This is unreal

[js3915]

I thought so, too -- to some degree, at least. I ran Fedora from F14 thru F18 and alternated between KDE and GNOME with each release. But I still thought Fedora with GNOME was pretty good.

Dont get me wrong GNOME was good i just found KDE better and Fedora doesnt advertise its KDE spin as well also the OP said he didnt like some things didnt know which spin he tried

[MALsPa]

Dont get me wrong GNOME was good i just found KDE better and Fedora doesnt advertise its KDE spin as well

Yeah, I felt the same way, definitely.

[Orbmiser]

As to the SolydXK running KDE version and did the monthly upgrade packs and not an issue for a stable production machine.
Being monthly means fresher than the Mint LMDE which is a huge once every 6months? upgrade.
And more things can slip thru the cracks due to such a long delay between.

Have been running last couple of months with zero issues except where I did something wrong or lack a critical piece of knowledge on my part.

Nice thing about semi-rolling like Solyd is no more breakage trying to update a ubuntu based distro. Even a clean install requires much more work to get back to where your desktop state was. Having a separate /home partition is also a plus no matter what distro you choose. And backing up your data or state of desktop thru backups. I prefer doing partitions backups which just snapshots everything. As my personal data of music,movies,docs,books,etc.. are on external ntfs usb drives. So partitions sizes are minimal to back up.

The only disadvantage to Debian based is no adding 3rd party ppa's for that specific app you may need or want.
Many times can but then you open yourself up to breakage with mixed repos.
.

[grizzler]

Being monthly means fresher than the Mint LMDE which is a huge once every 6months? upgrade.
And more things can slip thru the cracks due to such a long delay between.

THIS is the main problem with LMDE's update packs.

I switched to Incoming when the update packs started, mainly because I wanted to help with troubleshooting. Then - eight months after UP6 - UP7 comes along. 1500 bloody packages! You don't just install that in a spare half hour. I needed to find a suitable moment (more like several hours) to get it done. Before I'd had the chance, the feedback thread was closed!

So now I'm back on Testing. Another 500+ updates done (yeah, UP8 isn't going to be a small one either...), but no more bulk for now. The next big update isn't due until Testing's next freeze is over, after Jessie has gone Stable. Until then, probably no more than a couple of dozen updates a week.

Having a separate /home partition is also a plus no matter what distro you choose. And backing up your data or state of desktop thru backups. I prefer doing partitions backups which just snapshots everything. As my personal data of music,movies,docs,books,etc.. are on external ntfs usb drives. So partitions sizes are minimal to back up.

Similar setup here, though with separate partitions on the main drive. Weekly backups done with rsync to externals, followed by an update run if there is enough to update. This is going to be a lot more 'fun' than those badly implemented update packs.

[Orbmiser]

Yep even SloydK sept. monthly update pack was like 535 packages taking 454mb.
Was expecting like maybe half that. But was just my uniformed and unfounded expectation.
.

[igor83]

As to the SolydXK running KDE version and did the monthly upgrade packs and not an issue for a stable production machine.
Being monthly means fresher than the Mint LMDE which is a huge once every 6months? upgrade.
And more things can slip thru the cracks due to such a long delay between.

Have been running last couple of months with zero issues except where I did something wrong or lack a critical piece of knowledge on my part.

Nice thing about semi-rolling like Solyd is no more breakage trying to update a ubuntu based distro. Even a clean install requires much more work to get back to where your desktop state was. Having a separate /home partition is also a plus no matter what distro you choose. And backing up your data or state of desktop thru backups. I prefer doing partitions backups which just snapshots everything. As my personal data of music,movies,docs,books,etc.. are on external ntfs usb drives. So partitions sizes are minimal to back up.

The only disadvantage to Debian based is no adding 3rd party ppa's for that specific app you may need or want.
Many times can but then you open yourself up to breakage with mixed repos.
.

I looked at SolydXK's web site and forum tonight. It's already #66 on DistroWatch. The project has a lot going for it, for instance zerozero, who I recognize from our Linux Mint forum here. I know he knows what he's doing, because I've used his advice to update and to fix my Linux Mint OS before. SolydX and SolydK have also both gotten glowing reviews. I think all they need right now is money. I'm tempted to try one or both of their desktop flavors out, but may wait until Kubuntu 13.04's service expires in just a couple of months. I'm skeptical about Canonical's decision to go with "MIR", so maybe a non-Ubuntu distro is the next big thing. The premise of not having to reinstall the OS is nice, although there does seem a possibility of an update breaking things.

[Orbmiser]

"although there does seem a possibility of an update breaking things."

There is always that but less so with a Debian release. If really wanting non-breakage then going Debian stable branch will achieve that.
As SolydXK is Testing branch which is pretty damn stable as it is. With the additional Solyd efforts of fine tune testing it before release and calling it their production branch.
.

