Mint freshens up its Linux garden for Ubuntu and Debian fans

Whether you prefer your Cinnamon in Ubuntu or Debian flavor, the Mint developers have something new for you to try. Both the new "Edge" edition of the standard Ubuntu form of Mint and the completed version 6 of the Debian Bookworm-based Linux Mint Debian Edition are here. We took a look at LMDE 6 when the beta was announced …

[nautica]

In a galaxy far, far away...

Linux Mint used to be known quite literally, amongst the Linux community (even people who didn't use Mint), as "Ubuntu done right" [ie, "correctly"].

For a very long time now (ever since Mint v.18) Linux Mint should have been known as "Ubuntu, Mint version". There is, and has been no originality; no compelling reason to choose Mint over Ubuntu ever since Clement Lefebvre decided that it was getting tiresome being original; it was, and is, simply easier to copy whatever it is was that Mark Shuttleworth decides to do.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

Snap!

No, I wasn't agreeing with you.

[Liam Proven]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

[Author here]

> There is [...] no compelling reason to choose Mint over Ubuntu

I don't think that's fair at all.

Mint offers 3 Windows-like desktops. Personally I would choose any of them over Ubuntu's GNOME.

Cinnamon is its flagship, and Mint gets the newest version first. Unlike the Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix, Mint also partners the desktop with a whole assortment of Windows-like tools with traditional title and menu bars, while Ubuntu Cinnamon uses the GNOME ones with their CSD combined top bars, which I personally do not like at all.

Mint with MATE is also a good solid choice, if you like MATE. Ubuntu MATE is one of the most polished of the remixes, but you still get things like Snap support and a Snap version of Firefox. Mint removes and blocks snap, it has a natively-packaged Firefox, it has Flatpak instead but no Flatpak apps: it comes with all-natively-packaged tools, and smaller updates as a result.

Mint with Xfce has a better, most accessible layout than Xubuntu IMHO.

All 3 share a common set of accessories and themes, which no other distro does. Sadly a few of the accessory apps now are afflicted with CSD syndrome, but it still mostly avoids that disease.

It also bundles a backup app and some other handy features.

If you think it is so bad, can you be specific? Rather than ad-hom attacks, give specific examples of what you think is wrong with it and how you want to see it fixed or improved.

[Lon24]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

KDE

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

Last time I ran Mint I ran it with KDE. I see no reason why thet wouldn't be available with apt install kde-plasma-desktop and your choice of extras or apt install kde-full

[Liam Proven]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

[Author here]

> Last time I ran Mint I ran it with KDE.

Then that was a very long time ago. It dropped the KDE version in 2018, I believe.

https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/04/linux_mint_18_3_review/

I don't like KDE at all myself. It is, for me, horribly cluttered with a million pointless options, badly arranged with poor UI. But if you like it, fine, good for you: there are lots of KDE distros out there, including Kubuntu itself, Tuxedo OS, KDE Neon, and many others.

[Jeff3171351982]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

> It is ... horribly cluttered with a million pointless options, badly arranged with poor UI.

That is kind of true about KDE, yet, even so, it works best for me (KDE neon for work for 3+ years). I'm GUI-dependent but need to tweak some.

[StrangerHereMyself]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

AFAIK there's only one official Linux Mint version. The others are developed by third-parties each having their own agenda.

[Liam Proven]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

[Author here]

> AFAIK there's only one official Linux Mint version. The others are developed by third-parties each having their own agenda.

This is incorrect. Perhaps you are thinking about Ubuntu itself for which this is a fair description.

There are 5 editions of Mint, all official, all developed by Clement Lefebvre and the Mint team.

1. Mint Cinnamon

2. Mint MATE

3. Mint Xfce

(All 64-bit only.)

4. Linux Mint Debian Edition (64-bit)

5. Linux Mint Debian Edition (32-bit)

[CAPS LOCK]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

The distance between Ubuntu and Mint is getting larger, not less. Clem continues to make good decisions. I'm happy with Mint.

