Linux Mint Debian Edition: Good to Start With and Good to Stay With

Linux Mint has built a well-deserved reputation for being solid, well-designed and easy to live with. The Debian edition shares all those attributes with its Ubuntu stable-mate, whilst staying one step closer to the source.
This is a great distro and it's not just user-friendly and suitable for beginners, it's a fine distro for anyone who appreciates the look and feel and wants to use it as their daily-driver.
I hope you enjoy the video :-)
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Ramble On!

[@tonym480]

I've been using Linux Mint for several years. Being of mature years I'm looking for stability and reliability rather than all the latest bells and whistles. I have LMDE 4 installed on my elderly Samsung laptop and 20.3 on my main desktop. The only differences I have noticed are that 20.3 has a more recent Kernel and that some of the packages in the repository are more likely to be up to date. Other than that I think there is not much to choose between them. I have done the distro hopping thing but always come back to Mint because, It Just Works, No Fuss, No Hassle. Thanks for the review, Ride safe 👍‍

[@jrbergen]

I recently moved from 20.3 to LMDE 5. LMDE 5 has an even more recent kernel than 20.3 (5.10 vs 5.4), and more up to date packages in the repos (LibreOffice 7 vs 6 for example). Canonical is becoming the Microsoft of the Linux world. I like the idea of cutting the middle-man out of the loop. The less they muck with Debian the better. The only problem I had with 20.3 (and earlier) was the system had difficulty finding my network printer. It's a known bug in Ubuntu that hasn't been fixed in quite a while. That problem went away when I switched to LMDE 5 and I have yet to find any other issues.

[@LinuxUnderwear]

Thank you all for these infos

[@RobBoudreau]

I've always though Cinnamon was something of a GTK version of KDE Plasma, only easier and less confusing to customize. It's very stable and well thought out as is, but you can really tweak the heck out of it if you want to. I tried it back some years ago, Cinnamon 2.1 I believe it was, was quite impressed with it. Had some multi-monitor issues though, so I didn't stay. No doubt they're ironed out now. Great video Steve, as always. Let's hope the weather clears for you, the R.E. looks like it wants to go out too. 😉

[@OldTechBloke]

I was out and about on it most of yesterday Rob. Just hoping today stays clear

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Absolutely true. This distro ended my distro hopping of five years.

[@bobbyfried7478]

i have been playing with this for a month now and i have no complaints.

[@andrewpalm2103]

My main distro is Debian with an Xfce DE, installed with the non-free network installer (to avoid some stuff I don't need that is in the CD/DVD version). It works well on my older hardware. I've been using Linux long enough to get Debian set up the way I want things to be. However, as I age I find I have less and less patience or energy for distro tweaking, and LMDE is one of those distros I test when it gets a new release. I recently tried LMDE 5 and found it to meet my needs very well, even though I'm not that familiar with Cinnamon. Thanks OTB for this review and cheers from Wisconsin.

[@OldTechBloke]

Cheers Andrew

[@happyfeet4506]

Thank you for another brilliant video 👍I installed lmde5 a few weeks back & it's the best move I've made . Its a breeze to boot from a USB stick. The installer is a joy to use. It's rock solid and stable. It's just everything you need right out of the box. I did not realise how good debian really is. This has stopped my distro hopping.

[@bobbyfried7478]

Me too.....i haven't hopped since.lol

[@davidmackie8552]

Likewise!

[@banderson716]

You just saved me! I have been struggling for over a week to get mint installed, but it hates my on board video hardware. Moving closer to Deb. was exactly the answer. THANK YOU!

[@cyberp0et]

I tried Debian install and it failed.

[@senil5906]

@@cyberp0et Try PClinuxos .

[@voodoovinny7125]

I am in 100% agreement of keeping distros closer to the "base" which will make it easier for everyone.

[@tiitulitii]

I'm especially happy how quickly it boots up.

[@TheBrimurray]

Thank you OTB, a really nice well produced overview of the alternative option for Linux Mint.

[@gregcampwriter]

Good channel here--cheers. I appreciate the straightforward presentation without all the noise of trying to imitate commercial television.

