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Thinking About Switching to Debian, but I've grown accustomed to Unity
mulletdeath Jul 21, 2015
Apart from messing around in a vm or two, I've never actually switched distros before, so bear with me; for all I know this might in fact be a stupid question. Anyway, I've always used Ubuntu since I switched over to the world of Linux for the desktop, but I've been thinking lately of switching to Debian as my little way of contributing to Debian directly via the occasional bug report or whatever, rather than indirectly by using Ubuntu. I don't know if there's really any point to doing that or not, tbh. o_o That said, as the title says I've grown accustomed to unity-gnome, and a Startpage search about whether I can use that DE for Debian seemed inconclusive at best. I'm willing to switch to some other DE if I can make the new one look and feel kind of like unity. I like the launcher and its placement on the left and I like the simplistic but pleasing look and feel of the menus and such, and the ease of making custom keyboard shortcuts. Is there another DE that I can fiddle around with easily to give it the positive points of unity-gnome if I do start using Debian?
slaapliedje Jul 21, 2015
I'll start with saying that Unity is basically Gnome's bastard child, or at least that was my impression the last time I used it. Seemed far less stable than Gnome. Anyhow I think the default Gnome would work for you, though maybe you like the permanent dock on the left (I personally like it hidden) there is an extension for that.

I'd say good move, I used to install Ubuntu on computers for people who were sick of Windows, but weren't overly technically minded. I've stopped doing that now because they tend to come back to me with random issues, like the Linux partition being corrupted randomly.

So Now I just install Debian, make sure all the drivers are setup/configured, and let them have at it. It works forever, and well.

Debian Jessie is awesome and I use it on my desktop and servers. When I feel like playing with newer things, I boot into Arch Linux and use it. But Debian for the most part just works.
StianTheDark Jul 21, 2015
Just don't use Ubuntu, they do literally send your searches to a third party.
mulletdeath Jul 21, 2015
Quoting: slaapliedjeI'll start with saying that Unity is basically Gnome's bastard child, or at least that was my impression the last time I used it. Seemed far less stable than Gnome. Anyhow I think the default Gnome would work for you, though maybe you like the permanent dock on the left (I personally like it hidden) there is an extension for that.

Debian Jessie is awesome and I use it on my desktop and servers. When I feel like playing with newer things, I boot into Arch Linux and use it. But Debian for the most part just works.

All right, I assume gnome 3 then? I'll look into it, thanks. I'll be installing the latest Debian whenever I get my hands on an extra hdd for a backup. No way am I downloading all those games again >_>
mulletdeath Jul 21, 2015
Quoting: StianTheDarkJust don't use Ubuntu, they do literally send your searches to a third party.

I have Internet searches in the Dash disabled though. Unless you're referring to something else I haven't heard about?
coroner_ Jul 21, 2015
I prefer KDE and have been looking for alternatives to Kubuntu.

Not been playing with it for long but Manjaro seems pretty good.

Consider, if have vm capability trying a few DMs.
StianTheDark Jul 22, 2015
Quoting: mulletdeathI have Internet searches in the Dash disabled though. Unless you're referring to something else I haven't heard about?

The fact that they enable that by default is a massive problem for me. If you want other arguments against Ubuntu, I'll line 'em up:

1. They use patched versions of most libraries which completely destroys the open-source nature of the system
2. They are moving to Mir, which is a million times worse than it sounds.
3. They're a commercial company who don't care about their consumers. See nr. 1 and 2

*wipes sweat*
Mambo Jul 23, 2015
You can try out gnome 3 in Ubuntu first. The package is called: gnome-shell. There's also metapackages called ubuntu-gnome-desktop, gnome-desktop-environment (recently renamed to just gnome), the latter is shared with Debian.
Apologies for biting, but patching packages is necessary (for integration and stabilisation), both distros do it.
StianTheDark Jul 23, 2015
Quoting: MamboYou can try out gnome 3 in Ubuntu first. The package is called: gnome-shell. There's also metapackages called ubuntu-gnome-desktop, gnome-desktop-environment (recently renamed to just gnome), the latter is shared with Debian.
Apologies for biting, but patching packages is necessary (for integration and stabilisation), both distros do it.

It is definitely not necessary, as I have a 100% stable system in Arch Linux where nothing has broken for the lifetime of this installation, aka 4 months. Maybe they should test the libraries before releasing them and not patch them? That seems like a good idea.

EDIT: If you knew about the hell it is to install Unity in non-Ubuntu systems you'd get my point. See "Unity-for-Arch"
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