Is LMDE right for my needs?

[Borsook]

Hi, I'd like to ask for your advice - I have a laptop I use only occasionally. I need a system on it that doesn't necessarily have the absolutely latest software, but one does get updated. And I want it to be hassle-free, I don't want to reinstall it every 6 months like the normal LM. So, at a glance LMDE looks like a good choice... but I'm wondering about a few things:

1. Can I expect no breakages if I just stick to the default repos and install the update packs?

2. Doe it work well in terms of power management?

3. Can I just expect to install steam and load some simple 2d games with no issues?

[Monsta]

doesn't necessarily have the absolutely latest software, but one does get updated

hassle-free

I don't want to reinstall it every 6 months

Get LTS version (Mint 13). Five years of support (until April 2017).

[Borsook]

doesn't necessarily have the absolutely latest software, but one does get updated

hassle-free

I don't want to reinstall it every 6 months

Get LTS version (Mint 13). Five years of support (until April 2017).

That's what I'm running there atm. But I'd like to have a bit newer apps than what an LTS from 2012 offers...

[Monsta]

Newer apps can be installed from PPAs. It's a great thing Debian doesn't have.

[Borsook]

Newer apps can be installed from PPAs. It's a great thing Debian doesn't have.

Well... yes. Debian has custom repos though... But anyway I'd like to make a little more educated decision - so how often do breakages happen, etc?

[Monsta]

Well, then...

1. Can I expect no breakages if I just stick to the default repos and install the update packs?

No. Every UP will break something and fix something because LMDE is based on Debian Testing. And if something is broken, you either wait for the next UP or try to find the fixed packages in Testing (Testing is always ahead of UPs). This time, we even had to [url=http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=146187#p770495]downgrade[/url] a set of packages because there was no place to get the fix.

Of course, the Mint team and the local community test every UP before releasing it, but it can't compare to the testing that Ubuntu (base for the Main Edition of Mint) gets.

2. Doe it work well in terms of power management?

Depends on the current kernel.

3. Can I just expect to install steam and load some simple 2d games with no issues?

There's Steam [url=http://packages.debian.org/jessie/steam]available in Testing[/url], so I guess the answer is yes.

[Borsook]

Ok, thanks... Maybe I'll give it a go and see how well it works for me... at worst I'll at least learn something

[Monsta]

Don't forget to read UP release notes (available via mintUpdate or [url=http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/update-pack.html]this link[/url]) before the upgrade to UP7. Also read [url=http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=146220]this thread[/url] if you're going to try Cinnamon edition.

[Borsook]

Oh and one more question - what's the situation with flash and other non-free components like media codecs? Are they in the repos?

[Monsta]

The Mint repository provides the flash plugin, and some codecs can be installed from UP repositories (they're taken from deb-multimedia.org).

[Borsook]

The Mint repository provides the flash plugin, and some codecs can be installed from UP repositories (they're taken from deb-multimedia.org).

Thanks!