Why Linux Mint?

Chat about anything related to Linux Mint
Forum rules
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Mr.October

Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

Hello all,

I have just signed on to this forum and this is my first post. I am looking for a new OS, want to try something else, and I would like to know why you think I should choose Linux Mint. What is so special about this Linux version, what makes it different from others.
So, in other words, why Linux Mint?
Yes, I know I can try it in a live version but I would like to know also why Mint in the long run? I can also use it in a virtual machine but it's not the same as using it on bare metal, right?
Please convince me why I should use Mint as my main OS and not some other one.

Btw, my present OS is the one you probably don't like so much. :roll:
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.
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by jimallyn »

For me, I like Linux because I have less troubles with it than with that other OS. And the previous OS I was using (Xandros Linux) hadn't been updated since 2006, if I remember correctly. So it was time for something new, and I knew several people using Mint, so that's what I went with. It was a good decision.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
richmorehave

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by richmorehave »

One good reason is because Linux MINT is currently the NUMBER ONE LINUX in the whole of Linux-Land!

http://distrowatch.com/

Look around mid-page to the right side of page, it lists the Distro's in order , the most popular to the lest popular.

I recommend Dual boot, so you can still keep the OS you are currently using, and enjoy the FULL experience of Linux Mint.

Next question is which version of Linux MINT. Generally it goes Cinnamon first, and Mate 2nd , and the others after that.
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

richmorehave wrote:One good reason is because Linux MINT is currently the NUMBER ONE LINUX in the whole of Linux-Land!

http://distrowatch.com/

Look around mid-page to the right side of page, it lists the Distro's in order , the most popular to the lest popular.

I recommend Dual boot, so you can still keep the OS you are currently using, and enjoy the FULL experience of Linux Mint.

Next question is which version of Linux MINT. Generally it goes Cinnamon first, and Mate 2nd , and the others after that.
Dual boot? I have some spare room on my hard disk. I can just install Mint on a spare part of the disk without loosing my present OS?
And when I boot the computer I can choose, or how does that work?
When that works it would be ideal.
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by jimallyn »

Mr.October wrote:Dual boot? I have some spare room on my hard disk. I can just install Mint on a spare part of the disk without loosing my present OS?
And when I boot the computer I can choose, or how does that work?
Yep, that's how it works. You install Mint on a separate partition, and you get to choose which OS loads every time you boot the computer. I did that when I first started using Linux, and lots of other Linux users do the same.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
User avatar
capivara
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 190
Joined: Fri May 09, 2014 2:49 am
Location: Almere, Netherlands

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by capivara »

Mr.October wrote:So, in other words, why Linux Mint?
Out-of-the-box experience. Because I offer Mint to other people as an alternative to Windows, it's also nice to have desktop environments that these people can understand and use from day 1. Especially MATE and Cinnamon do a nice job. It saves me a lot of time supporting former Windows users. Actually, they hardly ask for support at all.

Another reason is that Mint offers LTS (Long Time Support) versions, just like Ubuntu on which Mint is based. I don't think my 'client base' of former Windows users would like Linux as much as they do now when they had to install a new version every 6-9 months.

So, is Linux Mint the best there is? For my purposes, yes. For other purposes, maybe not. There are a lot great distros out there which are tailored to meet certain demands. Safety, privacy, pentesting, small footprint, you name it. For example, I use Kodibuntu on a small Asus eeePC to function as a dedicated media center.

Hans
All my computers are in Mint condition.
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

Hello capivera,
Thank you for your reasons to start using Mint.
You write about Cinnamon and Mate. I read they are desktop environments with their own menu and some programs.
Which one would you advice? Richmorehave wrote Cinnamon first and Mate second, then the others.
I also saw KDE. From what I saw I like it very much. Is it a good choice also?
User avatar
Pierre
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13192
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:33 am
Location: Perth, AU.

