[Resolved] Questions about Linux and Mint

Questions about the project and the distribution - obviously no support questions here please
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[Resolved] Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by tovian »

I'm just curious about a few things...

If I understand the concept - Mint is based on (a fork of?) Ubuntu. And, Ubuntu is essentially the same thing with regard to Debian. So...... could Mint be packaged to run directly under Debian?
If yes, would it be a huge project?
If not, what is contained in Ubuntu that makes it essential?
What are the major advantages to being dependent on Ubuntu rather than being dependent directly -and only- on Debian?

If I can download/run Debian - with the KDE Plasma Desktop - will it look, feel and work practically the same as running KDE under Mint?
(I depend on the GUI... I have almost no skills with command-line)

I very much like Mint, and I have absolutely no plans to change. But I'm still curious about the linkage between some of these packages.

Thanks in advance !!!
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Re: Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by xenopeek »

tovian wrote:If I understand the concept - Mint is based on (a fork of?) Ubuntu.
Linux Mint uses the Ubuntu software repositories as a package base and adds its own repositories on top of that to provide the software developed or maintained by Linux Mint to what is available from Ubuntu.
tovian wrote:And, Ubuntu is essentially the same thing with regard to Debian.
No. Canonical maintain about 25% of the packages in the Ubuntu software repositories. The other 75% of the packages are maintained by community and mostly these are source packages taken from Debian and recompiled for Ubuntu. Where Linux Mint directly uses the Ubuntu repositories (see your Software Sources, the Ubuntu repositories are in there) Ubuntu does not directly use the Debian repositories.
tovian wrote:So...... could Mint be packaged to run directly under Debian?
Erm... We have that already https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
tovian wrote:If yes, would it be a huge project?
If not, what is contained in Ubuntu that makes it essential?
What are the major advantages to being dependent on Ubuntu rather than being dependent directly -and only- on Debian?
There are no vast differences except for things like hardware support (Ubuntu 1st priority is on your hardware working on Ubuntu; Debian 1st priority is software meeting their free software policy meaning you won't have some drivers for hardware without open source drivers) and general availability and compatibility of software for end users like desktop programs and games (like many 3rd party developers support Ubuntu but may not directly support Debian releases, though software may likely work fine most of the time).
tovian wrote:If I can download/run Debian - with the KDE Plasma Desktop - will it look, feel and work practically the same as running KDE under Mint?
(I depend on the GUI... I have almost no skills with command-line)
LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) doesn't come with a KDE edition. You can install KDE of course. It will (currently) be a much older version of KDE than is available on Linux Mint 18.2.
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Re: Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by tovian »

Thank you for those answers. I will re-read your post as many times as it takes until I think I understand them.

I do want to ask about one of your responses (the last one)...
xenopeek wrote:LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) doesn't come with a KDE edition. You can install KDE of course. It will (currently) be a much older version of KDE than is available on Linux Mint 18.2.
I was referring to actually downloading the Debian/KDE package. My question is (more-or-less) how would the real Debian/KDE compare to Mint/KDE? Assuming it would load and run on my hardware... would it look, and feel, and work pretty much the same as Mint/KDE?

Again, I am VERY satisfied with Mint and have no intention of changing. I'm just curious, and whatever I learn helps me better understand Linux and the whole concept of Linux Distributions.
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Re: Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by xenopeek »

Linux Mint 18.2 comes with KDE Plasma 5.8. Debian Jessie — aka oldstable, on which LMDE 2 is based — comes with KDE Plasma 4.11. As will not surprise you if you have any experience with KDE, Plasma 5.8 looks, and feels, and works decidedly different than Plasma 4.11. While it's still KDE with (too) many buttons, boxes and options in the GUI, it is different enough that some people that didn't like KDE before like it now and that some people that loved KDE before are less enthusiastic about it now. Though of course most people that use KDE aren't that rigid and inflexible and have easily adapted to the new KDE. Plasma 4 is no longer being developed by KDE. Plasma 5 is eventually also coming to LMDE when it switches to Debian Stretch aka stable as a package base.
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Re: Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by tovian »

Thank you for your explanations.
xenopeek wrote:Debian Jessie — aka oldstable, on which LMDE 2 is based — comes with KDE Plasma 4.11.
I just happened to see this on their website:

debian-live-9.0.1-amd64-kde.iso
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... 64-kde.iso

I don't know if that's "Jessie" (with Plasma 4.11) or not. But, it doesn't matter. I've already asked too many questions about another distro - and I don't really have any concern what they are doing.

Thank you, again, for filling in some holes for me.
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Re: [Resolved] Questions about Linux and Mint

Post by xenopeek »

Debian 9 = Stretch = currently Debian stable channel
Debian 8 = Jessie = currently Debian oldstable channel

LMDE is based on Debian 8. Once it moves to Debian 9 you would get a Plasma 5 version of KDE on LMDE as well.
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