Debian

[mfdemicco]

I realize this is a Mint forum, and opinions here may be somewhat biased, but what are the advantages (if any) of Debian Lenny over Mint (or Ubuntu, for that matter)? I know Mint custom tailors a lot of stuff, and they have done a commendable job of it. But maybe (since I am somewhat of a hobbyist), I might want to custom tailor my own system. I know Mint left out the software sources app that Ubuntu has, and I would like to have that, for example. I guess I could just add some left out things to Mint, but would rather start with a system fully turned-on, and decide to uninstall stuff rather than the other way around, if you know what I mean (e.g., the top task bar in Ubuntu is not in Mint). My abilities are >> novice, but definately not a power user.

[Husse]

The advantage of Debian is a rock stable system when you use a stable Debian - the rest is I would say a matter of taste
Of course Mint is a more "complete" distro in many ways, and this has to weigh in heavily

[FedoraRefugee]

Well, you have touched on what I think may be the one superficial advantage, and that is that a debian install is much cleaner, especially if you go with the net install. Basically, Ubuntu and Mint are debian. The three are so close that you should be able to jump from one to the other with just basic knowledge. The disadvantage to using Lenny is the packages are somewhat dated, though guaranteed stable. It really depends on your needs. Also, squeeze is probably stable enough for an average home desktop even at this point though I have not played with debian in 6 months or so, long before Lenny went stable. With debian you lose all the overhead packages Ubuntu and Mint place on the OS but the trade off is you lose the nifty tools that make Mint such an easy distro. You can install the Mint tools in debian, or even check out the Glacix version of Mint that is based on Lenny.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 86#p138086

Ubuntu has brought a lot of bugs into 8.10 and hence has passed these on to Mint. I have lucked out and I am running the Mint 6 Xfce CE with hardly any noticeable problems, but with my experience I often ask myself why I am not just running Squeeze. The answer is I have 5 kids also running this distro on their computers and I like the quick, easy installs and the polished out of the box results. Even on my laptop I just like the feel of Mint. But debian is a very worthy option and in the long run has a few advantages such as a more streamlined install and a rolling upgrade. It will take a bit more work to get it up to speed, but once there it is the de facto, definitive Linux.

edit: I just re-read this:

I guess I could just add some left out things to Mint, but would rather start with a system fully turned-on, and decide to uninstall stuff rather than the other way around, if you know what I mean (e.g., the top task bar in Ubuntu is not in Mint). My abilities are >> novice, but definately not a power user.

debian is the opposite of what you want then. Mint is a complete, polished distro out of the box. Everything is "turned on" and working. Does Mint Gnome not have the top panel? In that case, that is just a design decision (which I agree with, I hate a top panel) and you can simply move the panel up or create another panel as in a standard Gnome install. This is all easily done.

[Husse]

Just a comment Glacix in not Mint
It's an offspring of the Mint debian experiment on it's own, but we like what we've seen so far
Te developer of Glacix (maybeway36) has decided not to call it a Mint edition - there's too much work involved to do this but it is under our wings so to speak

[mfdemicco]

The disadvantage to using Lenny is the packages are somewhat dated

Thanks for that. I'm always looking to install the latest version of a package, so Debian probably won't work for me.

Mint has been awesome thusfar!

[rivenought]

I run with Mint 6 and Debian 5, both 64-bit versions. Unless I look at the Menu icon, I can sometimes not tell the difference. Now, once past the surface, the differences show up, though not as much as you might think.

If you want everything to pretty much just work after a 15-minute installation, Mint is the ticket. Everything you need is enabled and ready to run. With Debian, I can be running in about an hour, which includes all the additional multimedia codecs. I added Java and Flash to match Mint. It takes a little trial and error, but that is fun to me.

GNOME serves me just fine, and I have basically the same packages on both distros. Yes, some packages are a version or two older in Debian, but they work. Stable means stable. Nothing has flaked out on me, nor do I expect it.

If you want to learn Linux, but have a fully-featured system to begin with, Mint works. If you want to learn Linux from a more basic set of packages and just add in a few extras as needed, Debian works.

I have a test install of Glacix on another hard drive. Maybeway36 has done an excellent job in blending Mint and Debian. The combination of Debian stability and Mint functionality has winning potential.

[anticapitalista]

One advantage (if you see it that way and not everyone does) is that Debian is a truly rolling distro unlike Mint, that is, once installed there is no need to install a later version. Just apt-get to keep apps up to date.

[FedoraRefugee]

One advantage (if you see it that way and not everyone does) is that Debian is a truly rolling distro unlike Mint, that is, once installed there is no need to install a later version. Just apt-get to keep apps up to date.

I did mention this, and I believe it is probably the biggest advantage to using debian. If you are careful you could run the same install for a decade or longer!

[Fred]

In my opinion, sidux/sid is one of the best distros out there, if, you are not a recent Windows convert that is terrified of the CLI. It is not a beginners GUI distro. As others have pointed out about Debian, it doesn't have a lot of GUI tools, as Mint does, to do everyday tasks. Sid is cutting edge however. My sid install is using the 2.6.29 - 3 kernel, as an example.

Mint has taken some of the sharp edges off Ubuntu and does a very good job in making a distro for a smooth transition from Windows to Linux, without crippling the system.

Fred

[mfdemicco]

I loaded Sidux (AMD64 version) and have been working with it for a few days. My opinion is that, while the kernel may be advanced and it boots fast, I am not impressed by the fact that it uses KDE 3.5 (installing Gnome or KDE 4.2 is not supported; KDE 4.2 may be supported in the near future). Also, when closing a terminal window, my monitor goes black for a second or two. Java freezes up in Iceweasel. I tried installing Banshee, but there was a dependancy issue that I could not resolve (a Gnome library). I managed to install Opera (from a .deb file; not available in the repositories that were turned on by default), and after overcoming a dependancy issue, got it to work fine including Java and Flash.

I could probably work through most of these issues, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I used to like KDE, but now like how Mint has polished the Gnome interface and it's easier to work with and seems less "buggy" to me. Other than booting a little faster, I don't see any speed difference.

Just my $.02 from a novice-intermediate user.

[Zwopper]

I also love to play around with Sidux 64 (XFCE of course!) it's fast and rather complete, and what's not there is easy enough to add.

[FedoraRefugee]

Add another vote for sidux, it is an amazing distro. But be warned it will require effort on the part of the user. Because of having to use the scripts I will say it is even beyond intermediate level bordering on advanced. Let's put it this way, if you can use Sidux then you can comfortably use Gentoo and Slack and vice versa. Not that any of these distros are beyond anyone with a high school level education and reading comprehension, but they do require learning the tricks of the trade so to speak. I need to try the latest Sidux, I use the Xfce version also and was very pleased with previous experiences though I did not stick with it, choosing the ease of Mint over being on the cutting edge.