I want to try a distribution based on debian. Something like knoppix but not a live distro.

I know that debian is a very good distro, but I think it is not updated like others. I would like to try something based on debian but with more recent packages.

Can anyone recommend any? i now have mandrake installed but I don't know if this is the best choice. It is very simple to configure but not as stable as a debian distro.

ubuntu

http://www.ubuntulinux.org

based on debian
gnome 2.8
very nice
very slick

well worth a look
has a live cd too so you can check it out first

I find that debian unstable is pretty up to date. Only thing I'm missing at the moment is a xorg package, but hopefully it's coming soon.

If you want a no-brainer debian based linuxe dist. try either mepis or libranet.
Only thing is their pkg update, etc can be difficult. That's why I'm back with
Debian. IMHO once you master Debian, you'll have the full power in the palm
of your hands and won't want to go anywhere else.

Try SimplyMEPIS. It's a live distro, but has an icon on the desktop that allows you to install it on your hard drive.

As already recommended, give Ubuntu a try.

Agree on Ubuntu. It is so beautiful.
Also, the community is really good - I was surprised with the level of enthusiasm for such a young distribution. Also, the HowTos at Ubuntu Forums are great for setting up multimedia support, upgrading to current and so on. You should know that the installation does not mount the Windows partition and the USB Flash by default. This, however, is quite well covered in the very educational Ubuntu Guide.
I had a previously discussed problem with getting the e-mail - Evolution does not flag the mails correctly, so it sometimes grabs the same e-mails twice. So I installed ThunderBird instead. It's great.

Thank you all for the feedback.

I want a system relatively easy to use, stable, and with updated packages like the latest versions of KDE or Gnome. As I said, I think Mandrake is not exactly what I want. I prefer debian based systems. I tried knoppix and like it, but it is a live CD and not a full install. Debian by itself does not have the latest packages on the stable version but after looking at tripmix words about the unstable version I'm curious about trying this. Is this unstable version going to be a problem on my computer or the unstable in debian is like a stable in Mandrake?! And to try it what is the right version to download? Unstable, Sarge?

About the Ubuntu, I will download it to give it a try too.

ok, thank you for your help again. I've just installed ubuntu. I think ubuntu and I will live in peace. It seems to be a great distro, and easier to configure than debian.

Thank you salparadise, Slovak, OSouceDiplomat, tripmix, fourcs, and Zuggy for your help.

I think ubuntu is my distro. I installed it and everything is ok. And, better than I though, Firefox has very gooooood fonts.

Like you said, OSourceDiplomat, ubuntu is beatiful and has a great support. I'm really impressed with the community.

And, fourcs, You're right when you say that.

Thanks.

If you like Ubuntu, you may want to have a look at this site, http://desktopos.com/ubuntu-starter-guide/

SimpleMepis is very easy to install and its software package is excellent. Another nice distro is Xandros. They have OCE free version, the software included is a bit old, but it is really easy to use and get job done very nicely.