Great news, I’ve been using Linux Mint (Cinnamon) since 2016 as my only operating system without any regrets. The newer versions of Cinnamon keep getting more and more stable too. I have virtually no hard crashes or freezes anymore.
I just switched from Ubuntu, which I’ve been using for almost twenty years, to Mint 21.3 and I’m impressed. Not only does it seem to have solved my printing problems (at least with one day of use so far, but I’ve had zero failures compared to multiple failures per day with Ubuntu), it just seems snappier (or is that snapless?) and smoother overall. Just dumb little things like remembering my sound device settings after reboot and letting me know the printer was out of paper. Ubuntu just seems clunky by comparison now. Hopefully it isn’t just the honeymoon phase.
No it’s not just a phase. Mint really is very good which is why it’s very popular and widely regarded as the overall best distro whether beginner or advanced user.
The team really do make it their goal to have a user friendly, capable OS that helps you instead of hinders you.
I use Linux Mint Debian Edition because I’m done with Ubuntu but the Ubuntu based mint is still excellent compared to Ubuntu itself.
Just my opinion, but no I don’t think there is a generalized reason to choose LMDE over LM or the other way around. Try them both and see which you like the best. Use that and be happy.
No. The regular version is fine and gets updated more often. For people who want their system not updated so often, the Debian edition only gets a new base every 2-3 years
I did have the same old printer failure today though. I suspect its endemic to Linux (or WiFi printing in Linux) given a Google search turns up the same issue in a bunch of different Linux forums. Debian based and otherwise. It was quicker to right itself in Mint than it was in Ubuntu anyway.
Some positive news for a lot of Linux Mint users who have been complaining about the lack of Wayland support. However, as the blog post listed, it’s only going to be experimental in the next major update of Version 21. Still, it’ll be good to experience the change.
Also, very clever on the naming schemes used by the Debian and Mint teams for their stable and unstable releases.
Which is not a distro nor a display server but, like kde and gnome, a desktop environment. They are actively working on wayland support as can be seen here: wiki.xfce.org/releng/wayland_roadmap
So just for clarification 😇
And I recognized now that this post was about cinnamon desktop environment, which comes with mint distro, and not the distro itself. So the comparison to GNOME would have been more fitting from my site (they’ll drop Xorg support soon, but still let it be installed in post).
So, yea, and then there is XFCE where we have no real clue when Wayland support is completely ready. But it seems like it could work with something called xwayland that seem to kinda emulate Xorg on wayland 🧐
Oh yeah, I was just mentioning them in general. The most exciting feature of their last big release was being able to change the clocks’ font.
I trust XFCE to bring in new features only when they are 100% sure it’ll work perfectly. That DE has been nothing but rocksolid for me, and I greatly appreciate that.
Though to push them a little bit, Xorg certainly has flaws when it comes to security, and since pretty much no one will make the effort of working on these flaws anymore, Wayland should be a higher priority for any distro or DE.
The cautious approach for LMDE5 users: If your system is working fine and there are no especially must-have features in LMDE6, there is almost certainly no rush to upgrade. Take your time.
Make backups. Test backups. Play games. Work. Do things entirely unrelated to the distro.
You could even almost (aaalmost) completely forget about LMDE6 (but do keep an eye on the LM blog).
The Mint team haven't announced an EOL date for LMDE5 yet, but if past dates are anything to go by, it'll be at least 18 months before they pull the plug. Even then, LTS updates might still filter through from Debian proper.
[How many people will actually see this message and how many it actually applies to out of them might well include me and literally one other guy somewhere else on the planet, but if you're that one guy, breathe friend. No rush.]
I’m not super familiar with the goals of the mint project. But this is generally a bad approach to take with project development. Even if you plan on offering LTS, it is always preferable to have users on the most up to date version. Going through the pain of supporting multiple versions of commercial software at work has taught me that lesson the (very) hard way.
To some extent I think they're thinking of people who are in the Windows/Mac situation of wanting a stable OS that doesn't require getting hands dirty (so to speak) every 5 minutes to do basic things, and who generally call in a relative or friend who knows what they're doing (and is almost certainly the person who installed Mint in the first place) when things really need changing.
There's never more than two LMDEs active at any one time, so while they are giving themselves a little extra work, they're also managing the main Ubuntu-based Mint derivatives at the same time so they're bound to have some kind of streamlining at their side.
As for 5-to-6 upgrades, they've provided an official tool that will work for most people and will require very little admin user interaction once it's off and running. A sensible sysadmin would like to have a backup anyway, just in case.
My initial comment was aimed at the odd rare case like myself who isn't always up for sysadmin work (it's why I'm on Mint after all), or doesn't have the time. There's no immediate rush to use that official tool. Take your time. Make your backups, etc.
If you want bleeding-edge rolling updates, Mint is not the distro for you (though LMDE is a little closer to that than regular Mint).
Do they keep up with security updates and patches, though? Yes. Very much so.
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.
blog.linuxmint.com
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