Quoting: LK901I'm currently using Debian 7, but I'm getting really tired of having to use old software. I don't like Ubuntu/Unity, and I lean more towards cutting edge than tried-and-true stuff. I don't mind using the terminal, but not too much. GNOME3 is my preferred DE.
Any suggestions?

Everything you said makes me think Arch Linux is what you may want to try. You WILL HAVE to be capable of using the CLI/Terminal because it has no GUI installer. When you load the USB/DVD it throws you to a command prompt and you have to setup your whole system manually. The Arch Wiki has a step by step beginner guide for how to do it. [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide)

There is a 3rd party installer for Arch that is more of a traditional installer (can't remember the name right now), but I am one of those that believes especially your first couple of times installing Arch you need to do it "the Arch way" so that you understand it. Once you have done it a couple of times I think the alternate installer would be OK.

I was a long time Xubuntu user who finally realized that I had soooo many 3rd party PPA's to keep software up to date and was constantly manually updating my own kernel to the latest mainline kernel that running debian/buntu based anything was a waste of time for me. I loaded the Arch Wiki beginner install guide on my tablet and it took me no time to get it installed and up and running on my PC. I use XFCE for my everyday desktop and Openbox for gaming, but you can make Arch ANYTHING you want it to be.

I use it for gaming and love it. With Xubuntu I always found myself starting fresh every new release because of my zillion PPAs that would cause trouble when upgrading. With Arch that is no more. I'm nearly a year on this install with no reinstall in sight!

EDIT* If you do go the arch route remember there is a reason no matter what distro you use people will refer you to the Arch Wiki... it's simply the best linux wiki there is. When you're an Arch noob always refer to the wiki before installing anything and you should be fine. When updating ALWAYS check archlinux.org main page FIRST to make sure no manual intervention is needed. I do these things and have not broken my system yet. I've learned more about Linux in my year with Arch than all the years with Xubuntu before it.. Stick with it and you will feel like a Linux "god" in no time ;) I can't imagine using anything else now.

I would be for a "Debian rolling release", although I doubt that will ever happen as there's big changes to the Debian project every release. (like the new "systemd" startup manager in Debian 8).

Quoting: EKRboi

Quoting: LK901I'm currently using Debian 7, but I'm getting really tired of having to use old software. I don't like Ubuntu/Unity, and I lean more towards cutting edge than tried-and-true stuff. I don't mind using the terminal, but not too much. GNOME3 is my preferred DE.
Any suggestions?

Everything you said makes me think Arch Linux is what you may want to try. You WILL HAVE to be capable of using the CLI/Terminal because it has no GUI installer. When you load the USB/DVD it throws you to a command prompt and you have to setup your whole system manually. The Arch Wiki has a step by step beginner guide for how to do it. [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide)

There is a 3rd party installer for Arch that is more of a traditional installer (can't remember the name right now), but I am one of those that believes especially your first couple of times installing Arch you need to do it "the Arch way" so that you understand it. Once you have done it a couple of times I think the alternate installer would be OK.

I was a long time Xubuntu user who finally realized that I had soooo many 3rd party PPA's to keep software up to date and was constantly manually updating my own kernel to the latest mainline kernel that running debian/buntu based anything was a waste of time for me. I loaded the Arch Wiki beginner install guide on my tablet and it took me no time to get it installed and up and running on my PC. I use XFCE for my everyday desktop and Openbox for gaming, but you can make Arch ANYTHING you want it to be.

I use it for gaming and love it. With Xubuntu I always found myself starting fresh every new release because of my zillion PPAs that would cause trouble when upgrading. With Arch that is no more. I'm nearly a year on this install with no reinstall in sight!

EDIT* If you do go the arch route remember there is a reason no matter what distro you use people will refer you to the Arch Wiki... it's simply the best linux wiki there is. When you're an Arch noob always refer to the wiki before installing anything and you should be fine. When updating ALWAYS check archlinux.org main page FIRST to make sure no manual intervention is needed. I do these things and have not broken my system yet. I've learned more about Linux in my year with Arch than all the years with Xubuntu before it.. Stick with it and you will feel like a Linux "god" in no time ;) I can't imagine using anything else now.

I'll have to give Arch a try... Thanks for the suggestion :)

Quoting: LK901I'm currently using Debian 7, but I'm getting really tired of having to use old software. I don't like Ubuntu/Unity, and I lean more towards cutting edge than tried-and-true stuff. I don't mind using the terminal, but not too much. GNOME3 is my preferred DE. Any suggestions?

Based on those requirements I would say that Fedora 21 Workstation would be your best bet actually. It does not take as much work as Arch but still keeps you fairly up to date, even to the extent of providing the latest kernels and the like as system updates.

try manjaro, it's based on arch, get's all the cutting edge software from the AUR arch uses, and doesn't require you to go fully terminal to configure the thing, it has gui-stuff for most things, like ubuntu/mint
you can get the Gnome community edition, or you could go for a minimal install and then install gnome onto it that way(which i prefer)

otherwise i'd also say fedora

Arch, otherwise a more up to date Debian distro, if you will. SteamOS is my favorite, but I realize that is not for everyone.

[Lakka](http://www.lakka.tv/) is focused on retro gaming.

[quote=Guest]

Quoting: Hamish

Quoting: LK901I would say that Fedora 21 Workstation

I hope that that's a typo considering that Fedora is on version 25 right now.

I would say, try Ubuntu Gnome or Antergos.

This is a 2 year old thread, I'm sure that at the time it was good advice ;)

My bad!

(double post)

I really like linux debian mint edition 2.

Sound like Arch Linux might be your best bet