After using Xubuntu on my desktop for a couple months and growing tired of it, I decided to try the current version of Debian testing, etch. I used the netinstall CD, and installed a minimal system so I could start at the bare bones and configure the system to my specifications. Once the system was up, I logged in as root and installed a base X configuration, XFce, and some other goodies:

orion:~# apt-get update
orion:~# apt-get upgrade
orion:~# apt-get install x-window-system-core gdm xfce4 xfce4-terminal firefox

After this, I rebooted the system, and got a pretty gdm login window that brought me straight into a nice clean install of XFce 4.4 RC2. When I went to launch the web browser, however, I got a bit of a surprise...

Instead of Firefox, I got IceWeasel, a rebranded Firefox so that Debian can be distributed with a "truly free" web browser (read: Firefox is not open source enough for the GNU folks). I have found it identical in nearly every way to Firefox, short of the branding, so I'm going to stick with it. One issue I had was installing Google Browser Sync on it, but that was fixed by going directly to the xpi installer instead of fussing through Google's JavaScript browser check.

The next thing on my agenda was getting the official Nvidia drivers running, so that I would have 3D acceleration and all of that fun stuff working nicely. I found an excellent HOWTO on Debian's wiki, and breezed right through that.

I started doing a bit of web browsing, and noticed that the trusty back and forward browser buttons on my Logitech MX400 laser mouse were not working, but it turns out that there is an easy fix for that in the newer versions of X.org... in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf, just add the bolded line:

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Configured Mouse"
        Driver          "mouse"
        Option          "CorePointer"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/input/mice"
        Option          "Protocol"              "auto"
        Option          "Emulate3Buttons"       "true"
       Option        "ButtonMapping"         "1 2 3 6 7"
EndSection

I still have not figured out how to get the left-and-right scrolling to work properly, but they are not of much importance to me anyways.

I have a pair of very nice Boston Acoustics computer speakers I got dirt cheap, and for a good reason - they only have coaxial digital in. Once I installed Rhythmbox and started playing some music, I noticed they weren't working. I had to install the ALSA tools:

orion:~# apt-get install alsa-utils

Once that was installed, I had to tweak with some settings in in alsamixer. First, I had to unmute IEC958 (hilight over it and press the M key), and for some strange reason, I also have to have the IEC958 Playback turned all the way down for anything to come out of the coaxial digital out. Once I did those two things, though, it was clear sailing with the speakers.

I'm settling into my new install, and I am happy for the most part - I definitely like having more control, whereas Xubuntu made a lot of decisions for me. Of course, I am always happy with a new distro for the first week :-) Time will tell if I actually stick with it or not.

I posted most of these details in hopes that someone will stumble over them while Googling for an answer to a problem... if you found any of this information useful, please leave me a comment and let me know how you made out. Thanks!