Repository for Debian

[Tichun]

Imagine there is Debian as a distrubion and Mint, Deepin, Neon, Elementary, Ubuntu etc. are all just skins.
I'd like for Mint to pioneer this idea - allow Debian users to just install it as a skin, with all the configs and what not, but in a way that is reversible so one could swap 'skins'/have multiple ones etc.
I know of LMDE, and that is something completely different.

What do you think about the idea?

In my opinion that would grow Mint's userbase by allowing others to just grab its looks and experience onto their current distro.
That would likely kill distrohopping and more.
I feel like using aforementioned distributions (all at once) but to install a different distribution for that would be mad as would be decaboot or virutal machine.

[gm10]

Imagine there is Debian as a distrubion and Mint, Deepin, Neon, Elementary, Ubuntu etc. are all just skins.

We can imagine but it's not true.

I'd like for Mint to pioneer this idea - allow Debian users to just install it as a skin, with all the configs and what not, but in a way that is reversible so one could swap 'skins'/have multiple ones etc.

If you want to install just Mint's Cinnamon desktop environment to Debian, you can, it's in Debian's repository. You can also install as many desktop environments as you want and switch between them.

You can of course also just theme your existing environment to make it look more like another one.

So that's where your "suggestion" ends I believe.

[Tichun]

Desktop environments aren't full experience. Look at mate desktop on mint vs ubuntu vs elsewhere.
Also, they don't coexist well currently. Install one and the second you have will break a bit. It's far from seamless.

Secondly, why would I spend countless hours on tweaking environment, when there are projects that do just that *but* they currently require me to install an entire OS? (e.g. Mint)

But that behaviour...

[gm10]

You said you wanted the looks, that's what you get by installing another desktop environment.

If you want the full experience, i.e. all features of another distribution, without actually installing it, then that's complete nonsense. That's not a suggestion but a drunken thought at best.

[sdibaja]

Imagine there is Debian as a distrubion and Mint, Deepin, Neon, Elementary, Ubuntu etc. are all just skins.
I'd like for Mint to pioneer this idea - allow Debian users to just install it as a skin, with all the configs and what not, but in a way that is reversible so one could swap 'skins'/have multiple ones etc.
I know of LMDE, and that is something completely different.

What do you think about the idea?

In my opinion that would grow Mint's userbase by allowing others to just grab its looks and experience onto their current distro.
That would likely kill distrohopping and more.
I feel like using aforementioned distributions (all at once) but to install a different distribution for that would be mad as would be decaboot or virutal machine.

Debian is often misunderstood. There actually are Debian ISOs available for these desktops:
Cinnamon, Gnome, KDE, Lxde, Mate, and Xfce.
each of them have different default setups and mixes of pre-installed apps.
These versions can run Live to test, and include propitiatory codecs and drivers than many want/need.
https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unoff ... so-hybrid/

New to Linux users jump to "something easy" to install... and think that all of the new frontiers are available. Not completely True.
Most "popular" "Debian Based" distros are only a small snapshot of the greater Debian repositories, and full access is rather difficult.
Apps that are native to the Desktops get replaced with home brew versions, and even some of the bigger players (Firefox and Thunderbird) are served with some experimental/testing version that Does Not Work Correctly.

I am a long time fan of LMDE. Unfortunately I have to quit using it because of the severe regressions and loss of basic features.

This morning I viewed a Blog Post with a reasonably OK tutorial for installing Debian 9 with Xfce desktop.
https://www.itsmarttricks.com/install-debian-9-stretch/
There is a odd instruction to not use Network Mirror...
if you do not use a Network Mirror during install I believe you would not have access to Repositories for updates and additional packages...
I suppose you could do that manually later, but I have always let the installer do it.

I Like having My System behave the way I want it to, and not be concerned with regressions and errors caused by "innovation" without real world testing.

Anyway, the desire to try Debian is real. Just Do It!
It is Not for everybody, it takes a bit of learning... instant gratification is paramount in today's world.
My best, Peter