the go-to distro

[uncle mark]

I see there are other KDE aficionados hiding in the shadows.

Another one here. I'm going to have a decision to make some time in the not-too-distant future. My ol' reliable M11 is just great, thankyouverymuch, but I won't be able to use it forever. Probably have to see what shakes out after Jessie goes stable. Hopefully SolydK BE will still be under active development.

[joany]

I see there are other KDE aficionados hiding in the shadows.

Another one here. I'm going to have a decision to make some time in the not-too-distant future. My ol' reliable M11 is just great, thankyouverymuch, but I won't be able to use it forever. Probably have to see what shakes out after Jessie goes stable. Hopefully SolydK BE will still be under active development.

My long-range plans hinge on whether there will be a future MX-XX. If not, I'll probably use AntiX core with KDE_stable meta-installer if that's still available, hoping that a future AntiX would incorporate the nice MX-14 tools.

[malspa]

It seems that Debian's rarely mentioned as a long-term option here, but it's always there. For long-time Mepis users especially, once you get Debian installed and set up, the rest is mostly what you're already used to.

MX looks great, but who knows about its future? SalineOS was great, too, and it's gone. There might never be another Mepis release. SolydXK looks like a nice one, but again, you never know. Looking 5+ years down the road, Debian Stable's the best bet out there. in my book -- whether you like Xfce or KDE or something else.

[DBeckett]

I see there are other KDE aficionados hiding in the shadows.

Another one here. I'm going to have a decision to make some time in the not-too-distant future. My ol' reliable M11 is just great, thankyouverymuch, but I won't be able to use it forever. Probably have to see what shakes out after Jessie goes stable. Hopefully SolydK BE will still be under active development.

I have high hopes for Jessie—I've been using it for quite a while now and like it a lot despite the constant avalanche of updates that accompany the testing phase. I've never looked at SolydK BE but I do have SolydXK here. I used it briefly but have since abandoned it for pure Jessie due to breakage, and to my own philosophical choices.

[NGIB]

An LTS Buntu base is pretty attractive as it gives you long term support as well as great software selection. You don't have to ask packagers to help you out if you need something newer than is in the stable repository or something unique. Having said this I will also tip my hat to the folks here as they are very responsive to "customer" requests and generally have a solution quickly. With the huge user base that Buntu has, problems tend to get ID'd and fixed quickly and answers to questions are easy to find. I like relative stability but I also like current software and Debian stable is not the answer for that. It may be just a perception but if needed changes aren't being made I doubt developers would go through the effort to release new versions of stuff.

I'll be keeping MX-14 installed and operational as it's a great system but my daily driver will likely be 64 bit Buntu 14.04 based. While there may be no real reason to run a 64 bit system, all of my hardware is 64 bit and it just seems wrong in some way to run a 32 bit system...

[malspa]

I have high hopes for Jessie—I've been using it for quite a while now and like it a lot despite the constant avalanche of updates that accompany the testing phase.

I'm looking forward to it. I like to wait until some weeks after "the freeze" before I start in with Testing.

[joany]

An LTS Buntu base is pretty attractive as it gives you long term support as well as great software selection. You don't have to ask packagers to help you out if you need something newer than is in the stable repository or something unique.

Really? They do it without asking?

While there may be no real reason to run a 64 bit system, all of my hardware is 64 bit and it just seems wrong in some way to run a 32 bit system...

If there's no reason to run 64-bit, then it can't be wrong not to run it.

[NGIB]

An LTS Buntu base is pretty attractive as it gives you long term support as well as great software selection. You don't have to ask packagers to help you out if you need something newer than is in the stable repository or something unique.

Really? They do it without asking?

While there may be no real reason to run a 64 bit system, all of my hardware is 64 bit and it just seems wrong in some way to run a 32 bit system...

If there's no reason to run 64-bit, then it can't be wrong not to run it.

On number 1, the software in the Buntu repos is updated quickly every time a developer releases a new version. Also, you can use PPAs that point directly at the developer's site to keep your system updated automatically.

On number 2, why do developers go though the time and effort to create 64 bit distros if they aren't ever necessary? Again it may just be perception but perception is reality to each of us.

I also wonder whether MX-14 will be around for the long term. MEPIS has been dormant a long time and antiX is a distro in it's own right. If anticapitalista decides to focus only on his efforts - will MX-14 become like MEPIS? Makes one wonder. And no I'm not being negative at all but just being realistic. I had multiple computers happily running Solus and the plug was pulled on that one rather quickly. Since MX-14 is just a collaboration, and not a distro in it's own right, will all parties remain interested in it for the long haul...

[Richard]

Understand the legitimate concern about future development.

That is one of the reasons I choose MX-14.
So long as it is active it just gets better.
If, for some reason, it is no longer active,
I modify my *.list's as follows by commenting items direct from Mepis-antiX:

Code: Select all

** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list:
# Use with Debian Wheezy repository. Set as default for MX-14.
# deb http://antix.daveserver.info/stable/ stable main 

** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list:
# Debian Stable.
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free 
deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free 
# deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free 

# Wheezy backports 
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free 

# Mepis Community Main and Test Repos
# deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/xfce/ xfce-4.10 main 
# deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/repo/ mepis12cr main non-free 
# deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/mx-test/ mx-14 test 
# deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/testrepo/ mepis12cr test 

# all the rest that I added or is distro independent, stays as it is...

and now I'm running Debian Stable. I would continue to use all the neat MX apps until they might break with a new release --so be it.

MX-14 is Debian. The differences between distros is mainly the stuff that is loaded at boot, the eye-candy, the added utilities and technical brilliance. It will still be Debian.

[uncle mark]

MX-14 is Debian. The differences between distros is mainly the stuff that is loaded at boot, the eye-candy, the added utilities and technical brilliance. It will still be Debian.

The same can be (could have been?) said for MEPIS. It's that technical brilliance that's so valuable. That's one reason I asked about an MX-KDE release early on. No disrespect to MX intended, but for my workaday environment I don't want to switch from KDE if I can help it. MX with KDE added has been a viable option for Joany, so it may be one for me as well. Will just have to see when the time comes.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying MX on the little netbook I was gifted. That was the target, and MX hit the bull's eye.