Blame it on me because I also thought Debian is not for newbies for use as a Desktop Linux. The latest from the Debian Project, Lenny changed me. Many are in the thought that Debian is a good server operating system, and many suggest its derivatives such as Ubuntu, Mepis, Pardus and Linspire for desktop usage. Pity! Debian has come of age since Potato and Woody, and now, as much I experienced, is perfect for desktop usage.
I found pure Debian to be better than its so called derivatives in many ways.
1. It's rock solid. I hope nobody will defy this statement.
2. It is easy and I mean it. Before installing I prepared myself for an uphill task for pulling non-free packages, configuring the closed-source wlan device, integrating codecs/plugins into browser and installing some proprietary applications. First of all, installation of the default Debian Lenny was as easy as installing any modern Desktop Linux. The plain pink installer was painfree. After installation I pulled in ndiswrapper module and got my wlan up and running. Finally setting up Debian-Multimedia repository was only as easy as placing an URL in the synaptic. And then all my favorite packages such as skype, unrar, w32codes, libdvdcss2, vlc, mplayer and firefox (remember Default Debian install has a pure opensource clone of Firefox, Iceweasel). With main, contribut, free, non-free and multimedia repositories active you are just a click away from around 25,000 packages!
3. It is a performer. Previously I thought it to be slow trying to appease a lot of criteria. But I was wrong, I found it to be as responsive as Mepis or Ubuntu.
4. It supports all. Many are in the wrong opinion that "Debian owing to its stable principle and delayed release cycle does not support modern hardware". Rest assured, with Xorg 7.4 and Kernel 2.6.26 Lenny is not outdated at all. Most probably it will support your desktop and laptop devices including some esoteric devices as well.
In conclusion I would suggest all of you who are using Ubuntu or other Debian Derivatives to try Lenny. It is worth the time!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Debian Lenny, Mighty Debian!
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5 comments:
You're right, welcome to the bright side.
Debian rocks!
I also use and support Debian, but if you want the build-it-yourself approach then make sure *not* to choose Desktop (which is GNOME) when selecting the 'environments' of the machine. This way I have a base install to which I can update to Testing or Sid, and install KDE 4.2.2, and only the packages that I want. This customization part, without the Desktop environment, is all command-line, and that is where people get scared off and think Debian is difficult (I believe).
I have the Multimedia repos, but I've never seen the official Firefox in there, even now. Nor Skype... are you sure that you got them from the repos?
Lefty,
You are right. I also could not find skype in the debian-multimedia repo. However, I got it from skype website. The rpm is available for Etch, but that works quite fine for Lenny. The same is true for Firefox and Thunderbird.
I can't see a reason to uninstall Iceweasel to install Firefox.
P.S. Skype is bad for freedom.
Lefty,
I respect your opinions but we are in a world that sometimes we need skype. And as for firefox and iceweasel comparison, I prefer firefox for its support, addons, multimedia capacities. Iceweasel is pure, fatfree, but lacks many features that I am used to.
Thanks for your interest in Deian.
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