As I mentioned there are three current versions of Debian - see
http://www.debian.org/releases/
'testing' and 'unstable' are rolling release so they are always up to
date comparing to 'stable' which is more conservative.
Ubuntu is *not* 'up-to-date' Debian - they just take regular snapshots
of Debian 'unstable' but in Debian you can use packages from
'unstable' right away or use backports repository:
http://backports.debian.org/Instructions/
I didn't suggest changing to another distro however in my practice
sooner or later you need to upgrade and then it is better to have
reliably upgradeable system unlike CentOS/Red Hat etc. That's when
initial distribution choice become important.
Regards,
Dmitry.
On 10 June 2011 11:02, david <[email protected]> wrote:
> You might do well to choose one then stick to it until you are comfortable
> enough to experiment. In my opinion you could pretty much choose by drawing
> straws. They aren't all that different in the end, but different enough to
> confuse a newbie. (except Gentoo?)
>
> I started using Ubuntu because it seemed to be an up-to-date version of
> Debian. I previously found Debian excellent to use but it often didn't have
> the latest features/libraries for the software I needed.
>
> Now I've got three servers and six desktops running Ubuntu, so changing to
> another distro would be inconvenient (although not impossible!).
>
> I'm sure Fedora/Suse/Debian etc etc are fine. I've used them all in the past
> and they were all OK.
>
> They all work, flame wars aside.
>
>
> onlyjob wrote:
>>>
>>> For someone new to Linux I would not recommend Debian as it can be a
>>> pain to get all the hardware support sorted. I still can't get it
>>> (Debian 6)to recognise my onboard sound system whereas Ubuntu, OpenSuSE
>>> and Fedora picked it up easily during install.
>>>
>>> Derivatives such as Ubuntu 10.10 (11.04 is flawed) are easier to set up.
>>> OpenSuSE 11.4 and Fedora 14 are also excellent choices.
>>>
>>> OpenSuSE 11.4 is on the cover disk of this month's APC magazine.
>>>
>>> Heracles
>>
>> For complete newbie no distribution can compete with OpenSUSE and
>> Mandriva.
>> However newbies quickly become familiar with system and that's where
>> problems begin when they're starting to push system's boundaries.
>>
>> Speaking about Debian, remember that there are 3 versions of it:
>> 'stable', 'testing' and 'unstable'. Debian6 is 'stable' when Ubuntu
>> make their distribution mostly from 'unstable' version.
>>
>> For Desktop you can install 'testing' or simply upgrade from 'stable'
>> or even cherry pick packages from 'unstable'.
>>
>> Debian works perfectly with hardware so there is no 'hardware support'
>> issue. But keep in mind that non-free drivers only available from
>> 'non-free' repository which is disabled by default.
>>
>> While Ubuntu promote installation of non-free drivers I especially
>> recommend Debian as far more superior distribution including support
>> for non-free hardware.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Dmitry.
>
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