Using Debian Testing/Unstable as a daily driver Linux distro

In today's video I talk about the merits of using Debian Testing as a daily driver Linux distro verses Arch and Arch based distros such as Manjaro or Angergos; as well as Solus, an independent Linux OS which is also rolling.

Debian Testing as explained on the Debian wiki "Debian testing is the current development state of the next stable Debian distribution. It is also made available under the code name of the next stable release, i.e. Buster."

[hrnekbezucha]

I'm one of those who run _Testing_ as a daily driver and I've had pretty much no issues regarding buggy packages. _Stable_ is something I would install on my dad's computer, he's got no interest and very little skill in operating a computer and I could be sure it'll never break. The packages are old because they have to be polished like a mirror before they meet the requirements to be a part of _Stable_ and I'm pretty sure over 99% of issues gets resolved in _Unstable_ and before it makes the step to _Testing._ Yeah, _Testing_ is really stable. And that's why so many distributions use it as a backend.

[nietzschescodes]

Only problem with Debian stable is if you are using Gnome, it is severely outdated. Bookworm has just been released and they are already behind in their Gnome version. Debian 12 has Gnome 43, while soon Gnome 45 (!) will be released. lol

[rayzer]

ran stable for ages but got sick of waiting for certain things to be updated, like severely outdated browsers. decided to try testing and its almost as stable but has the odd issue i can put up with. overall well pleased with it.

[DistroTube]

There really is no reason to use anything other than Debian Stable on any critical production machine. There is a reason distros like Debian and CentOS are so popular on servers...and not Arch/Gentoo/Sid.

[kbhasi]

For me, I only really run Debian "testing" because I wanted stock KDE Plasma* with the Qt 5 extra widget themes, and QtCurve, both of which are *not* available in KDE Neon.

*I just did a custom install using the "netinstall", and made sure the "desktop-base" package wasn't installed, as Debian's KDE is very close to stock, only difference being the desktop background.

[neilclay]

Tumbleweed is a close to the edge distro that I enjoy for a desktop environment.

[piotras]

So I was recently doing a lot of distro hoping cause I was mad because debian stable is kinda outdated and finally decided to just use debian testing cause I like debian the most of all distros

[themroc]

The thing about Arch or Debian vs. Solus is software availability. Debian is the only distribution to come close to Arch's AUR in the number of packages available. Solus comes very, very far behind. Even Ubuntu is quite far behind those two.
I know that Testing is not really supposed to be a daily driver and to be as stable as main Debian, but maybe that is he wrong question to ask. Do we always have to use things as they are intended to be used.
Because if we start looking for a trade-off between 1-software availability, 2-age of the software 3-overall stability of the system, I believe Debian testing makes a pretty good contender. Only Debian and Arch compete at the top on the software availability offer. Compete might be a strong word here because Arch is so far above, but after that Debian is also far above anyone else. Deb. Testing's software's age is not as recent as Arch but by a short margin, as there is actually a first layer of debugging in unstable. And so finally the question becomes "is Debian testing less stable than Arch?" And from my (admittedly brief) experience I really don't think it is. Actually I think Debian testing's stability is more on par with Ubuntu or Fedora (although admittedly overall stability is quite difficult to quantify.).
Sure Deb. Testing is not a good choice for a web server, but if we take availability and age of the software in consideration for a desktop computer, I really believe Deb testing is a choice that can make sense.
PD: I am a long time Arch user, thinking of switching my daily driver to Deb. Testing.

[MrApplewine]

You can use Debian Stable XFCE plus backports.

[michaeljamesmoore]

Sparky Linux spins are pretty good for getting set up quickly with whatever environment you want on Debian testing. But if you're ditching the dependability of Stretch, it almost seems like you could just use something else. I am not a fan of having a Frankenstein sources.list + snapd + flat... well no, not touching Redhat junk. AUR is way less of a headache for getting all the software you need on a "bleeding edge" system.

[wayneferguson]

Don't get me wrong I like arch and have ran arch for a while but I have ran debian sid for the last 5 or 6 as a daily and on my work computer and I have no problem with it

[robert_wigh]

Well, honestly, Sparky Linux is a quite good distribution based on Debian testing but with many more tools and utilities added to it, such as Aptus. There is also, of course, a LTS version of Sparky Linux based on Debain stable (currently 9.something). :)

[cartoonworld]

Nice flag, that Wales flag is cool, it reminds me of the Bhutan flag a little bit

[沈煜詳]

How about Debian Sid? Stable, Testing, and Sid (Unstable) are three different sets of repositories, and the problems you described, _Testing_ being used as testing and even freezing sometimes, afaik don't apply to Sid.

[holgerruckershauser]

I'm using debian testing with the gnome desktop as my fallback distro. My main distro is Ubuntu MATE. Call my paranoid, but I think it is unhealthy to trust only in one distro. I'm using linux for my daily work and as you see at the Ubuntu main unity distro - things can change fast.
I tried Open Suse as fallback. It is nice, too. But I was not able to update from Leap 42.2 to 42.3, . I tried all available methods and I have 10 years + linux experience. No chance. So that was no alternative. Fedora is also great, but the release cycle is like Ubuntu without lts versions. Always update or reinstall is no option. I skip trying Fedora as the chromium browser was not available anymore. I think today it is available, again. Than I tested Manjaro but for only a short time. The concept of this distro is great, but the implementation was scary at this time. Every time I got a new kernel the system didn't boot and I have to repair grub with vi from a tty. That's not what I expect from a distro for daily work.
For a newbie the linux world is wide and open. There are so many different distros. By when the years go by, the linux world get more and more narrow. To be honest: There is Debian/Ubuntu, Open Suse, Redhead/Fedora, Slackware and Arch. Okay, perhaps plus Solus and Gentoo. But all other distros, except a few independent are on top of these big five.
But to stay in the topic: I have had minor problems with debian testing. I bet this are the same minor problem the ubuntu guys have when they freeze a distro. You said it in your video. This is i.e. the codex thing and especially the install process. Install debian with non free drivers is definitely nothing for a new linux user. But once installed and made like ubuntu, it works fine for me.It's not an eye catcher but a really working horse. And that's what I need.

[juannunez]

I always thought that the main selling point of pure Debian was that it’s a super rock solid, stable distro. I'm not a Debian user, so maybe it makes more sense to Debian people, but the idea of using an unstable version of Debian seems illogical from a distance.

[leffivanov]

I tried using Solus, but the lack of a few key packages put me off. And everytime I tried asking the guys behind Solus to add the package I need, it felt like I was said to go and fuck myself. So right now I'm sticking with Manjaro, as I am not that hardcore to use Arch.

[elalemanpaisa]

The biggest difference to arch is that the focus on security updates on testing is mediocre at best

[kittenfrompicture]

So if I'm using flatpaks for my software and go to repositories only when it comes to something that is 100% ready to be used, then im okay with Debian Unstable? Okay, i know my next OS after i complete my home server

[SwiatLinuksa]

Remember that Debian Experimental exist too ;), SID - naming unstable so what experimental is? ;) Rolling rolling? Ubuntu is basing at SID not testing from what I know..