LMDE 6 “Faye” released! – The Linux Mint Blog
blog.linuxmint.com

LMDE 6 has been officially released. The big deal about this is that it’s based on the recently released Debian 12 and also that being based on Debian LMDE is 100% community based.

If you’ve been disappointed by what the Linux corporations have been doing lately or don’t like the all-snap future that Ubuntu has opened, then this is the distro for you.

I’m running it as my daily driver and it works exactly like the regular Mint so you don’t lose anything. Clem and team have done a great job, even newbies could use Debian now.

Personally I think LMDE is the future of Linux as Ubuntu goes it’s own way, and this is a good thing for Mint and the Linux community. Let’s get back to community distros and move away from the corps.

EDIT: LMDE is 64bit only. There is no 32bit option.

  • @[email protected]
    16•2 years ago

    Very excited to see this. After having been through the last few Ubuntu versions, they have made some very frustrating decisions that have made the system management side a real pain.

    • danielfgomOPEnglish
      12•2 years ago

      Yes. The Mint team have done all the work that you normally would have to with Debian, to give you a nice stable, fast and full featured desktop system.

      Plus they keep Cinnamon up to date over the years. Even though the Debian base will remain the same (apart from any security patches/important updates) you’ll always have the latest Cinnamon desktop and utilities from Mint like Timeshift, Warpinator etc

      Btw Warpinator works like Airdrop. Install the app on your Android, pair to LMDE and you can easily send and receive files and photos between phone and desktop.

        • danielfgomOPEnglish
          8•2 years ago

          KDE Connect is more full featured. It can also show phone notifications on Linux, copy clipboard, screen mirror your android to Linux.

          Warpinator is literally just to transfer files wirelessly.

    • @[email protected]
      9•2 years ago

      I would say Mint adds more to Debian than EndeavourOS adds to Arch.

      For one thing, Mint has its own DE ( Cinnamon ). You can install this on other distros but it was made for Mint and it is the DE experience out-of-the-box on LMDE.

  • @[email protected]
    8•2 years ago

    I just installed it in a VM to check it out, as I’m not a Cinnamon guy usually, and I really like it! I need to try it out on metal and see how it handles games, but so far I’m really happy.

  • @[email protected]
    2•2 years ago

    I would’ve jumped on this instantly, but I finally landed on a Min21 configuration that works well. New laptop => new hardware => need new nvidia driver => need new kernel.

    Which kernel does LMDE currently ship with?

  • palordrolap
    29•2 years ago

    Copypasting: (source)

    The cautious approach for LMDE5 users: If your system is working fine and there are no especially must-have features in LMDE6, there is almost certainly no rush to upgrade. Take your time.

    Make backups. Test backups. Play games. Work. Do things entirely unrelated to the distro.

    You could even almost (aaalmost) completely forget about LMDE6 (but do keep an eye on the LM blog).

    The Mint team haven’t announced an EOL date for LMDE5 yet, but if past dates are anything to go by, it’ll be at least 18 months before they pull the plug. Even then, LTS updates might still filter through from Debian proper.

    [How many people will actually see this message and how many it actually applies to out of them might well include me and literally one other guy somewhere else on the planet, but if you’re that one guy, breathe friend. No rush.]

    • SparkingEnglish
      0•2 years ago

      I’m not super familiar with the goals of the mint project. But this is generally a bad approach to take with project development. Even if you plan on offering LTS, it is always preferable to have users on the most up to date version. Going through the pain of supporting multiple versions of commercial software at work has taught me that lesson the (very) hard way.

      • palordrolap
        4•2 years ago

        To some extent I think they’re thinking of people who are in the Windows/Mac situation of wanting a stable OS that doesn’t require getting hands dirty (so to speak) every 5 minutes to do basic things, and who generally call in a relative or friend who knows what they’re doing (and is almost certainly the person who installed Mint in the first place) when things really need changing.

        There’s never more than two LMDEs active at any one time, so while they are giving themselves a little extra work, they’re also managing the main Ubuntu-based Mint derivatives at the same time so they’re bound to have some kind of streamlining at their side.

        As for 5-to-6 upgrades, they’ve provided an official tool that will work for most people and will require very little admin user interaction once it’s off and running. A sensible sysadmin would like to have a backup anyway, just in case.