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Pierre »

why LinuxMint - it's easer to use than Windows is :o
- although some will dis-agree with that, but it's also more secure, as well.

which DE to use - that is a resources issue,
- you have a modern computer - then Cinnamon or Kde - that's a personal choice.
not so modern computer - then Mate or Xfce
Image
Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
and DO LOOK at those Unanswered Topics - - you may be able to answer some!.
User avatar
capivara
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 190
Joined: Fri May 09, 2014 2:49 am
Location: Almere, Netherlands

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by capivara »

Mr.October wrote:Hello capivera,
Thank you for your reasons to start using Mint.
You write about Cinnamon and Mate. I read they are desktop environments with their own menu and some programs.
Which one would you advice? Richmorehave wrote Cinnamon first and Mate second, then the others.
I also saw KDE. From what I saw I like it very much. Is it a good choice also?
The choice between MATE and Cinnamon is a matter of taste. MATE is a no-frills no-thrills DE and uses less resources, which can be ideal in some circumstances. Cinnamon might have the future. The early versions had so many rough edges that I regarded it as bleeding edge technology, not something you want to install on someone else's PC. The last version performs just as good as MATE.

KDE is a different story. I like it, but when compared to MATE or Cinnamon it's quite sluggish. The better your hardware is, the less you will notice that. Unfortunately, many installs I do are on older hardware. This rules out KDE for my purposes.

Hans
All my computers are in Mint condition.
Jedinovice
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 942
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:09 pm

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Jedinovice »

Why Mint?

It is sweet, fresh, makes your breath smell good and has a hole in the middle.
Maybe.
:D

A few things:

Regarding dual boot - yes it can be done and you can choose the OS at start up. But you have to be a bit careful and Windows does not like to play nice with Linux. I suggest you have a go after pinning Mint down via virtual machine.

Now, regarding Mint itself...

Mint is highly regarded for the following reasons:

It is generally seen as robust, safe and 'just works.'
It is very easy to install.
You have access to the VAST Ubuntu repositories of software which means easy access to quality software
The default UI's are all regarded as solid and desktop oriented. None of the GNOME/Unity tablet/mobile stuff. Mint is geared toward making laptops and desktops do real things and not pretend cellphones.
Mint is generally regarded as being easy to use and one of the safest distros for new users as well as being a solid distro for real work. I have certainly found this to be true.

Note, however, that there is a trade of. There always is. The current renderings of MINT (excluding LMDE which is another discussion) are 'static' distros. This means the version does not change much, bar a full point number upgrade, and the software stabilizes after a while and only software for security patches is updated. So the software in the repos can get outdated. This is generally not an issue for most software but some users like the latest renderings of Libreoffice which the repositories do not provide over time. You can get updates by adding what is known as a 'PPA' - a private compile of the latest version for installing and adding such is not hard.

I like this process in Mint as there are only two pieces of software I care about having the latest and greatest, bar security risk S/W such as Firefox which is updated as standard anyway, so I can have stable Mint and just a couple of 'manual' updates here and there. That suits me fine. But, Mint is not suitable for the user who yearns for the latest rendering of any and all apps. Mint deliberately stays behind the cutting edge. So be aware of what to expect. There are rolling distros which do update constantly and provide the latest software but… bleeding edge tends towards less stable. You have to decide what is the priority for you.

In regards to the desktop environments… The 'big four' of Mint all follow the same basic philosophy. They all look rather like Windows (used to.) They all have 'start' menus but are organised more logically than Windows, arranging by function rather than name. So there is nothing much beyond what feels right.

Cinnamon and Mate are both attempts to retain the old style GNOME interface and not jump onto the GNOME 3 - everything is a tablet - interface. Mint was originally a GNOME focused distro and Clem and co. rushed to fork GNOME and buld 'Cinnamon' and then adopted 'Mate' in order to keep a GTK, old GNOME style DE. So, in Mint, the first love is definitely Cinnamon, closely followed by Mate. But KDE and XFCE are also very good DE's, well put together and well implemented in Mint. The XFCE edition is VERY Windows XP like by default and has tempted me recently! (Installing XFCE from the repository, however, and it's not nice at all. Odd.) It is also fast and geared towards speed and efficiency.

KDE is a bit different and deserves a bit of a special mention. While KDE operates in a very similar style to Cinnamon and XFCE… there are key points of divergence at a technical level. For a start, unlike almost every other Linux DE, KDE does not use the GTK graphical framework. Instead, it uses QT. This changes the default applications that get installed in Mint quite a bit - though I find the QT apps that bit more intergrated and polished myself (I am a KDE fan.) KDE is also geared towards power over speed. While claims that KDE is slow on minimal hardware is much exaggerated (it runs fine on my wife's five year old, single core atom with 1GB of RAM) KDE is set up for bells and whistles, graphical effects from the start! Unlike XFCE where 'flashiness' is turned off by default, in KDE it is turned on. I always turn off graphical effects in KDE and switch the confusing initial menu mode to 'classic.' In this mode I generally find KDE is very fast but many users don't get this and find KDE runs slow on minimal hardware because they don't turn off the 'flashiness.'

