Debian has a reputation as being rock-solid, and I think it deserves that reputation for the most part. Its latest version (Etch) was released a couple of months ago, but I didn’t bother to try it until a couple of days ago.
I was pretty impressed at first. It did seem quite stable. The look was polished as well (great login screen, wonderful icons for IceWeasel and IceDove—the unbranded versions of Firefox and Thunderbird, respectively). I ran into weird problems with my keyboard shortcuts in Gnome, though. Ubuntu would recognize them right away. I wasn’t sure what packages Debian needed to use my multimedia keys, though. The Desktop > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue would appear to recognize my keys, but when I tried to use them… no go. Other than that, though, the experience of using Gnome in Debian wasn’t too different from the experience of using it in Ubuntu.
There were two obstacles to my trial switch to Debian, though, and they mainly had to do with the fact that I had been using Ubuntu for the past two years before weakly attempting this switch to Debian: 1) The themes included with Debian are ugly (in my opinion, of course), and I couldn’t find easily installable ones from Gnome Look that suited my tastes. Worse yet, trying to install the Ubuntu ones just left me with a mess of dependency errors. 2) I kept trying to sudo and gksudo, and I kept getting denied. When I did remember to use su to switch to the root user, I often forgot I was root and ended up creating files or changing settings for the root user instead of my regular user.
I’m not bagging on Debian (well, except for the multimedia keys thing). I guess this just reinforces for me even further what I’ve known for a long time, having used Windows for decades, dabbled in Mac, and ended up with Ubuntu: a lot of the pleasantness (or lack thereof) of computing has to do with what you’re used to. When I first started using Ubuntu, I thought the Human theme was ugly, and I did everything I could to change it to look more like Mac or Windows. Now that I’ve used Ubuntu for two years, I love the Human theme, and I can’t live without sudo and gksudo. Root just doesn’t fit with the way my brain works any more. I didn’t have a problem with switching to root user when I was using Mepis (the one month I used it before switching to Ubuntu). Now, though, I’ve just got to sudo… su… su… su… su… sussudio. I’m a Ubuntite.
I too have become a Ubuntite. I started using it a couple of years ago and like you I didn’t go for the sudo, but now I appreciate it’s value and I think it is no wonder that Dell went with Ubuntu. I have been using Linux almost nine years and very intensively in the last six. I began to use it as a primary desktop about four years ago and progressed Mandrake, Red Hat, Fedora Core and then Ubuntu. Ubuntu’s live CD “try before you buy,” approach and its ease of install with only one CD are real selling points. The updates and all the other packages along with the ability to customize with Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Ubuntu Studio are really great. I don’t know how they float the boat financially but I hope they continue to prosper.:-) Don
I did a net install of Debian Etch. I did the base system only, and then added xorg kde-core kdm and went from there. It was a real adventure learning to make sound work and get the right printer drivers. I love it. I also love su and the file browser, super user mode. I think it makes things easier.
I’m also liking the Ubuntu Feisty server install that I added KDE Core to. I like it better than Kubuntu. I just discovered Ubuntu/non-Windows computing about 3 months ago. I’m having fun.
You’ve got to add your user to /etc/sudoers like this:
psychokitty ALL=(ALL) ALL
Thanks for the tip, Alexis. I think I’ll stick with Ubuntu anyhow. If I give Debian another swing, I’ll be sure to do that.
I began using Debian in March 1996, it has never let me down. I’m in love. :P With Debian.