[@RobertTreat9]

Been using Linux Mint for a long time. Sure it's boring and stable. I'll hop around every so often and when nothing is really satisfied after initial curiosity in the hunt for the shiny object, I put it back on my computers. Have a lot of "muscle memory" with the system. Know where everything is and all it does so can just get down to what I need to do. Nice video. You're one of a few KZbinrs to notice the wallpaper directories and not talk about it lacking :)

[@nir8924]

7:25 LOL such a Monty python moment, "blue! no! green!" 😅

[@NebRadojkovic]

First time on your channel and I like what I see and hear. OldTechBloke, I like you and I subscribed. Cheers!

[@gregcampwriter]

I've been running the Ubuntu-based Cinnamon Mint for almost a year now. When my PC harddrive failed, I installed the Windows 7 that I'd been using for several years on the new drive, but couldn't get the driver I needed to acknowledge the size of my monitor and decided that since I was using FOSS software such as GIMP and LibreOffice already, I might as well go with an operating system with a similar philosophy. Mint has made my work on my computer far easier. The environment is enough like Windows 7 in the elements that I like, while having none of the frustrating obscurantism and constantly argumentative nature. I get why people who are interested in making computers the object of their attention gravitate toward other distros, but for me, my computer is a tool to get work done. As I have free time, I'll extend my exploration of the software and OS itself. I'm glad to see the Debian alternative available, but I'm not a hopper--that time thing, again--but perhaps I'll put it on my laptop and try it out.

[@michaelibbeken9739]

Very clear and excellent explanation, thank you !

[@breadmoth6443]

I always wondered why mint just didn't base itself off of Debian , and looks like I finally got my wish. Even though Slackware will always be my primary distro, I do not mind now looking more into Linux Mint - now that it is based off of actual Debian. Ubuntu really is going down the loo these years aren't they?

[@erichoberg3502]

This is the 5th Debian edition from Mint.

[@nedegt1877]

Ubuntu won't go anywhere, it's here to stay. The reason why Mint is based on Ubuntu is simple, package base, Ubuntu package base is wel maintained. Mint is not a commercial company like Canonical. So that's a huge difference.

[@breadmoth6443]

@@nedegt1877 well it is nice that they are at least finally using a true debian base. while i still prefer slackware, i would not have a problem recommending LMDE to new users , over the ubuntu edition.

[@nedegt1877]

@@breadmoth6443 I'm am very happy with this newer release because the former release ( 4 ) was a bit behind in updates. And yes you can update it if you like and know how, but new users to Linux are better off with the Ubuntu Edition in my opinion. Only because you can find 10000's tutorials on how to do things on specifically for Ubuntu and that is 99% compatible with Mint. But I'd encourage more peoples to try the "Pure" version and learn more about Linux in general. Cinnamon is great, I've been using Mint since 2013 and it never failed me. My stable workstation has been running Mint since 2015 and I've been updating it to newer releases ever since. It's awesome if you see how many wallpapers I have lol. From all those releases up to today :) I'm very proud. I've used many other distro's in VM's though.

[@Skelterbane69]

Slackware huh? Are you a masochist? (I'm Kidding lmao)

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I believe the Ubuntu-based version of Mint gives you a checkbox during the install process to install the proprietary codecs. Debian I think is fussier about that so I think they moved it to the onboarding process for LMDE.

[@GuglFive]

Your review is great !!!

[@taidee]

I've got to agree OTB, this is a great distro, thanks man.

[@davidmackie8552]

I use the LMDE on two machines . . . it's excellent.

[@mylinuxgr5050]

I have installed LMDE5 with bspwm and it is so far amazing!

[@thierrybo6304]

What is the advantage to use LMDE if you use such a window manager? Why not just use Debian instead?

[@mylinuxgr5050]

@@thierrybo6304, there is no advantage. I just tried it out. I already use Debian 11 with i3 in my work PC and it is fine as well! I guess that I was bored to setup some things that were already setup in LMDE, but I am not sure. I was just curious.

