I’m planning to put Debian-based operating system onto my Surface Laptop Gen 1, following the guide (linux-surface). Any good Debian-based Linux recommendations? For now I’m considering AntiX (lightweight debian) and normal Debian.

P.S. I’ve installed pure Debian, as everyone suggests. Thanks for advice!

  • Onno (VK6FLAB)
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    4 months ago
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    What about something novel, like installing actual Debian?

    • mrgreyeyes
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      4 months ago
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      Will work fine indeed. Only I always have some issues getting the touchscreen working seamlessly. Is there a window manager on Debian who does it well?

      • FischEnglish
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        4 months ago
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        I’ve used both KDE Plasma and GNOME on my Laptop with a touch screen and both worked well. GNOME is better with touch screens in general but that’s just because of the gestures and GTK apps working better with touch screens (e.g. you can always scroll by swiping up or down, not sure if that’s the same in QT apps).

  • yak
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    4 months ago
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    If you want Debian, just install Debian.

    Maybe if you’re into wm setups and you’d like to not have to do everything from scratch you can install Bunsenlabs instead.

    It’s just plain Debian with preconfigured Openox, that’s all.

    • finOP
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      4 months ago
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      Never heard of Bunsenlabs. It looks good!

      • yak
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        It is :)

        There’s a very useful and friendly forum at https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/ and it is very easy to replace openbox with any other wm of your choice, as long as you’re fine with X11.

  • solrize
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    4 months ago
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    I just use Debian and it’s fine. I don’t understand the point of using “Debian-based” instead of just plain Debian. Maybe I’m missing something but we have some Ubuntu machines at work and it’s hard to tell much difference.

    • finOP
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      Idk I thought something niche is better fun

      • solrize
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        That would be Guix, I think. Debian is pretty traditional.

        • finOP
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          Hmm I wonder if Guix is ok to use with Surface

  • pmk
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    Which features are you looking for beyond what can be done on Debian?

    • finOP
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      Lightweight and maybe has some “cool features”

      • Vivendi
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        Debian is the lightest derivative of Debian

        The installer outright gives you the option out of many different desktop environments and use cases and if you don’t like to install a desktop you can install base system debian that’s literally just a terminal environment and nothing else

      • pmk
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        4 months ago
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        Maybe Debian with a wm? I like cwm, but there are many to choose from. You can add pretty much any cool feature on top.

  • just_another_person
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    4 months ago
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    Pick one. It’s debian-based. You literally can’t pick “the wrong one”. You just have uninstall what you don’t like, and install what you want. That simple.

  • SeikoAlpinist
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    4 months ago
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    Debian.

    If you want to try something different, maybe LMDE.

  • pastermil
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    4 months ago
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    Not Debian-based, but Debian. With KDE.

    • finOP
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      Some say that KDE on Debian is unstable. Is it real?

      • pmk
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        There’s a difference between stability and reliability. Stable means that functionality is the same over a period of time, no major changes to how it works. Reliable means that it doesn’t crash all the time. If something crashes the same way for the same reason, it’s stable but not reliable. If something changes a lot but doesn’t crash, it’s reliable but not stable.
        In practice what it comes down to is a choice if you want outdated but known bugs or new surprise bugs.

      • pastermil
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        4 months ago
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        Been using KDE since Debian 9. I’d say it’s stable enough.

      • pelya
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        4 months ago
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        I’ve had problems with KDE on Wayland on Debian 12, it fails when entering sleep mode with multiple monitors. Thankfully, KDE on X is just one package install away, and it works with no bugs.

  • filister
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    4 months ago
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    Why don’t you give PopOS a try, it is quite user friendly Ubuntu/Debian based

      • filister
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        Yes, this OS looks interesting and beginner friendly

  • rtxnEnglish
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    If you want something Debian-but-not-Ubuntu-based, give LMDE a try.