Which sfce distro to use

rmcellig · 2013-05-03 19:49:55

I am currently trying out Linux Lite. I have also tried Xubuntu. I love the xfce DE. At the moment I am downloading Debian 6.0.7 CD and DVD for 386 as I don't know what version I should download and install on my HP pavilion dv6 laptop.

I read in a thread on this forum that Debian with xfce is a good choice. All I do aside from email and checking the internet, is use Filezilla and Audacity for my audio work. Another distro I am liking a lot is Puppy Linux 5.2.8 (so much to choose from smile ).

I would love feedback on what I should do. Like I said, I want something rock solid, simple, and flexible to use. I'm a relative newbie from the Mac side (since 1988).

Thanks!!

ozjd · 2013-05-04 01:08:51

There is another thread which asks a similar question - https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=7795, might be the one you have already read. I'm not sure that such threads are very useful though. Apart from maybe alerting you to a distro you hadn't previously heard of, they usually just give everyone a chance to promote their favourite one.
There is no easy answer to your question. You are doing the right thing by trying a few until you find the one that meets your needs.

demosthenese · 2013-05-04 13:57:05

fyi debian7.0 will be released this weekend, so you may wish wait and install that. To install xfce from cd you just need the cd1 alternative install disk (debian-6.0.7-i386-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso) which you will find near the bottom of the list on this page:

http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.7/i386/iso-cd/

Or wait a bit until the current cd list points to 7.0, though you can update later.

Also unless you have a real need for i386, I'd go for the amd64 release.

MountainDewManiac · 2013-05-04 22:23:00

If one installs the Debian current Testing(?) version, will it become the upcoming Stable(?) version automatically? After the next update installs, I mean? (Or, I suppose, is the current Testing basically Stable in every way except for name at this point, anyway?)

I've been thinking about trying Debian one of these days. If I remember correctly, I read once that a person can download a very small "Internet Installer" and that it would take care of downloading/installing only the components which are necessary on that person's hardware, which seems like a neat concept. I realize that there are other distros which allow the user to do something like this, but some of them appear to be of the "terminal-based install" variety, and I'm not ready to dive into the deep end, so to speak, at this time.

I like my current distro (Mint 14 Xfce) just fine. It's Ubuntu-based (I guess that is how it is categorized?); they also offer a Debian-based version of Mint - but they have dropped their Debian-based Xfce distro. And I've become partial to Xfce, lol.

Which leads me to ask, and I suppose that such a question is an appropriate one for a thread of this nature: If I do install Debian - specifically, via its 'Net install version - will I be able to add Xfce without... Can a regular Joe User do it without having much in the way of technical skills? And, if so, is it as easy to add the 4.12 components as it is on an Ubuntu-based distro such as Mint? All I had to do with it was to add a line for the Xfce 4.12 PPA to my sources list and then run Mint's update app (and I could have done the update via terminal if I had wished).

Thanks,
MDM

demosthenese · 2013-05-05 01:23:35

MountainDewManiac wrote:

If one installs the Debian current Testing(?) version, will it become the upcoming Stable(?) version automatically? After the next update installs, I mean? (Or, I suppose, is the current Testing basically Stable in every way except for name at this point, anyway?)

If your repositories point to testing then you will stick with testing (jessie) after the new release. If your repositories point to wheezy, then you will track the new stable release after the update.

MountainDewManiac wrote:

I've been thinking about trying Debian one of these days. If I remember correctly, I read once that a person can download a very small "Internet Installer" and that it would take care of downloading/installing only the components which are necessary on that person's hardware, which seems like a neat concept. I realize that there are other distros which allow the user to do something like this, but some of them appear to be of the "terminal-based install" variety, and I'm not ready to dive into the deep end, so to speak, at this time.
I like my current distro (Mint 14 Xfce) just fine. It's Ubuntu-based (I guess that is how it is categorized?); they also offer a Debian-based version of Mint - but they have dropped their Debian-based Xfce distro. And I've become partial to Xfce, lol.
Which leads me to ask, and I suppose that such a question is an appropriate one for a thread of this nature: If I do install Debian - specifically, via its 'Net install version - will I be able to add Xfce without... Can a regular Joe User do it without having much in the way of technical skills? And, if so, is it as easy to add the 4.12 components as it is on an Ubuntu-based distro such as Mint? All I had to do with it was to add a line for the Xfce 4.12 PPA to my sources list and then run Mint's update app (and I could have done the update via terminal if I had wished).

