Linux Mint or Ubuntu?

What should I install on my system? Linux Mint or Ubuntu? I'm not sure about 64-bit compatibility in certain Linux distributions though, but what are the differences between Linux Mint and Ubuntu?

 

not much, however Mint is more than a rebranded Ubuntu. I'm using the x64 version now. They have their own repos, scripts, utilites, etc and they seem to be overriding more and more as time goes on, but basically the core is the same. You can do a lot manually with Ubuntu that Mint does out of the box like add codecs, change menus, etc etc. I stay with Mint because it's more or less bleeding edge, even though it lags behind Ubuntu by a couple of months, and it's very stable on my Dell Precision as is Ubuntu. Either one will be good choice, migrating from one to the other will be snap if you change your mind. Whatever floats your boat. Mint is probably better for a first timer.

 

I'd say go with Mint too, just not on a flash drive.

 

Thanks and I'm downloading Linux Mint now. I usually use Ubuntu and I'm a little more experienced than "the beginner". I hope it's stable and works to my liking.

Thanks for the tip!

@theZoid: What would be the easiest way if I want to go back to Ubuntu?

 

I just run nautilus as root, and delete all the hidden files except those I want to keep like .mozilla, etc with settings, and reinstall keeping the /home partition, while formatting /.

 

I like Mint more than Ubuntu although Mint is essentially Ubuntu. Perhaps Mint will be based off of Debian instead of Ubuntu in the future (like Mepis).

 

That's what I would like to see. Somebody has done it over there, but they had to remove Mint branding because it didn't meet Mint standards with LiveCD, etc.

MEPIS 8 is my distro of choice, but I can only run it on my Asus....here, I'm stuck in the world of Ubuntu. Currently abusing Crunchbang

 

its really a useful post.

 

I just did a bios upgrade to A13 from DELL...I'm going to try MEPIS one more time as a brainiac in the MEPIS forum thought it might actually be BIOS related to the vid card, hence is why nothing will run reliably but Ubuntu...we'll see

 

I had 10001 problems when I was installing Vista x64 on a 7900GT, and couldn't figure it out. After scouring the web for over a week, I found an obsure post on a mailing list in Google's cache. Turns out, the problem was my videocard's BIOS. I had an EVGA 7900GT superclocked, and the process in superclocking the card made it incompatible with any driver in Vista. Any kind of 3D (namely, Aero) would render an instant BSOD. The fix was to use nvflash to copy the BIOS, and to use NiBiToR to lower the core clock by 1MHz. After I reflashed the card, the problems were gone permanently. Mention this to the MEPIS buff, and see what he thinks about it.

I do the same thing too, but make sure you have /home on a different partition than / or it won't work.

 

Thanks Charr...I will. I think you both are on to something here. I wonder what is different about Ubuntu et all?

 

I personally prefer Ubuntu.
Linux Mint is more user friendly and out of the box, but all that LM has Ubuntu has too. Ubuntu is much more stable and has fewer bugs in my experience than LM.

 

I prefer Debian. Ubuntu/Mint are both based on debian unstable

I just installed debian 5.0 64 bit on my dell precison M6400, and it has been working great. Very easy installation too; I was quite suprised, I expcted to do more work

Since its debian, it should be stable, so thats a huge plus

 

I've got an M4400 and debian lenny just won't play nice with it...I wonder what the difference is?

 

What problem did you have ? Did you use the amd64 version ?

I'm loving my install here. Firefox 64 bit works great too Compiz, emerald etc all installed with 3d effects.

 

I can't get into X in any distro except a ubuntu derivative....the developers in the MEPIS forum said it was a hardware detection issue, that the Debian Devs took away a couple of detections scripts for some reason. They gave me all kinds of ways to get it up, but it always resulted in a 'no screens found, unable to connect to Xserver error. PCLOS will go into X, but then I get kernel panics...so on this precision now I'm running Kubuntu 9.04 x64 beta and it's stable, pretty great. I'm still researching. I do have MEPIS (Lenny) on my Asus.

 

Can you point me over to the thread in the mepis forum ?

I assume you installed the latest nvidia driver ?

 

Yes, latest Nvidia driver...

http://mepislovers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20646

 

Debian seems interesting, and MEPIS 8 too! I'll check those out later, but I'm currently running Ubuntu 9.04 beta over Mint Linux.

 

try both! distro hoping seems to be the name of the game in the linux community. I just go with what works and looks good though. haha, maybe i should *gasp* get a mac?

 

My 15 year old son asked me, why do you spend hours configuring a distro, only to turn around wipe it with another distro?

I told him, your generation just doesn't understand....lol

 

even my generation doesn't really understand perhaps. i mean yeah i'm sure it's fun and interesting, but still i got work to do! *cries* no time for love dr jones!

 

I'm younger than him and I do that
I did three arch installs and 2 ubuntu installs yesterday

 

actually, that was the joke....no one my age knows what heck I'm talking about, not in my circles anyway....

 

Really?

Since I found Linux Mint, I never tried Ubuntu again. Maybe I should.

I actually liked the latest Debian Lenny, but still I missed Linux Mint's out of the box usability and I am already addicted to work on newer kernels than Lenny's default.

Learning more Linux and its internal is not exactly my thing. I would prefer to free myself from the knowledge I already had to accumulate in order to use Linux (or Windows) and to reinvest the time spent into my professional job.

 

I prefer Ubuntu to Mint. It just feels more solid and stable. Also, I am not liking the Mint menu. It doesn't feel organized. I slap a nice skin on my Ubuntu and it looks more "elegant" than "from freedom came elegance" (whatever that means).

The only thing I would say I don't like about Ubuntu is the name. I will give Linux Mint the advantage on that one.

 

I just tried Linux Mint 6 KDE version. It looks pretty good. Looks like Kubuntu. I prefer KDE over Gnome. I'm not sure if one is better than the other but Kubuntu Intrepid 8.10 release has the older (EXTREMELY) buggy KDE 4.1.2 and Kubuntu 9.04 is still beta. With Mint 6 KDE CE, the KDE is already updated but I don't know whether to try it and install or wait until the end of the month for the latest/next Ubuntu/Kubuntu release.

Whatya think?

This would be for my Thinkpad notebook I just bought.

Btw, Zoid:

Are you having problems with the Mepis 8 LiveCD and video?

I suppose you already boot up with 'video safe modes?' I think it helps to choose your resolution (lower one than native) and then install the required/associated video driver.

I almost always have an issue with Mepis' default video state when I boot up but maybe Mepis 8 was okay, I forget. But, I am no stranger to preliminary Mepis video troubles! I always get around them, though. My main complaint with Mepis is wireless. Imho, it is terrible and requires a third party (wireless) network tool/program.

 

With Linux Mint I was able to change the MintMenu with the gnome looking one.

 

puter1: I never did get MEPIS into X on this Precision....many tried to help on the forum, but no go. I tried all boot options, nvidia scripts at runlevel 3....nothing worked....it will come up in VESA, but I'd have to leave it that way which is a no go Slackware I've up and running perfectly with the latest Nvidia driver. Got wireless up with no cable needed.

 

BTW, he did get debian lenny up flawlessly on that precision
Only problem was wireless, which needs a newer kernel.

 

True. I like Slack also because it uses an unpatched kernel, so it's easy to slap in the latest and greatest from Kernel.org...pretty cool.

 

Kernel updates are important and can make a big difference in running your applications. Slackware must be one of the popular ones these days. My wireless worked out of the box in Ubuntu 8.10 and/or 9.04.