On Tue, Dec 26, 2006 at 10:15:05AM -0600, Randy Clarksean wrote:
> So ... I am looking for a release that is stable, has good drivers, and

There ain't much out there that's more stable than Debian's "stable"
branch, although it's frequently filled with versions of packages that
are a year or two old (which is why it's so stable).  If you need more
current versions, I hear that Debian "unstable" is about as solid as
other distros' "stable", but I don't mind the older versions, so I have
too little first-hand experience to say whether that's true or not.

> has plans to be around for awhile - or has been around for awhile ...

Debian's been around long enough to have other distros (Ubuntu, Knoppix,
etc.) based off it and I don't see it going away in the foreseeable
future.

> USB and SATA issues SEEM to be my main issues - based on what I can see
> in my log files or in terminal windows.

My MythTV box is running the current Debian stable off SATA drives and
using a USB keyboard as its primary input device.  I've also used an
external USB drive with it and that's all just worked for me, no
problems at all with either SATA or USB.  (It does have occasional audio
issues, but I'm more inclined to blame that on using the cheap on-board
audio hardware instead of buying a decent sound card for it.)

-- 
I would rather be exposed to the inconvenience attending too much Liberty
than those attending too small degree of it.
  - Thomas Jefferson