However as LMDE dropped Xfce edition, and I normally use Xfce, I stopped using LMDE. I also changed from LM Xfce to Xubuntu as it already is Xfce based and frankly, Ubuntu's upgrade process was easier.
I still recommended and installed LM Cinnamon to friends and family members because of its user friendliness (and great looks!
) Some years have passed and Ubuntu was getting worse and worse. Besides other things, they started to convert more and more apps from deb to snap installs. I must emphasise how much I despise snaps! Not only do they make a mess of my filesystem, but they are unable to read or write any directories other than the homedir and its subdirs. As most of my stuff is on a secondary drive or come by mail for quick viewing (that is, they go to /tmp), most snaps were completely unusable for me.
However in the meantime, LM was getting better and better and when I saw that the last Ubuntu version converted even my favorite browser - Firefox - to a snap, I said enough! I got informed that LM is not using snaps, so instead of upgrading to the last Ubuntu, I went for LinuxMint again. Although it's not out yet, I got Vanessa and so far she serves me well. I must sort out some stuff that I had only as snaps; I don't know yet if I'll be able to find all of them as debs or flatpaks or I'll be forced to enable snapd anyway. When I'm satisfied everything works as it should, I'll switch my other computers to LM too. EDIT: I've already found deb or flatpak versions of all apps I had as snaps before. The snapd will remain far away from my machines and I'm definitely switching all my machines to LM.
I've also always liked the LM-specific tools and I'm pleased to see how they got even better with time. I also like the current release schedule and ease of minor upgrades. It seems I'm back to LM, this time for good.
Also I'd like to thank Clem & co for ridding us of all that Canonical nonsense and for making LM as great as it is!
