I used a debian unstable ("Sid") -based distro called "Sidux" which included pretty much the latest of everything linux for 4-5 years until ~2008, when I switched to Fedora.

It apparently lives on under the new moniker "Siduction" https://news.siduction.org/ after some sort of founders' donnybrook.

I personally found little to no advantage to having the latest stuff for my needs, and eventually got tired of the admin overhead.

(Oh, and I still run Ubuntu LTS on a home server and a couple of work pcs, and if I ever get back into linux gaming or need the Radeon binary, I'll add Ubunutu in to a multiboot)

It is/was based on Debian's testing branch - so not as bleeding edge as sid/unstable, but more so than stable branch. I'm not sure how that compares to Ubuntu, but I do prefer a working system.

I mainly want Debian + working hardware on a Live pendrive, and don't trust Canonical, so that seemed the best option - but after discovering the response to a website hack in 2016, I'm unsure about trusting Mint either.

Hoping I can find another derivative that bundles drivers and not have to arse around putting one together.

When did you try Cinnamon? It used to just be a customisation of Gnome, but is now standalone, which might make it more stable. (Unless that's the thing that made it buggy.)

Again, I'm mainly looking for Gnome-but-better, not interested in Mate/KDE/Xfce, so I'm hoping it has matured/evolved in the right direction.

It was on Fedora a few years back. Maybe it's improved but not worth the bother IMO.

If you just want a bootable pendrive you could do a lot worse than http://www.system-rescue-cd.org

I want a useful bootable pendrive, with a Debian base.

Might try Knoppix - for some reason I thought it was RedHat-based - otherwise I've found the Debian Derivatives Census which provides others to check out. (Would be nice if they had basic filtering functionality.)

Nothing's more useful than systemrescuecd. It'll boot up on any old [usb-bootable] and new x86 including recent macs.

Got firefox, gparted, fsarchiver (even more useful than PowerPoint!), terminal, midnight commander; hell, it's even got LTS kernels!

http://www.system-rescue-cd.org/System-tools/

Did I mention it's super-lightweight and boots fast AF?

 

Isn't this where Xen pops up and says everyone should be using Arch? Where is Xen?

Didn't he turn into a games reviewer? ludiclinux.com etc?
 

Buried within the Debian download directories (which can't currently be accessed because whoever is doing maintenance doesn't understand what a mirror is), is an unofficial live ISO with cinnamon and the non-free firmware - basically the two reasons for wanting Mint.

I hacked with URLs to find 9.5/Stretch (stable) on a mirror - wanted to try 10/Buster (testing) but looks like the weekly releases are only on the offline official servers - though I still need to find a spare USB drive to put it on.

Arch is the worst OS /ever/.

Huh, I had no idea. I'm glad he likes Steamworld 2, it's my favourite game so far on the Switch (cos I can't afford Mario or Zelda yet :( )

Maybe Drew will see that and be enticed to post again.

Something we can agree on.  :-O~~~

I think the bastard has abandoned us. :'(

Talking *nix. My ubuntu 18.04 install seems to have trashed itself somehow on booting this morning.

That goes with my dedicated server's HDD either failing or being too full to login and clear, resulting in a new HDD and losing everything on it.

Or it's fixed itself, no idea how/why.

The answer will be in the Arch wiki.

Considering I've never used Arch I've used the wiki a lot.

How old is the hdd? Run gsmartcontrol on it.

Only a few months old SSD. Windows booted fine.
I'll have a look at that and see if any SMART bits are complaining.