The Linux Mint project has announced version 5 of its Debian edition, code-named Elsie.

Linux Mint is one of the longest-running and most polished distros downstream of Ubuntu, and really took off after Ubuntu switched to the controversial Unity desktop with 11.04. Around that time, Mint 12 retained a Windows-like look and feel that later [1]evolved into the Cinnamon desktop.

This won it a lot of converts who didn't care for Ubuntu's more Mac-like look. Even thought Ubuntu [2]killed Unity and switched back to GNOME, it's GNOME 3 – still very unlike Windows. Mint provides familiarity for the many people who feel more comfy with a taskbar, a start menu, and so on.

[3]

We [4]looked at Mint 20 when it came out a couple of years ago, and last January, the [5]latest 20.3 release , too – which includes a natively packaged version of Firefox, direct from Mozilla, instead of Ubuntu's Snap version. In fact it's notable that [6]Mint eschews Ubuntu's Snap apps altogether. Instead, you get Red Hat-style Flatpaks.

[7]

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Linux Mint Debian Edition – LMDE for short – is the other flavour of Mint. Instead of being based on the stable LTS version of Ubuntu, LMDE is directly based on Debian, which is largely Ubuntu's upstream. [9]LMDE 5 is based on Debian 11, code-named [10]Bullseye .

The thing is, though, it's hard to tell. LMDE uses the same Cinnamon desktop as its Ubuntu-based sibling. It has the latest native Firefox from Mozilla, rather than Debian's [11]outdated ESR version that's tricky to update. It has Flatpak integrated as well, along with multimedia codecs and so on. It has the same tools as the default Ubuntu-based edition, for software updates, backup, and so on.

Hello Slackware, our old friend: Veteran Linux distribution releases version 15.0 at last [12]READ MORE

There are advantages to being close to a widely used desktop distro. For instance, sometimes desktop users need third-party drivers, such as for graphics cards or printers. Ubuntu has first-rate driver support. If you encounter issues, it's often easy to find Ubuntu-based solutions online, and they are very likely to work, at least so long as they don't depend on a specific desktop.

Debian is rather more polished than it used to be, as well. The old joke is that Ubuntu is an ancient word, meaning: "I can't configure Debian." (It [13]doesn't , but it's a good gag.)

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That jibe's not true any more. Contemporary Debian is relatively easy: you can readily [15]add Flatpak support – or [16]Snap if you prefer, or both – and install non-FOSS [17]firmware and so on. Bullseye includes Cinnamon, too, albeit a slightly older [18]version .

Even so, LMDE 5 does make it a smoother, easier process, and it looks good, too. If you want to run Debian on a desktop or laptop, you don't mind (or even actively need) non-FOSS codecs or firmware, and you're not a Debian guru, then Elsie is a solid choice.

The positions of the Mint project and Ubuntu seem to be diverging. Ubuntu officially favors GNOME 3, while Mint has built its own next-gen desktop. Ubuntu favors its own Snaps, whereas Mint favors Flatpak. Ubuntu is packaging fast-changing apps such as Firefox as Snaps, whereas [19]Mint favors natively packaged browsers. And Mint, as ever, includes non-FOSS freeware such as codecs and apps such as Spotify in its repos.

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Other Ubuntu-based distros have switched upstream and moved to Debian in the past, such as the [21]late Crunchbang Linux. Up to version 9, it used Ubuntu; 10 and onward used Debian, as do its continuing derivatives [22]BunsenLabs and [23]Crunchbang++ . We wouldn't be surprised to see a future version of Mint sideline its Ubuntu-derived edition in favor of the Debian edition, or even discontinue it altogether. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2013/10/29/cinnamon_2_0_review/

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/05/ubuntu_euthanizes_unity/

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YjW33oMlat5narqOrI7aHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/01/linux_mint_20/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/12/mint_203_mozilla/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/02/linux_mint_team_snap/

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YjW33oMlat5narqOrI7aHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YjW33oMlat5narqOrI7aHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[9] https://linuxmint.com/rel_elsie.php

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/16/debian_11/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/10/debian_firefox_issues/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/07/slackware/

[13] https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307

[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YjW33oMlat5narqOrI7aHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[15] https://wiki.debian.org/FlatPak

[16] https://snapcraft.io/docs/installing-snap-on-debian

[17] https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware

[18] https://www.linuxcapable.com/how-to-cinnamon-desktop-environment-on-debian-11-bullseye/

[19] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/02/linux_mint_chromium_build/

[20] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YjW33oMlat5narqOrI7aHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[21] https://www.theregister.com/2015/02/09/brit_linux_distro_crunchbang_calls_it_quits

[22] https://www.bunsenlabs.org/

[23] https://crunchbangplusplus.org/

[24] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/