        My initial comment was aimed at the odd rare case like myself who isn’t always up for sysadmin work (it’s why I’m on Mint after all), or doesn’t have the time. There’s no immediate rush to use that official tool. Take your time. Make your backups, etc.

        If you want bleeding-edge rolling updates, Mint is not the distro for you (though LMDE is a little closer to that than regular Mint).

        Do they keep up with security updates and patches, though? Yes. Very much so.

      • palordrolap
        1•2 years ago

        That sounds like one of the “especially must-have” features I was talking about. Maybe I was thinking about less serious things when I said it (gotta have that shiny new program that only works in 6 or whatever), but it still fits.

    • danielfgomOPEnglish
      2•2 years ago

      Literally the only difference is that regular Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and LMDE is based on Debian.

      So LM will use the Ubuntu repo and any additions to the code Ubuntu made, whereas LMDE will use the Debian repos and their code.

      At the moment LMDE actually has a newer kernel (6) than LM (5) and newer apps, but that will change with the next version of Linux Mint when it should catch up.

      And finally, LMDE is also available in 32bit as well as 64bit, whereas LM is 64bit only.

        • @[email protected]
          3•2 years ago

          They’re pretty much the same to novice users, only differing in packages versions (including the kernel, as OP mentioned).

          I am guessing this is kinda the point, to make it as similar as possible, since Linux Mint team is looking to replace its main base to Debian from Ubuntu.

    • @[email protected]
      5•2 years ago
      1. Desktop Theming: LMDE is gonna look like Mint out of the box, while Debian is gonna look like this
      2. Mint Software repositories and Mint’s System tools, like Mint Install or Mint Update, on LMDE
      3. LMDE is installed with Calamares, which is a little more user friendly than Debian’s installer

      If you’re an advanced user there’s no big difference overall, but for a new user LMDE is gonna be a little easier to approach

  • @[email protected]English
    11•2 years ago

    So I’m showi my my extreme age but I remember when Mint was born as a sort of windows-like Ubuntu for easy migration. Has it carved out a reason for existing for folks that don’t want a windows like experience?

    • @[email protected]English
      19•2 years ago

      It’s just a generally solid, stable, and easy to use distro. I use EndeavourOS nowadays, but when I was first getting started Mint was what I always returned to after spats of distro hopping. As far as it’s primary DE, Cinnamon, it’s less “windows like” and more “not gnome like”. Every DE that isn’t gnome could be called “windows like” in my experience.

      • @[email protected]
        5•2 years ago

        This. Mint is the only distro I’ve found where I’ve truly never needed the CLI if I didn’t feel like using it.

  • @[email protected]English
    81•2 years ago

    I’ve never had a use for Linux Mint myself, but I’m still happy to see them cut out the middle man and base it directly off of Debian. Hopefully being closer to the source will result in even more upstream contributions.

    • @[email protected]
      20•2 years ago

      Oh, no. They consider Ubuntu the best APT base out there, and even after some trouble with Canonical, they insist on basing Mint on Ubuntu. This is a plan B, it came precisely after the differences between Mint and Ubuntu were public, but I can’t find any source of that episode between Canonical and Clemente Lefebvre.

      EDIT: Found one.

      • @[email protected]
        9•2 years ago

        Big thing about being based on Ubuntu is that the community support is the biggest. Any issue you find, you can google, and there’s a 99% chance there’ll be an answer for Ubuntu which can be applied as-is to Mint.

        • @[email protected]
          5•2 years ago

          True, but it’s not like Ubuntu is this unique distribution with very peculiar software. Most of the time, no matter which distro I use, the best reference to solve any problem is the Arch wiki.

      • @[email protected]English
        6•2 years ago

        Ah, my bad. I thought LM was going all in on Debian. Well, I’m glad they’re at least providing the option then.

        • neo (he/him)English
          6•2 years ago

          They want to be able to provide the option should Ubuntu go off the reservation

      • danielfgomOPEnglish
        1•2 years ago

        Definitely. I’m assuming that it’s a 64bit CPU, but even if it’s 32bit they’ll have that too

  • @[email protected]
    3•2 years ago

    SteamOS is debian based right? does that mean LMDE will benefit from valve’s commits in some ways mint wouldnt have otherwise?