> Fast - I'm not sure why, but Debian on this 900 Mhz
> machine feels more responsive than any of my Mandrake
> boxes.

I think a lot the 'fast' is because its packaged well.  There is a lot of 
work that goes into making sure everything works with everything else.  
Also, because apt is so powerful they subscribe to philosphy that less is 
more, and let you 'add' what you need instead of 'subtract what you dont.

 
> apt - Schwing. It's like Red Carpet without the 
> annoying gui, a helluva lot more tweakability, and
> much more software. Point and click is nice if you
> have no idea what you're doing--apt has a slight
> learning curve--but apt is vastly superior if you want
> power. I'm also sure I've only seen the tip of the
> iceberg.

apt/dpkg lets you do truly incredible things.  I got really sick of the 
command line gripe so I apt-get install synaptic and tried it for a month 
or two (its a gui version of apt).  Its not as 'pretty' as red carpet, but 
its just as intuitive (if not more so) and VERY easy to use.  I think its 
what Lindows point and click warehouse (or whatever its called) wants to 
be.


> Powerful Install - Just about everything can be 
> configured during the installation process. I suspect
> this is what leads to some of the responsiveness, as
> much that is unnecessary for this machine has been
> left out of the kernel.

Wait until you upgrade your first kernel on Debian its so easy its scary.  
I.E. do an apt-cache search kernel-image and pick your poison.  :) 

> Disadvantages:
> 
> Intimidating Install - It's actually difficult to
> make any serious mistakes (believe me, I tried),
> but because it gives you so much freedom, it is
> necessarily more interactive. It asks a lot of
> questions that I didn't fully understand (though it
> almost always has a sensible default).

I think you said it best 'intimidating'.  Most people say Debian has a 
poor installer (which is untrue).  It simply has an intimidating one.  It 
lets you do thigns and asks you things that likely the average user wont 
know.

> X Configuration - I accepted the defaults and it
> works perfectly. Still, I would have been happier
> if it had an autodetection mechanism and a chance
> to test the results before continuing.

This is probably my only real gripe with Debian its xconfig stuff just 
stinks.  Generally i do a dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 and use 
debconf's config stuff, but on 'odd' hardware generally I find my self 
hand editing XF86Config-4.

> I don't think it's the right choice for your first
> Linux machine, but once you're comfortable with
> the OS, and you've got a spare machine to play
> with, give it a try--you'll be quite pleased.

I think Debian would be the BOMB on pre-installed machines.  Where all 
hardware (and X) are pre-configured.  Then with 'synaptic' (gui apt) an 
end user would never experience anything you listed as 'disadvantages'. :)

-Derek