MX-23.1 vs LINUX 21.2 MINT MATE

[cornemuse]

I didnt want to steer another similar thread away from where it is going, so, new thread!

Which of the two (title) would be better(?)
I have been running a version of mint-mate, not cinnamon. I forgot password so cannot upgrade anything, Firefox for one.
I wanted to modify/change things, but, no p/w.
So, I am thinking, update my o/s.
Its for mostly online, nothing fancy.
I'll be 77 in 2 months, like I said, keep it simple "s!"
I actually prefered Ubuntu before v .12?. They TOTALLY screwed up the desktop, with the [hidden] top & bottom toolbars.

-corne-

[Hoser Rob]

I'm an ex Mint user running MX 21 KDE now as my main box. Cinnamon is the 'flagship' Mint desktop version but I actually prefer Mate. IMHO Cinnamon is all sizzle and little steak, considering it's not light. I'd struggle to recommend Cinnamon over Gnome. Gnome and KDE have the best dev resources of any Linux desktop, and that matters a lot.

Not exactly sure what you mean by Ubuntu 12. You mean 12.04 and the Unity desktop? Yes, that was rubbish but it's long gone. Ubuntu 'features' Gnome now but they support many other desktop versions. Including all the ones Mint supports.

I prefer MX these days because it's based on Debian Stable, which is more stable than Ubuntu (and Mint, which is Ubuntu based). But you get older software than Ubuntu. That's just how Linux works. Doesn't bug me at all as long as stuff works and the browsers are getting the security updates. And MX comes with great tools. They're just a good bunch of geeks.

If you're a new user, however, the only Linux distros I would recommend are Ubuntu and Mint, and that's due to their support. MX is pretty damn good at that for a smaller distro but still not quite as good for newbies. However, while the Mint site is better at getting your questions answered, the UBuntu sites are better at getting correct answers. You know how some forums attract know nothings who think they know it all and have been flamed off better forums? Mint's is a classic example.

The Mint forum is fine for simple noob stuff but any issues that are on a deeper system level? Not so great on most subjects. I actually got the vast majority of my useful Mint support info from Ubuntu and Arch support sites.

[Swedaniel]

Well MX sound much cooler then MINT! I dont think i could ever use an OS named MINT! Maybe Salmiak, but not mint!

[cornemuse]

Thanks for suggestions! Keep 'em coming!

mean by Ubuntu 12. You mean 12.04

yes, just rounding off the numbers!

I started with ubuntu, about 5 (rounded off!)
Never did much with the actual O/S, mainly on-line with Firefox

-c-

[DeJay]

Following ditching Manjaro after 7 1/2 years, I've tried Linux Mint with various desktops a couple of times, but it never really excited me even though it did work well. I now have MX-23, Xfce on one machine, KDE on another and have no complaints.

By the way, I AM 77 !

[sophisticles]

MX has some nice tools, but honestly i would use neither.

For years I was a big fan of the Mate DE but in all honesty it's gone downhill the past few years. I have had screen tearing, freezing when opening a folder with a lot of files in it, freezing when copying a lot of files, it's just not that good anymore.

i recently tried Fedora Mate, it too had those problems. I tried Fedora KDE, which uses Wayland, and while it was better there were some graphical glitches and minor annoyances, enough that I got tired of using it in a couple of days.

I decided to give Kubuntu a shot and so far so good. Nearly all of the issues have been resolved and it's a fairly pleasant experience.

As long as you don't expect too much from it, The Ubuntu family of distros are a solid offering, as are the OpenSuse based Gecko Linux variants, and the Debian based Spiral Linux offerings by the same creator.

Low expectations is the name of the game with Linux distros, keep in mind that it's a legally free OS that the various vendors can barely give away for free. If it was any good they would be charging for it.

If you want reliable, simple, dependable and just works use Windows.

If you want a half-baked, kind of, sort of works, in the way you are happy that your pet dog understands the "sit" command, pick a Linux distro and count on eventually banging your head against the wall and wondering what the hell you were thinking.

This is coming from someone with 2 college degrees, one in Cyber Security with certification as a Unix System Admin, typing this from Kubuntu, which i use for AI programming and web development.

Just keep your expectations realistic and you will be fine.