[Criminny Rickets]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

I've checked out Ubuntu CInnamon but much prefer the Linux Mint version of it. Linux Mint CInnamon is my main distro,

[StrangerHereMyself]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

Same here. I've already postulated that Linux Mint will be a candidate to overthrow Windows on the desktop.

I wouldn't be surprised that Microsoft at some point will offer Clement $100 million to take a walk.

[Screepy]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

" Linux Mint CInnamon is my main distro"

It is mine too.

Mainly thanks to Liam tbh.

I'm a MS sys admin, and have been for 20 years.

At home everything was MS, mainly as it was easy for me to fix due to familiarity.

Last year I read one of Liam's articles and it convinced me to try Linux Mint.

Has been my main OS for just over a year now. I'm still pretty crap at troubleshooting it when I have the occasional hiccup but overall I've been impressed.

There are bits and pieces that still annoy me (particularly around certificates. If we update our certs on our Citrix servers, the next time I try and connect from home I get all sorts of trust issues) but that's down to my skillset rather than anything wrong with Linux Mint.

Certainly won't be going back to MS for my home daily driver.

Thanks Liam -->

[Liam Proven]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

> Thanks Liam -->

Oh my! Well, I am very glad to hear that, and you are entirely welcome. :-)

[cardich]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

You are telling us about your problem, nothing useful. Please stop wasting our time.

[georgezilla]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

based on Ubuntu .........

So that leaves it out completely. If there only two desktop OS's, Windows or Ubuntu/Ubuntu based to choose from .................. I'd stop using a desktop.

Thank Dog there's a bunch of other choices!!!!

[Liam Proven]

Re: In a galaxy far, far away...

[Author here]

> based on Ubuntu ......... So that leaves it out completely.

I use Ubuntu and like it, but I am aware that some people dislike it. Which is why I give regular coverage of LMDE, which is based on Debian not Ubuntu and contains only Ubuntu code that's been upstreamed to Debian.

[Snowy]

Why

Are not all version of Linux compatible?

[Liam Proven]

Re: Why

[Author here]

I think you mean "why aren't all versions of Linux compatible?"

They are. Even if you install a distro with a whole different libc, such as Alpine or Void, it is still Linux and 99% of Linux programs will run on it.

Even FreeBSD is highly Linux compatible and can run most Linux binaries.

Haiku, which isn't a Unix-like OS at all, has a large selection of Linux ports available.

People used to monolithic proprietary OSes such as Windows and macOS find the profusion of Linux distros intimidating, but that is mainly unfamiliarity.

Treat it like the shelves of shower gel in the supermarket. You don't panic and stop washing. You choose a fragrance you like – pop the lid, have a sniff – and a price you like and a size of container you are happy with, and you buy it. If you don't like it, next time, buy a different one. It's not an expensive decision, so you can go back frequently and buy new ones.

You don't need to even install most Linux distros to take that sniff. You can download the ISO for free, and run a live session on your PC, or even in a VM in a free hypervisor, and pick something you're happy with.

You can dual boot with Windows, and keep all your existing apps and data. I've written at length about how:

https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/22/linux_nonapproved_laptop/

No price, no commitment, no pressure, and nothing to lose. And a hundred flavours to choose from.

And yet, people complain. There are too many fragrances and colours! I don't know which to choose!

You probably go to a supermarket with ten thousand different foodstuffs every week and you manage to feed yourself, don't you?

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/you_cannot_buy_software/

[Snowy]

Re: Why

So I can take any Linux program and run it on any distribution?

[phuzz]

Re: Why

It depends what you mean by 'compatible'. Compared to Windows/OSX less applications will run/install without problems on every variant of linux. On the other hand most of those problems can be fixed with just a bit of web searching (because someone else will have had your problem, and posted how to fix it), so in that respect you get more compatibility than Windows/OSX.

