Difference between rolling and cyclical releases?

[ppk]

I'm not sure I understand what LMDE is anymore. I came to this distro looking for a true rolling release that would never need to be reinstalled, much like Arch, but without the pain of doing the bare-bones install. Reading up on wikipedia about rolling releases, I learned that since it's based on Debian Testing, LMDE is not fully a rolling release and should be considered cyclical instead. Problem is, wikipedia's function as my brain extension ends here because it has no article on cyclical releases, so I come to you with... questions!

(1) What's the difference, and how does it affect the 'will-never-have-to-reinstall' thing?
(2) LMDE is just a mintified gnome desktop, right? So when gnome 3 comes out (soon!), if I make the switch, I will not have LMDE anymore but just Debian Testing with gnome 3? This raises the question : what are the differences between lmde and plain debian testing?

[viking777]

I guess there is somebody out there that understands that Wikipedia article you mentioned - it sure as hell isn't me.

Most people here, including the people that code it, think that LMDE is a rolling release and you can rest assured that if you choose to use it you should never have to reinstall it (you might choose to do so but you will never have to - unless you screw it up of course! ).

As for gnome 3 it is apparently stated somewhere - though I am darned if I can find it - that Mint will use gnome 3 without gnome-shell and certainly not Unity, so basically it will be an updated version of gnome 2 that is all, and therefore basically similar to what you see now I guess. I have no idea what debian are going to do but Mint should stay much as it is.

Of course if Mint were ever tempted to use a netbook interface (because that is what gnome shell and unity are to my mind) then you would always have the option of switching to another desktop variant. Xfce seems to be favourite at the moment amongst most gnome shell dissidents although just between you and me Fluxbox is way superior

[ppk]

Yes, fluxbox is also my favorite at the moment. I use it with a basic tint2 panel, conky and tilda and this is actually the best desktop I've ever had (if you like to use the terminal a little bit). Too bad LMDE will not go with gnome-shell, it looks pretty cool. So since I want to try it anyways, is it better to try to throw it on top of my current LMDE (which is the gnome one) when they release it tomorrow or to reinstall with another distro? I'm thinking debian testing with the netinstall, or maybe arch if I can gather the courage to install it? I usually don't like full featured desktops that come with everything and the kitchen sink but I have to say this one, from what I can tell on http://www.gnome3.org/, looks simply amazing.