Also, KDE is geared towards customisation. There is a setting to change EVERYTHING in KDE! Screen colors, sounds, fonts, desktop wallpaper, store files on the desktop, prevent store on the desktop, icons on the desktop, no icons, filtered menu mode, classic mode, multiples panels… everything! Some people find it overwhelming, though the defaults are pretty sensible.

I personally favour KDE for the following reasons:

KDE just works the way that I, personally, think. So it fits me. Cinnamon and Mate just don't 'gell' with me - though I notice that as Cinnamon advances it gets closer in operation to KDE. XFCE does seem to work 'my way,' mind.
The user defined keyboard shortcuts in KDE are unsurpassed and I live and die by them.
I find the KDE/QT apps intergrate very well together indeed
I think the Dolphin file manager is unsurpassed
I am bit tied to KDE as I use the video editing software Kdenlive which is KDEcentric.

But… a man's desktop is his castle. I suggest you play!

In regards to dual booting… it can definitely be done and there are loads of guides online on how to do it. But I would not go that route unless you really need to and not until you know what DE you are going with. If I were you, I would download the ISO's of all four of the Mint editions and run them one by one in a virtual machine through 'virtual box' and have a play. When you have a DE and a file manager you feel suits you and the way you work, then maybe look to dual booting.

I have just downloaded the ISO for Kubuntu 15.10 to investigate KDE Plasma 5 and see if the features it sports suits my needs with an eye to Mint eventually going KDE5.

You can check out my video in my signature which demo's Mint KDE in action. 90% of what is shown applies to any of the DE's actually.

Have fun! Use a VM and play!
Mint Linux 18.0 64 bit KDE edition.
Video editing (AMV's mainly) on a dual core n2840 atom!
Results here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Dw91 ... yVKS7X1Rlg
LOOK HERE FOR MY DEMO OF MINT LINUX KDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hDYiGprWs
richmorehave

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by richmorehave »

Dual boot is SUPER EASY!

BUT!

You have to read current guides to do it using regular google search. Or do YOUTUBE search and find videos on how to dual boot Linux and windows.

No downsides at all and very safe. You get to keep your original OS and take your time learning MINT.

Windows and LInux play great together. You just have to install windows first, and then install LInux.

You might want to share with the guys what type of computer you have, how old, how much ram. I personally would pick Cinnamon first if you have newer pc and MATE if you have older pc. And keep it simple. If you want to explore other distro's after you get used to those 2 , you can and experiment with other distro's. I did. But I went back to Cinnamon and Mate on my PC's. We are pointing you to the BEST of the BEST. Then if you want to compare, install the others and see if you like them.
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

Jedinovice wrote:Why Mint?

It is sweet, fresh, makes your breath smell good and has a hole in the middle.
Maybe.
:D

Have fun! Use a VM and play!
There is just one word for this: WOW.
Thank you so much for this complete story. I did not copy all of it because it would make my answer very long so I just copied the beginning and the end.

Yes, I will do what you wrote and start using a VM, will learn how to do that and hopefully find the right version for me.
No, I don't need what you call bleeding edge software, stability is what I like and need more. The computer just has to work and do what I tell it to do. I want to be in control of it, it should not, as is the case with my present OS, control itself and thus also me.
How about software updates. When they appear do they install them selves as in Windows, or can I chose when and how? I just hate what Windows does.

Thank you again very much and I hope when I get into trouble I can come back and ask for help.
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

@richmorehave

Thank you for your answer as well.
My computer is about 7 months old now, it has an AMD 8350 8-core CPU, it has 16GB ram memory, an Nvidia GTX 760 videocard, 2 128GB SSD drives and 2 1TB hard disks. What I read about KDE I guess I could use it well on this machine, right? Even full throttle.
User avatar
Pierre
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13192
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:33 am
Location: Perth, AU.