To put it a different way, if you have a Windows XP program, it might not run on Windows 11, and definitely won't run on OSX, but if you have a Linux program built for (eg) Red Hat, you can probably get it to work on your (Debian based) Linux Mint install, but you're going to have to do some fiddling.

TLDR: It depends

[Liam Proven]

Re: Why

> you have a Linux program built for (eg) Red Hat,

But the thing is that Linux doesn't work like that.

You don't take a binary from one computer and try to run it on another. You really shouldn't download programs from websites and try to install them at all.

You go into your package manager, or app store, or whatever it's called, and you pick the apps you want from a list. And now, there are stores like Snapcraft.io, AppImageHub, and Flathub, where yes, you can get binaries and they will work on any modern distro.

It's like a motorcyclist complaining that a car doesn't corner well because it's really hard to get it to lean over. You don't do that in a car. The methods from one vehicle don't transfer. The methods from one OS don't transfer, either.

[frankyunderwood123]

Tried Debian flavour, decided on Ubuntu one

I'm reasonably experienced with Linux, but got tired of spending hours dabbling and setting stuff up, when I just wanted a simple env to "get stuff done"

I do have Bookworm installed on a devops test box I have, which I use ... for devops meddling about.

I've also got a gaming rig, that was running PoPOs.

Recently switched it to Linux Mint, Ubuntu flavour - I love it.

It's slick, keeps out my way and allows me to just "get stuff done"

Recently started dabbling with Stable Diffusion - and I just couldn't be arsed struggling with any dependencies and mucking about with apt sources to get the Nvidia drivers installed etc.

Installed Linux Mint, installed Stable Diffusion, up and running in minutes.

Snap? I really don't care. I understand why Snap exists, I have no dog in the fight - I just want simple.

I cut my teeth on Slackware and RedHat way back in the mid to late 90's - it was fun at the time, but I've got better stuff to do.

The debian flavour is ok - it works.

For me, personally, the Ubuntu flavour is quicker, easier - set and forget, get some work done.

[Liam Proven]

Re: Tried Debian flavour, decided on Ubuntu one

> I cut my teeth on Slackware and RedHat way back in the mid to late 90's - it was fun at the time, but I've got better stuff to do.

This is pretty much my own position.

I enjoy playing around with alternative distros and things, which is a good thing because it's a significant part of my job.

But I also need some machines that just work and keep on working.

[cardich]

Linux Mint Cinnamon is just the Mate desktop with lots of bloatware and some (not properly functioning) tweaks.

[Liam Proven]

[Author here]

> Linux Mint Cinnamon is just the Mate desktop with lots of bloatware and some (not properly functioning) tweaks.

That is completely wrong. There is no direct relationship between MATE and Cinnamon at all.

MATE is a fork of GNOME 2, which continued developing GNOME 2 after the GNOME team dropped it and moved on to the Javascript-based GNOME 3, following legal threats from Microsoft over patents over the desktop design of Win9x.

(Note: GNOME development is largely sponsored by Red Hat. Red Hat refused to cave to Microsoft's threats, unlike SUSE, Linspire, and others. RH and the GNOME team _adamantly_ deny that there is any causal relationship between the MS threats and the redesign. As you might expect, since this would constitute a confession of infraction.)

Cinnamon is a fork of GNOME 3 and the Mutter window manager.

Cinnamon is not based on MATE and does not contain MATE code. MATE is not based on GNOME 3 and does not contain GNOME 3 code, although recent versions of MATE do use Gtk 3.

However, Mint shares accessory programs such as the text editor, document viewer and so on between its 3 desktops.

[breakfast]

Accidentally ahead of the curve

I have this running (fine so far!) on my new PC not because I wanted to get ahead of the curve, I just needed something that would run on a current AMD processor, and apparently that needs a 6.x kernel.

As someone who fell off the Mint train a while back after it updated grub in a way that carpet-bombed my boot disk, it is nice to use it again. I just hope it doesn't pull the same nonsense in future...