Linux Mint or Ubuntu?

[renegade7]

So basically I'm wanting to get my computer set up as a Linux-Windows dual boot. But I can't decide which to use.

I learned Linux by using Mint at Summer camp a couple years back. I've also used it a few times since and I'm kind of familiar with it.

But Ubuntu is apparently much larger and more widely supported.

Recommendation please?

 

[Bellvedere]

Mint is a variant of Ubuntu (which is a variant of Debian). Everything that works on Ubuntu should also work on Linux Mint.

You're looking at the two most popular Linux distributions and they're free. If you like you can get virtual box and test them both out. Or just go with Mint since that's what you're already familiar with. There's no bad choice.

 

[AWAR]

I've used both and Mint is definitely superior imo. As it's already mentioned, it's basically ubuntu under the hood so you will be fine support-wise.

 

[DoPo]

I have been using Mint for a few years now and I am quite happy. I switched to it shortly before Unity came about and only tried out Unity really recently and I did not like it. I wood suggest Mint as you get all packages Ubuntu has plus all the support (if you just Google "Ubuntu" plus your issue and you will probably get a solution most of the time) plus more options and minus Unity. If you really wish to, you can install unity, too but I do not think you would, if you don't like it already. I would also suggest you get the KDE version of Mint. Either that or Xfce. I used to be a fan of Cinnamon but I really like the other two more now. Especially KDE. But Xfce is a close second.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Neither. Manjaro [http://manjaro.org]. Well, it works best for me anyway. I've seen a lot of complaints about Ubuntu development becoming "sloppy" and I didn't think much of it until I used Manjaro. All the Ubuntu based distros I used always had issues, mostly when going into and out of sleep mode. Every time the computer woke up, some thing would stop working. Sound, wifi, mouse, etc. I just assumed Linux had a few kinks the user needed to work out. But Manjaro just straight up worked for me but minus bluetooth (I'll figure it out eventually). Linux distos are based on the same desktop environments, Xfce, Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, etc are all used by different distros. So long as you use the same desktop environment you learned in summer camp, you would be good

But that distro is Arch based and though I've found plenty of support for it, I can't say it has nearly the same amount of support as Ubuntu does. Since you asked Mint vs Ubuntu, I'd go with Mint. I preferred their desktops to Ubuntu and they ran pretty well and I liked their bundled software like Banshee music player. I agree with DoPo, KDE and Xfce are great desktops. KDE is sleek and Xfce is so fast and productive. You also might want to try ZorinOS. Its Ubuntu and its basically a Windows 7 clone so its easy for new comers, but it also looks cool and space-y

 

[DoPo]

I used Manjaro. All the Ubuntu based distros I used always had issues, mostly when going into and out of sleep mode.

Actually yes. Well, sort of yes. I didn't have (many) issues on Mint Cinnamon 13-14, although very rarely after waking up the screen of my laptop would refuse to go back on. Still, that's really, really rare - I've experienced it probably half a dozen times over a couple of years and I very rarely turn off the laptop, so it mostly sleeps any time I stop using it. But now at work I have a Mint 16 KDE setup and absolutely every time it wakes up, something goes wrong with the dual monitors - instead of extending the display, it clones it, for some reason, which is very weird and it also refuses to believe there is more than one display. Worse still, after googling my issue, I couldn't find anybody who had exactly the same problem - one person only had issues with triple displays, another with dual displays but only if he went through sleep -> wake up -> sleep -> wake up (i.e., after the second sleep), a third had the issue only when using specific connectors (for example a DVI and an HDMI or something) to plug into the PC and so on. All of them slightly different.

Still if sleeping is not an issue for you, then it wouldn't be too bad.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Actually yes. Well, sort of yes. I didn't have (many) issues on Mint Cinnamon 13-14, although very rarely after waking up the screen of my laptop would refuse to go back on. Still, that's really, really rare - I've experienced it probably half a dozen times over a couple of years and I very rarely turn off the laptop, so it mostly sleeps any time I stop using it. But now at work I have a Mint 16 KDE setup and absolutely every time it wakes up, something goes wrong with the dual monitors - instead of extending the display, it clones it, for some reason, which is very weird and it also refuses to believe there is more than one display. Worse still, after googling my issue, I couldn't find anybody who had exactly the same problem - one person only had issues with triple displays, another with dual displays but only if he went through sleep -> wake up -> sleep -> wake up (i.e., after the second sleep), a third had the issue only when using specific connectors (for example a DVI and an HDMI or something) to plug into the PC and so on. All of them slightly different.

Still if sleeping is not an issue for you, then it wouldn't be too bad.

Full disclosure: I'm a bit of a newfag when it comes to Linux. I've only started using it heavily for the last 3 or 4 months. As such, the Ubuntu based distros I've used have been based on Ubuntu 13 like Mint 16, ZorinOS 8, Peppermint 4, and the different Ubuntu desktops. Every Ubuntu distro had some issue with waking up, which is a problem because I've only been installing new OS's on my cheap, travel netbook which goes to sleep a few times a day. Most common was probably refusing to turn my wifi back on, with Xfce I would always lose sound, sometimes the screen wouldn't turn on, and sometimes my computer would cock tease me with a bluetooth icon showing up in the taskbar only for it to not work. A lot of the fixes were a little too involved for me or seemed like they would take a lot of time when I'd rather try a new distro. Manjaro impressed me, it runs as stable, features barring bluetooth work, their bootloader automatically boots the last used OS, its a rolling release but they only use stable updates, and their forums are great. The community's polite and there's a lot of help threads. I've heard asking for help with Arch elsewhere will lead to "git gud" or "go back to Ubuntu" responses.

But, I agree. If your using a tower or a laptop that you don't put to sleep, any of the Ubuntu distros would be fine