Ubuntu vs. Mint: preferences and reasons?

Question

New to Linux.
Currently running a triple-boot: Win7, Ubuntu, and Mint.

At some point I'm going to remove one of the Linux.
I'm leaning toward keeping Mint and axing Ubuntu.

Would like to hear from anyone who has used both Ubuntu and Mint, particularly any reasons they feel that one is better than the other.

Answer 1

If you perfer Mints GUI that's probably because you are not digging the new Unity in Ubuntu right? I hear ya.



I rolled back to Ubuntu 10.10 to get my good old GNOME back.



The deal with Mint is that IT IS UBUNTU. When a new Ubuntu comes out, they tweak stuff to the way they like it an release mint a little while later. with no ubuntu there's no mint.



This means that every software package that is available in ubuntu is available in mint. So why mint then?



Well for one, if you like the GUi better, then hey, there's a plus. But mainly I like Mints philosophy that they aren't going to fix what ain't broken.



When ubuntu went to Unity a lot of people swtarted looking for a solution. Sure for now you can switch to Ubuntu Classic (GNOME) but I found it to be buggy - hence my retreat to 10.10.



This mentality is used by Ubuntu in other places as well. Like some people will have 10.10 and everything is working, then they come out with 11.04 and (besides the desktop) they blow something up. This is something they actually expect and accept. It seems to me that stuff should be releated in beta and tested fully before acting like it's ready for full public release.



You just have to look at their forums when a new versions comes out. People lose wifi, or video, or sound and ubuntu acts like "ok, there's a bug, we'll fix it next time" when it never should have been broken in the first place.



This is where Mint really shines. Their model is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". they don't just plow forward hoping everything works out with a cavalier attitude like "we'll fix it later". That's not what I expect in a stable friendly desktop environment. Seems kinda stupid if you want to get the average everyday computer user to use your OS.



Also, I kinda like the mint desktop too but I like the bar across the top and bottom, not just the bottom so for that reason I haven't fully commited to mint. I'm sure I could probably add it too, but I haven't messed around with it too much.



So if you like Ubuntu as a nice solid base with lots of software available and pretty decent support but don't want to risk losing functionality due to an upgrade that hasn't been fully tested yet - Mint is the winner.



If you want to be bleeding edge - ubuntu is the way to go.

Answer 2

Canonical have become arrogant and ignored users needs however well voiced across the many Forums that make reference to Ubuntu. For example Ubuntu 11.10 will not offer the classic GNOME Desktop and it will not include the Synaptic Package Manager despite the fact many users do not want these changes. I used to have much time for Ubuntu starting with Ubuntu 6.10 finishing with the last decent release which was Ubuntu 10.04 LTS



Ubuntu is now losing ground to other distros. such as Fedora and Linux Mint (Ubuntu based)



Fedora often throughout releases includes new software and features a generation before other mainstream distros. Most notable being Fedora 15 featuring GNOME 3 which can only be described as outstanding and a drastic improvement on the Ubuntu Unity Desktop

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora



It is worth mentioning that the Linux Mint team have tamed Pure Debian to the extent that is almost as easy to install and use as its Standard Ubuntu based Edition. It would seem Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is the way forward for the distro. but its not quite there yet. The current RC of the latest ISO respin is now available to download and as with Fedora can be run from the LiveDVD

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1807

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=88



To answer your question Linux Mint is ideal for those new to Linux and experienced users alike and I would thoroughly recommend it (Ubuntu and Debian based Editions)





LUg.

Answer 3

I'm biased toward Ubuntu mainly because Mint depends on Ubuntu for major revisions before Mint releases their major revision. Also, there's less fear of wrecking my install if Mint did something different from standard Ubuntu when I install a supposedly compatible Ubuntu package (rare that it happens, but it does/can). That's the major argument for me.



Other minor points...



Having the multimedia packages rolled into the default install of Mint isn't a huge selling point to me because adding the multimedia packages (for me, at least) doesn't take long.



I also like Ubuntu's default GUI more than Mint's.