Linux Mint has been my go-to distro for probably ten years. Just recently helped a friend transition from Windows 10 to Linux Mint and so far she's been pretty happy with it. Thanks again Microsoft for your stupid hardware requirements for Windows 11. Makes it so much easier to get people to switch to Linux.
this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
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I've been using Linux Mint Debian Edition for about a year now it's worked almost flawlessly. I love it.
Hm? Linux Mint got plenty of attention imo (deservedly so).
Just look how many articles are listed on distrowatch: https://distrowatch.com/table-mobile.php?distribution=mint
Personally I am still pissed that they dropped KDE, though.
That's an immediate nope for me. Kde or nothing
Yeah, that was also when I left Linux Mint. :(
+1
KDE is is designed to be customized at the cost of user friendliness. Cinnamon has a lot customization but it isn't as overwhelming and is much more stable. It also is GTK which is nice.
I've said it before, I think Cinnamon is a middle ground between Gnome amd KDE. If you almost like both, go for Cinnamon.
Yeah, great, you don't like KDE. Good for you. What does it have to do with me liking KDE very much?
Because the Linux Mint team (I think it was on guy at that point) decided that KDE could not be adjusted to make the desktop they wanted. KDE isn't designed to be made into a separate system and neither is modern gnome. Gnome 2 was ideal and that is why it was forked and turned into cinnamon.
Linux Mint aims to be simple and easy to use. I don't believe KDE does that as well. The good news with KDE is that is is very customizable for those who like to tinker will the desktop.
I also think Linux Mint is heavily invested in GTK. Using KDE would involve a significant shift. What's wrong with KDE Neon?
Real question: Is it not possible to install KDE, even though they do not provide an ISO with it?
it's not recommended, it causes massive issues with the built in programs and you will spend ore time fighting your system then just going with a native, I just tried this a few months back
Possible? Yes. Am I too lazy to do this plus troubleshoot it all the time? Yes.
I did install it via package manager back when I used this distro and it worked well, but some weeks after, I switched distros to Kubuntu. Now I'm using Arch btw. with latest KDE Plasma (I recommend this).
At this point, Arch should just rename itself to "Arch btw".
True! I’m currently on Mint but want to try out KDE. So I probably will have a look at Fedora when I have the free time to do so.
If you want to play games then check out Nobara. It's based on Fedora and made by the guy that created GE Proton
Gaming is not the main priority on a laptop but I keep it in mind, thanks!
If you don't mind Snap, Kubuntu is also a great distro.
I am not sure if it is sorted now, but a couple of years ago Mint was plagued with issues related to wifi, so much so that I had to switch off from it.
There is, and there always will be issues, this is not going to change, much less in Linux where the hardware manufacturers are many, many times offering zero help and less documentation, but they pass, they're fixed, and things advance and improve all the time. This happens in every OS. However we're almost certainly safe here from changes done just for the sake of profit (with extremely rare exceptions which get fought back by the community, I'm looking at you, Canonical!), so I'd say we're MUCH better off on this side of the fence.
Oh ya, I remember that. Luckily all issues are gone. Wifi is stable
Still not great
I don't think that is the fault of anyone in the community
Interesting, it hasn't been big enough an issue for me to get around to investigating yet but that might be the reason my my wifi speeds are lower than expected, stability hasn't been an issue though.
Linux Mint as been in development for over 15 years. Its good for them to get some press coverage and positive attention.
As far as I can tell most people switching to Linux Mint are fairly happy with the experience beside some minor Linux quarks.
Linux Mint is great, but is outdated. In my opinion the Mint team should definitely separate itself from Ubuntu and stop making duplicate applications... They spend too much time and resources to separate servers to avoid Snap. LMDE is a good distro. With a little more attention it can become something bigger.
Snaps are crap. Not using them is one of the main reasons I'm considering switching to Mint
Linux Mint is not outdated, it always uses the up-to-date version of a supported LTS kernel. This is on purpose, to prefer stability over cutting edge.
You may prefer cutting edge (ex. AUR) over stability, that's fine, but that doesn't mean Mint is out-of-date.
Thank you for this. Im new to mint and Linux in general. After reading that comment I was concerned that mint wasnt safe because its old software.
they are migtstion to using their mint edge kernel as default
The new sound effects are great!
They really need to update Mint though. Sure it is good.. on old computers. Anything made the last couple of years will have issues due to an ancient kernel and mesa. We should stop calling it stable/lts and unstable, because users will always pick the one called stable, even if the 'unstable' one is the one that would in most cases work the best for desktop linux. Or at least we should separate the kernel and mesa away from the rest of the 'stable' packages, and include recent versions of that by default, to not scare away people with driver issues.
They always make sure to be on the latest version of a supported LTS kernel. It's not old or outdated, it prefers a tried and tested, more stable kernel, over the newest but possibly not well supported kernel.
That said, you can simply switch kernels, even from mintupdate's GUI. This is what I did for my recent AMD graphics card.
Also, they offer up-to-date drivers from the same channels Debian/Ubuntu does, and even make proprietary Nvidea drivers much easier than the Debian or Ubuntu they're based on. So any driver issues in Mint are going to be worse in those two. Maybe you're comparing it with Arch or Fedora, which are different experiences altogether.
I'm only saying this because I've seen a few videos about windows users switching to linux mint lately. Having to update the kernel for the computer to work is a common occurrance. IMO the newest available one should be the default one. We should strive towards giving new users the best possible first impression of linux.