Quick Impressions – Linux Mint Debian

29 September, 2010 at 4:40 pm Quintin 6 comments

Linux Mint is exploring the “Rolling Distro” route.

Recently they launched Linux Mint Debian Edition, or LMDE. I took some time to play with it, waiting for a proper time to do a full install and review.

My impressions so far are largely positive though…

Rolling Distro

The idea of a distro that you never need to re-install to stay current is certainly appealing. A rolling distro is a distribution that stays up to date with the latest software and kernel patches and other shiny stuff.

Compare this to Ubuntu or Mandriva, where the latest release is current for a period of time, and you need to re-install the newest version from the ISO periodically as they are updated.

There has been those who criticized Ubuntu especially for having a 6month release cycle – This causes users some frustration as they re-install regularly to experience the latest of what Ubuntu can offer.

The main Linux Mint releases also follow a six month release cycle.

Mint Debian – Worth It?

From my short time that I have spent with LMDE I can say that it is definitely worth a try.

When I first booted into the desktop I was surprised that it is so similar to “regular” Linux Mint. It uses the Gnome desktop environment and all the applications you might expect are there.

It runs solidly and I did not have any issues in the few hours I played with it.

The bootsplash is still ugly text that scrolls by, but as the testing phase progresses I am sure it will be Mintified.

Installation

The installer is certainly different to regular Mint fair. It offers a very nice language choice for installation, even supporting Sotho.

Editing partitions is not as intuitive as with other mainstream desktop distros, but this can be forgiven for a testing release.

Shrinking partitions takes a while, but once this is done installation proceeds without incident.

Other Notes

LMDE is based on Debian Testing, and is based on packages from that branch. According to the Linux Mint Website LMDE is fully Debian compatible, but not compatible with Ubuntu at all.

It uses the 2.6.32-5 kernel and Gnome 2.30.2

Firefox 3.6.8

Thunderbird 3.1.1

Summary.

This is a fugly writeup, and for that I apologize. In short, I think that LMDE is a good direction for Linux mint, should they decide to go this direction. I believe that the six month upgrade cycle is beginning to irk some Ubuntu users, and a rolling distro can be a solution to the upgrade cycle.

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Linux Impressions, Linux Mint

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Written by Tweets that mention Quick Impressions – Linux Mint Debian – Tech — Topsy.com about 2 years ago.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Quintin van Rooyen, Sageek Blog. Sageek Blog said: #sageekblog: Quick Impressions – Linux Mint Debian http://g33q.co.za/2010/09/29/quick-impressions-linux-mint-debian/ [...]
Written by Barista Uno about 2 years ago.

“Compare this to Ubuntu or Mandriva, where the latest release is current for a period of time..”

In truth, Ubuntu has LTS (Long Term Support) releases. The latest, of course, is Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) on which the Lubuntu I am currently using is based. LTS doesn’t seem a precise term as the support is only for three years. Just the same, it’s better for some Linux users than the biennial releases that are good for six months.
Written by Paul Juarez about 2 years ago.

Hi, I liked your review! I have used it since it has been released. It works great on my old box. The install went smooth and the OS is very stable. A lot of updates where made available after the install was complete. But that went smooth. The 29K of packages via Synaptic is also a great for a person that needs to add applications to the OS. Plenty of apps! I also like the rolling release feature. Thanks for the short review, Paul :-)
Written by Sanders about 2 years ago.

Linux Mind Debian Edition is fantastic, it is a great alternative to Ubuntu which irks a lot lately: too much focus on their software store, social crap and stupid ui changes, and huge list of unfixed bugs everywhere else, getting slower by the minute, and hardware support getting worse by the second.

I hope Mint continue and improve the Debian edition. They have my full attention.
Written by Links 29/9/2010: GNOME 2.32, Fedora 14 Analyses | Techrights about 2 years ago.

[...] Quick Impressions – Linux Mint Debian Linux Mint is exploring the “Rolling Distro” route. [...]
Written by -deadcats about 2 years ago.

I appreciate the article. It had some nice down-n-dirty insights. I admire the devs at Mint Linux, regardless I don’t use their distro. I might in the future, though, since they seem to be headed the right direction. (BTW, I use PCLinuxOS–rolling-release–apt4RPM, Synaptic, KDE 4.5.xx, so it fits me well.)

Regardless, several of my network admin-geek friends live and die by Debian on their servers, and I have certainly enjoyed its flavoring in Ubuntu. And the whole time, I’ve wished for a stable/testing version of Debian but with more of the custom configuration tools that distros like Ubuntu, Mint, and PCLinuxOS have. The former sidux has a lot going for it, but it is more suited for those with the great desire to spend more time configuring their desktop than I currently have. But winter is coming…

To get off my soapbox, it appears to me that the Linux Mint dev teams are bringing Debian to the masses in a way not yet done, and it’s about darn time. I can’t hardly wait until the 64-bit version! :)

regards,
-dc

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