[@NOPerative]

Just installed LMDE on my laptop last night and it runs smooth; it feels rock solid too and I state my points objectively having little expectation for the variant initially. It's staying on my laptop alongside GhostBSD with Manjaro Gnome, FreeBSD and Windows on my desktop (pretty fun setup for me). Oddly, LMDE feels more "real/tangible" to me than the Ubuntu derivative did, but I haven't used the Ubuntu drawn version in a long time so my feelings may be subjective at this point.

[@drsmith3411]

Just guessed you might be online rather than on your bike. Come to California and we can promise great sealine trails through the woods of Big Sur and from SF to LA. I've been playing with Manjero, Ubuntu, Mint Pop and some others on Raspberry Pi but I need more polish with the Linux system/thinking -- if you get what I mean. Great broadcast though even if simpletons like me struggle with parts of it.

[@briianhebert]

Thanks for the video! I've been using Linux Mint since the 17 series, I would for sure consider switching to the Debian version if needed.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Likewise. The only practical difference I imagine are PPA support. And since Flatpak who uses PPAs?

[@lifecanvasdev4684]

Thanks for the informative video. Is it "safe" to use other Desktop Environments or Window Managers with LMDE (e.g. lightweight DE such as LXQt, to use it on an older laptop) - in terms of stability and compatibility, or should I worry about things breaking / losing functionality? In other words, is Mint customised to the extent that it *should* rather be used with Cinnamon, or is it "standard" enough to allow the use of (any?) other options? I am specifically looking at using LXQt or Enlightenment, and possibly i3 (to get used to working with a tiling WM)... I know many distros ship "lightweight" editions with Xfce, but that doesn't really seem to be all that "light" as made out to be...?

[@joeking1019]

i'm watching this on a LMDE 5 distro though my favorite desktop is xfce

[@theseeker4104]

Great video OTB was wondering if you could take another look at stormos I created a maintenance utilty menu that actually improves the new user experience. Again great video.

[@OldTechBloke]

Can do mate

[@deaconstjohn8643]

Great Video....P.S. Love the hat ...

[@pyrokamileon]

I have wanted to try out LMDE in the past but I typically use a lighter desktop.. I really wish this came with an XFCE option

[@XPFTP]

wish i knew more when i went with mint ubun.. like to change over to mint deb. but grrrrr no easy way but to clean install.. that i know of... iam bummed out.

[@itsfish8672]

OTB nice vid.

[@davidwayne9982]

All the software for regular MINT (and that's thousands of pieces of software, scripts, etc.) work on LMDE5, and It is far more customizable than I ever thought originally. I' ve been focused on KDE and used it for a long time-- but I'm about ready to just go back to simple setup-- like LMDE5-- SO simple- nice, FAST- just works- and ROCK SOLID.

[@keithmiller9665]

I do quite a bit video encoding via ffmpeg and I have typically found Debian packages a bit dated. So while I support Debian it doesn’t fit in with my encoding workflow that prefers current rather than stable. If the current isn’t stable enough I can always find an older stable version. Different strokes for different folks.

[@kriskruz3792]

How does LMDE compare in terms of resource usage with Mint XFCE?

[@peterjansen4826]

Debian has something which you could compare to PPA's. Same deal as far as I understand: you add some repositories and install software from it. Of course Debian SID but also many others. In regard to installing software, I prefer just using the terminal for it, but that is for software which I already know, occasionally I find new software via the browser.

[@edalder2000]

I have been worried about the integration of Snap into Ubuntu. It has been so integral that most of Ubuntu's core is maintained by third parties and left to rot. I know that Mainline Mint has disabled Snap by default. But I worry that Snap is so ingrained that it will be impossible to run Ubuntu in the near future. I was so worried about Snap that I jumped to MX Linux XFCE. No Ubuntu and it works well. I tried LMDE5 and like it. Great stuff. I would move to LMDE if I didn't have MX Linux set "just right."

[@Smittron]

Thanks for the video but something to consider... I've had issues installing LMDE 5 on some computers but have had no issues installing Linux Mint on the same computers.

[@esphilee]

Mint is perfect for repurposed PC. I have one Macbook Pro running Linux Mint, because Apple think it was obsolete and refuse to update its MacOS.

