CrunchBang Linux

Hello all.

TL;DR: Want to nurture my neglected inner geek, decided #! is maybe the best thing to help me do that; I don't bite (unless roast chicken is placed in front of my face).

So as a kid, I was sure I was going to be a computer programmer when I grew up. That didn't really pan out, but I'm looking at getting back into it, so as part of that effort I figured I should look into the whole Linux thing and familiarise myself with the open-source ecosystem a bit. So, while being a longtime nerd but not really knowing too much about UNIX/Linux/GNU and such, I gave Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition a whirl on my netbook; first thought was 'Unity is everything I don't like about Mac OS and none of the things I like'. And it was slow as hell. Didn't touch it much.

After finally switching to normal Gnome, my interest was renewed; I appreciated the customisability and used it regularly for day-to-day portable computing stuff, but the slow performance compared to Windows XP (and the direction Ubuntu looks to be taking) has kept me from switching over to it fully and really digging into the software to learn how it all works. Really wanted something lean and highly customisable. So I started reading about different desktop environments, became interested in Xfce, and had a look at Xubuntu, but didn't read many good things about it. I guess I am confident enough now to wade out of the Ubuntu bubble and #! looks like it suits me just right, so, I shall be installing it on my EeePC tomorrow and sticking around here while I "Learn How To Linux", as it were. I considered just 'raw' Debian, but I really like the look of this distro, and this community seems friendly and much less intimidating than the whole world of Debian.

Anyhoo, I wasn't sure which version to go with - I'd like to familiarise myself with Xfce since it is widely used and is the normal environment on the Pandora gaming console, which I am considering buying - but after reading a few topics around here, I have gathered that it is quite trivial to alternate between Openbox and Xfce, which seems handy. I still haven't entirely wrapped my head around how all the different elements of the OS fit together (X, window manager, desktop environment, widget toolkits, polkadot umbrellas) and how one can mix and match those things to one's own taste, but that is what I am aiming to understand and hopefully one day contribute towards!

Um, beyond that, I live in Melbourne and I watch way too much anime.