[clue-tech] My perfect Linux ... if it exists

[Jason Ash]

Hi,

As some of you know, I've tried out several GNU/Linux distributions over the
past couple of years. Ubuntu used to be the best (IMHO) because of its
simplicity of use, and everything just worked until 10.03 (then breakage). I
also tried out Gentoo but I found that compiling took too long, took too
much disk space, and cutting-edge packages were sometimes subject to
breakage. Now that I've lost the need for speed, I'm looking for a very
stable and quality controlled distribution. I'm not looking to start a
heated debate on which distro is better than others, but I was wondering if
anyone could suggest a distro based on the following criteria:

1. Compiled from stable sources with little or no modification that are well
tested to work with other packages without problems. (In other words, I
don't mind using a 2007/2008 version of a program if it won't break on me).
2. Quality control tested with its packages on a variety of PC hardware
3. 3D acceleration available (After all, I like to play games, too).
4. Still somewhat easy to use without extensive manual configuration
required.

CentOS meets criteria 1, 2, and 4, but I don't know how to get 3D
acceleration working if its available. Enterprise/business users may not
care about criteria 3, and I noticed that many 3D accelerated games (such as
supertux cart) are not available even through 3rd party repositories. Debian
may meet all 4 criteria, and I may explore it further in the future.
Slackware meets criteria 1 and possibly 2, but I don't know about 3, and
it's a pain in the butt to configure. The thing I liked about Linux from
Scratch is that it definitely met criteria 1 and 3, possibly 2, but not 4,
and compiling took forever and it had a steep learning curve and was
difficult. I want to move away from distros such as ubuntu, Opensuse, and
fedora that still use somewhat experimental and newer packages that can be
subject to breakage or that don't play well with other packages in the
distro. Any suggestions or input that you have about a distro that meets my
needs is entirely welcome (just keep the debate civil).

Thanks,
Jason Ash
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