Thinking about it, Fedora 16 has an XFCE and LXDE spin and they now do install form a live CD so you can grab and try out what you want first. http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options I was pretty happy with 16 under the hood once i got used to fedora again. or you could get really out there and try Xen Client2 not 100% Foss, but you can install and run for free and get bare metal desktop virtualization maybe. http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=2300325 On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 11:51 PM, wrote: > > I actually have two "old reliable" systems.  One is about a 5-year-old > Mandriva, but unfailingly stable). The other is PCLinuxOS 2009 with KDE > 3.5. It is by far the best system I have ever used or seen. I have > PCLinuxOS 2011 on another system, just updated it today to 2012, and the > latest version of KDE 4 is still a frustrating annoyance.  I've tried > Gnome, LXDE, and several others, none of which I like. > > I've tried dozens of other supposedly stable distros, never anything "new" > and cutting edge.  I prefer Redhat based. Never have liked ubuntu/kbuntu > based systems, though I've tried several. Except an older verion of Mint. > But even the newer versions of Mint seem too cluttered, glitzy, and > bloated to me.  KDE 3.5 was excellent.  KDE 4 has always been a > frustrating disaster imho. > > > ---------------------------------- >> I was thinking the same question. >> >> If VB won't run on "old reliable", then find a "new reliable" that's as >> close as possible to "old reliable" (afa the desktop goes), run "new >> reliable" on bare iron, and run everything else as VMs under VBox. >> >> FWIW, I've been running Ubuntu 10.4 LTS since 10.10 or so and it's been >> very stable. I run VMware Player instead of VirtualBox, but I think >> you'd be just as happy with VB. >> >> Maybe your problem is that the new distros you've been trying are too >> new. Seriously. Pick one that's had a chance for the bugs to settle out >> of it. Like I said, I didn't install Ubuntu 10.4 until 6 months or so >> after it came out. The bleeding edge is not a pleasant place to be for >> many of us. >> >> -- >> -Eric 'shubes' >> >> On 03/06/2012 06:53 PM, Stephen wrote: >>> What was old reliable? >>> >>> On Mar 6, 2012 5:39 PM, > >>> wrote: >>> >>>     == Eric last wrote: >>>      > You certainly do want your base OS which runs on the HW to be as >>>      > reliable as possible. Any reason why you can't put your "old >>>     reliable" >>>      > distro on the bare iron, then run VB on that with everything else >>> as >>>      > VMs? That's what I would shoot for. >>> >>>     It is my understanding that my "old reliable" system is too old to >>> get >>>     VB/VM working on it.  I can do everything else on "old reliable" and >>> it >>>     works incredibly much faster, more efficiently, and absolutely >>> without >>>     problems ... whereas every newer distro I have tried has given me >>>     fits.  I >>>     detest KDE4 and I detest "updates" that inevitably break something. >>> I >>>     just did an "update" on one of my newer boxes and, sure enough after >>> the >>>     "update" the system locked up, the keyboard lights started blinking, >>>     and I >>>     had a dickens of a time getting it to boot up.  I have tried more >>> than a >>>     dozen different "newer" distros and every time ... EVERY time, that >>> has >>>     brought annoying problems. >>> >>>     Whereas "old reliable" (which I have on three other boxes) NEVER >>> breaks, >>>     NEVER fails me, NEVER causes me any frustrations. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>     --------------------------------------------------- >>>     PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>>     >>>     To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>>     http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss -- A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. Stephen --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss