I've been using various Linux distro's for over 15 years and what a long way we have come. There are now so many excellent Linux products available and one of the best is Linux Mint Debian Edition. Let's face it, there will never be a perfect Operating System but at least with Mint Debian you have a fantastic "out of the box" foundation upon which you can painlessly build your own fully customized work space or playground. Most O/S's have a dark side (especially those that are NOT Open-Source,) but I can report that LMDE is as pure and clean as it gets.
I would like hear comments about LMDE and I'm happy to answer any questions about it.

Tried it for some time for some boxes I administrate for friends, but after short time reverted back to Debian Testing (which is the base for LMDE) because of some inconsistencies with the updates on that machines.

I'm like Tobi, I used it for a short while but moved to Debian simply because it is Debian with a couple of added features. The Mint Update feature I found annoying because when a new kernel comes out Mint Update doesn't update to it. People who started using LMDE when I did would still be on 2.6.32 I am now on 3.1.0-rc7 with all the new features and security measures it has.

Yes LMDE looks the kit but looking underneath it shows you what it really is.

I tried it, but I simply don't like the Mint additions. Not the menus, not the unrelenting green (although that can be largely changed) and mostly not any of it except Debian, and I'm not that crazy about Debian Testing. Too much borkage for too long a time for my taste. Unstable breaks, but it's fixed in a day or two, plus it has recent packages. I gave up and installed Debian Sid (Unstable) while keeping my /home, and I've been happy since. If you really like Mint, that's fine, but it's not for me, I just never was able to see the fabled 'minty goodness'.

i have been using mint debian for about 5 months..... seems like there are no prblems, except when i try to install some apps, the softwARE sources keep changing,, irritating... but over all i think its a clean system... using kernel 3.0.0 now.. seems ok.....


so how is sid? you think i should give it a try?

---------- Post added 10-26-11 at 08:17 AM ----------

i have been using mint debian for about 5 months..... seems like there are no prblems, except when i try to install some apps, the softwARE sources keep changing,, irritating... but over all i think its a clean system... using kernel 3.0.0 now.. seems ok.....


so how is sid? you think i should give it a try?

I ran Sid for some time and it worked well. But you have to keep in mind that Sid will break from time to time. You can avoid that with using tools like apt-listbugs and keeping an eye on forums.debian.net and debianuserforums.org, there will be posts if something bad happens in Sid.

A few years ago I loved trying distro after distro. My favorite was (and still is in my heart) Fedora.
But now I'm too lazy to try. I have ubuntu and don't like it that much, but as I said I'm too lazy (old, busy and have kids!) to backup, install, install drivers for GPU, flash etc... Most of my work is done within Linux. I use windows only on other people's PCs.

I consider LMDE a good choice for a lazy guy because:
1. It's a rolling release and don't have to upgrade to a new version. Just update.
2. Has all the bells & whistles installed by default. (I love and respect Debian & Fedora for freedom, but... too lazy again)
3. I guess it must be a little more stable than Debian testing, since before anything is released in the Mint repositories it's checked by Mint developers. Perhaps that's why some of you say that it isn't current enough compared with Debian testing. Don't mind that much.

I'd like to ask a question. Considering a rolling distro, which would be better: Mint Debian or Sabayon?
I know Sabayon is cutting edge like Fedora and I like that. Also it comes with drivers & stuff. But how do they compare in terms of stability?

Thanks for any answer.

I personally do not consider Debian "rolling release" and would not recommend it for that purpose.
I enjoyed Sabayon when I last tried it, however I am kind of a minimalist and I found Sabayon had an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach that rubbed me the wrong way. (I understand that in the time since, they have come out with some minimalist "flavours" for users like me.)
I don't see Arch on your list; I'd encourage you to give it a try because it is consistently at or near the top of "best rolling release distro" polls/discussions.

Thank you snowpine.

I'll check out Arch. I'll try all three of them in virtual machines.

In a few weeks I'll post here what will be my Christmas upgrade and why.

It's not checked at all it comes straight from the Debian repositories. All Mint does is put a predetermined value on things from 1-5. 1 being safe 5 being unsafe, I think kernel upgrades are about 3 or 4 from memory while something like a codec upgrade would be a 2 and Mint specific upgrades are, of course, a 1.

You got me interested in giving Sabayon another chance. I am downloading one of the lightweight flavors (Awesome WM) for a test drive.

Mint-debian works very good for me !
It's a very good one and have no problems and i use incoming repositories (faster update but more risk to break ).
And still it works perfect .
Very good distro , word of trying this one out.
And is ubuntu not also based on debian , well mint do the same but keep it more clean i think .
greetings to all the linux users.

There is a huge difference between Debian and Ubuntu nowadays. Yes Ubuntu uses Debian as its base but they make alot of big chnages to the base Debian system. LMDE is plain Debian Testing with a few Mint derived bling enhancements plus some imported applications (Firefox etc) from Ubuntu.

Well i never wound to trow stones because i love linux and all off the distros are wonderful in there own way .
i loved ubuntu and work whit it a long time but i wound a rolling one because dist-upgrades don't work so good .
And some off them like , Sabayon and Arch don't work for me and mint works fine .
but it's my taste .
greetings

---------- Post added 12-18-11 at 06:39 AM ----------

Well i never wound to trow stones because i love linux and all off the distros are wonderful in there own way .
i loved ubuntu and work whit it a long time but i wound a rolling one because dist-upgrades don't work so good .
And some off them like , Sabayon and Arch don't work for me and mint works fine .
but it's my taste .
greetings

Hi Benny.W - and thanks to everyone for your comments in this thread.

I've been converting people to Linux for many years and my point of view on the quality or usefulness of a Linux desktop is based on how the "average user" will intergrate with it. Most people who join these forums have a more advanced skill set and it is easy for us to loose sight of how easily "average user" will take to Linux. Therefore, I prefer a Linux flavor that has these qualities:

1. Simplicity;
2. Reliability;
3. Hardware Compatability;
4. Security; and
5. Speed.

Speed is really only important because that is how "average user" judges their workstation together with "I just want it to work."

I'm completely sold on Linux Mint because each incarnation has improved in all the above 5 points and, in my eyes, the needs of "average user" are filled. My jury is still out on the likes of Gnome 3 and Unity. I don't see the need of filling the screen with Apps when most users only have a set of 5 or 6 tools that they use in their day to day business. Because of this, I can see a rise in the popularity of environments like LXDE and Xfce.

So, that's why I will be continuing to demonstate LMDE (Xfce) to people and why I will keep it as my personal choice.