Hmm, I was introduced to Debian sometime ago and have never looked back. I run RedHat as well because the manufacturer of the MRi instrument supports it. I have also run their software on Debian linux with minor modification of their scripts. There is a resident Debian expert amongst us (he will surface eventually) and hope that he will add to this discussion. As far as I am concerned, the kernel is what matters. Install the most stable available (see kernel.org for more info). With Debians apt utility, maintaining and ugrading your system should be no hassle. I have apt installed on RedHat too. Works like a charm. Installation is usually trouble free. Its not graphical but allows good control over how your system is set up initially. Getting X to run is still a black art I'm afraid and may cause some angst. You can run whatever Desktop you like. The Linux flavor doesn't matter. I prefer KDE on RedHat but an even more lightweight Desktop is XFCE and I generally use this to keep others happy and feeling as though they were operating a Windows computer. Window managers are abound. Find one that you like and stick to it. Personally I use fvwm2 usually and no Desktop environment. So I have no file manager type application and everything is done from a terminal. Leads to a very basic looking system. I run the same thing on the Mac with Apples X11 bundle. In so far as graphics are concerned, there is no limit provided that the GTK libraries are up to date. Attached are two screen shots. math_gimp.jpg -- screen shot of the fvwm2 window manager running on X on the Mac and no Desktop environment. The Gimp has been invoked via Mathematica. No problems even in a highly intensive graphics environment. Open windows can be iconized and stacked neatly to one side. Four virtual Desktops are running and a summary figure can be seen on the bottom right hand side. The same look and feel can be achieved on a Linux box (Debian). Actually the environment was ported from my home pc (Debian) installation and modified appropriately to run on the Mac. pvOnScr0.tiff -- screenshot of KDE desktop manager and some window manager I chose from KControlPanel running MRI software. RedHat 7.0 OS. Boring really. The shot is from an XDMCP session to the linux box from the Mac. If you want to serve graphics applications, this is one way to go. But there may be some fiddling to do on the Display server side to match fonts and colors etc. Cross that bridge when you get to it. The options are limitless, I think. Having said all of that, I don't think it matters what flavor of Linux you install. If it is easy to install by all means go for it. After many attempts with Debian I kind of feel that its worth the hassle. Customizing that installation to do what you want will take time. HTH Yas