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I know it just came out, but does anyone have experience with Debian's amd64 architecture? Last time I tried to install Ubuntu, but it had a serious issue with my using an AMD chipset with an nVidia GPU and no onboard video - so there was a big debacle about signed vs. nonsigned drivers, and it was just a whole big pain in the ass because I had to try to log on to my root as someone else to get the permissions to download nVidia drivers, and I threw my hands up and bought another copy of Windows10. Now that amd64 architecture has been released, TAILS seems to have no problem running live across that same system and Debian showed no issues booting and running in an Oracle Virtual Box. I can't even try it on Aislynn's old MSI laptop, which Windows swears it can't operate any longer due to the extensive hard drive damage... which can't be found running chkdsk, scandisk, or any other disk facilities and when I plug it into my desktop, the drive works just fine... because that one has an Intel core i5 chip instead of AMD.

Why am I getting into all of this again, you may ask? Well, it's because my OS is falling apart and I no longer want Google to have nearly as much control over my desktop as it does in Windows. The other day I tried to turn on Backup and Sync on my current desktop so it would stop throwing invites to Aislynn, who's using one of my old desktops now that her laptop got eaten by Windows. Instead of doing anything useful, it logged me out of my main profile, created a new desktop image for me, and forced me to log back in to every. single. website. And to re-establish connections with every. single. app. and. extension. It took me three hours to figure out what the hell Google had done, and then two days to fix it - after uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome for a clean install. Then there was the IPv6 issue... I (on purpose) disabled my IPv6 routing from netstat and netsh, and now I can never use IPv6 again, regardless of how many Windows 10 tips and tricks I try, I cannot get IPv6 to turn back on, my VPN hasn't worked since then, and I'm stuck publicly broadcasting everything I do over Spectrum - which is no bueno.

Now, I can either reset Windows 10 to factory settings AGAIN for the second time in the last 12 months, or I can get rid of this complete and utter pile of garbage and never look back. But I'd love to know that I'm not going to be pulling my hair out again because I apparently stupidly decided not to be able to afford a new video card when I replaced my last computer.

The last time I used Debian was when they did the transition from 3.1 "Sarge" to 4.0 "Etch" so aside from vouching for its stability and awesome Solitaire collection, I'm afraid I don't have much experience with anything newer.
I had it installed on a Socket 754 MLB based on the NForce 400 series northbridge. A board which btw worked fine on WinXP but gave me graphics issues on the iGPU with any Windows OS newer than XP SP2 and forced me to install a discrete GeForce 6600 (NOT the GT one) to get around that. I also ran CentOS on that box as my Minecraft server for a few years.

I'm curious when you say Debian amd64 "just came out," because I'm pretty sure I remember that one of the landmark features of v4.0 "Etch" (which came out in 2007) was that this was the first version of Debian ported over to x86-64, so that would mean it's been 64-bit for a while now?

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

The last time I used Debian was when they did the transition from 3.1 "Sarge" to 4.0 "Etch" so aside from vouching for its stability and awesome Solitaire collection, I'm afraid I don't have much experience with anything newer.
I had it installed on a Socket 754 MLB based on the NForce 400 series northbridge. A board which btw worked fine on WinXP but gave me graphics issues on the iGPU with any Windows OS newer than XP SP2 and forced me to install a discrete GeForce 6600 (NOT the GT one) to get around that. I also ran CentOS on that box as my Minecraft server for a few years.

I'm curious when you say Debian amd64 "just came out," because I'm pretty sure I remember that one of the landmark features of v4.0 "Etch" (which came out in 2007) was that this was the first version of Debian ported over to x86-64, so that would mean it's been 64-bit for a while now?

--Patrick

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Huh, you're right, Debian is reporting that they've supported 64 bit AMD chips since Etch. I dunno, all I know is that trying to get any Linux distro to run on Ryzen was a complete and utter pain in the ass last time I tried, because of that nice little generation of chips that doesn't have onboard video - like mine, which was a pain in the ass to even install Windows 10 on the first time, because I had to have install media with the Windows installer and my nVidia card driver so I could even see what was going on during install.

Any particular reason why it has to be Debian over another apt-based distro? The militantly free software politics of Debian rubbed me the wrong way, and I dropped them in favor of Ubuntu after the Ice Weasel debacle.

DarkAudit said:

Any particular reason why it has to be Debian over another apt-based distro? The militantly free software politics of Debian rubbed me the wrong way, and I dropped them in favor of Ubuntu after the Ice Weasel debacle.

