2010-06-09 01:55, ABSDoug skrev:
This was the 1st time I had heard of "stab le"& "unstable", I only knew there was "testing", which I wanted to avoid. Sounded very reasonable, with a name like "stable"& finding out Debian is the SOURCE for other distros, I'm thinking stable is what you'd use if you don't want to be a "Guinea pig".
A few remarks:1) Stable in debian means unchanging, and in case you want that kind of stable, you may as well use the more recent ubuntu 9.10, which seems to work for you, still has quite a while of support, and should be unchanging enough for your purposes. Debian stable is good for servers where one does not want new versions of software that may break the system.
2) For stable as in "not breaking", the reason I use debian testing is that I find it less prone to breaking than following the 6-month upgrade cycle of ubuntu.
3) In the choice between debian testing or unstable for a netbook, you will find people recommending both choices, and I think it will be hard for you to form your own opinion this early in the learning process.
now I'm wondering if I'm going to go with unstable "Squeeze", what does that offer over Ubuntu 9.10 (Remix). 9.10 (unlike 10.04) works well on my Acer Aspire One.
The usual reasonable comment I think more experienced people than me would often give is:
What do you miss in ubuntu 9.10 (remix) that you want your new system to provide? If it works well for you, you may continue to use it and be happy with that.
Debian testing would offer more recent applications in some areas, and a more recent kernel, which may provide better hardware support, but as you have experienced with ubuntu 10.04, that is not always the case.
Ubuntu 9.10 has security support until 11.04 (I think). It is also more recent than debian stable, so it should offer more recent applications and (on average) be able to support more recent hardware.
I would not expect debian stable from february 09 to improve on your (seemingly) good netbook-experience with an ubuntu from october 09 unless you have some specific problems with ubuntu 9.10, or have some specific reason to wish to use debian.
In case there is something missing for you in ubuntu, you may very well ask if debian can provide that, but a question like "what does debian stable/testing/unstable offer over ubuntu 9.10 for a netbook" is very hard to answer without knowing what your needs and/or problems are.
From what I have seen so far, I would recommend ubuntu 9.10 for your netbook, followed by debian testing or unstable.
Regards Johan