Which distro should I go with?

[Hygelac]

Hello everyone,

I'm still pretty new to Linux, but I have been using Redhat in the computer labs at school and have Ubuntu installed on my machine. However, although I do like Ubuntu, it does give me some problems, which I guess is caused by the fact that it is still relatively new and going through large updates every couple of months. SO my question is, I am looking to try out another distro, something that is stable and "proved". I don't want to have to use hacks and workarounds to get certain more standard stuff working. Any suggestions on a good distro that has been around for a while and is stable?

[oz]

Any suggestions on a good distro that has been around for a while and is stable?

Slackware has been around the longest and is about as stable as any, if not more so.

Otherwise, any of the top 10, or maybe even the top 20 distros at DistroWatch.com should work fine.

Have fun with your new system, whatever it turns out to be.

[garikfox]

"Hand's Down !"

openSUSE 11.1

Ex-Windows user since I was 12, im 34 now, been testing linux for same XP experience since ver 9 or so, Finally they did it !!

[Lakshmipathi]

I would suggest Mandriva 2009 In recent months
i tried open suse , ubuntu and Fedora 10 . Though i'm using Fedora for 5 years now- Mandriva really impressed me.

[techieMoe]

However, although I do like Ubuntu, it does give me some problems, which I guess is caused by the fact that it is still relatively new and going through large updates every couple of months. SO my question is, I am looking to try out another distro, something that is stable and "proved".

Actually, Ubuntu has been around for over 4 years. It's far from "new." The latest version, 8.10, is actually quite stable and "proven." Do not mistake a large number of updates with the system being unstable. Quite the opposite. I'd be worried if I *didn't* receive regular updates to my OS considering how quickly exploits are found these days.

I don't want to have to use hacks and workarounds to get certain more standard stuff working.

Can you be more specific? All "standard stuff" I've tried works just fine in Ubuntu. What "standard stuff" are you having to hack and work around?

Any suggestions on a good distro that has been around for a while and is stable?

As ozar already mentioned you're using one of our first suggestions, and any of the most popular distributions fit that criteria. Perhaps instead of jumping ship you should consider sitting down and figuring out what's giving you trouble, because it's very likely that it will continue to give you trouble regardless of what distribution you choose.

[Bemk]

I'd say go for Debian. Ubuntu was based on Debian so you can still use the package manager.

[Lamb0]

I currently use MEPIS7 with no issues. However, the other day I installed MEPIS8rc1 (SimplyMEPIS-CD_7.9.94-rc1_~) on a friend's Intel X38 based 8400 4GB box. MEPIS7 wouldn't boot properly for some reason, and a dozen other distros had issues with something - sound, video, or networking. The MEPIS8rc1 updated properly, and worked like a charm, with everything functioning perfectly without the annoying alerts, warnings, and notifications of WinXP-SP3. After enabling the multimedia repository, adding codecs, and additional (Astronomy and "compatibility") software with synaptic, I left my well pleased friend gleefully watching his new store bought NCIS DVDs on the big screen with the audio piped through the Hi-Fi, without interruptions, (Windows had kept "notifying" during the show).