I was interested to know in the community: 1) Those running explicit Debian distro, or 2) Debian-derived distro; e.g., Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.
And of those running explicit Debian, which DE (or headless).
I use UbuntuMATE, but the expanding scope of “imposed” SNAP-based defaults for some packages is beginning to turn me off, to the point of seriously going upstream to Debian for MATE Desktop. 
For now, sticking with UM.
6 Likes
Debian testing here. Via Kali Linux for some years now: Can-i-use-kali-linux-as-a-daily-generic-linux-system
DE = XFCE as the update cadence is too rapid for GNOME, IMO.
Also will be looking into Rhino Linux as time allows.
4 Likes
What’s your concern with moving from Ubuntu to Debian, out of curiosity?
5 Likes
I definitely use Debian-derived distributions in place of stock Debian. They offer several interactive advantages for personal use. While Debian is one of the leading server distributions I prefer MX Linux when I use a desktop environment (usually Xfce) and I prefer antiX for light, simple, basic window manager use, which is what I’m using now with IceWM.
4 Likes
Only two real considerations:
- I am habituated to UM and am not very interested in moving away from an environment/configuration/architecture that I am comfortable with,
and
- the interraction within the open, welcoming, helpful, insightful and entertaining Community that I found on the old UbuntuMATE Discourse site, of which the more active members have accepted my invitation to join together again here, under the MATE Companions banner.
This may seem too tenuous an argument, but I don’t want to put that “shared relationship” at risk!
Does that make sense?
5 Likes
No, of course, I understand! You’re currently using an environment that is not only comfortable in terms of your knowledge of it, but also in terms of community surrounding it. Indeed I get that it just doesn’t feel right to let that go, and perhaps even like you’ve “found a place” currently. Thanks for the elaboration—the community aspect of UM is not something I had considered in my question but, as evident from this forum, it seems to be a strong and open community.
6 Likes
@ericmarceau that makes complete sense to me: if we are familiar with a particular environment and it is available, it’s THE WAY to go!
It’s when we are employed that we have to use what’s there. When I was fortunate enough to work in a UNIX shop outside of a computer company, it was usually Sun Solaris. In that world, I could use either vi or get lucky and they’d have a graphical editor; at one client a very long time ago they had Solaris and they did have Xemacs available, so that’s what I used.
The same company in a later, different assignment was doing a migration from Sun Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for their streaming market services. That one fit me like a glove because I could do either one!
I didn’t have a ton of file editing in that job; I was often conducting meetings or solving technical problems, but I definitely had only vi/vim in those scenarios!
5 Likes
There are some great replies to this question already so I won’t rehash what’s been said, but I did want to offer my own two cents to this.
- I run explicit Debian headless on all of my “servers”. I quote that word because most of them are not true “servers”. They’re just old computers I’ve been given by friends, family, and IT departments at work.
I choose to run Debian (Bookworm on most, Trixie on a couple as I go through the upgrade process) on them as Debian offers the leanest out-of-the-box install with the most stability. Those are my priorities. A lot of the hardware I have is not new so I need to squeeze as much life out of them as I can while keeping things as stable and consistent as possible.
My Linux journey started on Ubuntu so I am the most familiar with apt and .deb packages, so I feel very comfortable on Debian servers and I haven’t had any interest in shaking that up.
- I do run Ubuntu on 2 machines and I use Zorin OS on a few machines as well.
Ubuntu on 2 because I haven’t set aside enough time to convert them to Debian (long story on those). Zorin on computers that are not headless because I like their environment and approach. Though one of my Zorin installs is likely going to turn into a CachyOS install (I plan to make a dedicated post about this once I have my thoughts together).
TL;DR Debian on servers/headless, derivatives on GUIs.
5 Likes
I’ve been a Debian GNU/Linux user since around ~1996.
I first tried Ubuntu in 2010 I believe, and it’s now my default or most used distribution of GNU/Linux.
This primary box is [currently] using Lubuntu’s LXQt desktop (xfwm4 as WM though) currently, but I also have installed GNOME, Xfce & more - ie. a multi-desktop install, but I’ve been using Xfce most of last three weeks. It’s dual boot with another release of Ubuntu on the box as well (Releases being development and an LTS (still 24.04))
A secondary box runs Debian testing (forky) I use late in the day I commonly select a different desktop to whatever I’ve used earlier in the day, as its bloated offering me 16 choices of desktop/WMs with all most DEs installed (I removed 10 I wasn’t using making box leaner and giving me more DM choice - not all DMs can cope with more than 16 session choices you may not have discovered!)
Other boxes I have nearly all use Ubuntu (an LTS or old-LTS) where used as desktop or media player, except for my servers which are running Debian (stable or old-stable).
6 Likes
Debian-derived Ubuntu-MATE.
5 Likes
Definitely relate to that. All of my servers are Intel NUCs or Lenvo ThinkCentres. But, while small, they work great for self-hosting where the load is not significant.
5 Likes
Have you heard of antiX?
It’s a very lean Debian-based distribution that works great for old and new systems.
It’s my regular distribution.
6 Likes
I hadn’t heard of antiX until seeing one of your posts about it recently. I have recently tried out MX Linux but I had forgotten about giving antiX a shot until your message just now.
I will definitely give it a shot on a spare laptop of mine and I appreciate the reminder!
6 Likes
Thank you for letting me know.
Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you!
5 Likes
i’ve been on Xubuntu for most of my Linux life, which started around 17 years ago. Also a few years on Ubuntu MATE and a few short times on Ubuntu. This year I moved on to Mint XFCE Edition on top of which I installed MATE Desktop.
I know, Mint is Ubuntu under the hood, but runs way better at least on my old hardware. Sometimes I’m on XCFE desktop and I feel like I’m on a better Xubuntu, other times I log in to MATE Desktop and I love how well it works.
If I could get a spare computer, I’d try other distros.
3 Likes
Interesting. I just went to the anitX website and it is giving “site can’t be reached” error.
1 Like
Yep, back up now. Weird…
1 Like
I have Sparky Mate Semi-Rolling on a back up laptop. I also have a small tuff book type laptop I put Sparky on and then all my wife’s recipes. She loves it as she was able to get rid of a ton of cookbooks. My wife likes to de-clutter.
Main laptop and Juke Box laptop are Ubuntu Mate.
5 Likes