Distros you tried but didn't like

[asqwerth]

I like many distros, otherwise I would not be a multibooter.

But here are some distros that I don't like or no longer like:

I really liked Mint 17 Cinnamon, but from version 18 onwards I agree that it got slow and clunky. So I wiped it from my multiboot PC.

I installed Mageia (KDE4) long ago and found it boring. So it didn't last long.

I persevered for maybe 3 or 4 years with OpenSUSE KDE4 [this was the LEAP period] but I never understood why for so many packages you had to choose between various repos for installation. After a while, I decided it was more trouble than it was worth and got rid of it.

I don't dislike Slackware or its derivatives but I don't like how its terminal-based installer has no option for swap partition except to reformat it. Since I have so many other distros, it messes with their fstab. Only Slackel openbox (with Slackware Current and Salix repos) had its own sane installer, and it lasted on my machine for years. I finally removed it, not because I didn't like it, but it was no longer a priority with so many other distros and helping with MX.

[Adrian]

Ah, I forgot the original distro that made me use Linux (@richb will know the reference), Xandros. While I enjoyed the distro I was limited to what repos I could use so I broke it a couple of time, so I end up in the MEPIS camp, since I was a beginner I broke it too but the advantage was that MEPIS was a Live CD so I could always reboot/fix or reinstall.

[wdscharff]

For me, it was never a question of "I like it or not," but rather that it worked robustly in commercial use, requiring little training and maintenance for ongoing operation.
So, when we finally switched, opensUse was the only option left, starting with v13.x up to v42, with XFCE because KDE and Gnome no longer met our expectations (Gnome 2 would have been fine).
The switch to MX (18) was necessary due to hardware issues, as some workstations were being modernized and opensuse was already acting up during installation, while MX worked flawlessly right away.
Apart from some gimmicks in the direction of Frankendebian on test systems, MX has been running smoothly on the work system since v18.

Although the version upgrades to v19, v21, and v23 (as well as the upcoming v25) are generally new installations. It works faster and is absolutely unproblematic compared to the time required for an upgrade. Tools like "user-installed packages" make this trivial today.

The entire Ubuntu branch, including the Mint offshoot, has been tested, but none has run smoothly for several weeks without crashes or problems after updates. Out of the question; that's something you can only afford in private settings.

Arch and its offshoots, of course, but only out of personal curiosity, because systems with rolling releases that ride the very peak of the wave simply weren't (and still aren't) problem-free enough. This is inherent in the system and you usually know it beforehand :-)

PS: I personally liked opemsuse, even though I consider the YaST installation wizard a hurdle for beginners, but I did like the YaST control center quite a bit.

But of course, I like MX better; not just its stability, but the MX tools alone make it the only choice ... and the devs and community :-)

[i_ri]

Hello NickStone and Everyone
Adrian and richb
Was in the opposite order for us.. first Mepis, then Xandros.
Mepis cd is still in the kit.

[richb]

@Adrian Ah yes Xandros, I did like.

[PhantomTramp]

I loved Caldera OpenLinux until the company changed up and started suing folks. Kicked 'em to the curb, I did.

Distro-drifted until I woke up on Mepis sands and saw the pyramids. I've been using MX for a good long time now. I stray long enough to get Antix on my netbook when I travel and AVLinux when I feel the need to make noise.

The Tramp

[siamhie]

I loved Caldera OpenLinux until the company changed up and started suing folks. Kicked 'em to the curb, I did.

@PhantomTramp Wasn't aware of them suing. Was Novell doing the suing?
I only grabbed their disc because they were the cheapest ($24 for the lite version) to buy at the time. I think I saw three or four other distro's but the were $15+ more.

You can download it if you have an old enough computer to run it on. I still have my physical copy stored away. https://archive.org/details/caldera-openlinux-1.1-lite

[PhantomTramp]

SCO Group's Wikipedia page will tell you more than you need to know about the courtroom sagas.

I still have my boxed copy of EDesktop 2.4 on the shelf.

Thank you for the link, though.

The Tramp

[asqwerth]

SCO Group's Wikipedia page will tell you more than you need to know about the courtroom sagas.

I still have my boxed copy of EDesktop 2.4 on the shelf.

Thank you for the link, though.

The Tramp

I used to follow the Groklaw site (now defunct) for all the details on this and other legal suits that affected open source software.

[siamhie]

SCO Group's Wikipedia page will tell you more than you need to know about the courtroom sagas.

I still have my boxed copy of EDesktop 2.4 on the shelf.

Thank you for the link, though.

The Tramp

I used to follow the Groklaw site (now defunct) for all the details on this and other legal suits that affected open source software.

What I remember most about the late 90's Linux drama was the Halloween documents.