Linux Mint from Debian from Ubuntu?

[Sherri is a Cat]

So I'm looking around for some answers. I stopped at an article I found on It's Foss. Now I have more questions.

I'm using Linux Mint. As I understand it...
Linux Mint is built on Debian
Debian is built on Ubuntu

If this is correct, does that mean I can use apps built for Ubuntu and Debian?

 

[Brickwizard]

YES AND NO
Linux mint 21. is built on Ubuntu, which in turn is built on Debian.
Linux Mint LMDE 6 is built directly on Debian
Debian is one of the 4 main [and oldest]Linux base distributions, on which nearly every other distribution is built
both versions of Linux Mint offer the same desktops and for the user the same experience, the main difference is LMDE doesn't have the Ubuntu bloat so runs slightly quicker,

I can use apps built for Ubuntu and Debian?

Linux apps are fairly universal and will run on most builds [a few minor exceptions] , You will have noticed many of the terminal instructions for mint and Ubuntu start sudo apt, APT is the Debian package manager and is used by most Debian based distributions.

 

[Condobloke]

Linux Mint LMDE 6

is worth keeping an eye on. It looks exactly the same as linux Mint....(without the ubuntu base)

Built by the same team who put Linux Mint together, headed by Clem. He does this just in case ubuntu 'falls over'.

 

[kc1di]

Debian is the base for ubuntu and ubuntu is the base for Mint in that order. Mint also has a LMDE which is based directly on Debian. Debian has been or is the base distro for many other distros including ubuntu & Mint.

 

[kc1di]

I went back to debian when Mint dropped KDE a few releases ago. And I find Debian 12 Bookworm to be much friendlier than earlier editions. But It's been rock solid and stable for me. Takes a bit more setup to get it the way i like it. But all works out in the end. That's not to take anything away from Mint they just chose to put their limited resource to work on GTK DE's and I understand the reasoning. Mint is a great distro. I just happen to like the KDE DE , That's the great thing with Linux we have Choices

 

[Trynna3]

Reading this topic, not sure what KDE is (lazy to search), but I was considering debian or Mint. Debian for the largest repository of apps and Mint for its simplicity and familiarity, coming from Windows. Now seeing there is Mint LMDE (not sure what LMDE means exactly) right on Debian. Does that mean Mint LMDE has more apps available than the other Mint?

 

[kc1di]

Reading this topic, not sure what KDE is (lazy to search), but I was considering debian or Mint. Debian for the largest repository of apps and Mint for its simplicity and familiarity, coming from Windows. Now seeing there is Mint LMDE (not sure what LMDE means exactly) right on Debian. Does that mean Mint LMDE has more apps available than the other Mint?

KDE stands for Kool Desktop Environment by some from the early days. It was a replacement to the old CDE (Common Desktop Environment ) Which was in common use back in the Unix days. KDE was developed to give some unifying look to the desktop. A bit later it adopted the QT library as opposed the GTK libs. You can read more about it's history here if you so inclined.

KDE - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

LMDE stands for Linux Mint Debian Edition. It's Linux Mint based directly on Debian as a base instead of their normal Ubuntu Base. It was started as an experiment to see if Mint could continue to have the same Desktop look in case Ubuntu ever went belly up or changed to the point that it could no longer be used as a base for Mint. It's a good Distro and has many of the Mint tools and access to debian stable /testing repositories.
Whatever you choose Debian 12 or LMDE 6 they are both good solid releases. I have choosen Debian for reasons of my own ( Primarily the KDE desktop). Happy Linuxing

 

[Trynna3]

Thanks, I am getting closer. Received a new SSD drive yesterday, so when I brave myself to swap them in the laptop I'll look into it.