Should Linux Mint 'Debian' Edition Be The 'Main' Edition?

A couple of days ago, Linux Mint released their latest Linux Mint Debian Edition version 5 codenamed "Elsie." LMDE is Linux Mint's hedge in case anything ever happens to Ubuntu that would force Mint to base off of another distro. Maybe, they should go ahead and make the move now.

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[PapasFilms]

LMDE actually uses its own custom installer. With later LMDE 4 versions they made it seem more like the Ubuntu one but it’s still their own.

[fubaralakbar]

I would love to see your reaction if they came out with a Linux Mint Arch Edition

[BreetaiZentradi]

LMDE accomplishes several things.
1) The current version is based on Debian 11, which is close to Ubuntu 2021.10/2022.04 but is not a moving target like 22.04 is as long as it is pre-release. They are able to start working on issues the main edition of Mint will face when rebasing to 22.04
2) It gives the Mint team an idea of how much work it would entail to leave Ubuntu.
3) Leverage. It does not matter if it is Canonical going away, or making some sort of legal threat or some other unseen issue that could come from basing Mint off of Ubuntu. Why go after Mint? They will just drop the current mainline edition and roll to LMDE as the new default in a matter of days. The fact they can do this with almost no effort is a great deterrent to anyone who would consider such a move.

[EvanOfTheDarkness]

Many closed source Linux apps target only "Ubuntu" and not Debian. Mint being based on Ubuntu, means that it can run these apps without an issue. In a perfect world developers would build packages for every distro, but today its usually Ubuntu, Suse and maybe Arch.

[fotisbaltoumas]

The reason for Mint sticking with Ubuntu as its main source is software support. Almost always, when something new is introduced to Linux, it first comes to Ubuntu and Fedora, and then the other distributions follow.

Obvious example: Steam. For six months it was Ubuntu-only, then Fedora and RHEL followed, and then everyone else. Officially. Unofficially, if you had an ubuntu-based distro (like Mint), you could install it from day one without much fuss.

[AndrewPayne]

100% agree. Been using Mint for a few years and always loved the 'DE' distro

[rauljosegarcia]

Linux Mint got me into the Linux world. It's a very user friendly distribution and I'll probably be sticking to it for a while.

[donpeer]

Thanks for covering this, Derek. I'm loving LMDE5 on my laptop!

[bigmikeobama]

LMDE was my first linux os and it was freakin awesome! i was highly impressed

[bh]

Thanks for the content! Not a huge mint fan, but I always learn something new from your videos. Just want to voice my support!

[mjwford]

I think you're on to something. The only thing probably holding them back is not enough people know about their Debian project and because of that, not enough people are using LMDE. We need to start a movement! I just switched to LMDE. Gotta keep it going!

[AlexandruDoarme]

I hope that System76! makes a similar move too. PopOS! deserves a better base.

[happyfeet]

I was, sick and tired of things breaking on arch. So today I've installed LMDE5. It's a piece of cake to boot from the live live USB. The installer is a joy to use and the whole package is smooth as silk and stable.

[KevinBReynolds]

I am one of those that doesn't want to have anything to do with Ubuntu or Ubuntu based distros. I don't think Canonical has any idea of what they want to do or where they want to go. They just keep changing things and it causes problems for everyone else. I'm a simple user and I don't want all those headaches. I'm on a Debian based distro and have been for years now and love it. Everything just works and that's what my computer should do, work for me.

[ShinyHelmet]

I agree about Mint Debian. I've installed LMDE 5 since beta and have found it very stable and everything works. Steam works fine, and having slightly older software packages doesn't bother me.

[bigl]

Next year : Linux Mint Gentoo Edition. Or maybe, just maybe. Linux Mint From Scratch Edition

[magburner]

I love LMDE4, been using it since release, I have had Zero issues with the OS on my (former) 2600K gaming rig. I plan to upgrade to LMDE5 when if/when there is an upgrade path.

[DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

what about doing sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y <enter>
enter your password and that should be that.

[frankharrigan]

LMDE4 has been brilliant these past two years of using it as my main computer, so I'm looking forward to trying LMDE5.

[stefhannington]

I'm using Lmde5 at the moment and love it. Only thing I have changed is the kernel and instead updated to 5.16 by using debians unstable sources. I will not be changing my system anytime soon. 😁