The problem is not that there's no answer - there's too many answers all saying different things.

Mint repository gives me freecad-0.15. The latest (Ubuntu, mebbe even debian) is 0.16.7

Can I stick in freecad-0.16.7 in mint-18.1? How?
Also the thing has scores of packages it depends on - mainly python modules. How will that work out?

If you want stability and distribution support, stay on the version that is available in the repository.
If you MUST go to the latest version (why?), there may be a repo you can add for that. It has a chance at destablizing your host, but it is a decent option.
You CAN compile and install from source to almost any version, but then you take responsibility for ensuring (installing as needed) the required packages. Also, a normal update will not pick up any patches or improvements, you will need to maintain it yourself.

Thanks. I'll stay where I am, as you advise. The gurus on the Freecad forum are telling me to update before they consider offering help. I'll try other ways to go around them.

>You CAN compile and install from source to almost any version, but then you take responsibility for
[SNIP!]

No thanks. I've a Slackware host for that. Mint is a VM to avoid building 256 python modules that Freecad depends on. Doing that in Slackware means a major PITA. I can simply type 'apt-get install freecad' and it asks a silly question which I answer yes to and stuff goes in. I've gone off mint - it seems to use ubuntu or debian .debs and the internals are a bit inscrutable. I keep it backed up so I can start over.

I'm not afraid of compiling - I've done LFS twice, HLFS, & compiled Kevux from build scripts back in the 20th century when it was last updated.

Mint comes in two versions with varieties of each:
MINT - which has been Ubuntu based right along. They are only starting to get away from *untu and I am not sure how far. The choices are mostly what desktop system you like.
MINT-DE - which is Debian based, and far more experimental. But with access to all of the Debian supported desktops.

Frankly, I like both of them for different reasons.

If the latest package for that particular product matters a lot, I would research on their site to see if there are recommended distributions that stay more current. Even better, they may have an Ubuntu (Mint) compatible REPO set up that you can add to keep up with the latest.
The other choice is the research the package inclusion and levels at Distrowatch if you want to find one with the latest version.


I wish you the best of luck!

Would Debian Sid be an option for the VM? Stops you having the extra Mint GUI updaters and the like and may have newer software versions?
Apologies if this is no help but it's part of why I use Sid day-to-day.

I am tetotally ambivalent about DEs, as long as any of them isn't gnome, kde, or anything where you get to see an hourglass icon. OTOH, I won't have these half-asssed DEs with nothing to work with in there. They look like something someone wrote in a short College Course.

I am not insistent on the latest packages; Frankly my box here is going on 6 years old but occasionally I need to take advantage of a later/latest version, like, I suppose everyone else. So I have kernel 4.9.45, but firefox-57.0 (which does seem faster).

My only reason for Mint was to have an environment where installing 'half-ware' (where you get half the required stuff in the package and need the other half as dependencies) was not such an absolute PITA as it is in Slackware. This situation is much worse when, as inevitably happens, one piece of half-ware depends on another piece of half-ware. It's handy to have a little used environment where they can install automagically.
/On Distros:
It seems one of the main things that make a good distro is the number, taste and quality of programming types sweating in some back room. I'll Mark down Debian as a one to try. The other main one I haven't tried in a while is SuSE, but I promised myself an RPM free distro. I got very pissed off with rpms by Red Hat, Centos & Fedora particularly. It seems as soon as you get to know something, those three fire it out and start beta testing some other POS. I likewise give the thumbs down to ubuntu, purely on ground of poor taste and hourglasses.

Rather than go pure DEBIAN, you might want to try SPARKY LINUX. SPARKY is Debian SID with some cosmetic choices, performance and stability settings. It has served me well in the past.

(VSIDO is much the same in concept, but with different choices and it CAN be slightly less stable. But fast!)

Both of these pull from the SID repos, so they have access to whatever is latest in Debian unstable. (The cutting edge.)

Yes, As I remember it, Debian stuff spent so much time in 'testing' that it was obsolete by the time the package made it into 'stable.'

Things seem to have improved, but there's SO MANY flavours of Debian, it kind of underlines that the original needs improving.

So the question becomes about Sparky, Visudo, Mint, Arch, Ubuntu and all othert debian flavours: How many and what quality of people do THEY have sweating over keyboards in the back room?

EDIT: Also interesting is what version of freecad are they offering right now?

Well, https://packages.debian.org/sid/freecad Sid appears to be on a 0.16.6... build so I'm guessing no newer than that.
From what I see most Debian derivatives attempt to make things easier for a given class of user and in doing so, to my mind, complicate things if you wish to go outside of that use.
I think Ubuntu and Mint largely owe their existence to two, slightly linked, things:
Debian used to be difficult to install.
Debian doesn't allow non-free software by default and omits some entirely.
The first is pretty much no longer the case apart from when dealing with the latter and having non-free drivers required by something like a network card in order to install.
The second is, with the exception of DVD decryption (and, possibly, Blu-Ray if they work under Ubuntu and Mint) prety much solved by adding non-free repositories during install.

I freely admit I'm a big Debian fan (most of the time at least -- not when they're removing things from Sid) so perhaps I'm missing something?

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I think you pretty much nailed it. Most of the Debian "problems" that inspired spinoffs are matters of historical record now and no longer valid. The STRENGTHS of Debian and the huge support population is what made it so powerful that it COULD inspire so many spinoffs.

For the record, while it started ad a spinoff Ubuntu has long departed the Debian family core, and is now only Debian Like. One clear signal is that is does not use ANY of the debian repos.
Mint is an Ubuntu spinoff, and shared that family tree with xbunty, kubunty, etc. Mint-DE restored the debian relationship, but is almost a separate distribution maintained by the MINT team.
SPARKY and VSIDO, while spinoffs, are much more solidly within the core Debian region and use the DEbian Repos.

I have used ALL of them, and if what you want is to get work done they will all work. Each does some things better than others. For someone to advise you on what would be best for your specific purpose, we would have to learn a LOT about what you do, how you like to do it, and what performance you need in several features. Easier to aim you at examples and let you make up your own mind. Better for everyone involved.

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I'm pretty promiscuous or tolerant of non-free binary blobs. I think it's a philosophical issue, and I'm Jesuit Educated. This nicely summarizes them. As It's only a VM, so I can stick in another with Debian on it. That at least will have the later freecad, and I can allocate the same shared space. I'll find out

1. If it's a freecad or a Mint bug.
2. Which I prefer.

My only purpose for this atm is freecad, but if I need the use of more half-ware or quarter-ware, I can install that too. I also couldn't get intel graphic drivers going in mint, and all the usual levers were pulled to no effect. which annoyed me.

Just to clarify, you mean Intel graphics drivers on the host system? In a VM, unless you're doing something clever, you'll need the VirtualBox guest additions for driver and they're not going to be great for 3D support.

If I may amplify that, there is NO kind of virtualization that I have encountered that really supports 3-d video extensions well. To do them WELL depends upon a very close association between the proper driver and the supported video hardware.

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Indeed, the only way I know to do it is using a seperate graphics card (and monitor)* for the VM.
*a monitor with two inputs could be shared but would only show one OS at a time.

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I feel less incompetent this morning then.

Installing Debian 9.2.1 as I write this. I take that to be recent/stable.