[Discuss] The next Linux desktop: Linux Mint Debian

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Jay Kramer wrote:
> I tried mint Debian version.  It worked like a charm.  But for some
> reason,  maybe I did not like the color,  I reverted back to good old
> Debian original.  It also works like a fine running machine.

I was going to ask if anyone had tried Linux Mint Debian (LMDE)[1].

A little confusing that Linux Mint has a main stream version based on
Ubuntu, with two desktop environments, plus this other version based on
Debian, which also follows a different update model. (Though not unlike
the multiple versions of Ubuntu.)

LMDE is "a rolling distribution" based on Debian Testing, so it
perpetually gets upgraded packages, with no code freezes or "mass
upgrade" steps (i.e. you take some explicit action to upgrade from 2.0
to 3.0). (I think Mint's FAQ[1] is misleading when they say that with
LMDE users are "not require to re-install." I wouldn't characterize a
Debian or Ubuntu version upgrade as a "re-install.")

You'd think this would get you the most cutting edge packages, but at
the time Cinnamon was announced in the Linux Mint blog[2] they said,
Cinnamon "will soon make its way...to LMDE when Gnome 3.2 enters Debian
Testing." Yet Cinnamon was already supported on "Linux Mint 12, Ubuntu
11.10, Fedora 16, OpenSUSE 12.1 and Arch Linux."

That suggests you are paying the costs (instability) of a rolling
distribution, while missing out on one of the main benefits. Maybe GNOME
is just a special case.

 -Tom

1. http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
2. http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1910

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/