I am currently running R in a Debian-based distro (Antix) and I have been very pleased with the performance. I tried many other distros,
including Ubuntu (where I started my linux adventure) but I found that Antix is very fast, very flexible and suited to my needs.
There are other fine Debian distros out there, so I think it would be worth exploring other options to Ubuntu.
Yes. Concept that i liked so much in Debian testing is that there is no
need to bother with upgrading, like with Ubuntu every six months, or
with Debian stable. And upgrading is a risky business I think.
On the other side, Ubuntu IS Debian with some corporative support,
targeting end-user, hence, so polished. And that is good, specially for
beginners.
Currently, I have the option to keep my system rock solid using only stable repos or open it to stable and testing (which introduces some risk).
However, in a well-supported distro with a good forum where instability issues are discussed, this is not so much of an issue.
You will have to determine your comfort level with the risk.
I tried, shortly, SuSE and Mandriva. Also, Fedora. All of those, in my
opinion are behind Debian and Ubuntu. Fedora is too edgy, almost
experimental. SuSe has ridiculous control system and is Microsoft
infected. Mandriva might be somewhat better then the other two for end
user.
All in all, I would recommend staying with Debian and testing out other distros to see which one suits you.
The advantage of linux is precisely the choices available.
So, then, my question would be: stable or testing Debian? How do they
respond to changes in R? Is testing much more responsive?