[@johnstath9666]

The weather?? Seriously OTB you live in the UK it’s nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Review as usual spot on the money

[@MrOrtmeier]

This is the future of Mint given that Ubuntu are definitely moving to an all-snaps model. As for me I'm on LMDE 6, which I moved to from regular Mint in order to get away from Ubuntu because I'm fed up with canonical's user hostile BS.

[@davidwayne9982]

There is a site on here- guy named THOR runs it- and he has some EXCELLENT videos on how to Custimize it and make it work WAY better than what first appears like is there..

[@karljohnsenF33]

My Distro hopping ended with LMDE (3).

[@davidwayne9982]

In the SOFTWARE "store" -- there is a fULL FLATPAK section... and synaptic has NOT flatpaks... but everything else it does.

[@jeffreyplum5259]

-I still have a few 32-bit systems Linux Mint's Debian version will keep them alive, without dealing with Debian's politics. A debian which just works is a nice middle ground not raw Debian and not Ubuntu either.. I will find somewhere to run it for certain. Thanks

[@PyroNexus22]

Your life seems very wholesome

[@JCLarsen]

So the paint of the car should be the same - but what about what's under the hood? What is the difference between running diesel or petrol?

[@OldTechBloke]

Not much mate, personally I prefer Debian but there isn’t much in it. I would just rather stay closer to the origin

[@primaflash2219]

What about htop mem values ?

[@OldTechBloke]

Cinnamon isn’t lightweight at the best of times so expect 800ish on first boot

[@Ax4400]

What is the difference between Debian Mint & Garuda Mint?

[@jeancorriveau8686]

I switched to LMDE recently from mainline Mint. Canonical could pull the plug on ubuntu from a decision from the head of the company. Debian, being community-based, has no head office.

[@Norbert9696]

I think packages in Ubuntu LTS tend to be more up to date upon release than Debian Stable, even though both have releases every 2 years. I'm not very familiar with the differences in the inner workings of Ubuntu and Debian but maybe the reason Mint is still using Ubuntu is that it's a better base for specific everyday use cases, like gaming? Someone, correct me if I'm wrong.

[@atemoc]

That and more, and also the fact that Debian expects its users to know a bit about Linux in general, so not really made for newbies, don't go and ask "stupid" questions in the Debian forums, you'll get answers, but you'll annoy yourself and others. That's why Ubuntu came in the first place.

[@xunyl87]

I personally think that each system has to be used for his own purpose. For example I have Arch Linux because I really want a bleeding edge rolling distro, Windows 10 on qemu with GPU passthrough for gaming (I don't really want win to be installed on a partition and let it bitch with his bootloader and security problems), Slackware on a second partition because it is like a Swiss Army Knife, FreeBSD on a third partition because I love it and I use it for serious things. On my laptop I have Debian Stable installed, for work. That's it, I don't need anything else

[@samuelaponte4225]

I love how easy is to customize cinamon, and oh boy u got every fucking option u can think of

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

Very well done video OTB! I have been running this in a VM for a bit and I have not found anything jumping out at me. I plan to switch my Mint media server (all the movies and video storage) to LMDE 5 because I have ran the Live USB on the system and it seems to work better than Mint. Mint is just doggy on that MOBO and I don't know why. I was going to switch it to Ubuntu server or something but I want to keep a DE on it even though I don't really use the computer but for storage... I have a video of LMDE 5 in post editing and have not got off my ass and finished it... LOL Hope ya can get the Beast out soon Mate! Cheers OTB LLAP 🖖

[@OldTechBloke]

I’ve been out on it all day Bruce. This video was recorded yesterday 😀

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

@@OldTechBloke 👍 🖖

[@pichincho7]

I change to LMDE because in the Linux Mint Vera I was seeing the Ubuntu logo when shutting down the pc. Linux Mint LMDE is faster, more stable and better to me.

[@GoatzombieBubba]

LMDE has a custom installer made just for it.

[@nedegt1877]

I don't like snap or flatpack or anything like that. You should look at the difference in file sizes. 3GB for a flatpack version and just 40MB for the standard version. I mean what's the point

[@LucasDaVoice]

This is incredible Sir, can I please have a link where I can download the debian edition.

