I really like the look of your setup!
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The last time I actually ran a true Debian release was right around when Debian 13 (Trixie) came out. I knew that both MX Linux and antiX would eventually be basing their software on it, so I wanted to see how it ran. The answer is precisely what anyone who’s ever used Debian knows: it worked fine, it was not exciting, but even though it’s a server-based distribution, it runs fine as a desktop or laptop system.
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I don’t know if you’ve realized anything yet, but based on past studies that I’ve done in this area, a relatively plain Xfce configuration, regardless of which distribution it’s running on is actually slightly leaner and faster than a heavily customized, good looking, but altered configuration that’s typical with Linux Mint.
For those who just want to plug it in, throw a beautiful setup on it, Linux Mint is hard to beat. Nothing wrong with it at all, except that it’s not that easy to alter; unless I’m forgetting - maybe it’s the *buntu guys that do it the most - they have these metapackages that install everything with just a small (1-5) set of packages that do it all. For ease of installation, and also for install it and go, this is fabulous.
For guys like me though, who want to tinker and do exactly what I want, I end up replacing these setups, so with that in mind, this is where Debian, with unaltered packages, will install what the packages provide, so unless you choose to install with one of those massive metapackages, Debian is likely to provide a very stable, functional, no frills environment.
The variations of Debian that I typically install myself do something similar, but they are specifically tailored to what they do best: MX Linux is one of the excellent desktop distributions. By default it installs a clean, functional Xfce-based desktop system, but it gives you a few more choices: more appearance items, a really nice toolchest, and it does all of that with a similar footprint to a fairly stock Xfce configuration. Then there’s the alternative that I happen to use most of the time. That’s antiX. Most of you who like desktop environments and eye candy would not like it, though several of you may respect it because it’s fantastic in it’s efficiency, and also noted for it’s ability to steer clear of the industry trend toward systemd.
I’m not trying to steer anyone anywhere; Debian is the king upon which hundreds of distributions are based, and it’s a very good system without going anywhere else.
Back when Debian had a really nice netinst (network installation tool) I used to snag almost every build of Debian; then again, I had both a wired network plus a WiFi router so I could easily load and run network installations. Today I can ONLY do that if the network image has WiFi support for my hardware; only a few distributions with a network loadable image do that, so I’ve not done very many network installations in recent years.
Anyway, I thought I’d share these comments and twists to “the Debian Way” because Debian is such a solid distribution!
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