[igor83]

"although there does seem a possibility of an update breaking things."

There is always that but less so with a Debian release. If really wanting non-breakage then going Debian stable branch will achieve that.
As SolydXK is Testing branch which is pretty damn stable as it is. With the additional Solyd efforts of fine tune testing it before release and calling it their production branch.
.

I was thinking the same things even as I wrote that. A couple times, Kubuntu's updates caused strange side effects such as blank screen windows popping up at start-up for no apparent reason. I have a script run each time that kills up to nine of these processes, but I had to code that. Also, even installing 13.04 for the first time, the clock lost about three hours, which is a strange bug to have on a fresh install. That I fixed with some command-line syntax after a helpful visitor offered a working solution. Anyway I'm no longer on the fence. I plan to install Solyd as my main desktop distro and see what all the fuss is about.

[AdamFirst]

There is something for everyone. I'm sure the OP will find what he needs.

Me, I thought that LMDE, the second time around for me, was the one. Quicker than Mint, I thought, and I love Cinnamon. All was well until the update pack broke my system. (An incompatible NVIDIA header?) Seems like I've fixed something like that in the past, but this defeated me. Not LMDE's fault. I'm just not up to dealing with that on my main system, anymore.

I've figured out that I need STABILITY, a resolve I've made before, but abandoned to the latest eye candy or other whim. So now my main is Debian Wheezy/Cinnamon; my fallback is MINT 15.

Like I said, something for everyone.

[igor83]

"although there does seem a possibility of an update breaking things."

There is always that but less so with a Debian release. If really wanting non-breakage then going Debian stable branch will achieve that.
As SolydXK is Testing branch which is pretty damn stable as it is. With the additional Solyd efforts of fine tune testing it before release and calling it their production branch.
.

Well, I tried SolydK out this morning. I was impressed that it offered to install the ATI proprietary driver for me. A most auspicious beginning! Not every distro offers that kind of service, for sure. I was very pleased seeing it download fglrx.

But then when I rebooted (as recommended), I got the black screen with nothing visible. Nothing to be done there. Pressed the power button. Second time around, I chose Recovery Mode and got the command line. I typed in "StartX" to see what happens and got the "Solyd blacK" screen again with nothing visible. I can't work without seeing what I'm doing, sorry, I'm not a Jedi Knight yet, only in training. Hit the power button. I then rebooted again in Recovery Mode and uninstalled Plymouth via "sudo apt-get remove plymouth", based on suggestions in the SolydK forum for someone who also used ATI and had a similar problem. No dice. I've now rebooted four times to a "Solyd blacK" screen. I am guessing this is a problem that only affects users with ATI graphics who choose the recommended options of installing the proprietary driver and using Plymouth. Anyway, I'm out of patience this morning and am going shopping for a different distro. I might look at Solyd again next year. It was really impressive, except when I couldn't see the display anymore.

One more thing I'll note is that early in the install process, Solyd identified my hard drives as sda and sdb, and the description for both was "Model". That would deter any Windows user right away, because it is unclear which drive the system will be installed on, and clicking "Forward" might very well begin the install process for all the user knows. As a Linux veteran, I knew to boot up Partition Editor to find out what sda was, but not every user will know to do that. Yet I noticed on several SolydK reviews, there were screenshots where the drives were clearly identified during the install process, so maybe this too is a problem that just impacts my rig.

Another thing is that I tried registering in the SolydK forum and the registration page wanted me to solve this graphical puzzle to prove I wasn't a spambot. Well, I solved it, and clicked "Submit," and the page never updated. That is why I am typing my observations here rather than in the SolyXK forum.

I won't write a review, because I think Solyd is early days yet and needs to be given time to grow. Maybe next year things will be working better.

[js3915]

Well, I tried SolydK out this morning. I was impressed that it offered to install the ATI proprietary driver for me. A most auspicious beginning! Not every distro offers that kind of service, for sure. I was very pleased seeing it download fglrx.

Any reason for running the propitiatory drivers from AMD?

Im just curious. Id run nouveau which is Nvidias open source driver if i did do a graphic card intensive game.

Think the issue you might be happening is plymouth with the propriatory driver.. Have to blacklist one thing at install i forget would have todo some research least that was the way with it on some distros in the past

[igor83]

Well, I tried SolydK out this morning. I was impressed that it offered to install the ATI proprietary driver for me. A most auspicious beginning! Not every distro offers that kind of service, for sure. I was very pleased seeing it download fglrx.

Any reason for running the propitiatory drivers from AMD?

Im just curious. Id run nouveau which is Nvidias open source driver if i did do a graphic card intensive game.

Think the issue you might be happening is plymouth with the propriatory driver.. Have to blacklist one thing at install i forget would have todo some research least that was the way with it on some distros in the past

Probably veering off topic here, apologies to the mod!