This page explains how to install xfce:

http://wiki.debian.org/Xfce

Wheezy is on xfce 4.8, so if you want a later version you will have to change your repositories to testing or unstable. After the release of wheezy, it shouldn't be too long before xfce 4.10 lands in the new testing (jessie). If you want 4.12 you may have to wait quite some time before it arrives in experimental - in which case you will have to enable the unstable repositories and explicitly install from the experimental repository.

bwat47 · 2013-05-07 19:00:27

MountainDewManiac wrote:

If one installs the Debian current Testing(?) version, will it become the upcoming Stable(?) version automatically? After the next update installs, I mean? (Or, I suppose, is the current Testing basically Stable in every way except for name at this point, anyway?)
I've been thinking about trying Debian one of these days. If I remember correctly, I read once that a person can download a very small "Internet Installer" and that it would take care of downloading/installing only the components which are necessary on that person's hardware, which seems like a neat concept. I realize that there are other distros which allow the user to do something like this, but some of them appear to be of the "terminal-based install" variety, and I'm not ready to dive into the deep end, so to speak, at this time.
I like my current distro (Mint 14 Xfce) just fine. It's Ubuntu-based (I guess that is how it is categorized?); they also offer a Debian-based version of Mint - but they have dropped their Debian-based Xfce distro. And I've become partial to Xfce, lol.
Which leads me to ask, and I suppose that such a question is an appropriate one for a thread of this nature: If I do install Debian - specifically, via its 'Net install version - will I be able to add Xfce without... Can a regular Joe User do it without having much in the way of technical skills? And, if so, is it as easy to add the 4.12 components as it is on an Ubuntu-based distro such as Mint? All I had to do with it was to add a line for the Xfce 4.12 PPA to my sources list and then run Mint's update app (and I could have done the update via terminal if I had wished).
Thanks,
MDM

When you boot the debian installer, on the grub screen choose "advanced" and then go to "alternate desktop environments", and choose xfce. Then go through the install as normal and leave "debian desktop environment" checked at the package selection part of the install (it should be checked by default). doing that, the debian installer will install XFCE instead of gnome as your DE, you can do the same with KDE etc...

MountainDewManiac · 2013-05-07 19:41:48

Thanks to you both.

Ahau · 2013-05-09 17:11:04

If you like puppy, you may also like Porteus-XFCE. In full disclosure, I maintain Xfce for Porteus so this is not an unbiased suggestion smile

http://www.porteus.org/downloads

Korrode · 2013-05-15 06:44:44

rmcellig wrote:

I would love feedback on what I should do. Like I said, I want something rock solid, simple, and flexible to use. I'm a relative newbie from the Mac side (since 1988).

Just throwing in another thumbs up for Debian, based on your stated criteria.

Debian 7.0 ISO's are up.

i386
debian-7.0.0-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso

x86_64
debian-7.0.0-amd64-xfce-CD-1.iso

Last edited by Korrode (2013-05-15 06:46:48)

Sideburns · 2013-05-15 20:06:08

Personally, I use it on Fedora, but that's not for everybody. Unless you like running a bleeding-edge distro that comes out with a new release every six to nine months (and only supports the most recent two) I'd not recommend it to you. My sister uses Ubuntu and, after spending about a year fighting with Unity (Tiny hotspots and Parkinson's don't get along too well.) we installed Xfce and switched to it. If we ever need to re-install completely, we'll simply go with Xubuntu because that's what she's really using.

hlaten · 2013-05-17 14:27:00

I really love Debian with XFCE, just great.

orbspider · 2013-05-19 13:11:25

I love Debian wheezy with LXDE d:-y

I kicked off on debian with Xfce, knowing it from xubuntu... while I liked it, I didn't stay long, I reinstalled and set up lxde and haven't come off it for a year now.
It's simple and it has openbox which is nice. check my lxde page on my site for my install notes (which I hope don't have too many mistakes)

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#1 2013-05-03 19:49:55

Which sfce distro to use

#2 2013-05-04 01:08:51

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#3 2013-05-04 13:57:05

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#4 2013-05-04 22:23:00

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#5 2013-05-05 01:23:35

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#6 2013-05-07 19:00:27

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#7 2013-05-07 19:41:48

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#8 2013-05-09 17:11:04

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#9 2013-05-15 06:44:44

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#10 2013-05-15 20:06:08

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#11 2013-05-17 14:27:00

Re: Which sfce distro to use

#12 2013-05-19 13:11:25

Re: Which sfce distro to use

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