- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
LMDE 6 has been officially released. The big deal about this is that it’s based on the recently released Debian 12 and also that being based on Debian LMDE is 100% community based.
If you’ve been disappointed by what the Linux corporations have been doing lately or don’t like the all-snap future that Ubuntu has opened, then this is the distro for you.
I’m running it as my daily driver and it works exactly like the regular Mint so you don’t lose anything. Clem and team have done a great job, even newbies could use Debian now.
Personally I think LMDE is the future of Linux as Ubuntu goes it’s own way, and this is a good thing for Mint and the Linux community. Let’s get back to community distros and move away from the corps.
EDIT: LMDE is 64bit only. There is no 32bit option.
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Can anyone tell me if the Debian Testing branch has been stable? I like Debian, and I like rolling release to be more up to date, so I was considering swapping from Fedora.
Either use Stable or Unstable. Testing is actually the most unstable of the three branches, due to how Debian works:
Updated packages are first introduced into Experimental, then into Unstable when they actually build and run. So Unstable is equivalent to Arch’s main branch.
Then they automatically enter Testing after a few weeks without anyone reporting a critical bug.What this means: Testing is the only branch where the decision over what enters isn’t made by a human.
If someone notices critical bugs in Testing, the packages may be kicked out of Testing again until the bugs are fixed. So Testing is the only branch where packages can simply disappear when you run an update.
It’s also the most insecure branch: When a vulnerability is discovered, the packages in Stable are patched to close it. The packages in Unstable are updated to a new version that closes it. In Testing, the vulnerability stays until the new version eventually migrates down the line again after spending a while in Unstable.
I’ve run Unstable for years. IMO it’s a great rolling release distro with horrible branding.
Thanks for the info! I know what you mean that unstable is similar to Arch, but I know Arch has like a 3 day period or something like that before it hits the default “stable” repo. Is Unstable similar to that, or do they just raw dog it?
Sid is not a rolling release distro, it’s an unstable distro. If you want a rolling release distro, you want something like Arch Linux, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or OpenMandriva RR.
Unless you know how to deal with problems, go ahead and install Sid. It shouldn’t be a problem if you already know Linux and Debian specifics.
That’s just semantics in my opinion. Debian Sid isn’t meant to be a rolling release distro, but it works perfectly fine as one.
You have to take the same care as with other rolling release distros - actually read the changelogs, don’t automate updates, and type “No” if it wants to remove packages you need. Other than that, I’ve never had any issues, and never heard from anyone whose Sid brakes regularly.Debian does not agree. They even warn you about packages with unfulfilled dependencies. In my experience, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed does feel like a finished, polished rolling release distro. Sid breaks sometimes, it’s okay for it to get broken. I don’t know your use case but it did for me, especially with some obscure libraries or with very specific versions of scientific ones. It’s not semantics only, Sid is fundamentally designed as an unstable distribution, not as a rolling release one.
But I insist, if it works for you as a rolling release distro, it’s great. I just feel the obligation to warn the others what’s the intention behind Sid.
I’ve only been running Debian testing for a few weeks (hopped from Ubuntu dev), but I believe testing also has a 2 to 10 day period before pulling packages from unstable. Like after 10 days in unstable with no issues it automatically gets moved into testing, with more important updates getting a human moving it earlier.
I ran 12 (testing) for the last year and the only issue I had was related to unsupported hardware with a newer laptop.
I’ve never had a use for Linux Mint myself, but I’m still happy to see them cut out the middle man and base it directly off of Debian. Hopefully being closer to the source will result in even more upstream contributions.
Oh, no. They consider Ubuntu the best APT base out there, and even after some trouble with Canonical, they insist on basing Mint on Ubuntu. This is a plan B, it came precisely after the differences between Mint and Ubuntu were public, but I can’t find any source of that episode between Canonical and Clemente Lefebvre.
EDIT: Found one.
Ah, my bad. I thought LM was going all in on Debian. Well, I’m glad they’re at least providing the option then.
Big thing about being based on Ubuntu is that the community support is the biggest. Any issue you find, you can google, and there’s a 99% chance there’ll be an answer for Ubuntu which can be applied as-is to Mint.
True, but it’s not like Ubuntu is this unique distribution with very peculiar software. Most of the time, no matter which distro I use, the best reference to solve any problem is the Arch wiki.
Oh boy, here I go distro-hopping again.
Just kidding - you can pry Slackware from my cold, dead hands.Challenge accepted
Been using mint for a while on my main machine and I’m not keen on doing a reinstall, but the next time I do I’ll definitely be looking at Debian edition.
If you don’t have Nvidia gpu, then LMDE is better. It is slightly snappier and boots slightly faster.
Oh dang. It sucks to hear that my 10 year old GPU is still poorly supported.
Well, the thing is I don’t have Nvidia gpu but it is a general rule since LMDE doesn’t ship with the driver manager as the “regular” Mint does.