[@OldTechBloke]

Just go to the Linux mint downloads page

[@LucasDaVoice]

@@OldTechBloke will do so brother

[@bangla70s]

LMDE is not as lean as Debian with cinnamon and definitely not as lean as Debian with Gnome. LMDE 5 quickly grows to >9 GB after a couple default updates, whereas Debian with Gnome stays under 6 GB.

[@burhanbudak6041]

How do I switch from LMU to LMDE?

[@OldTechBloke]

Reinstall is the only way

[@guilherme5094]

👍

[@phrtao]

Could not help but notice that the word 'Dialogue' was spelt properly - I have never seen that in computing before. I believe that in computing it is more correct to use the 'dialog' spelling.

[@OldTechBloke]

That’s US spelling. Dialogue is uk

[@kurtmampaey1208]

I'm using LMDE it's better than the regular linux mint version, there are no PPA's but a lot of Flatpaks.

[@samsungsarsamsungsar7792]

In LMDE 5 I burned an bootable image into two CD with brasero and k3b. Both of them do not boot

[@cyberp0et]

@@mfg5042 Much better use YUMI. It allows you to use the free space on the USB thumb drive.

[@dee23gaming]

Everything Linux Mint my laptop just doesn't want to accept. I can't even boot into the live environment

[@samuelaponte4225]

I though multimedia codecs werent installed cuz they were hardware related

[@davidwayne9982]

I've been using Linux for over 16 years---and distro hopped all over the place-- I had 26 on my VENTOY (bootable usb).. and just recenlty took several off that I will NOT be going back to. I have reached the point where I will NO longer even load up a Gnome distro --- NOT because there is anything wrong with it-- it's a VERY good system-- I just personally dod NOT like it- and it doesn't fit my style of work. Mint was always one of my favorites- still is-- but now that LMDE 5 is out and I've had that for a while-- I may go back to it and STAY with it. It's ROCK SOLID-- can't tell any difference between it and the regular Mind ubuntu edition (and NO I have NOTHING agasinst ubuntu either-- didn't like it for a while- but it was a political thing- NOT something wrong with thier software). Mint just WORKS with NO issues--- I am not one of these STUPID fools that need an upgrade every 10 minutes to be happy--- SO WHAT if something has been out for 6 months to a year or more?? BIG WHOOP-- it WORKS GREAT with no problems and I don't have to FIX anything every 5 minutes.. like these certain unnamed keybanging morons need..

[@jimw7916]

Man you can "mouth-on"!

[@peterjansen4826]

Why would anyone hate Mint? It is not for me, I don't belong to their target audience, but it is good for a large percentage of the computer-users. Most PC-users don't need more than internet, multimedia en maybe office software and have older (older than 6-12 months) hardware. Then Mint is a fine distro, there are no sudden changes and you can use it for years without having to reinstall it. I did not like their previous theming but since they modernized it I like their theming. But I will remain on Arch. :)

[@samuelaponte4225]

Snaps are slow af, and hell nah, prefer flatpacks or appimages or even install compressed apps on tar.gz

[@andrewbocho3896]

I love Mint and now I use LMDE because of the scare that Ubuntu will go tits up. Linux is the best. Windows and Mac are the worst.

[@askhowiknow5527]

I think the icon theme is ugly, and I think the Mint logo is ugly and uninspired That being said, LMDE may be one of the best distros in the next 5 years

[@typingcat]

No Wayland support = no use.

[@OldTechBloke]

Only if you use wayland

[@TheBardicDruid]

No Root account??? Then that's Ubuntu, LM is just Cannocial trying to get more users anyway they can.

[@OldTechBloke]

Sudo su and then passwd will get you root. Nothing to do with Ubuntu

[@unwoke1652]

I have been using LMDE for as long as I can remember, often alongside the Ubuntu-based. Both are well-engineered, stable, reliable, dependable and predictable. I am focused on productivity and this is where Mint Cinnamon excels. I use 32-BIT LMDE5 on my 2007 mail mule laptop. It has only 2GB RAM and a rather unenthusiastic Celeron chip, but my OS brings it together. It often runs for weeks or months without a reboot. I use a mostly unused 2GB swap partition to mirror the RAM. LMDE4 and LMDE5 just brought joy, and never pain.