Linux Mint Debian Edition

[netsider]

I'm not really that experienced with Linux, but I know a little. I was recently reading about LMDE here, and it says "No, it is not. LMDE is compatible with Debian, which isn’t compatible with Ubuntu.".

But, isn't Ubuntu debian-based? I'm assuming since it's based on debian, that's not the same thing as Debian, which is why it's not compatible. Is there more to it than that, though?

Wikipedia says Mint is based on "Ubuntu (Kubuntu), or Debian".

Since LMDE (based on Debian) and regular Mint (based on Ubuntu) are both based on Debian in one way or another (since Ubuntu is)... don't they both have the same package manager?

I'm a little confused. Isn't debian, debian? I mean.. if you have a debian installation package, won't it work on any debian-based linux distro?

Thanks.. I feel stupid for even asking this

 

[B00nie]

Ubuntu is based on the unstable development branch of debian. That doesn't mean that they're identical, Ubuntu has its own kernel for example. Like in politics, conservatives and libertarians are both American based, yet they're incompatible

 

[Ur_Mom]

from the page:

Debian is a less user-friendly/desktop-ready base than Ubuntu. Expect some rough edges.

I prefer Debian over Ubuntu lately. I think it's more user friendly, as long as the user is knowledgeable with computers. For a complete newbie, Ubuntu is fine, but if anyone wants to learn Linux or use it for more than a web browser, word processor - Debian is great.

 

[Copper0]

What Ubuntu has done is taken Debian and modified it to meet their own goals, so much so that it is no longer compatible (to a degree). It like saying your kids came from you but have grown into their own person and are not exactly the same as you

 

[Skripka]

What Ubuntu has done is taken Debian and modified it to meet their own goals, so much so that it is no longer compatible (to a degree). It like saying your kids came from you but have grown into their own person and are not exactly the same as you

And similarly...sometimes your kids are just dumbasses.

 

[netsider]

What Ubuntu has done is taken Debian and modified it to meet their own goals, so much so that it is no longer compatible (to a degree). It like saying your kids came from you but have grown into their own person and are not exactly the same as you

Thanks for simplifying it for me I understand now...

How can someone learn about those such differences in OS types? Is there anyway to, without exploring every different type of Linux?

 

[j8x]

Thanks for simplifying it for me I understand now...

How can someone learn about those such differences in OS types? Is there anyway to, without exploring every different type of Linux?

http://distrowatch.com/

I've been checking out the different "distros" at this site. Basically after a long while I'm getting my "feet wet" before I jump back in....... if I jump back in. I either burned the iso to a disk or to a USB stick to save on disks. In my case I need to see which one will work with my Macbook Pro, which was given to me at work. And not many have worked well so far for it. By that I mean how well the track pad works, if it works, if the drivers are there for the wireless, if I want to go 64 bit or 32, stuff like that.

Along the way I've gotten reacquainted with all the different flavors out there, and there are so many now.

Not the only thing you can do to learn about all the differences in OSs, but figured I'd put that out there.

 

[RanceJustice]

J8x is listing a great resource. Distrowatch has just about everything and at least some introductory comparison material to let you know about each distro listed (ie Distro X may be developed primarily in French, uses a KDE desktop environment that has been modified, the Debian packaging and repository system with .deb and apt, and is on a a 6 month release schedule etc.). Looking at the most popular distros through the page hit counter on the right is a good way to get an idea of the big players that people are interested in that month, but you should also keep your eyes open for updates and release notes, as some distro that would never crack the top pages might be exactly for what you're looking.

Another way to start understanding the different distros out there is to understand the most common "building blocks" that identify them. For instance, most distros these days use the packaging and repository style of just a handful of "progenitor" distros - Debian's .deb and the apt package manager, Red Hat's .rpm and yum, Arch's "pacman" and "ABS" scripts, and source-based distros like Gentoo and Slackware (which both go about it completely differently). Then you have the GUI toolkits QT, GTK etc... as well as the major desktop environments - KDE, GNOME, MATE, Cinnamon, XFCE, LXDE etc.. - plus window managers Awesome, Enlightenment, IceWM, Blackbox/Openbox etc...

