LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Archived topics about LMDE 1 and LMDE 2
Locked
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

I was a LMDE (Mate) user until it was discontinued, now I use the Ubuntu branch of LM (Cinnamon and Xfce). Yesterday I installed LMDE 2 Mate 32 bit on an old (core 2 duo 2GB RAM) PC and I liked it! So fast and responsive! In my humble opinion this is the leanest version of Mint available now, it idles at just 180 MB RAM usage (after some minor tweaking). The kernel is old but this is better for old hardware.
Very nice! Perfect for old/weak PCs. :)
So, in the end, it isn't really necessary to distrohopping to find an ultra-light distro, Mint family has one and it works very well. :P

update:

The only limitations I've found in LMDE 2 Mate are:
1 - the slightly longer boot time (compared to the main LM branch)
2 - the management of repos (more complicated) and the lack of PPAs
3 - the less customizable Mate desktop (compared to Xfce; but Caja is better than Thunar)
4 - some minor bugs like the theme selector.

Otherwise it's amazing.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
ilikereading

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by ilikereading »

So is not good...yet
User avatar
Pepi
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 1308
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:47 pm

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by Pepi »

Boot time ... slower???

Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
User avatar
Fred Barclay
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4185
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:12 am
Location: USA primarily

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by Fred Barclay »

Pepi wrote:Boot time ... slower???

Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
It might be hardware-specific. I ran LMDE 2 MATE 64-bit and it took a bit longer to boot on my (not very new) laptop than normal Mint.

I'd do some benchmarks now but I'm rolling Debian Sid these days. ;)
Image
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy."
- Albert Einstein
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

Fred Barclay wrote:
Pepi wrote:Boot time ... slower???

Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
It might be hardware-specific. I ran LMDE 2 MATE 64-bit and it took a bit longer to boot on my (not very new) laptop than normal Mint.

I'd do some benchmarks now but I'm rolling Debian Sid these days. ;)
Yes, probably is hardware specific. But there is not a huge difference, between Mint-buntu and LMDE2. Maybe 64-bit is faster than 32.
Shutdown is the same, lightning fast.
Last edited by xfrank on Sun May 21, 2017 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

ilikereading wrote:So is not good...yet
Yes it's good, I'd prefer LMDE2 hands down for old and weak machines, it's noticeably faster/more responsive. About the "bugs", I've found that are not, really bugs, theme selector works OK. And about Mate, well... it's a matter of taste. I still prefer Xfce, but also Mate is good, the only real limitation is the panel, inferior to the Xfce panel because is less customizable. Imho Caja is a better file manager than Thunar, but it's just my preference. Mate and Xfce have approximately the same impact on system resources, both are lightweight and fast.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
ilikereading

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by ilikereading »

What about forums support or apps? Still not a viable choice in this case.
kevinthefixer
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:36 pm

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by kevinthefixer »

ilikereading wrote:What about forums support or apps? Still not a viable choice in this case.
Forum support is right here. And between the Mint and Debian repos, you have about as large a selection of applications as exists anywhere. What exactly is it you're looking for?
ilikereading

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by ilikereading »

For example, Libre office or wine or vlc player. Are they working the same or even better? Have the same level of security or stability?
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

ilikereading wrote:For example, Libre office or wine or vlc player. Are they working the same or even better? Have the same level of security or stability?
LibreOffice and any other program works exactly as in the Ubuntu branch of LM. But LMDE2 is overall lighter, so there is more room for programs, if the RAM is tight.
LMDE2 32bit can run comfortaby LibreOffice, Firefox and some other common programs (even GIMP) with just 1GB RAM.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
kevinthefixer
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:36 pm

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by kevinthefixer »

Stability is a prime concern in Debian and, by bloodline, LMDE; some have complained that both sets of devs sacrifice too much for it. I don't like to have to fiddle constantly with my daily driver, I want to sit down and have it work once I've customized it the way I like it. LMDE2 does that for me.

Security is what you make it on any system. I tend to be a bit lax myself, but you can up security measures to suit whatever level of paranoia suits you.
Mik3e
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:54 pm

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by Mik3e »

3 - the less customizable Mate desktop (compared to Xfce; but Caja is better than Thunar)
I'm interested in knowing what is less customizable as I find just the opposite.

The only thing about LMDE that bothers me is application version numbers lagging behind Mint. I've noticed this with QupZilla and Conky, I imagine there are others.

Mike
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

Mik3e wrote:
3 - the less customizable Mate desktop (compared to Xfce; but Caja is better than Thunar)
I'm interested in knowing what is less customizable as I find just the opposite.

The only thing about LMDE that bothers me is application version numbers lagging behind Mint. I've noticed this with QupZilla and Conky, I imagine there are others.

Mike
Basically the Mate panel. Is very difficult to change the font, the font size and its color. If you have a solution, please let me know. As far as I understand, the old trick of creating a .gtkrc-2.0 file is no working anymore with gtk3. Yes, maybe there are workarounds:
https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-panel/issues/507
but there are not straightforward, intuitive and user friendly, in my humble opinion.
The Xfce panel is more customizable and in a very easy way. Changing simple things like fonts and colors in a "main" DE should be just a matter of few clicks.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
Mik3e
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:54 pm

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by Mik3e »

Install gnome-color-chooser and, from my notes, these are my settings:

GNOME Color Chooser > Panel > Foreground > normal > white
> Font > Sans 10

The panel background is dark and I change that in panel properties (right-click somewhere on the panel). These are my settings:

Properties > Background > Solid Color > Color > #565656
> Style > Opaque
> General > Size > 28

On my system launchers and panel widgets get more customization than fonts and colors, which I set at install and don't revisit, and I find Mate much easier with launchers and widgets.

Mike
User avatar
xfrank
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Mexico City
Contact:

Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!

Post by xfrank »

Thanks Mik3e. I installed gnome-color-chooser and I tried to change that elements, but there is no effect. Instead, this solution worked (partially) for me:

https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-panel/issues/507

In short, you have to create a gtk.css file in /home/config/gtk-3.0/ This file will control the behaviour of gtk3 elements in the system. I have to find out how to change not only the panel "normal" color background but also the color background of the active and selected elements.
From the link above, I managed to change the clock/date color, but I have no idea how to change the other elements. If I can find a solution for this, I will move from Xfce to Mate, because indeed Mate has some better components (I prefer Caja over Thunar) and looks more polished out of the box.
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
Locked

Return to “LMDE Archive”