Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
wayoflinux.com
Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
1–10 of 61 posts
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#2Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#3Site is down.
Google Cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:nHJYRo...
I'll never understand why serving static(!) sites is so hard. Are modern blog systems still that bad? HN traffic is far below 100 req/sec (perhaps below 10 req/sec), which should be an absolute no-brainer for any modern webserver. [1] Heck, given a good internet connection, one should be able to run 10 such blogs on a Raspberry Pi and still survive HN.
[1] According to ServerFault, challenges start at 100000 req/sec: https://serverfault.com/q/408546/175421
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#4Or in other words, "I use Debian Stable on my home computer and here's how I've justified it to myself".
If Debian Stable does everything you want out of an operating system, by all means use it, there's no reason not to, but some other people may want to make use of the newer features of Linux and its surrounding ecosystem that aren't available in Debian Stable yet. The idea that Debian Stable is a good choice for all users ignores those with different desired features than the author.
In other words, people have different priorities. If you've found something that works for you, good for you, there's no need to justify it.
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#5This particular article seems to be an ad for consulting/support services, but their underlying point is one that I agree with:
Desktop usage (terminals, browsers, editors, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, media listening/viewing and light creation) should not be surprising. It should not change out from underneath the user.
I've run Debian Stable for more than 15 years as my primary desktop system, almost always with XFCE. I add the Google Chrome repository and download the latest Firefox and Firefox Nightly. That's it. The whole thing runs really nicely on an i5-2500 with 16GB RAM and 2 SSDs in a ZFS mirror. I'll need new hardware when I switch from 2 1920x1200 monitors to a big 4K screen; I won't need to change my OS.
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#6Or in other words, "I use Debian Stable on my home computer and here's how I've justified it to myself". If Debian Stable does everything you want out of an operating system, by all means use it, there's no reason not to, but some other people may want to make use of the newer features of Linux and its surrounding ecosystem that aren't available in Debian Stable yet. The idea that Debian Stable is a good choice for a…
The more i have had to deal with the Linux ecosystem, the less i want to do with the bleeding edge of it.
Because you will find shit breaking, willfully, every other month or so, because some caffeine addled code monkey thought he could do a decade+ usage-tested lib better in a new language over the weekend.
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#7Using Debian Stable on a desktop is probably the closer to hell that you could ever get. Imagine to never be able to get that one feature you need because it's only in a more recent version.
The best option for a stable desktop is Gentoo, where you can run old software but then unmask recent stuff if you need it. As a recent example I'll say that MTP support in stable (libmtp) was flaky for my mobile phone. With Debian I would've had to suck dicks in the bug tracker forever to get the fix backported. With Gentoo I just unmask a more recent version et voilà. And that applies to any software you could ever need: you are always going to need more recent versions of certain packages at some point. Stuff that gets fixed, a certain new feature you want, a more recent kernel...
I know someone is going to mention apt pinning but that only works in theory since pinning a more recent version of a certain package usually means you have to update half your packages to unstable because of dependencies. And in that case why even use stable?
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#8This particular article seems to be an ad for consulting/support services, but their underlying point is one that I agree with: Desktop usage (terminals, browsers, editors, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, media listening/viewing and light creation) should not be surprising. It should not change out from underneath the user. I've run Debian Stable for more than 15 years as my primary desktop system, almo…
> The whole thing runs really nicely on an i5-2500 with 16GB RAM and 2 SSDs in a ZFS mirror.
To be fair, I'd expect any OS to run nicely on that spec.
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#9Because you're a masochist?
Re: Why Use Debian Stable on the Desktop?
#10As a Debian user for 15 years, I like it, but as a developer looking to contribute packages, I am displeased. I can't figure out how to update Gambit Scheme to the newest version by making a package, setting up a local repo, etc. The documentation on the subject in debian is all over the place on many sites giving conflicting answers.
Gentoo and Arch in my limited experience are much simpler to build packages for. Redhat too. One build file is all that's required.