LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
Forum rules
LMDE 2 has reached end of support as of 1-1-2019
LMDE 2 has reached end of support as of 1-1-2019
LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
Boot time ... slower???
Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
- Fred Barclay
- Level 12
- Posts: 4185
- Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:12 am
- Location: USA primarily
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.Pepi wrote:Boot time ... slower???
Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
I'd do some benchmarks now but I'm rolling Debian Sid these days.
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
Yes, probably is hardware specific. But there is not a huge difference, between Mint-buntu and LMDE2. Maybe 64-bit is faster than 32.Fred Barclay wrote: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.Pepi wrote:Boot time ... slower???
Not for me. Boot time and shutdown is lightning fast on my laptop. I'm running 64 bit though
I'd do some benchmarks now but I'm rolling Debian Sid these days.
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)
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.ilikereading wrote:So is not good...yet
Active Distros in my computers: LM21.1 (Mate,Xfce); MXLinux (Xfce)
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
What about forums support or apps? Still not a viable choice in this case.
-
- Level 4
- Posts: 280
- Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:36 pm
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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 wrote:What about forums support or apps? Still not a viable choice in this case.
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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?
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.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?
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)
-
- Level 4
- Posts: 280
- Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:36 pm
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.
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.
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
I'm interested in knowing what is less customizable as I find just the opposite.3 - the less customizable Mate desktop (compared to Xfce; but Caja is better than Thunar)
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
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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:Mik3e wrote:I'm interested in knowing what is less customizable as I find just the opposite.3 - the less customizable Mate desktop (compared to Xfce; but Caja is better than Thunar)
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
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)
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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
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
Re: LMDE 2 Mate 32: Very nice!
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.
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)