Hello everyone,

For a while now I've been thinking of switching to Debian from Linux Mint because I've heard it is a lot faster, I like the whole Debian philosphy, and well, let's be honest, it's got a lot more geek cred.

Thing is, I've not found many accounts of the switch between Mint and Debian. I'm wondering if any of you would share your experiences.

The last time I played with Debian was about 10 years ago, when it was still a scary place where things could go very wrong very fast. Unlike then, I can't really spend a whole day tinkering with codecs or the like. The fact that Debian is on the apt-get system makes me suspect it should be much like Mint where everything (within reason) "just works."

Thanks in advance!

I switched from Debian to Mint, and I far prefer it. I seriously doubt Debian is "a lot faster" on modern hardware, using the equivalent applications, kernel, and desktop environment.

Snowpine- can I ask why you switched from Debian to Mint?

Everything just works.

What specifically in Debian didn't work?

Snowpine has a point. Debian is aggressively free. Consequently, it does not include by default many of the drivers and codecs that, if you wish to use on Debian, you have to install yourself, but which Mint includes by default.

Regarding speed, I frankly think the single biggest factor in that is your choice of Desktop Environment/Window Manager. I use Debian with Fluxbox on a P4 with 4GB RAM and, frankly, can't see any difference between it and Mint with Enlightenment or MATE on a much newer machine with the same amount of RAM. And no, I didn't go to Fluxbox for speed; I use Fluxbox because I really like it.

I do like Debian and I don't care about bleeding edge. I say double-check your hardware, especially your wireless, for compatibility and, if it checks out, go for it. It's an opportunity to learn.

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Installing codecs one time isn't too big of a deal, given that with the apt system it won't be too onerous. I'm an XFCE user, so I'm guessing the speed option is out and it's just geek cred from here on out.

I'm still eager to hear other opinions.

Don't get me wrong; Debian is a wonderful OS, and everything worked fine once I set it up. If you haven't tried it yet, then go for it.

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How about graphics Radeon, Flash & Java
etc? What DE are you using? How is the installer?

I run Debian Testing to get newer packages, enable contrib and non-free, add liquorix or siduction sources to get newer kernels (which isn't absolutely important now for quite some time as testing/unstable will be much more up to date kernels), and have no issues running a full KDE desktop on any of my machines. I prefer to build Debian the way I like more than running something that's based off Debian such as the *buntus and it's derivatives. It's just simpler and easier, IMO.

Nvidia and Flash worked out-of-the-box for me in Mint 15 Xfce. I don't use Java. Installer is fine. (Debian installer is fine too.)

What Desktop Environment?

Debian is not aimed specifically at desktop users or beginners as is the case with 'buntu/mint. If you do not want to spend the time getting your system how you want it and instead want a typical "works out of the box" experience, then don't run Debian.

I could harp on all day about why Debian is "better", but that would be pointless. Debian is not for everyone.

I ran Mint for some years. I didn't really "switch" from Mint to Debian; most of that time while I had Mint installed here, Debian was also installed.

Seems to me that even though Mint's quick and easy to install and ready to use out of the box, I'd still have to spend time getting things how I wanted them, including dealing with some things that I wouldn't have to bother with in Debian. One example: Getting rid of the Mint web search junk. But, other things as well; no distro really comes just like I want it, there's always some post-installation tweaking to do. Part of the fun of Linux, though.

Mint's ease of use out of the box becomes less of an advantage in comparison to Debian if you're gonna be installing Mint every six months or whatever (I mainly stuck with LTS releases, though). And after doing one or two installations (and taking good notes), Debian didn't seem very difficult to me anymore; once everything's set up, Debian Stable's kinda boring for the next few years -- just do the updates, nothing ever breaks. For me, it got to the point where I could no longer think of good reasons to keep running Mint, other than to check in, out of curiosity, and see what Clem and Company were doing with it.

I liked Mint, but I did encounter bugs here and there that were non-existent in Debian Stable. Hard to compete with that aspect of the Debian system.

I really did enjoy using Linux Mint, especially early on when I was still fairly new to Linux. But I haven't missed it since I stopped using it; I can't imagine myself switching from Debian, or especially doing that and then ever saying "I don't miss it."

Xfce