i’ve tried out debian/ubuntu , opensuse/fedora and slackware what would you say i should try next arch or gentoo (even if it isn’t marks “be gentoo with me” any outher ideas welcome 
Maybe Sabayon ?
I think there’s an LXDE version too … though not mentioned on the front page, there are screenshots … IIRC the LXDE version is only in SOME of the download mirrors, not all
thanks mark just downloading it now 
wow what options from nluug
http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/sabayonlinux
Whilst not exactly the “be gentoo with me edition” … it is Gentoo based
i may try this afterwards being arch based
http://www.kahelos.org/
Interesting … I’d never heard of it before ???
thats the gnu/linux universe we are a tiny part off i guess
i may even give this independent a go
Yuk, Gnome as default. :o
You could try some other Arch based distros:
ArchBang(Openbox) Have been using it for a while.
Nosonja(XFCE) Meaning to try it.
Chakra(KDE) Used it for a year or so, but my hardware is getting a bit too old for it.
Each to their own …
Me … I’m just tickled how you said yuk to Gnome and recommend KDE in the same paragraph 
Well OK not exactly the same paragraph, but you get my point
Me .. I'm just tickled how you said yuk to Gnome and recommend KDE in the same paragraph ;)
I would take KDE any time over Gnome3 Shell or Unity.
These are the only two DE’s I cannot get on with.
Heck, just been running AntiX with Fluxbox and even the Win95 theme was more to my liking.
just pulling your leg
Though I admire the Gnome project for past successes, and even get the “idea” behind the move to Gnome 3 … I’m hard pushed to find any sense in some of their decisions of late 
(I still can’t get on with KDE4 though)
That said, I’m going to stop (or at least try) slagging off ANY DE on pure user interface alone … just because “I” like a particular UI, or hate it doesn’t make my opinion right.
(excepting the occasional chance to wind you up of course ;))
Functionality and stability are another matter, so I reserve the right to be a complete gob-sh*te over these … and that includes the loss of gnome-session-fallback
Win95 … seriously
(excepting the occasional chance to wind you up of course ;))
That works both ways you know. 8)
Now seriously, I have tried quite few of the popular and not so popular DE’s and I had no problem with any of them,
except with the two mentioned before. I suppose that is only my opinion based on my experiences.
You want anl insight into what’s going on at Gnome/Ubuntu (and even KDE.
You’re gonna love these quotes:)
Now that is chilling :o
I was not actually referring to the inner workings of the Shell, but to the user experience of interacting with it.
That emphasis on branding is most disturbing.
Isn’t it just :o … the arrogance of some of those devs is staggering, and the emphasis on “brand” to the exclusion of user wishes is not only chilling, but downright stupid … and WILL bite them.
It’s no longer community driven and as such has turned into a dictatorship by central committee, albeit one that hands out source code and doesn’t charge for the end product.
Worse, the open source nature of the project appears to have caused a degree of intolerable smugness and self-righteousness amongst those who are on this “Central Committee”.
Orwell’s Animal Farm explains it all.
The lesson seems to be that as soon as a small group of people, from within a larger group, suggest to everyone else that it would be a lot easier all round if they were in control, that those people should be thrown off the project on the spot, regardless of their skills or prior contribution and never allowed to return.
has anyone tried ratpoison or razor just wondering as i’m open to try anything ( morally allowable ) even how cde is doing now its opensource
has anyone tried ratpoison or razorTried razor some time ago and was quite impressed. I am about to try Razor-qt SalentOS
here’s a new one to me but all over the The University of Exeter LUG website
http://www.momonga-linux.org/ it comes with gnome , kde or xfce and is a Independent not being based on any other distro
might give it a try