Personally, I think they should make LMDE the default version of Linux Mint.
Debian -> Ubuntu -> Linux Mint vs Debian -> LMDE
Since it’s more upstream, it should be more up-to-date and secure, right?
I feel like basing a distro off of Ubuntu is sort of a crutch. It’s makes things easier at the beginning, but ultimately it holds you back as a distro developer
Linux Distros Evolution - January 2024 Update: Pop!_OS in Decline? (boilingsteam.com)
An interesting trend graph of the most diffused distros and their adoption by users over time.