I checked the date of my previous post, and it has been eight months that I have been running Debian on this old HP laptop. Here are a few things that have struck me about the move from Ubuntu:
- The desktop environment can be pretty much identical. I am still running Gnome now — as I was on Ubuntu — and while it may be a different version, I would have a hard time pointing out any differences.
- At the outset, I had troubles with a flickering monitor. I spent quite a bit of time installing drivers and tinkering with settings, and while I can’t confidently say that it was something I did, the flickering has stopped.
- Debian stable’s commitment to, uh, stability, is a double-edged sword. I had been following Ubuntu’s six-month releases, and was used to having the latest. Stable moves much more slowly. I appreciate the reliability, but sometimes you just want to install something new that isn’t supported yet, and that can be frustrating.
- Partly as a result of (3), I find I’m building software from source more often. I almost never did this on Ubuntu, but with Debian it seems like it’s a regular occurrence.
Anyhow, these are my thoughts. My intention is not enrage some faction of linux nerds, but just to point out what I’ve noticed. I am happy with Debian; probably happier than I was with Ubuntu.
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