DescentOS is an Ubuntu respin using the Mate desktop. But isn’t Mint an Ubuntu derivative with Mate? What’s the difference?

Very little. On the positive side, DescentOS has a pager on the panel by default. On the negative side, encrypting /home caused the display manager to refuse to log me in. I had to log in using a virtual terminal, then repeat the process in the GUI. As with Ubuntu, but not Mint, I couldn’t get it to use my USB speakers.

Basically this is one man’s personal distro, which he has made available to the public, and less than 50 people are using it. If he has to leave for any reason, there’s nothing so special about it that someone else would feel the need to keep it going. If you want a Debian derivative with Mate, there’s Mint. So why install DescentOS?