How many versions of Linux Mint do you have on CDs/DVDs?

RollyShed · Post by **RollyShed** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:46 am

Just how many versions of Linux Mint do you have on CDs/DVDs?

Cleaning out the workshop and office these past few days I found a few CDs and DVDs in boxes. What are they?
Besides the ones of camera back-ups, trips, instructions manuals for modems and building kayaks, there was also a stack of computer ones.

Linux Mint - 20 of them (there might be more) in various versions from Mint 9 up to 19 plus another 7 are on DVDs from magazines, APC (Australian PC) and Linux Format (the British Linux magazine).

I haven't mentioned the other DVDs which are of other versions of Linux because I put this in the Mint section.

Am I the only one with a stack of plastic like this or are there more of us out there?

And from all of those it looks as if my first installation was Mint 9 from APC magazine, October 2010.

Post by **xenopeek** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:07 am

I've turned it into a poll, what do you think? Feel free to edit it (click the pencil icon in top right corner of your post and edit the poll there).

RollyShed · Post by **RollyShed** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:14 am

xenopeek wrote: ⤴Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:07 amI've turned it into a poll, what do you think? Feel free to edit it (click the pencil icon in top right corner of your post and edit the poll there).

I did wonder whether it might be / could be / should be, a poll. Quite happy for it to be.
Now for the replies ???

Pjotr · Post by **Pjotr** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:22 am

Too bloody many. Mainly Mint and Ubuntu. Dating back to Ubuntu 5.04 (official CDs made by Canonical). Probably collectors items by now, some of them....

Post by **Pierre** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:28 am

it would seem that I've got lots of ISOs that I've downloaded,
but .. most of them were never written to any other media,
as they were mainly used in an VirtualBox scenario.

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:36 am

I found out the hard way the plastic used to create CD/DVD's degrades over time. Some of my Mint iso's that used to work will now no longer load. This is why I went to a thumb drive which I reuse. The present thumb drive has the Mint 21 iso on it and when Mint releases 21.1, since I use the Etcher program to create a bootable usb, I will use Etcher and will put the iso for 21.1 on it.

For anyone is interested in trying Etcher, I get it at the link below.

https://www.balena.io/etcher/

BTW, when I wanted to try Etcher, the YouTube video below is old, but it showed me how to use Etcher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM9xUpLFkRA

MichaelB1953 · Post by **MichaelB1953** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:53 am

Just 2;
LM17.3 mate
LM20.0 mate

mb

Hoser Rob · Post by **Hoser Rob** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:36 am

Zero, Mint or any other distro. Been using Linux for a decade and I've always used a USB stick. My isos (and checksums in text files) are all kept on external drives. EOL releases get deleted.

MurphCID · Post by **MurphCID** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 11:00 am

I have five flash drives with:
Mint 21
LMDE 5
POP!_OS 22.04
Fedora Cinnamon 36
Mageia 8

I also have one with Windows 10 Pro.

mediclaser · Post by **mediclaser** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 11:14 am

I refrained from voting, because I can't remember exactly how many. When I first started experimenting with Linux in general (back in 2016), I didn't have a USB stick handy and I've got plenty of blank CDs/DVDs to burn them on. Since getting USB drives for this purpose, I no longer burn an ISO to CD/DVD.

RollyShed · Post by **RollyShed** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 4:58 pm

Note - this is almost a "how much rubbish do you have" and as is mentioned by others, CDs / DVDs degrade so we are all (I suspect all) are now using USB sticks.
I do have a 3-1/2" floppy disk, boot disk, with Linux written on it sitting here on the desk. Yes, also found amongst the "I'd better keep these things" box.

Lady Fitzgerald · Post by **Lady Fitzgerald** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:10 pm

RollyShed wrote: ⤴Thu Sep 29, 2022 4:58 pm Note - this is almost a "how much rubbish do you have" and as is mentioned by others, CDs / DVDs degrade so we are all (I suspect all) are now using USB sticks.
I do have a 3-1/2" floppy disk, boot disk, with Linux written on it sitting here on the desk. Yes, also found amongst the "I'd better keep these things" box.

Not all ODs (optical disks, aka CDs, DVDs, and BDs) degrade over time. Archival grade ODs use a dye that doesn't not degrade anywhere nearly as fast as the dyes used in more available, not to mention less expensive, ODs. BTW, it's the dyes in ODs that get burned by the laser to record data that degrade, not the plastic itself. In mass produced commercial OD recordings, such as most music CDs (some are burned, especially from Independent artists), or movies on DVDs and BDs, those data pits are stamped into an inner layer of the plastic, and can last for far longer than burned ODs as long as the disc itself doesn't get physically damaged.

