What are your opinions, reasons for choosing Mint ?

[CrimsonDusk]

I've been using Mint for about 4 months now and it's my first venture into the Linux world. I remember friends in the past who loved Linux telling me about all of the manual work they had to do to get things working. When I get on my computer I just want things to work, I don't want to faff for a few hours - and frankly I don't have the time for it.

I work in IT and hate it as it is, so after deploying and fixing servers all day, it's a nightmare to come home and have to work on a PC. Reading about Mint everything was good to go out of the box and I have to say, it really is. I have it installed on a laptop, but still have Windows on my PC for gaming and VR. once I feel Linux gets to a point where I can play most of my games without issues I will gladly bin off Windows.

I have to say though I guess Windows was to thank for me coming to Mint. It's just getting worse on the home desktop front for privacy, and in the business world it seems they are forcing everything into Azure (which is awful) and punish people who want their own infrastructure. Not to mention the amount of times windows updates has wrecked a load of servers is ridiculous.

[Marie SWE]

I have never read an account by someone whose machine genuinely, provably, got infected with a virus, without installing it themselves.

It can't be any rules in life without the exceptions.
Often it is the same on Windows.. to 99.9% the user have done something stupid to get it...

Something stupid such as installing Windows or allowing Microsoft to provide updates after sacking their testing staff. The updates work exactly the same way a virus does, crash the system and delete everything. Seen it happen.

windows isn't Mac, so you need to tell windows what to do and what not to do.
I hate Win10+11.. but I love Win7.. Windows7 is better then Linux Desktop.. you have more software and with the right knowledge you can make a win7 machine more stable and more resource-efficient than Linux Desktop. But linux Server is way more stable then windows. But Linux Desktop isn't server even if it is built on server. Sorry for my swearing in church.

First and the biggest windows stupidity is.... Those who don't change the settings for windows updates. always set windows security updates as a delayed 5 to 7days.. If MS is pushing a bad update, then they will withdraw the bad update before the 5-7 days period.. this is the best thing for avoiding unnecessary headache.. Software updates I sett to delay for 365days as they isn't more then small tiny upgrades that mostly bloat the system... and if i discover a bug, then i manually install the software update to fix it.
Then you need to debloat the system and to inactivate a lot of unnecessary scheduled activities and system services you do not need for your specific computer setup/usage.
Windows needs a firm hand as it isn't Mac that is just click and go. So those windows users who just let windows be default is those who don't know what a operating system is and have never heard the word Linux.

[MurphCID]

It can't be any rules in life without the exceptions.
Often it is the same on Windows.. to 99.9% the user have done something stupid to get it...

Something stupid such as installing Windows or allowing Microsoft to provide updates after sacking their testing staff. The updates work exactly the same way a virus does, crash the system and delete everything. Seen it happen.

windows isn't Mac, so you need to tell windows what to do and what not to do.
I hate Win10+11.. but I love Win7.. Windows7 is better then Linux Desktop.. you have more software and with the right knowledge you can make a win7 machine more stable and more resource-efficient than Linux Desktop. But linux Server is way more stable then windows. But Linux Desktop isn't server even if it is built on server. Sorry for my swearing in church.

First and the biggest windows stupidity is.... Those who don't change the settings for windows updates. always set windows security updates as a delayed 5 to 7days.. If MS is pushing a bad update, then they will withdraw the bad update before the 5-7 days period.. this is the best thing for avoiding unnecessary headache.. Software updates I sett to delay for 365days as they isn't more then small tiny upgrades that mostly bloat the system... and if i discover a bug, then i manually install the software update to fix it.
Then you need to debloat the system and to inactivate a lot of unnecessary scheduled activities and system services you do not need for your specific computer setup/usage.
Windows needs a firm hand as it isn't Mac that is just click and go. So those windows users who just let windows be default is those who don't know what a operating system is and have never heard the word Linux.

No kidding! Microsoft pushes out too many bad updates for my peace of mind. That is why I no longer have Windows on any laptop I use. I have to support it on the Spouse-Unit and kids laptops, but I do not have to like it. Now that the youngest has gone Mac and Mac OS, I now have to support that, although with the Mac there is less tech support needed. Microsoft needs to get back to basics and audit their code to remove bloat, dead code, and redundancies in the code. Windows has to be the "swiss army knife" of operating systems since it has so many different platforms and devices it has to work on. Linux is getting there, although it still lags in video drivers (I am looking at you NVIDIA!).