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It was recommended as a more secure/hardened distro than others and I aim to misbehave.

Gared said:

It was recommended as a more secure/hardened distro than others and I aim to misbehave.

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The Ubuntu (kubuntu in my case) installer will set up full disk encryption for you with just a couple of clicks and keystrokes. I can't speak for the rest, but that's a start.

DarkAudit said:

The Ubuntu (kubuntu in my case) installer will set up full disk encryption for you with just a couple of clicks and keystrokes. I can't speak for the rest, but that's a start.

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Well, it would certainly be worth a shot and a good chance to relearn linux. I haven't successfully used any type Linux/*nix since Wazzu was running SPARC.

DarkAudit said:

The militantly free software politics of Debian rubbed me the wrong way

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This is probably Debian's greatest strength/weakness. Its insistence on FOSS-only and no opaque software blobs means it can be a struggle to get WiFi and/or GPU working properly.

Based on some quick Internet running around, distros to consider include:
Ubuntu - "I like Debian, but I have issues with it. I want something with a big community and lots of support." - Debian-based, GNOME, apt/dpkg, systemd (or upstart).
ElementaryOS - "Look, I just need some kind of Linux running on this box, okay? And I don't want it to be all complicated and stuff." - Debian/Ubuntu-based, GNOME, apt/dpkg, systemd.
Manjaro - "I know my way around computers and want something lean." - Arch-based, GNOME/KDE/Xfce, Pacman, OpenRC.

You might also try distrochooser.de/en to see if it leads you anywhere new.

--Patrick

If you even *think* of Arch, I'll come cross-country to physically stop you.

Gentoo is right out. Knowing your history with computers, you'd manage to break the universe.

DarkAudit said:

If you even *think* of Arch, I'll come cross-country to physically stop you.

Gentoo is right out. Knowing your history with computers, you'd manage to break the universe.

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I guess my curse never wore off. I knew I shouldn't have removed that Gandalf unit from the IT center and dragged it off to the surplus supplies heap.

DarkAudit said:

If you even *think* of Arch, I'll come cross-country to physically stop you.

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Details? I've personally used/tried Debian/Ubuntu, CentOS/RHEL/Fedora, SUSE, Yellow Dog, but never Arch. Should I avoid it and can you elaborate?

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Details? I've personally used/tried Debian/Ubuntu, CentOS/RHEL/Fedora, SUSE, Yellow Dog, but never Arch. Should I avoid it and can you elaborate?

--Patrick

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I think you're fine with Arch. It's a rolling release, and manages to break itself in new and interesting ways every few months. With Gared breaking his computers in new and interesting ways every few months as well, this could only end in disaster/comedy depending on your point of view.

DarkAudit said:

disaster/comedy depending on your point of view whether or not you are Gared.

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FTFY.

--Patrick

DarkAudit said:

I think you're fine with Arch. It's a rolling release, and manages to break itself in new and interesting ways every few months. With Gared breaking his computers in new and interesting ways every few months as well, this could only end in disaster/comedy depending on your point of view.

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The perils of no longer being a power user, knowing it, but trying to hack your way through regardless.

Took that distro chooser, ended up with it recommending CRUX Linux as my best match, which is one I didn't know about.
The second choice was PCLinuxOS (which lost points for auto-installing non-free/proprietary software) and third was Zorin (which lost points for using systemd). Of the last two, I'm more comfortable with the idea of having to install an opaque blob or two for "out of the box support for many popular graphics and sound cards" (PCLinuxOS) than I am with all the controversy I've heard about the complexity of systemd (Zorin).

--Patrick

Note for @DarkAudit -- I saw on /. that Devuan 4.0 Stable has been released. Why am I telling you this specifically? Because one of the listed items is the following: "virtually all desktop environments available in Debian are now part of Devuan, systemd-free." So a reason to add that to your distro mix, I guess.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Note for @DarkAudit -- I saw on /. that Devuan 4.0 Stable has been released. Why am I telling you this specifically? Because one of the listed items is the following: "virtually all desktop environments available in Debian are now part of Devuan, systemd-free." So a reason to add that to your distro mix, I guess.

--Patrick

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My Gentoo installs are doing well. Mainly because I haven't tried anything stupid with them.

Does Gentoo eschew systemd?

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Does Gentoo eschew systemd?

--Patrick

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You have a choice. I went with OpenRC, which is the traditional Gentoo init.