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Pierre »

Even Full Throttle ??
probably even supercharged :!:
that'll run just about anything. ..
Image
Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
and DO LOOK at those Unanswered Topics - - you may be able to answer some!.
richmorehave

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by richmorehave »

Mr.October wrote:@richmorehave

Thank you for your answer as well.
My computer is about 7 months old now, it has an AMD 8350 8-core CPU, it has 16GB ram memory, an Nvidia GTX 760 videocard, 2 128GB SSD drives and 2 1TB hard disks. What I read about KDE I guess I could use it well on this machine, right? Even full throttle.
LOL
If you started this thread with the specs of your PC than we would give you the best table in the house. And give you the grade A Linux Mint experience. :)

Yeah, you could do Virtual OS first, then if you want try Dual boot or Tri-boot. :)
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

Oops!
Jedinovice
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 942
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:09 pm

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Jedinovice »

Glad I could help.

Yes, you are in complete control of updates in Mint Linux. Yo can even mark software to never be upgraded!
Mint Linux 18.0 64 bit KDE edition.
Video editing (AMV's mainly) on a dual core n2840 atom!
Results here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Dw91 ... yVKS7X1Rlg
LOOK HERE FOR MY DEMO OF MINT LINUX KDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hDYiGprWs
Jedinovice
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 942
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:09 pm

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Jedinovice »

Mr.October wrote:@richmorehave

Thank you for your answer as well.
My computer is about 7 months old now, it has an AMD 8350 8-core CPU, it has 16GB ram memory, an Nvidia GTX 760 videocard, 2 128GB SSD drives and 2 1TB hard disks. What I read about KDE I guess I could use it well on this machine, right? Even full throttle.
I am using KDE on a dual core n2840 atom at 2.16GHz with 2GB of RAM. OK, I turn off the flashiness, but even on this humble machine KDE is more than usable. Your PC is a monster - you're a gamer, right? - and KDE would fly!
Mint Linux 18.0 64 bit KDE edition.
Video editing (AMV's mainly) on a dual core n2840 atom!
Results here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Dw91 ... yVKS7X1Rlg
LOOK HERE FOR MY DEMO OF MINT LINUX KDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hDYiGprWs
User avatar
BenTrabetere
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 12:04 am
Location: Hattiesburg, MS USA

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by BenTrabetere »

The reason I chose Linux Mint was the forums. I considered several distributions prior to making the switch, and narrowed the list to the four that looked to be the easiest transition from WinXP to Linux. Ultimately, it came down to Mint and Ubuntu.

The deciding factor was the forums. I found the Mint forums were easy to navigate, the discussions were civil, the participants were helpful and patient, and the Signal:Noise was high. I was also impressed by the moderators - most of the time they participate as regular users and let the discussion flow without interruption.

I also prefer the way Mint uses phpBB to the way Ubuntu uses vBulletin.

I lurk in other Linux forums, and to be fair I find most of the same qualities in them as well. For me, the Mint forums offer the best combination of what I want and like in a forum.
Patreon sponsor since August 2022
Image
Mr.October

Re: Why Linux Mint?

Post by Mr.October »

Jedinovice wrote:
Mr.October wrote:@richmorehave

Thank you for your answer as well.
My computer is about 7 months old now, it has an AMD 8350 8-core CPU, it has 16GB ram memory, an Nvidia GTX 760 videocard, 2 128GB SSD drives and 2 1TB hard disks. What I read about KDE I guess I could use it well on this machine, right? Even full throttle.
I am using KDE on a dual core n2840 atom at 2.16GHz with 2GB of RAM. OK, I turn off the flashiness, but even on this humble machine KDE is more than usable. Your PC is a monster - you're a gamer, right? - and KDE would fly!
So, KDE is not as heavy as people say. Okay, you switch off the flashiness. What exactly does that mean?

No, I am definitely not a gamer. I don't like the games simply because I don't understand them because I'm not interested. Years ago My brother-in-law gave me a cd with the (first?) Tombraider game. I could let Lara walk, run, even dive and shoot. But I did not, and still don't have, a clue what the purpose of the game was. Not interested at all.

No, I just like computers and want to have a nice one. Now that I start with Linux my hardware is prepared. Maybe I don't need all of it, but I know the beast can do the job.
Locked

Return to “Chat about Linux Mint”