That’s because it doesn’t need to use the Ubuntu drivers. I’m pretty sure it’s intentional (if a bit less user friendly). I wish distros could come up with a universal(ish) driver app.
Why would anyone support an end of life gpu lmfao
LMDE has proprietary driver repos afaik.
Yes, for NoVideo.
The question everyone is thinking, but no one will ask: will I be able to install Snap packages on it? Hahahhaha kidding.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this release, and will likely replace my OpenSuse with this. I really like OpenSuse, but have some software needs that are only available on dep packages.
Hahahaha…good one! 😂
That’s a good point - that’s the same reason I also prefer to use a Debian based distro, all non repo software is most likely going to be available as a deb.
so what would be the difference between LMDE and Debian with cinnamon DE
Literally the only difference is that regular Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and LMDE is based on Debian.
So LM will use the Ubuntu repo and any additions to the code Ubuntu made, whereas LMDE will use the Debian repos and their code.
At the moment LMDE actually has a newer kernel (6) than LM (5) and newer apps, but that will change with the next version of Linux Mint when it should catch up.
And finally, LMDE is also available in 32bit as well as 64bit, whereas LM is 64bit only.
- Desktop Theming: LMDE is gonna look like Mint out of the box, while Debian is gonna look like this
- Mint Software repositories and Mint’s System tools, like Mint Install or Mint Update, on LMDE
- LMDE is installed with Calamares, which is a little more user friendly than Debian’s installer
If you’re an advanced user there’s no big difference overall, but for a new user LMDE is gonna be a little easier to approach
This is 👍 👌 👍
I just installed it in a VM to check it out, as I’m not a Cinnamon guy usually, and I really like it! I need to try it out on metal and see how it handles games, but so far I’m really happy.
So I’m showi my my extreme age but I remember when Mint was born as a sort of windows-like Ubuntu for easy migration. Has it carved out a reason for existing for folks that don’t want a windows like experience?
It’s just a generally solid, stable, and easy to use distro. I use EndeavourOS nowadays, but when I was first getting started Mint was what I always returned to after spats of distro hopping. As far as it’s primary DE, Cinnamon, it’s less “windows like” and more “not gnome like”. Every DE that isn’t gnome could be called “windows like” in my experience.
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You might as well tell others to just use windows at this point.
Edit: Yeah sorry, my point is that freedom is what makes linux linux. I don’t really think you have ever used linux mint before and I don’t want to sound like a white knight for linux mint but you should atleast be a little less condenscending towards a distro that has been among the top distro for beginners to switch and has fulfilled the role of a full OS without ever needing for many like me to dig too deep into linux configs and stuff. Mint’s development towards debian is only a good thing for many users like me because it preserves the future in case of a ubuntu upstream issue, besides freedom is the spirit of linux.
They’re beating around the bush at this point 😅
😂 yeah I hear you but I want the up to date Cinnamon desktop and I like how Mint has configured the system.
SteamOS is debian based right? does that mean LMDE will benefit from valve’s commits in some ways mint wouldnt have otherwise?
I thought at least on steamdeck it is more arch based https://www.makeuseof.com/key-differences-steamos-and-arch-linux/
Would this be analogous to Endeavor OS for Arch?
Yes. The Mint team have done all the work that you normally would have to with Debian, to give you a nice stable, fast and full featured desktop system.
Plus they keep Cinnamon up to date over the years. Even though the Debian base will remain the same (apart from any security patches/important updates) you’ll always have the latest Cinnamon desktop and utilities from Mint like Timeshift, Warpinator etc
Btw Warpinator works like Airdrop. Install the app on your Android, pair to LMDE and you can easily send and receive files and photos between phone and desktop.
How does warpinator compare to kde connect?
KDE Connect is more full featured. It can also show phone notifications on Linux, copy clipboard, screen mirror your android to Linux.
Warpinator is literally just to transfer files wirelessly.
Warpinator is essentially what would happen when you flesh out the “send file” feature of KDE Connect a bit more. It doesn’t cover the rest of KDE Connect.
I would say Mint adds more to Debian than EndeavourOS adds to Arch.
For one thing, Mint has its own DE ( Cinnamon ). You can install this on other distros but it was made for Mint and it is the DE experience out-of-the-box on LMDE.
I wonder if I can install this on my late 2011 macbook pro…
Pretty sure you can install it on any Intel based MacBook.
Definitely. I’m assuming that it’s a 64bit CPU, but even if it’s 32bit they’ll have that too
I tried the beta and liked it. The only issue I ran into was that the MozillaVPN app wasn’t working on debian.
I also had not seen much progress on the Debian version of the app from what I found. I could be wrong as that was my first dip into Debian.
Mullvad is available and I might switch to that at a later time when the motivation strikes me.
I prefer the idea of community driven projects though.
Mullvad works fine on both LMDE and stock mint fwiw
I wonder if they’ll ever ditch Ubuntu and release a version based on Debian Sid.
Not Sid, but that’s exactly that Mint LMDE is. Rather than being built on top of Ubuntu, it’s built on top of Debian
