script to start X with Openbox or dwm (which takes no more than a couple of seconds). And I have keyboard shortcuts set up for the programs I use most often. So once the WM has loaded, I just need to use a key combination to start whatever I need.

Sure, I could alter the configuration to automatically fire up X with one of the WM's at login. Or install a graphical login with a session switcher to allow me to choose the session to run etc. But I don't always need to use X so I decided to default to the command line and only run X when I need to!

The joys of Linux and free software eh?! How many other OSes offer so much choice, freedom, stability and reliability?! Heh heh! ;)

BTW: For people who want to try Arch, but aren't too keen on doing too much manual configuration there is a newish distro called Archbang. Which as you may guess from the name is an Arch based distro which is influenced by Crunchbang. Archbang offers a pre-configured Arch install complete with login/display manager, Openbox, a good selection of typical desktop software, plus non-free codecs and flash etc. Oh and access to the Arch repos. So it's like crunchbang, but based on Arch. I haven't tried Archbang yet (No point now I have Arch set up), but it sounds quite good so far!

[androtheos]

@JasonHippy

It's simple but you know what my favorite part of Crunchbang with Openbox is? It's Conky by default with the commonly used shortcuts listed as a config section. And since it is Conky, I was able to just add a section with some custom shortcuts of my own as a reminder to myself. So simple yet sooo helpful.

I heart linux. LoL.