Why the proprietary driver? Well, Solyd recommends it, and I thought it was cool it actually handled downloading and installing it. That's a level of service one doesn't get with all distros, and my curiosity was piqued. Well, you know curiosity killed the cat! I recommend any user of ATI that wants to try Solyd *not* install the proprietary driver.

I think ATI's proprietary driver offers various options via the Control Center and may be faster or sharper playing videos, but I really don't have any hard data to back that up, only my general impression, which is by no means certain. The open source driver is supposed to be better at ordinary desktop performance. For the record, AMD/ATI doesn't have the best of reputations when it comes to their proprietary driver, in terms of updates and feature set. Since I'm dedicated to using Linux, I plan not to buy AMD/ATI chips anymore.

[realitykid]

Well, I tried SolydK out this morning. I was impressed that it offered to install the ATI proprietary driver for me. A most auspicious beginning! Not every distro offers that kind of service, for sure. I was very pleased seeing it download fglrx.

Any reason for running the propitiatory drivers from AMD?

Im just curious. Id run nouveau which is Nvidias open source driver if i did do a graphic card intensive game.

Think the issue you might be happening is plymouth with the propriatory driver.. Have to blacklist one thing at install i forget would have todo some research least that was the way with it on some distros in the past

Probably veering off topic here, apologies to the mod!

Why the proprietary driver? Well, Solyd recommends it, and I thought it was cool it actually handled downloading and installing it. That's a level of service one doesn't get with all distros, and my curiosity was piqued. Well, you know curiosity killed the cat! I recommend any user of ATI that wants to try Solyd *not* install the proprietary driver.

I think ATI's proprietary driver offers various options via the Control Center and may be faster or sharper playing videos, but I really don't have any hard data to back that up, only my general impression, which is by no means certain. The open source driver is supposed to be better at ordinary desktop performance. For the record, AMD/ATI doesn't have the best of reputations when it comes to their proprietary driver, in terms of updates and feature set. Since I'm dedicated to using Linux, I plan not to buy AMD/ATI chips anymore.

I'm not a fan of the AMD/ATI GPUs myself. I have a laptop with SolydX installed that has an older AMD/ATI GPU from the Vista days, and the proprietary driver doesn't support it anymore. Older versions of the driver don't work with modern Linux versions either. At least, not without a lot of work that I'm not interested in wasting my time on. The open source driver is adequate for desktop use only. Even then I wouldn't use any form of compositing as it slows it way down. Plus it is terrible with power consumption. Other than that though, it is relatively fast and usable without compositing. I rarely use it though, and it is usually plugged in when I do use it. My main machine uses SolydK and has the Intel GPU that comes standard with the first generation Core i3 laptop processors. Works like a beauty.

Back to the OP. I wouldn't recommend LMDE either. Definitely not for Linux newcomers. SolydXK seems stable enough, however, with the same concept as LMDE. So that is something that you may wish to look into later on. Also, I find the main Mint editions to be pretty good as well, minus the release cycle that requires a reinstall in less than a year. LTS releases are a waste of time in my opinion. Then again, I do prefer more up to date software. But many users find LTS releases to be far more stable and that the stability is a fair trade off.

If you're comfortable with Crunchbang at the moment, then by all means use it. I have no experience with Crunchbang myself, but I've heard good things about it. Just remember that there are other options out there if you become more curious in the future after learning more about Linux. Also, keep an open mind. Linux, as easy as it is these days, still requires that you dedicate some time to learn a few things. Embrace this opportunity to learn and you may find that you'll thank yourself later on. Or you may just decide to go back to Windows, or even take OS X out for a spin. In the long run, whatever works best for you.

[Otyugh]

If you want more "mint" as ease of use, and close at the same time to crunchbang, go try manjaro ? ^^
I'm using it alternatively with mint, and I never had real issue so far.

[realitykid]

If you want more "mint" as ease of use, and close at the same time to crunchbang, go try manjaro ? ^^
I'm using it alternatively with mint, and I never had real issue so far.

http://manjaro.org/

Yes, but keep in mind that majaro is Arch based. Arch is geared to much more advanced Linux users. Although Majaro is meant to be an easy to use distro with the advantages of Arch, it may not be as easy to use as something Debian based. I can't speak from personal experience though. It's something that people will have to look into for themselves before they decide if it's good for them or not.

[recipro]

I tried manjaro, and even though it looks nice I still prefer lmde. I know some debian people hate lmde. Works fine for me. I know deb package building better and it looks like there's more debian repositories than arch.

[Otyugh]

Did you gave a look to the AUR repository using yaourt ? There is like, millions of packages ! x)
And not one repository to add. Even if AUR are "at your own risk" packages.