alternatives

[Maroman]

is there any alternative for Point Linux? Point seems to be a little dormant so what can be considered as the next step? what is a choice for "after-Point" migration? I have moved to Salix mate? what else?

cheers,

[GB Jim]

I noticed not much is going on here too, but people do come here, there are a lot of views on any post. Why Point users don't interact is beyond me? People were screaming for Point 3, yet when I posted for anyone that installed it to give us their opinion nothing but silence.

I run Point 2 as my main distro on my laptop (kept it thanks to you Maroman). I have a dual boot of Zorin/Black Lab Linux on my desktop. I like Debian, but was to inexperienced when I found Point after Solus went down. Ikey did a good job, but left me without a distro, so I have to see some longevity from him before trying Solus again (which is no longer Debian based). I also wanted the Mate desktop as default and Debian wasn't offering it yet. I know you can install it, but didn't feel comfortable trying.

I will probably stay with Ubuntu Mate, Zorin, or Black Lab Linux on my desktop and sooner or later switch to Debian Mate on my laptop. As long as Point is supported I will keep it though. I have tried some other distros, but didn't like them or they didn't fit my needs, or they lacked software I wanted.

Hopefully some others Point users will respond here. Why not Point Users? Let's here from you!

[nekomajin]

Hello people. I also watch with mixed feelings how the situation currently is.

I use Ubuntu (14.04 LTS) in addition to Point Linux and as a lightweight alternative to PL I have installed elementary.os. It is based on Ubuntu, Launchpad is used to maintain the repos and it has an active community on reddit, stackexchange, Google+, Facebook and GitHub (to manage the website).

I find it a pity that Peter has not much time for the project. Of course, this also has an impact on the updates of the distribution. But as you can see he is really long inactive. I hope Linux Point will be a long time there and that there comes a time the development is again driven actively.

[GB Jim]

I tried Arch based Manjaro on a USB drive and found it a very nice OS. Light and fast. What kept me back was it was not Debian based and it was early on and the repositories didn't hold all the software I wanted. It is a very active OS. I think if you are looking for an alternative it would be a great one to try.

[Maroman]

I tried Arch based Manjaro on a USB drive and found it a very nice OS. Light and fast. What kept me back was it was not Debian based and it was early on and the repositories didn't hold all the software I wanted. It is a very active OS. I think if you are looking for an alternative it would be a great one to try.

I'm trying to avoid not matured enough distros with systemd. maybe I'm wrong. I've turned to slackware based distros. some differences and some similarities. in both - salix mate and point - I have almost the same software.

cheers,

[GB Jim]

if you want to change and stick with a Debian base I think Sparky Linux would be a good choice. I downloaded and burnt Sparky Linux to a USB drive. It came with open source apps like IceWeasal and IceDove instead of Firefox and Thunderbird. One of the first things I usually try is videos, which ran right out of the box. If was fast and responsive. I used the Mate desktop, which is my favorite. I am still dual booting Win7 and was going to replace it with Black Lab Linux (Uubntu derivative). I am now going to replace it with Sparky Linux. Sparky Linux has been around since 2012 and is under very active development. The forum seems active. It does use systemd if that is a deal breaker for you. If you want to stick with Debian, it would be in my opinion a good choice. The ISO is 1.7 gigs, which is a little big for my liking I prefer something around 1 gig and adding most of my own software rather than uninstalling software I don't need. Torrents are available.

You can compare Distribution packages at DistroWatch:
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resour ... ist=sparky

This seems a very useful tool when looking for a new Distro.

[jordan]

I've been mostly using LMDE 2 (Debian Jessie) and Mint 17 (Ubuntu). Occasionally, I'll boot into Point 2.3 or MX-15 from the Mepis community (Debian Jessie, XFCE with a very ugly default taskbar out of the box).

Was with the original Solus for quite some time and then moved on to Point. I decided I needed a more stable distro so thus LMDE is my go-to OS.

[GB Jim]

Hi Jordan, good to see you are still around. I was with the original Solus too and remember you from there. I see Ikey is still developing Solus, but as an independent OS. He also is pretty much the sole developer once again on a very small team. While I watch his project with interest, being left high and dry has kept me from doing anything with Solus. Solus is also still in heavy development. I am not sure why, but the Mint look has just never appealed to me, though it is an excellent Distro. I had tried Mepis on a USB drive, but had connection problems. I am not a fan of XFCE either. When I tried Mepis it was using WICD as the connection manager and WICD never seems to find my WIFI except in Lubuntu. I have to plug in and download gnome connection manager to get WIFI connection.

My criteria is Debian or Debian/Ubuntu base and a Mate desktop. I want an established OS that has been around for a few years and is under active development. I also want a moderately active forum. I have still stuck with Point for my main OS on my laptop for now, but also run Zorin and Black Lab linux on my desktop, which is not used as much. The biggest reason for Zorin is it has the best Bluetooth connection I have found in Linux and the wife is comfortable with it. I use the Bluetooth in summer for wireless speakers on my patio. Besides what I listed here Debian Mate, Ubuntu Mate and Sparky Linux meet that criteria. If Point disappears one of those will become my main Distro.

[jordan]

Hi Jim. NIce to see you again

I've used Sparky and Ubuntu Mate and like them both. It seems like we both are hesitant to get involved with the new Solus Project for the same reasons though the desktop environment looks amazing. I think I'm done spending any significant time with distros that may fold up at any time. It's feeling more and more like Point may become one of those distros but I hope I am wrong.

[GB Jim]

I decided to take Win7 off of my laptop and go Windozeless as I never used Win7 and spent to much time updating it. I went to DistroWatch and look for operating systems that met my requirements. I decide to upgrade Point to 3.0 also. I decided on Debian and Ubuntu LTS distros that featured the Mate desktop or Gnome 2 (gnome classic) desktops. When you get down to it there are only few that met my requirements, Point being number. one. MInt, Ubuntu Mate, Black Lab, Ultimate Edition, and Sparky Linux where considered.
I didn't consider Rebellin, siduction, or Skolelinux, but they all could be possibilities too.

Utlimate was to heavy with more software than I wanted to remove. I had tried Sparky on a USB drive and was impressed but it seemed buggy on my install. I installed Point 3 on my laptop along with Black Lab and put Ubuntu Mate on my older Desktop along with Zorin 6. I had always like Zorin but didn't care for the way Zorin is headed and how locked down it is now.. Same with Mint, themes and menus have just never appealed to me.

Point 3 seems to render graphics better on my computers, but seems a bit slower and less responsive. It was also missing some software repositories I wanted, like Unetbootin. I downloaded and installed a few programs with gdebi. Otherwise I don't see a huge difference. I do need to find a good replacement for Quicken, as I have decide to not run WINE. Grisbi and Money Manager Ex seem the two best possibilities.

Black Lab and Ubuntu Mate both installed and worked fine. Black Lab does not have a forum of it's own though, which may be a drawback to some. I agree with rob630 that installing Debian is a pain and then you have to install mate separately. Although I love Debian based distros I find myself seeing Ubuntu as my path forward if Point fails. The availability of software, ability to use .deb and gdebi, and Ubuntu's PPA are all a plus for a novice like myself. Having Ubuntu based distros with Mate already installed as the DE is also a plus. If I draw any further conclusions after using the OS's for awhile I will update my opinions.