Linux Mint Debian Edition

Linux Mint announced a Debian-based edition. In contrast to other Mint products, it is a rolling distro, based on Debian rather than Ubuntu, and only comes in a 32-bit Gnome edition.

Might give it a go.

 

that would be sweet, just needs 64bit! until then, i guess it would be okay to do pae, right?

 

I found this interesting as well. Mainly because of the fact that it's a rolling release distribution. The two I'm deciding between for the R60e's next distribution are this and Sabayon. So far my Sabayon experience hasn't been too good though. It may very well have been a bad DVD burn, but all I really know is that it would hang and require a hard reboot during the install process. Using it as a live DVD however, worked fine (even wireless worked). I'll use Sabayon for a while to give LMDE a chance to be improved, and then I'll switch later if I feel a need.

 

What's the main difference and appeal of Debian vs Ubuntu? I'm a noob so it leaves me out as it says it's not user friendly.

 

The advantage would be that its much easier to manage repositories and kernel upgrades, especially for a rolling release.

Projects like eeebuntu/aurora and crunchbang have been moving their development from ubuntu to debian because ubuntu's updates were creating nightmares. In other words, the developers were putting out distros and then, a few weeks later, an ubuntu update would trash the distro.

The idea behind moving to Debian is doing more development work up front to create a distro that requires less subsequent hurry-up-and-fix-it work for the developers.

 

I've been waiting for this since it was announced some time ago, I'm downloading it right now! I'll share my thoughts here when I've tried it.

 

Completely different goals and philosophies. If you are interested, here's a video from the latest Ubuntu Developer Summit.

 

I also have been hearing that distros built up from Debian tend to be leaner than those based on Ubuntu. I can't verify this, but maybe there is a significant performance boost for atom-based units and older hardware.

 

[oops.. sorry abt the double post! can a mod delete pls?]

 

In debian, is installing an application the same as ubuntu?

As in, for example, if i want to install the latest VLC in ubuntu, i type the following in the terminal:

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:c-korn/vlc && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc mozilla-plugin-vlc

Would the terminal commands be the same as above for debian (Linux Mint specifically)? Even for adding PPA's to the repository?

I like the concept of a rolling distro, so i'm just trying to understand a bit more abt debian.

 

If im not mistaken Ubuntu is based on Debian, so it would seem like Linux Mint only skipped a step. hehe
As long as it performs like i champ i wont complain, and having a rolling release means faster access to the latest stable linux kernels ect.

 

I would also like to know the same thing.

 

There's no add-apt-repository for Debian, that's an Ubuntu thing. You'd have to add the ppa to your /etc/apt/sources.list. Otherwise apt-get, aptitude, dpkg, etc. work exactly the same in Debian.

 

Thanks.

 

I'm trying to decide between LMDE and LM9 x64 for my DELL M6500 Precision Laptop. ? ? ? ? It's a bit of a powerhouse, so it's basically x64 vs x32-pae, and the rolling release thing. hmmmmmm

 

It's not worth giving up the x64. Even more so with how much RAM you have.

 

I thought so too....needed something more substantial for this machine....went with LM9 x64 for now.

 

good choice

 

yep....however, you know, with a PAE kernel this machine is stupid fast with a 32 bit honed distro like Peppermint. oh well.......

 

Basically yes. But you use su to log in as root and ommit the sudo.
So to install vlc in Debian you just do this:

Code:

su
apt-get intall vlc

If you use Testing (or a Distribution based on it) this will currently install 1.1.3.

Frankly I think the PPAs are one of Ubuntus biggest flaws when it comes to package management.
Debian Stable is known for stability. This is accomplished by a lot of testing which is simply not possible if you have a decentralized structure like Ubuntu with all its PPAs. On the other hand Debian has Testing and Unstable, which are rolling release and therefore make things like PPAs which provide newer software versions unnecessary. Additionally the official Debian repository has a lot more software than the Ubuntu repository.
Ubuntu mixes the downsides of both: It has fixed (and unfortunately poorly tested) releases which makes software become old and tries to compensate this with unofficial often even more poorly tested repositories.

 

I've used Ubuntu PPAs on my Sid systems, the mactel ppa was a huge timesaver when I had a mbp5,5. I don't think it's a disadvantage to have more options. Most of the PPA stuff is corner case or bleeding edge, and most of it eventually merges upstream. Of course some of the PPAs are crudely maintained, with no support or feedback, and those are a dead end. There are plenty of other valid reasons to dislike Ubuntu, don't get me wrong.

 

I've had a lot of problems installing Debian before. This Mint Debian Edition installed like a charm and everything seemed to work flawlessly... until I noticed that all my temps where +20ºC than in windows. I don't know why but this is happening to me in every single linux distro I try, so I guess I may be doing something wrong.
I'm back at Windows now because I don't have a lot of time to sort linux out, but I'll surely go back to Mint Debian on vacations.

 

Persio, try flashing your laptop with the most recent bios available to see if it fixes that.