[RollyShed]

One of the update problems is "official" outfits telling people they should always update as soon as possible. And it was OK a decade ago but sacking the testing staff shows MS's stupidity and down the line, too many in the outside world don't know yet.

[absque fenestris]

Linux Mint Cinnamon (because of the graphics quality) in connection with Synaptic and the Mint-typical skilful update management, including the kernel overview and the general stability of Linux Mint.
I'm currently cheating a bit with Ubuntu Studio KDE... Synaptic could be installed later and was also urgently needed, but the kernel management we are used to from Mint is unfortunately not available (and many small, loving details from Mint aren't either... and Mint just seems more stable and robust to me).

Actually, another, restored laptop is available to install Mint Cinnamon again (tested with Elsie), but unfortunately I've been put off for more than a month with a succinct "available in 2 to 3 days" regarding a new SSD ... well quite a long view of "2 to 3 days" - and the original HD is definitely broken...

[AwesomeOpossum74]

I use LMDE5, which is based directly off Debian, and I'm familiar and comfortable with Debian based distros. I switched to LMDE5 when it released, after using mainline Linux Mint for about 3 years. Before that, I was using Ubuntu since about 2009, and before that Fedora since the early 2000s. My decision to switch from mainline Mint to LMDE was because it felt weird to be using a derivative (Mint) of a derivative (Ubuntu) of a base Linux distribution (Debian). Also, not that I have a direct problem with Ubuntu, but there are some idealistic issues with corporate ownership.

Anyway, LMDE5 just works on all of the systems I own, and it has earned my trust. There's not much I'd change about it.

I'm in the camp that the desktop doesn't make the distro, but I really like Cinnamon. Being one of the heaviest DEs, it doesn't feel heavy, unlike Gnome 3. After initial OS installation, and with about 5 minutes of work, I can set up Cinnamon for my workflow, and with everything I need.

[MurphCID]

I use LMDE5, which is based directly off Debian, and I'm familiar and comfortable with Debian based distros. I switched to LMDE5 when it released, after using mainline Linux Mint for about 3 years. Before that, I was using Ubuntu since about 2009, and before that Fedora since the early 2000s. My decision to switch from mainline Mint to LMDE was because it felt weird to be using a derivative (Mint) of a derivative (Ubuntu) of a base Linux distribution (Debian). Also, not that I have a direct problem with Ubuntu, but there are some idealistic issues with corporate ownership.

Anyway, LMDE5 just works on all of the systems I own, and it has earned my trust. There's not much I'd change about it.

I'm in the camp that the desktop doesn't make the distro, but I really like Cinnamon. Being one of the heaviest DEs, it doesn't feel heavy, unlike Gnome 3. After initial OS installation, and with about 5 minutes of work, I can set up Cinnamon for my workflow, and with everything I need.

On the old Darter Pro, which had the gen 1 coreboot firmware, the laptop was notorious for not running very many distros other than Mint, POP OS (which System 76 wants), and now LMDE5. It would not work with a 4 series kernel at all, MX Linux, LMDE 4, and Fedora were complete failures, Manjaro worked for a little while, but LMDE 5 is just rock solid, and I mean rock solid. It just works. As for heavy Cinnamon, it uses on my machines about half the ram that Gnome uses. So I will stick with LMDE 5 for that laptop. Also Mint just works on all my other laptops.

[smawgmaw]

The reason for choosing LinuxMint? For me mainly everything works right out of the box with only a few personal adjustments that I prefer.

[colinp1234]

I am a long time user of Ubuntu but tried a few different distros over the years in VM's but I hate using a VM, almost as much as I hate multi-booting, so I stuck with Ubuntu. Then last year, I splurged and bought a windows 10 refurb from Newegg and use it as my media server (and to say I have a token windows computer) and so far haven't the desire/need to migrate to linux (on this computer). However, I have 3 Vista/Win7 laptops that all run linux, two use LinuxLite and this one Mint Mate.

All 3 computers would have wound up in the landfill if it weren't for linux and I would think that's where this refurb would have gone as well in 2025. However I "fear" that is what's going to happen with a lot of Win 10 computers that MS doesn't see fit to run 11.

The reason I chose Mint is because of the friendliness of the forums, as well as the fact that it is a well established distro and won't fold because the developer decides to throw in the towel. I find that there is little to distinguish between distros other than esthetics even though they all have their little quirks and features.

I don't know if I'll remain on Mint until I collapse in dust or go to something else tomorrow but so far it hasn't done anything that would make me move on.