12 replies to this topic

[Mindovermaster]

Hey, in the next month or so, I am getting a new CPU/Motherboard. And I read that you would want to do a fresh install when you switch major hardware.

I do have everything set, all I need to do is copy down how to do some stuff, and I'm sure I can reproduce it.

And I saw on DistroWatch, Ubuntu actually went down to 3rd place, taken over by Mageia. So I guess Mint is kind of popular, eh? I have it on my laptop, pretty enjoyable.

Anyway, I just want to make sure, Mint uses all of Ubuntu's repositories, it just has its own software center, right? And uses the same commands, being based off Ubuntu, sudo apt-get and all that goodness?

[jon.01]

Same commands and same repositories, different GUI.

I am currently using Mint, I just switched from Windows over a week ago and I am amazed at the progress linux has made since I was in high school. I first started using linux back in 2004 and it was a pain to get hardware working...now...everything works!

[Mindovermaster]

Well, I use Cinnamon on Ubuntu, so its not really a new GUI, just that Mint puts some of it's own flavor (lol) into it.

I used Xubuntu and other buntu flavors back in 2005. Yeah, open source has grown since then.

[+ViperAFK]

Yes, mint is ubuntu-based and has access to ubuntu's repositories. You can use ubuntu ppa's and everything.

A note regarding distrowatch: Their numbers don't really mean anything, all they do is count distrowatch page-views. But yeah mint is a pretty popular distro.

[Mindovermaster]

I know distrowatch numbers mean nothing. But just interesting.

[Nothing Here]

Mindovermaster, on 18 December 2012 - 03:02, said:

Hey, in the next month or so, I am getting a new CPU/Motherboard. And I read that you would want to do a fresh install when you switch major hardware.

I do have everything set, all I need to do is copy down how to do some stuff, and I'm sure I can reproduce it.

And I saw on DistroWatch, Ubuntu actually went down to 3rd place, taken over by Mageia. So I guess Mint is kind of popular, eh? I have it on my laptop, pretty enjoyable.

Anyway, I just want to make sure, Mint uses all of Ubuntu's repositories, it just has its own software center, right? And uses the same commands, being based off Ubuntu, sudo apt-get and all that goodness?

They also have their own repo. But have access to Ubuntu's. At least last time I tried it, they had access.

[xorangekiller]

You should be able to simply add the Mint repository to sources.list and import their GPG key on top of an existing Ubuntu installation. You can then use apt-get, aptitude, or any other APT front-end to install the Mint meta-package for the desktop environment of your choice.

Also, I have moved Debian installations from one computer to another with no problems whatsoever. The only issue I can think of would be if you use the proprietary AMD or nVidia graphics drivers and the new machine uses the opposite (AMD->nVidia or nVidia->AMD), but even that wouldn't prevent the machine from booting and is fairly easily fixed.

[Colin McGregor]

Isn't that like saying should I move to deb to deb. How about moving from Ubuntu to Gentoo. Then come back and we can say good move lol

[Growled]

The thing I love about Ubuntu is that it's the best base out there. You can then take that base and make what you will of it. Nothing wrong with Mint, it is Ubuntu, but it's has a bunch of stuff installed that newcomers love but anyone that wants to control their install might not.

[xorangekiller]

Growled, on 19 December 2012 - 00:00, said:

The thing I love about Ubuntu is that it's the best base out there. You can then take that base and make what you will of it. Nothing wrong with Mint, it is Ubuntu, but it's has a bunch of stuff installed that newcomers love but anyone that wants to control their install might not.

To be fair, it depends heavily on the experience of the user and the level of control. Your argument is very similar to the reason I prefer Debian over Ubuntu. More experienced users generally want more control whereas less experienced users generally want greater ease-of-use. Mint provides a very polished, complete new user experience by focusing almost exclusively on the interface. Ubuntu provides excellent out-of-the-box hardware support and easy installation by focusing almost exclusively on seamless component integration. Debian provides a large software base and extreme customization by focusing on supporting every use-case as well as possible. Although each distribution has different goals, it is afforded that luxury by the support of the platform it is based on. However, if you know how you want your system setup, it might be a good idea to go to the base. Hence, one of the main reasons I use Debian instead of Ubuntu or Mint.

[Growled]

xorangekiller, on 19 December 2012 - 03:11, said:

Ubuntu provides excellent out-of-the-box hardware support and easy installation by focusing almost exclusively on seamless component integration.

Which is why I prefer Ubuntu and consider it a better base for me. You get all of the above plus Debian's great software. Nothing wrong with using Debian, though.

[Mindovermaster]

@Colin - I am not moving from one extreme to another. This is just a short bridge over the puddle. We're not crossing any oceans.

[jon.01]

I used to use Debian-based distros, but the packages were so out of date. I didn't want to break the system by adding repositories and updating pretty much every package on the system. Now I switched completely to an Ubuntu-based distro.

I was initially on Crunchbang but it just wasn't stable for me. I'd get problems mounting USB drives and the kernel was too old and didn't support the power saving on my wireless card so I just gave up.