Which Xfce Distro?

holden87 · 2013-02-04 13:32:06

So guys, in your opinion, which distro using the Xfce is the best, which do you prefer and use?

I'm split up between Xubuntu 12.04, Mint Xfce 13 and Debian Wheezy Xfce... hmmmm smile

Darktux · 2013-02-04 14:42:59

Hi holden87,
If you are new to linux I would recommend xubuntu or mint. Both of them are buit on top of ubuntu and are very good distros.
The appearance configuration is quite different. Probably mint is more polished, but in the end is a matter of personal taste.
Personally I run xfce on top of a minimal installation of ubuntu.

Last edited by Darktux (2013-02-04 18:14:32)

ComputerBob · 2013-02-05 21:16:33

I've been happily running Xfce on Debian Squeeze for the past 3 years. Debian's easier to install and configure than many people say -- and, because it doesn't include services that I don't need, it runs faster and lighter than the 'buntus.

Last edited by ComputerBob (2013-02-05 21:20:02)

golinux · 2013-02-06 15:29:19

ComputerBob wrote:

I've been happily running Xfce on Debian Squeeze for the past 3 years. Debian's easier to install and configure than many people say -- and, because it doesn't include services that I don't need, it runs faster and lighter than the 'buntus.

+1 There is a bit of a learning curve with installing proprietary drivers (if needed) but as far as performance it's unbeatable. As a compromise you might consider Mint LMDE which is based on Debian testing rather than 'buntu.

gnome_refugee · 2013-02-07 07:41:39

Still on Debian Squeeze + Xfce 4.6.2, couldn't be happier, but I'll be upping the Xfce number when I move to Debian Wheezy, whenever that goes stable.

jsepia · 2013-02-07 15:28:12

Fedora and Debian are my go-to distros. Fedora on powerful computers, Debian otherwise. However, I agree with all the Debian suggestions; Fedora is rather picky when it comes to repositories and I went through some trouble getting and installing v4.10 because of this. I only prefer it because it seems to have better drivers, and also RPMfusion.

essex lad · 2013-02-10 14:37:35

I'm using Xubuntu 12.04 on an old Acer 2010 with 1.25 gb - it runs really well
I've tried various other OS's but this is the one best for me

ComputerBob · 2013-02-11 01:31:11

essex lad wrote:

I'm using Xubuntu 12.04 on an old Acer 2010 with 1.25 gb - it runs really well
I've tried various other OS's but this is the one best for me

I think that you would find Debian Stable with Xfce to be both lighter and faster than Xubuntu.

MarekS · 2013-02-25 11:44:24

My votes go to Mint, Fedora, Xubuntu in that order.

ComputerBob · 2013-02-26 03:28:40

MarekS wrote:

My votes go to Mint, Fedora, Xubuntu in that order.

Why?

aljazek · 2013-02-26 23:01:34

Arch Linux and Xubuntu :-)

ComputerBob · 2013-02-27 12:40:19

aljazek wrote:

Arch Linux and Xubuntu :-)

Why? There must be one or more reasons.

When people simply "vote" for a distro without giving any reason for their choice, it doesn't add anything to the discussion.

Last edited by ComputerBob (2013-02-27 12:41:15)

aljazek · 2013-02-27 20:55:31

Oh, I am sorry, I really should add something to the conversation. Xubuntu is great out-of-the-box distro with ubuntu repositories, stable, also perfect for "in case of emergency" USB. However, my favorite distro is Arch, very minimalistic and without unnecessary ubuntu packages that are sometimes included as dependencies, surprisingly stable for a rolling distro, customizable installation - what you choose is what you get. I had some problems with the whole "systemd transition" and now I just don't have time to setup Arch on my workstation, so I use Xubuntu (screenshot is in the screenshot gallery category).

* I forgot to mention Debian Xfce - very fast, small consumption, however stable is a bit outdated and using Sid repo isn't stable as Arch.

Last edited by aljazek (2013-02-27 20:58:45)

ComputerBob · 2013-02-27 23:31:52

aljazek wrote:

Oh, I am sorry, I really should add something to the conversation. Xubuntu is great out-of-the-box distro with ubuntu repositories, stable, also perfect for "in case of emergency" USB. However, my favorite distro is Arch, very minimalistic and without unnecessary ubuntu packages that are sometimes included as dependencies, surprisingly stable for a rolling distro, customizable installation - what you choose is what you get. I had some problems with the whole "systemd transition" and now I just don't have time to setup Arch on my workstation, so I use Xubuntu (screenshot is in the screenshot gallery category).
* I forgot to mention Debian Xfce - very fast, small consumption, however stable is a bit outdated and using Sid repo isn't stable as Arch.

I've heard good things about Arch's fine-grained installation selections. Sometimes I wish that Debian Xfce had that OOTB, and I know I could do it by doing a minimal Debian install and then adding what I want afterward, but I guess when push comes to shove, I don't really want that responsibility. wink

aljazek · 2013-02-28 09:44:50

The best thing about arch is it's wiki. It takes you by the hand and leads you all the way to your perfectly set desktop. And I love "The Arch Way" philosophy.

bwat47 · 2013-02-28 14:11:57

Personally I find xubuntu to be the best, very good out of the box experience, and it addresses some shortcomings that vanilla XFCE has, like lack of proper pulseaudio integration (I *love* that xubuntu has a patched xfce4-volumed to work properly with pulseaudio, and uses the ubuntu sound indicator and pavucontrol instead of the extremely lacking xfce4-mixer)

I had some troubles with XFCE 4.10/xubuntu 12.10, particularly with thunar and xfce4-power-manager being weird/buggy, but all seems fixed with 4.12 smile I'm currently testing xubuntu 13.04 on my laptop and its amazing.

