Welcome to another Mint-tastic episode of Veronica Explains! Today, I'm talking about Linux Mint, and Linux Mint Debian Edition, or LMDE. I used both Linux Mint versions for the last few weeks on m...
LMDE essentially is Debian (uses the Debian repos for most of its installed packages), with some Mint packages included on top via the Mint repositories that are also added. Mint actually has some pretty neat graphical utilities and has Flathub configured to work by default with the Software Center.
The real benefit though is if you enjoy using the Cinnamon DE. The latest Cinnamon version is kept up-to-date in LMDE as the Mint team backport it. The Cinnamon version in Debian 12 is fixed and will not get major version updates until the next version of Debian.
As a Debian user myself, I enjoy Mint when I wish to use Debian on the desktop. I only use core Debian for servers.
Thanks for the good explanation, makes sense.
I’ve been using Debian for both servers and desktop for some while, and tbh getting DE updates earlier would be nice without going unstable - but not nice enough to start tinkering around and potentially compromising the stability so I get it
It’s basically an extra layer of polish to make Debian as user-friendly as can be, which while being very pleasant to work with for experienced users, is likely to be particularly appreciated by those who are not particularly technically inclined. As an example, the Mint Software Store is pretty much unmatched as a stable, and extremely user friendly way to manage and install software, with reviews, Flathub integration, screenshots, etc. Where as on standard Debian, the GUI package manager would likely be Aptitude, which is quite a daunting piece of software for the uninitiated.
You could make a vanilla Debian install as user friendly as Mint, but you’d already have to have the skill to get it to that state, where as Mint is ready out of the box.
Someone explain, why lmde over Debian?
LMDE essentially is Debian (uses the Debian repos for most of its installed packages), with some Mint packages included on top via the Mint repositories that are also added. Mint actually has some pretty neat graphical utilities and has Flathub configured to work by default with the Software Center.
The real benefit though is if you enjoy using the Cinnamon DE. The latest Cinnamon version is kept up-to-date in LMDE as the Mint team backport it. The Cinnamon version in Debian 12 is fixed and will not get major version updates until the next version of Debian.
As a Debian user myself, I enjoy Mint when I wish to use Debian on the desktop. I only use core Debian for servers.
Thanks for the good explanation, makes sense.
I’ve been using Debian for both servers and desktop for some while, and tbh getting DE updates earlier would be nice without going unstable - but not nice enough to start tinkering around and potentially compromising the stability so I get it
It’s basically an extra layer of polish to make Debian as user-friendly as can be, which while being very pleasant to work with for experienced users, is likely to be particularly appreciated by those who are not particularly technically inclined. As an example, the Mint Software Store is pretty much unmatched as a stable, and extremely user friendly way to manage and install software, with reviews, Flathub integration, screenshots, etc. Where as on standard Debian, the GUI package manager would likely be Aptitude, which is quite a daunting piece of software for the uninitiated.
You could make a vanilla Debian install as user friendly as Mint, but you’d already have to have the skill to get it to that state, where as Mint is ready out of the box.
In theory, faster updates compared to Debian Stable.
I haven’t compared the repos directly though so I’m not sure what the current differences are specifically.