What exactly does "based of Ubuntu" mean?

[Diekan]

So, out of simply being bored I installed Oracle's VM Virtual Box and down loaded the ISO images for Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Debian, and Slackware... played around with them and found that I just like Mint the best. It was the easiest to install, has been pretty much the easiest to work with. I know I sung praises for it before, but I really like this OS.

Rather than doing the research because it prompts some discussion as well.... but what exactly does "based off Ubuntu mean?" I will admit that I liked Ubuntu before - before the whole Unity issue. And, I didn't like the increasing issues that Ubuntu brough with each new release - at least on my end.

But, I am curious what they mean by Mint being based on Ubuntu. Is it as simple as the team taking Ubuntu and "fixing" it (in a way that people consider Windows 7 just Vista "fixed?")

Also, if you run more than one distro of Linux - what do you run and why? What is second favorite flavor?

[xenopeek]

You could describe it as Linux Mint being a superset of Ubuntu. So anything you can do in Ubuntu, like any programs that are available for installation there, you can do in Linux Mint. What Linux Mint can add in a release is:

• Programs developed by the Linux Mint developers, like Cinnamon, Software Manager, Update Manager and such.
• Programs developed by others, not available by default on Ubuntu, like MATE, Dropbox and such.
• Different versions of programs than available by default on Ubuntu, to fix known bugs or increase stability.
• Different selection of default program for the installer to install, notably including codecs and plugins needed for browsing the web or playing media files without hindrance.

For Linux Mint 13 the additional programs are listed here: http://packages.linuxmint.com/list.php?release=Maya. This doesn't include the last point from above list, but it does include all the others IIRC.

As for running other distros, there are lots of topics on that in the Chat section of the forum Perhaps look there, or else ask that question there. I currently only run Linux Mint, though I often give newly released, interesting, distros a spin to keep up with developments.