Debian is, to put it bluntly: a pain in the ass!

Ok, I get it they are into “security.” But then they need to work on their “graceful” exits when it gets confused! I had to start the debian machine with the live distro just now, as it was refusing to do any thing after several restarts…I did nothing that I haven’t done while using ubuntu or mint, but no go. Debian is too picky! It doesn’t want users to do anything that doesn’t fit the mold.

Off to format and reinstall…

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It can be cantankerous!!! It also boring to use!!!

No, the project just addresses a different audience.

Ubuntu addresses the sellouts who might as well get a Mac, too (sorry, @daniel.m.tripp :kissing_heart: :laughing:), while Debian addresses those who are more interested in FOSS and are even willing to partially sacrifice functionality for the sake of privacy, security and an otherwise FOSS focused digital lifestyle.

https://www.debian.org/intro/why_debian

I agree, that running Debian on special or very new laptops, for example, can get tiresome much quicker, than using Ubuntu. We are on the same page here.

However, on the other side, I use Debian all over the place on servers and it’s still the #1 general purpose distribution, especially when used without a GUI or with one that is barely ever used.

That said, don’t forget what Ubuntu is originally based on… :wink:

P.S.:

If you think Debian is “too picky”, have a look at these:

https://distrowatch.com/search.php?ostype=All&category=Free+Software&origin=All&basedon=All&notbasedon=None&desktop=All&architecture=All&package=All&rolling=All&isosize=All&netinstall=All&language=All&defaultinit=All&status=Active#simple

Distributions like these are basically for FOSS masochists. They are made out of 100% FOSS software. So, if there is no FOSS software available that is compatible with your hardware in any way, you are out of luck and need to buy hardware fitting the 100% FOSS requirements. :smiley:

You’re right, Akito, for a server Debian is likely the right choice…Excuse me for ranting!

No need. It’s good to see people mention, what’s crappy about a product. And as I said, I agree with your experience, because Debian is definitely not as laid back and easy going as Ubuntu, for an end consumer, trying to live their every day digital life.
My point was, that Debian addresses a different type of user, than Ubuntu does. That’s usually how all these stupid fanboy wars start. The most famous one is probably Xbox vs. Playstation, when most of the fanboys completely ignore the fact, that those two consoles have slightly different audiences and these nuances are already enough to make them distinct. Yet, people fight all the time over what’s “best”, when both have their pros and cons.

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:grin: :laughing: :upside_down_face: :crazy_face:

I do run Debian, where it’s the best answer, e.g. Raspbian Buster… but getting rarer in my environment these days, I used to have at least 4 instances running at home, but now only two, both via Raspbian, Buster arm64 on Pi4, and Stretch armhf on a Pi3…

Mostly - I’m just lazy, so I do whatever’s the least path of resistance… Mac’s easy, until it gets too hard, then it’s downright overly complex and a real PITA… Ubuntu’s easier to use than a Mac IMHO - and both are exponentially easier (for me) to use than anything from Microsoft…

I know how to get past that annoyance with Debian where it won’t connect to WiFi 'cause the drivers for your WiFi chipset have proprietary blobs in them… But I don’t care about that stuff, I aint no OSS Warrior like :


I’m perfectly happy to use non-Free proprietary shit to get things done…

That’s probably a minor annoyance for Debian on x86, but as previously stated, I’m a lazy SOB (I’m not really a SOB and its my mum’s birthday today - happy 84th Mama! She aint no bitch) - so not having WiFi on installation is usually a showstopper for me, and I’ll switch to Ubuntu…

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Gotta say, Dan, that using whatever tool does the job easiest, fastest, and most accurately is the sensible way to go. I just might be a little Lazy, too, now that I think about it. Golf this morning–if a potato on a stick puts the ball in the hole, it might just be the best club in my bag.

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Debian is one of the best distros. You have an option to add non free repositories and install non free firmware if your hardware is very new or rare. I installed Debian 10 and Debian 11 multiple times on different hardware and never ever had a single issue. I prefer very light and fast system and use netboot mini.iso to install my system. It is only 48 MB and can be downloaded here: https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/bullseye/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/mini.iso
There is a reason that majority of Linux servers run Ubuntu (based on Debian) or Debian itself. Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE servers are less common than Debian based. I personally tried tens of different distros and always in the end reformat and install either Debian or Ubuntu. In my experience not the Debian, but Arch based distros are pain in the ass. I don’t get why so many people love Arch. When I compared Ubuntu MATE and Manjaro MATE (based on Arch), Ubuntu was a clear winner. It was faster, more stable and less resource hungry. Pacman froze my system and crashed more than once, while Synaptic is always perfect and fast. There are hundreds of distros based on Debian (including Ubuntu), so why not use vanilla Debian - the true source of hundreds of distros instead of adding more crap to Debian as some distros do! So, as the expression goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Vanilla Debian is the best!

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Despite my earlier tantrum, I agree. I was perturbed that I was unable to find a way to use what is, to me, a critical piece of code. I was actually thinking of learning how to do it myself!

Upon further study, I found ways of doing some of the things to set up the system the way I use it.

Dolphin is fantastic, especially once you begin to use it and find out where everything is…Just eating crow, and enjoying it! :rofl: