I am wiping an old Dell desktop and installing linux. It seems to me that Ubuntu is the obvious choice?

But then I remember thinking Debian was the way to go. Now I am reading that Ubuntu is built on Debian.

I have a little research and the distinction is still not clear to me. Both are linux operating systems. Debian more for servers Ubuntu more for PCs?


This machine still works (but isn't great). Primarily I want to learn / practice linux (am an ok unix user). Secondarily I want to play around with mining some BTC.

All thoughts are appreciated.

I don't follow these things that closely, but I think Ubuntu has mostly eclipsed Debian. I think Ubuntu was a fork of Debian, quite a long time ago. Probably either of them is fine. I use ubuntu personally.

I don't think you have much of a chance of making even a small fraction of a bitcoin per week. That ship sailed a long time ago.

main difference is the GUI:

http://lifehacker.com/5853099/linux-...s-ubuntu-unity

Ubuntu uses Unity, Debian uses Gnome 3. Pick your poison and have at it.

Understood, I am still interested in seeing how to do it.

I'd recommend Lubuntu or another lightweight distro if the machine is old. I think the choice of linux distro is mostly a matter of taste.

Alpine >.>

Agree on it being a matter of taste.

I have run Mint/Xfce on old hardware with some success.

Unity is being abandoned by Ubuntu so IMO they're in a transitional phase.

I recently chose ubuntugnome but Mint would have been a close 2nd choice.

These guys got it.

I think Debian has a slightly smaller installation footprint, which spurred a mongoloid argument I once read. Feel free to watch people go crazy over literally pennies of hardware when making these choices tho.

If you've never used Linux, the slightly safer route is Ubuntu, as you may have identical questions to a lot of new Linux users who also tend to use Ubuntu, otherwise Debian all the way. And Debian 9 is being release TODAY, so I'd just dive straight in!

The reason I personally like Debian is because I'm a minimalist -- I only want programs that I use installed on my machine and I don't care for desktop environments, eye-candy or bloatware. Debian allows you to build your system from the ground up by only selecting "Standard system utilities" during installation.

If you use Ubuntu, you will be forced to use Unity. If you use Debian, you can choose your desktop environment (or choose not to as I mentioned, but I recommend you use one as a beginner). Most popular ones are KDE (heavy), Gnome and Xfce (lightweight). And Mint is similar to Ubuntu, except that it doesn't force you to use Unity. So you have a lot of options.

Another key difference is that Debian will use slightly dated software in the interest of rock-solid testing and stability, whereas Ubuntu/Mint will be a little more cutting edge. But this shouldn't bother you, as like I said, Debian 9 is being released TODAY!!

And yes, Ubuntu is a direct fork of Debian. Linux family tree:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...n_Timeline.svg

I suppose both are fine without knowing much of other requirements. Just check the specs required from HW. Try them and see.

I'll stick with Centos

I went w/ Ubuntu, its great so far.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Thanks, great post for my purposes.

+1 for Debian here. I love the minimalistic approach of Debian, especially when combined with i3. I don't even have to bother cleaning out my search history anymore, my missus doesn't have a clue how to even open a web browser. Huge win.