Of course, it is always important to look at what a given distro is built to do. While most distros like Debian and whatnot are pretty much crafted in such a way that it is easy, if you know what you are doing, to make anything out of them (, a desktop for day to day work, web server, file server etc..) there are some distros that are particularly suited to one task or another, as someone has taken the time to do that configuration for you. For instance, Kali Linux (formerly known as BackTrack) is well known amongst security professionals because it is built exactly for penetration testing. Now, you could configure Debian or any other distro into an exact replica of Kali in terms of the installed programs, drivers, and other features, but while everyone has an option to "roll their own", a lot of people who were interested in a pentest distro got together and worked together to make it the best they could for that particular use.

There are other specialized distros, pre-fabbed for certain types of tasks, to make your life easy. Ubuntu and Mint (including Mint Debian Edition) are built to be user-friendly desktop-centric - they don't require you to install and configure everything from the command line for instance. Knoppix is meant to be a fabulous LiveCD from the getgo (it was one of the first popular LiveCDs - where an an entire distro could run directly from removable memory or a burned disc. Today' nearly all modern distros have a liveCD mode). OpenELEC is a tiny set-top box/media center XMBC using distro. Tails is a LiveCD made for anonymity. There are lots of specialty distros out there, so don't be afraid to look around!


Learning a little about some of these most common elements can help you find a distro that is right for you. There's a lot more to touch on, but its certainly a good start to go in with an inquisitive mind.

 

[DejaWiz]

^ Damn good info, right there.

I just jumped back in to Linux after having a pause since the Mandrake Odyssey release, and have been using Mint 16 Cinnamon for an easy refresher as well as learning what's changed. I've toyed around with LMDE on a live drive, and now I'm going to install the latest native Debian wheezy version with KDE from their net install CD today after work.

I started the net install last night on my old laptop and was going to let it run overnight while I was in dreamland, but I forgot to plug the power adapter in to the wall (sunuvafuckinbitch) and woke up to a drained laptop with a very incomplete and non-bootable install on the hdd... at myself.

 

[schizrade]

For general usage and testing, Mint is my favorite distro. For actual use, Ubuntu server is my goto.

 

[B00nie]

Mint has always been too unstable to my liking. Probably partly because I have all AMD gpus. Each time I tried Mint it managed to render itself unbootable or otherwise broken after first or second boot/update run.

I have had much better success with xubuntu, puppy, sabayon and plain debian. Puppy I like especially much, gotta love the snappiness of direct ram access.

 

[DejaWiz]

Mint has always been too unstable to my liking. Probably partly because I have all AMD gpus. Each time I tried Mint it managed to render itself unbootable or otherwise broken after first or second boot/update run.

I have had much better success with xubuntu, puppy, sabayon and plain debian. Puppy I like especially much, gotta love the snappiness of direct ram access.

Do you have GCN GPU's? I have read a few issues with Mint concerning them. It installed and ran fine on my laptop with a very dated Mobility HD 5470. No issues with the AMD Linux driver or running Steam games like HL2.

Hopefully we'll see some improvements in that arena when Mint 17 releases in May.
I wonder how long it will take the Mint team to get their next DE done once Jessie goes stable.

 

[HardLiner]

Been using Mint Debian edition for about a week now, have no idea how to use the terminal but for general usage chrome, music, videos's..etc I like it. I have it dual booted with win 7 and I find it almost as fast but Win 7 is on a SSD and MintDe is on my old 80gb Hard drive.

 

[B00nie]

Do you have GCN GPU's? I have read a few issues with Mint concerning them. It installed and ran fine on my laptop with a very dated Mobility HD 5470. No issues with the AMD Linux driver or running Steam games like HL2.

Hopefully we'll see some improvements in that arena when Mint 17 releases in May.
I wonder how long it will take the Mint team to get their next DE done once Jessie goes stable.

I have two different boxes I've tried it with that have AMD E8500/HD4870 and a i5/HD5850. I have not tried the new Steam client on linux yet because traditionally you lose 50% of performance running linux on AMD. It's kind of not worth the trouble.