If Linux Mint disappeared tomorrow, what would you use?

[mads]

So, I guess I want to ask a question that is a subset of the one proposed by this forum. What distro offers something approaching the ease of setup Mint provides? Anything?

Yeah, I want a straight answer to this question too.

[linuxviolin]

So, I guess I want to ask a question that is a subset of the one proposed by this forum. What distro offers something approaching the ease of setup Mint provides? Anything?

Yeah, I want a straight answer to this question too.

Well, for instance, maybe Fusion Linux... They write even on their site:

Fusion Linux is also very much influenced by Linux Mint and with its community.

They even use the MintMenu, for those which like it.

Overall Fusion Linux is a fantastic distro and for any beginner (or someone that doesn't want to deal with setting up Fedora) I would highly recommend Fusion Linux.

(From a web reviewer)

Pardus is equally quite good for newbies... and other.

Btw, "the ease of setup" is not an end in itself...

[mads]

Btw, "the ease of setup" is not an end in itself...

I see a contradiction between your above statement and your signature:
K.I.S.S. ===> "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." (Leonardo da Vinci)
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." (Albert Einstein)

But thanks for the information about Fusion Linux. I'll definitely check it out.

[Theologian]

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Beginners&origin=All&basedon=All&notbasedon=None&desktop=All&architecture=All&status=Active

SWEET SHOP* IN PARADISE!!!

USB keys are getting more affordable every day: think of the possibilities!

(*Candy store.)

[azathoth]

"Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration. Arch is my main and favorite distro and setup involved a bit of work and study but I had and am having a blast with it. The only Mint I currently use is a rather tweaked LMDE which probably doesn't much resemble anything Mint anymore: I'm using the sid repos, there's no more Mint tools or Mint themes, I use patched kernels, there's not even an lsb_release anymore cause it was starting to cause problems so I had to remove it, all the Python updates lately took care of the rest. After every dist-upgrade this thing resembles it even less too. It's evolving and growing and it's faster and more stable today than it ever was with even more functionality.
This is likely my last Mint installation and it was a very pleasant experience. It will probably be viable and new for years if I wish. (sid is a true rolling release.) But, if by some unforeseen eventuality, it gets b0rked then I'll move Debian proper into this parking space and stick with the sid repos.
I think Clem is an excellent packager and he does great work and I really like the community but I actually prefer to roll my own now. There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu), it's just a matter of learning and doing.
And as the saying goes, never put all your eggs in one basket.

[Theologian]

...

I guess #! is much too tame for you, then.
Slitaz is starting to grow on me, as is Slax.

[azathoth]

...

I guess #! is much too tame for you, then.
Slitaz is starting to grow on me, as is Slax.

crunchbang is cool, nice tidy little distro (since they went Debian). But I'm kind of an arch guy though so if I was going OpenBox, I think I'd either build one from a core or go archbang(same diff). I could get by with only one debi I guess. Btw, if you can tolerate somewhat fascist forums give aptosid a spin. It's super fast, it uses the sid repos and it has a really nice little installer. (just stay out of the drama on the forums, it's pretty weird)

[gotjazz]

yeah the forums are what scared me away from aptosid (when it was still called sidux). Well that and the fact that I kept hearing stories of gnome breaking in sid. Xfce is only fun for so long and I don't really like KDE. So I thought I better use something testing based....

[Theologian]

Forums can be funny places.
It always makes me laugh when someone puts up a solution to a problem in pages of terminal code, and someone else comes up with a 'right click & install' solution.
One of the best ones is 'Well, if it doesn't work, try another distro'!
True, there are so many others to play with.

I'm building a 'repository' on my external HDD, all those AptonCD packages, etc., and especially since UbuntuStudio wouldn't install (broken kernel) and I was left with a u/s install disc and GBs of packages.

I'll stick with LM10 for my nice, stable, easy-care, everyday distro; though I'll probably break it, at some point, just on principle!

[azathoth]

yeah the forums are what scared me away from aptosid (when it was still called sidux). Well that and the fact that I kept hearing stories of gnome breaking in sid. Xfce is only fun for so long and I don't really like KDE. So I thought I better use something testing based....

Yeah and what's up with the control freak thing? After hearing numerous comments about it I decided not to even register there, all I ever do with the site is look at the upgrade warnings anyway. I definitely don't need their silly little online stalag lol. But I will say, their distro runs really nice. It's like anything else I guess, take what you can use and leave the rest.
As far as the Gnome thing goes, I've been doing that with sid ever since lmde came out without a single prob. But you know, if I was to post that in their forums, they'd censor it. I think they need to discover girls or something lol.

I'll stick with LM10 for my nice, stable, easy-care, everyday distro; though I'll probably break it, at some point, just on principle!

Hey, Clem will never do you wrong, He takes very good care of his community. And well yeah, sh#t does break, that's a normal and healthy part of the learning process. Rules teach nothing, having to fix something brings understanding.

[linuxviolin]

Btw, "the ease of setup" is not an end in itself...

I see a contradiction between your above statement and your signature:
K.I.S.S. ===> "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." (Leonardo da Vinci)
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." (Albert Einstein)

No. "Ease of setup" and "simplicity" are NOT quite the same thing.

"Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration. Arch is my main and favorite distro and setup involved a bit of work and study but I had and am having a blast with it.

(...)