I did use XFCE on arch for a while too, arch is nice if you want an up to date "vanilla" XFCE, but I ended up having to spend a ton of time tweaking XFCE on arch to do things that xubuntu does out of the box (mostly trying to integrate pulseaudio to my satisfaction)

Last edited by bwat47 (2013-02-28 14:14:34)

golinux · 2013-02-28 23:10:36

Seeing as how there will be no 'buntu here, my vote goes to Refracta which is a slimmed down repackaged Debian (that link is to a redesign in process). It is sleek and the apps included pretty much mirror the ones I would build up from a base install. Two unique apps (that are included on a few other distros but scripted by the Refracta folks) are Refractasnapshot and Refractainstaller. With a few clicks, you can create a bootable iso of your running system for travel or as backup in just a few minutes. I'll be building wheezy on Refracta (with pure Debian as a close second) whenever it goes stable.

sefufuller · 2013-03-01 22:45:05

A tad esoteric, yet good for a spin is zenwalk. If one is looking for a easy way to slide into slack with xfce, its a good path.

Paulw2U · 2013-03-25 16:16:01

holden87 wrote:

So guys, in your opinion, which distro using the Xfce is the best, which do you prefer and use?
I'm split up between Xubuntu 12.04, Mint Xfce 13 and Debian Wheezy Xfce... hmmmm

Out of the three distributions that you have quoted I have only tried Xubuntu.

I'm using a development version of Xubuntu 13.04 at the moment. It won't be released for another month but it's already very stable and a pleasure to use.

rijnsma · 2013-03-25 21:26:37

Yes, Xubuntu is great at the moment. I mostly use Mint, but this one (12.04 LTS) is perfect here.

Last edited by rijnsma (2013-03-25 21:27:03)

the_file · 2013-03-26 03:24:37

All those distros are the same. If you don't want to do serious editing use debian.

rijnsma · 2013-03-26 09:18:42

I have tried Debian. But something did not go right. And I love smoothness.

Darktux · 2013-03-26 18:14:18

the_file wrote:

All those distros are the same. If you don't want to do serious editing use debian.

Can you please explain better your idea/opinion ?

In my opinion, for someone without experience in Linux, Mint or Xubuntu are better out-of-the box experiences.

Personally, I prefer to install ubuntu (or debian) minimal install and then install just what I want. But that is now, after 4/5 years of exploring, breaking and fixing Linux installations.

begre1929 · 2013-04-07 23:29:44

aljazek wrote:

Arch Linux and Xubuntu :-)

same for me.
Xubuntu for a new user is a good start. => I think for a new user the best distro is the one wher he can get a lot of information, and you have to consider your first langage. For the french speakers, *buntu is the best so far...
Arch for a mature user is the best. => rolling release, and you can easyli compile from AUR a lot of stuffs, for stability, for speed, and for space taken.

--My personnal opinions--

herbie643 · 2013-04-12 01:48:56

I started with Ubuntu back in Hardy Heron then, for a reason I can't remember, switched back to Windows. Finally got tired of all the Windows stuff and Win 8 coming out I switched to LMDE, latest release with Cinnamon and Mate.
Cinnamon had a few quirks, nothing serious, no crashes, just didn't feel right. So moved to Gnome3 and installed lots of extensions. Then I read about the philosophy of the Gnome Dev's and that was it. Installed Xfce and have been quite pleased with the performance. It 'seems' faster than the others and very light on memory, 170mb+ on bootup running 32bit.
Then I decided to get adventurous, switched my repository to SID. Nothing has broken yet. Running Debian, at least I feel, is the best. Debian is the main source of many distros. Ubuntu seems to be getting heavy, just my perception. Debian, runs great. Xfce could wind up being the desktop of choice. The Xfce dev's aren't on a crusade to change the world. They listen to users and when a user asks for an enhancement they aren't snubbed. Valid reasons are given for why or why not a feature will be added.
Xfce for me from now on and will stay with Debian.
Sorry, got a little lengthy there. I do have a tendency to digress.

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#1 2013-02-04 13:32:06

Which Xfce Distro?

#2 2013-02-04 14:42:59

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#3 2013-02-05 21:16:33

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#4 2013-02-06 15:29:19

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#5 2013-02-07 07:41:39

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#6 2013-02-07 15:28:12

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#7 2013-02-10 14:37:35

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#8 2013-02-11 01:31:11

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#9 2013-02-25 11:44:24

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#10 2013-02-26 03:28:40

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#11 2013-02-26 23:01:34

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#12 2013-02-27 12:40:19

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#13 2013-02-27 20:55:31

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#14 2013-02-27 23:31:52

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#15 2013-02-28 09:44:50

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#16 2013-02-28 14:11:57

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#17 2013-02-28 23:10:36

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#18 2013-03-01 22:45:05

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#19 2013-03-25 16:16:01

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#20 2013-03-25 21:26:37

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#21 2013-03-26 03:24:37

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#22 2013-03-26 09:18:42

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#23 2013-03-26 18:14:18

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#24 2013-04-07 23:29:44

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

#25 2013-04-12 01:48:56

Re: Which Xfce Distro?

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