Re: whether to install Squeeze or Wheezy

[William Ivanski <william.ivanski@gmail.com>]

On 06-02-2013 17:04, Madhu Srinivasan wrote:

Hello list,

I am planning to install Debian on somewhat dated hardware: Intel T2300 1.66Ghz, 1 gb RAM. I have used Ubuntu in the past and would like to move up to something more stable and snappy. I will be using my laptop to mostly output (digital) music to my amp, web browsing, office and running Windows-based programs on WinXP via VirtualBox. Performance is very important for me and that’s one of the main reasons why I am considering switching to Debian. At this point I am debating whether to install Squeeze or Wheezy. I have some specific questions which I think will help me decide between the two, but feel free to give other inputs that might help me decide.

1.            How long will Squeeze be supported? At least 2 more years?

2.            Can I install GTK3 themes on Gnome 2? I don’t care for compiz effects but I would like to install some GTK3 themes like Gnome Cupertino.

3.            However, if the fallback session of Gnome 3 (I don’t plan to use Gnome Shell) is likely to have a small RAM footprint like Gnome 2, I would happily install wheezy (for they say Gnome 3 is built on new technology and better).

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Madhu

Hi, Madhu,

I am currently using Gnome Shell, and it indeed have a small RAM footprint like Gnome 2. It is using 124,2 MB right now.
See this post: http://jeff.ecchi.ca/blog/2011/04/07/gnome-3-0s-ram-usage/

In my opinion, Gnome 3 is better than Gnome 2 in many ways. I use Debian on my laptop at the job. I recently upgraded from Squeeze to Wheezy and I was impressed with the usability. My desktop is cleaner, more comfortable and more visually pleasant than it was with Gnome 2. I also tried Ubuntu/Unity on another PC, and I don't get as comfortable as I am with Gnome 3.

About how long Squeeze will be supported, you can read in http://www.debian.org/security/faq :

Q: How long will security updates be provided?

A: The security team tries to support a stable distribution for about one year after the next stable distribution has been released, except when another stable distribution is released within this year. It is not possible to support three distributions; supporting two simultaneously is already difficult enough.

Squeeze was first released in February 6th, 2011 ( http://www.debian.org/releases/squeeze/). As you may know, Debian release cycle is about 2 years from one release to another. Wheezy was already frozen to become the next stable release, so Squeeze will become obsolete and will get security updates for one year after Wheezy becomes the new stable.

Regards,
Will.