Archival quality ODs are actually more reliable for long term cold storage that HDDs(HDDs are more reliable than USB sticks). ODs fell out of favor due to their expense, the ongoing gradual obsolescence of the drives used to burn and read them. Look at what happened to floppies for a preview of what will happen to ODs. Also, look at how many computers now come with ODDs (Optical Disk Drives).

antikythera · Post by **antikythera** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:42 pm

5-10 but they are on DVD+RW so I update the oldest with the current release which means I am effectively rotating the media while retaining at least one older version to install from if necessary.

I also have them saved on a USB stick with Ventoy installed to boot from.

Why both? I still have a couple of legacy machines which boot better from optical drive than USB media.

Cosmo. · Post by **Cosmo.** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:38 am

My laptop does not even have an optical drive. So those discs would only be good as Christmas decoration.

Lady Fitzgerald · Post by **Lady Fitzgerald** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:00 am

Cosmo. wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:38 am My laptop does not even have an optical drive. So those discs would only be good as Christmas decoration.

That's when you resort to external ODDs (Optical Disk Drives). I have two nice USB powered Pioneer BDR-XD07B ODDS: one that is kept in a desk drawer and another one in my laptop bag. The one in the laptop bag serves as a spare and eliminates the need and hassle of remembering to pack it before leaving on a trip (I sometimes buy ODs when on the road) and the one in the desk drawer is more convenient to access when at home. I added a short USB 3.0 cable on each one that stays with the ODD so I don't have to hunt one down whenever I want/need to use it. The ODDs are capable of writing to all ODs (CDs, DVDs, and BDs) but I've yet to do so (I do not even have any blank ODs); I use them only for ripping music CDs, movie DVDs, and movie BDs I have purchased. The ODD is flat and takes up very little space.

BenTrabetere · Post by **BenTrabetere** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 1:21 pm

Okay, at this point I am the sole Hoarder. When I switched to Linux my system did not reliably support booting from a thumb drive.

I switched to Linux when v17.0 was barely a month old, and I had no idea which DE to use, so I got all four - selected MATE. When v17.2 came out a year later I wanted to repartition my HDD and maybe switch to Cinnamon - stuck with MATE. That brings the count to 6.

When v18.0 was released I tried each DE again, just to make sure I still wanted to stick with MATE. I did. Shortly after v18.1 was released I acquired a license to Win7 and setup my machine to dual-boot. So 5 more DVDs brings the count to 11.

With v19.0 I limited my choices to Cinnamon and MATE, and still stuck with MATE. When 19.1 was released I decided Win7 was taking up space, so I removed dual-boot, repartitioned the drive, and installed 19.1 MATE. This brings the DVD count to 14.

RollyShed, thank you for giving me the opportunity to rummage through a box of CDs/DVDs. I found my Disc 2 for Quadrophenia I thought was lost forever.

Cosmo. · Post by **Cosmo.** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:12 pm

Lady Fitzgerald wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:00 am That's when you resort to external ODDs (Optical Disk Drives).

Why? An external drive is as expensive as a handful of sticks, and the sticks are quicker than a mechanical drive. It has a reason, why I bought the new laptop without an optical drive.

Website · Post by **Moem** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:56 pm

Cosmo. wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:38 am My laptop does not even have an optical drive. So those discs would only be good as Christmas decoration.

Stick them in the microwave first, it's fun. Pro tip: use an old microwave that you don't intend to use for food anymore.

Lady Fitzgerald · Post by **Lady Fitzgerald** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:06 pm

Cosmo. wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:12 pm
Lady Fitzgerald wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:00 am That's when you resort to external ODDs (Optical Disk Drives).
Why? An external drive is as expensive as a handful of sticks, and the sticks are quicker than a mechanical drive. It has a reason, why I bought the new laptop without an optical drive.

You can't play or rip music CDs and movie DVDs/BDs with sticks.

antikythera · Post by **antikythera** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:57 pm

Lady Fitzgerald wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:06 pm You can't play or rip music CDs and movie DVDs/BDs with sticks.

I have an LG 'Blade' USB DVD Multi slot in disc loading drive I use occasionally with my laptop and the one desktop I own that doesn't have an ODD. They are a very handy accessory to own so I'm not surprised you have two. Fortunately the cable that came with it is 30cm long so decent enough to reach most ports and not get in the way. I have seen USB drives that come with 15cm cables that are next to useless if you aren't hooking up to a laptop on a desk.

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