I think Clem is an excellent packager and he does great work and I really like the community but I actually prefer to roll my own now. There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu), it's just a matter of learning and doing.

Relatively OK, I can be agree with you although I don't like Arch, e.g. rolling release and "Arch or the art to make more difficult than Slackware" , and sid/aptosid, for a distro. "There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu)", yes, of course... ""Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration.", well, I would say perhaps even more: "Ease of setup" is relative and it MUST NOT be the first consideration. At least not the only.

[mads]

"Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration. Arch is my main and favorite distro and setup involved a bit of work and study but I had and am having a blast with it.

(...)

I think Clem is an excellent packager and he does great work and I really like the community but I actually prefer to roll my own now. There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu), it's just a matter of learning and doing.

What?

The quote above is NOT mine.

[azathoth]

Relatively OK, I can be agree with you although I don't like Arch, e.g. rolling release and "Arch or the art to make more difficult than Slackware" , and sid/aptosid, for a distro. "There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu)", yes, of course... ""Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration.", well, I would say perhaps even more: "Ease of setup" is relative and it MUST NOT be the first consideration. At least not the only.

Well then don't use it, they didn't make it for you. I wasn't really looking for approval, I was just stating my own preferences, replying to Theologian and stating the fact that there are many fine alternatives out there.

[linuxviolin]

"Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration. Arch is my main and favorite distro and setup involved a bit of work and study but I had and am having a blast with it.

(...)

I think Clem is an excellent packager and he does great work and I really like the community but I actually prefer to roll my own now. There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu), it's just a matter of learning and doing.

What?

The quote above is NOT mine.

Yes, you're right! Accept my apologies... In fact, I have wrote this post between two works, quite quickly, and I have not reread it, so I have not seen my error. Sorry.

Well then don't use it, they didn't make it for you. I wasn't really looking for approval, I was just stating my own preferences, replying to Theologian and stating the fact that there are many fine alternatives out there.

Well, I don't use it. I didn't seek to give you some approval or not, but just, me too, to give my "quick" views about it.

[azathoth]

"Ease of setup" is relative and it's not my first consideration. Arch is my main and favorite distro and setup involved a bit of work and study but I had and am having a blast with it.

(...)

I think Clem is an excellent packager and he does great work and I really like the community but I actually prefer to roll my own now. There is life after Mint (and Ubuntu), it's just a matter of learning and doing.

What?

The quote above is NOT mine.

I seem to have confused you mads so allow me to rephrase. For what Mint is and for the intended user base, Mint is excellent and Clem is a great packager - putting the whole thing together and cleaning up ubuntu so well. I used it for a while and it's nice, probably the best you'll ever see in an ubuntu respin. And he does take very good of the communtiy, he is very responsive to user input and does the best he can when problems arise.
I, on the other hand, prefer not to use ubuntu based distros. Most things like that are too dumbed down and too many decisions are pre-made for you as to what it will be, this brings needless bloat. An arch install gives you 100% control over what your system will be. You have to set up each and every service by hand, you install only what you want and need and what you end up with is an extremely fast, stable and lightweight system that does everything you want.
I boot 5 distros on the box I am writing this from alone. Arch is my favorite all around distro for several reasons. I just completed a Squeeze netinstall that I converted to Sid and added one of Damentz's kernels to, and it's already a favorite. I also boot Aptosid. it's ridiculously fast and agile and it suits my Xfce moods. My lmde(sid) install is downright luxurious, it still runs beautifully and I would hate to get rid of it. And I also boot PCLOS/KDE for my KDE moods. (I've tried several and PCLOS has the best and most stable implementation of KDE I have ever used.) Most were very easy to set up, Arch however took a little more work and study. Arch is my favorite, but I enjoy them all.
So like I said, ease of setup is not my first consideration. If it's easy to set up, fine. If it takes a little more effort on my part, no problem, I'll enjoy the experience. My first considerations are the end product and what I can learn from it.
I think most of my existing installs were very simple but I had the most fun and learned to most with Arch.
(btw, roll my own = setting up my distro from a bare core. maybe the expression confused you.)

[mads]

I think most of my existing installs were very simple but I had the most fun and learned to most with Arch.

You are right in this respect. It is through risks and challenges that we learn.
When that is said, I must add that I liked Mint from the beginning because It made Linux more attractive to inexperienced end-users like myself.
Today, however, I am looking for more challenges and I am happy that Arch and similar projects are there to provide this.
"Shortly after learning how to walk he discovered that the next most interesting thing to do was run."

[jokersloose]

You know I have no idea, I guess Ubuntu. I know when I first found linux I tried a ton (and I mean a ton) of different distro's. The one thing I HATED about most of them was the cartoon look the desktop had. So I guess Ubuntu. But lets just hope and pray this doesnt happen.

James

[pythagorean]

Fedora or Windows, both of which I use on a daily basis anyway.

[oldrong]

So, I guess I want to ask a question that is a subset of the one proposed by this forum. What distro offers something approaching the ease of setup Mint provides? Anything?

Yeah, I want a straight answer to this question too.

Peppermint, and Peppermint Ice

[JonM33]

You know I have no idea, I guess Ubuntu. I know when I first found linux I tried a ton (and I mean a ton) of different distro's. The one thing I HATED about most of them was the cartoon look the desktop had. So I guess Ubuntu. But lets just hope and pray this doesnt happen.

James

Cartoons are inspirational for developers.