Long time Mint user until I switched to Garuda (an arch variant) - I can highly recommend Mint.
On Mon, 10 Mar 2025 at 11:34, Hamish McIntyre-Bhatty via dorset < dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote: > Hi all, > > I recently switched from Mint to Linux Mint Debian Edition and can vouch > for it, it's very polished and stable. > > Best, > Hamish > > On 10 March 2025 09:24:08 GMT, Tim <t...@windriders.co.uk> wrote: > >Hi James > > > >If you are looking at the Mint, then Mint has a Debian version you could > try. While I have not used it for a while it is the same as the other > version of Mint but built on Debian rather than Ubuntu > > > >https://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php > > > >You get a polished version of Debian with the ease of Mint > > > >Tim H > > > > > >On 10/03/2025 07:04, James Crowfoot wrote: > >> Thanks, That is really helpful, > >> I am planning to use it for home and everyday use on my laptop. > >> I think that arch is a bit too complex for my needs, Mint will probably > >> give me the smoother transition and looks nicer from stock compared to > >> debian which I am more familiar with however. > >> > >> On Sat, 8 Mar 2025 at 09:18, Ralph Corderoy <ra...@inputplus.co.uk> > wrote: > >> > >>> Hello James, > >>> > >>> I've seen you've popped up on the IRC channel when the few of us that > >>> linger there have been ‘away from keyboard’ so it's nice to finally > talk > >>> to you. > >>> > >>>> At some point in the future I am planning on switching from windows 11 > >>>> to linux but I am not sure what distro to go for. > >>>> I'm most familiar with debian, through raspberry pi os, but also > >>>> either mint or ubuntu are also on the table. > >>> I think the answers from Tim, Rhys, and Terry nicely cover some > >>> different things to consider, and having used Raspberry Pi's Debian > >>> spin-off you'll be familiar with some of them, but they were a bit > >>> implicit, so I'll list them. > >>> > >>> - Unlike Microsoft Windows, a Linux distro tends to have a lot more > >>> swappable parts. Three interesting layers are: > >>> > >>> - The kernel which marshals the hardware and arbitrates requests > to > >>> access it from the programs above. Most users don't find > >>> sufficient here to distinguish one distro from another, though > >>> some more unusual bits of hardware may need a particular kernel > >>> module for support. > >>> > >>> - The distro's preperation of software for easy install of a new > >>> program as a ‘package’, and the other packages it depends on. > >>> Then keeping installed packages up to date with upgrades. > >>> > >>> The two main flavours of package managers are APT, from Debian, > >>> and DNF, from Fedora. I'm not sure there's much to choose > between > >>> them as competition worked its magic. > >>> > >>> - The graphical desktop interface is the key one in many users' > >>> eyes. Terry uses the Kubuntu distro which is the KDE desktop on > >>> Ubuntu. There are many desktop environments, and they can each > be > >>> installed as a package at the same time, at the cost of disk > >>> space. The graphical log-in prompt for username and password > >>> normally provides a menu of the available ones to choose from > for > >>> that one session. > >>> > >>> So don't think plain Ubuntu with its default of the GNOME > desktop > >>> means KDE is out of reach. Or the lightweight XFCE, or a tiling > >>> window manager like i3 plus other parts of your choosing. You > can > >>> experiment with different desktops without switching distro as > >>> most provide all the main ones. > >>> > >>> - Hardware compatibility used to be a significant hurdle in Linux's > >>> earlier days, and can still cause more minor problems like getting > the > >>> audio working, etc., as new chips are continuously arriving on the > >>> market. A ‘live’ version of a distro lets you boot from a USB drive > >>> to check how much of the hardware works before installation. > >>> > >>> Searching for your model of PC or motherboard along with ‘Linux > >>> compatibility’ may also show up those who have walked the same path > >>> before you. The program ‘inxi’ run from a live distro can summarise > >>> the hardware. > >>> > >>> - The philosophy of the distribution. Not just whether they're zealots > >>> for an aspect of licensing, but what's their approach to releasing > >>> updates. Is it every six months on schedule, or when volunteer > effort > >>> means it's ready, or is it a rolling release where they're keen to > get > >>> an upstream release of a single program into their users' hands? > >>> > >>> - The level of activity in the project. Some have paid staff, others > >>> are volunteer efforts, and some a mixture. Do they have a means of > >>> community you like: mailing list, IRC, web forum, ... Is it active > >>> enough: are others getting a thread of replies going to their > >>> question? > >>> > >>> ✻ ✻ ✻ > >>> > >>> Separate from all that, there's what do you want to use the distro for? > >>> Something you can forget about? Or something to play, experiment, and > >>> learn through? You've the mainstream ones, split by Debian or Fedora > >>> ancestry, and then the others like Arch Linux and its spin-offs. > >>> > >>> Pure ‘Arch’ has a very manual installation process where you're left at > >>> the shell prompt of a root user and you work your way through setting > up > >>> the network configuration, then installing just the packages you want > >>> using their ‘Pacman’ package manager: neither APT or DNF. This may > >>> appeal if you like to learn how things are put together. You can have > >>> a skim of the instructions without thinking of installing Arch. > >>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide > >>> > >>> I use Arch Linux at home. On remote servers, especially for clients, > >>> where I want to ‘install and forget’, I go for Debian. I'd be happy to > >>> use Ubuntu or Fedora if it was the client's wish. > >>> > >>> Hope that helps. Tell us what you decide and how you get on. Feel > free > >>> to ask this list questions. > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Cheers, Ralph. > >>> > > > >-- > > Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2025-04-01 20:00 > > Check to whom you are replying > > Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... https://dorset.lug.org.uk > > New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk > -- > Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2025-04-01 20:00 > Check to whom you are replying > Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... https://dorset.lug.org.uk > New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk > -- Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2025-04-01 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... https://dorset.lug.org.uk New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
