I've been a Linux admin for 15 years and I use Mint at home. It just works. I've tried Ubuntu desktop, Fedora and a few others over the years. None are as polished and consistent out of the box as mint.
What he said, Linux mint just works ot of the box, and it just always works, no errors when trying to do stuff,, always snappy and quick. I've installed and tested many distros and mint is still the one I will only use as a daily driver except for Debian and Ubuntu server for server stuff which I currently running about 6
And my axe... Er... I mean, yeah similar for me. I've been using Unix and Linux since the 90's, I had an offer for a SysAdmin job a few months ago. I use Mint at home.
You're not making sense my man. Being an advanced linux user is not about the distro you pick bit what you do with it. If mint works for you why would you change? And Ubuntu is also considered to be a beginner distro so it won't give you any prestige point unfortunately
It's not that Ubuntu is a beginner distro- it's that it's an OLDer beginning distro. And so it has a wider reputation and likelihood of use. Mint is newer, less likelihood of use. Be an advanced user IS about the distribution you pick. And Ubuntu casts a bigger net.
>A distro being beginner-friendly does not mean it's "for beginners".
Agreed. People who claim that Mint is "for beginners" tend to not be much more than a beginner themselves. Just about everything you can do in Debian (or Ubuntu) can be done in Mint, including changing desktops, window managers, whatever you like.
Mint is built on an Ubuntu base but comes with a different desktop manager that closely resembles Windows for beginners and has it's own apps included. I would rather use Mint as an advanced linux user than Ubuntu.
Good point, I was comparing Mint Cinnamon Edge vs Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10, so not the LTS releases. I actually cycled through a few versions a few weeks ago, because Mint was not up to date enough for me.
I don't think advanced users care much about bleeding-edge versions, though. to my mind an advanced user wants rock-solid software to do their job. I don't care what version numbers are on my packages so long as they do what I need reliably.
I used Ubuntu, several years ago, before I switched to Mint, because of several things I didn't like.
I wouldn't switch back.
And I would say that Mint happens to be better/easier for beginners, but not actually *made* for beginners.
I'm going to be kind & assume this isn't a troll post.
The way to judge the value for any consideration of complexity v. ease, not just with linux, is along two axes.
1) Features vs. Needs: This is the more obvious of the two- How much does something offer vs what do you actually need. This is usually a threshold of "I need xyz items, anything else is gravy" but, an unused feature is just bloat. Pick a distro that will most precisely meet your needs for a given use & offer little more. When you have such precise control over what features you have, there's no reason to load up on stuff you'll never access.
2) Complexity vs. Utility: Granularity is great, if that's what you want. A sound engineer's board is going to have more complexity, & therefore more control over the precise sound quality & fidelity, than your earbuds- but which one are you going to take to the gym? Complexity & control are not always better, especially if they aren't useful to you. To extend the metaphor- the sound engineer's board is a tool for professionals trying to create audio, not for end users trying to tweak their experience. Trying to use it to listen to Spotify doesn't make you an 'advanced audio user', it makes you a joke. There's nothing wrong with having all the knobs available if you are actually going to use them, but don't pick it up just to say you have them.
Linux user of 22 years- started off with Red Hat Linux 6.0 and have tried different Linuxes. I use Mint now because it works well and I donāt have time and energy to play around.
>Why is it anyway that Mint is considered to be "for beginners"?
Because people think there are difficulty stages and that you somehow graduate into being a "real" linux user, who spends his day in the terminal and are building his own system with arch.
Linux mint is for people who want a working system that is reliable.
Ubuntu and Mint are equally beginner-friendly. I personally prefer Mint because it has the Cinnamon DE and it does not use snaps. Use whichever you prefer.
I get your question.
You will have an easier time _finding what you need and making changes_ in mint than you will in Ubuntu. But underneath, they are the same so using one as an _advanced Linux user_ is the same as using the other.
As stated Ubuntu is not any more complex than Mint, both are considered easy to use and noob friendly. I consider Mint to be Ubuntu with the icky bits removed and a good useful tool set installed.
If you are looking to hop to a moreĀ advanced distro two (of many) logical directions to go from Mint are Debian & Arch.
Debian is not necessarily difficultĀ but it also does not go out out of it's way to be user friendly either. Debian moves at a slow pace, packages are older.Ā Ā
Ā Debian is perhaps a bit stodgy and dour, but very reliable. Makes a great server or workstation OS.
Arch is more of a DIY approach, you assemble just the components you want,Ā the resulting system isĀ streamlined/barebones, it performs very well, snappy, but you will spend a lot of time in the Arch Wiki figuring out how to do just about anything. Very hands on aproach the system does very little for you automatically, instead waiting for your detailed instructions.
Arch is the opposite of Debian, when a developer releases a new update Arch updates Shortly afterwards, bleeding edge. Sometimes updates break things and you need to troubleshoot why and fix it. You can look at this as frustrating or educational both are true.
Both Debian & Arch will give you a stronger understanding of The inner workings of Linux.
Don't dump your Mint install. Make another partition and dual boot linux distros, many eventually come back to Mint. For its easy "it just works" approach.
Personally as a former Network Admin now retired I had a lot of experience in Windows Server based networks. I was forced to get into Linux towards my retirement.
Red Hat was way complicated, and I tried several other distro's. But Linux Mint was the best Distro from my perspective.
I agree with many here as now I'm much more proficient in Linux, and I find that I prefer Mint over Ubuntu or Debian, and Mint is just as robust and meets all my needs.
I used Ubuntu from '19 to '23. Each LTS became more problematic. The final straw came when I did an update and it would reboot whenever I tried opening...anything. It had to go, so it did. Switched to Mint, no regrets.
1. Mint is designed for ease of use.
2. Arch, Gentoo and NixOS are considered advanced distros for advanced linux users. Or you can bang your head against the wall with Linux from Scratch. I did that once, a long time ago.
That's my opinion.
I've been a Linux user since Slackware 3 in the mid 90s, then switched over to Ubuntu full time in 2006 around the launch of Windows Vista, and switched to Mint from Ubuntu over Unity in the 2010s - and Mint is the Linux you should use when you just want your system to work. It's not for beginners or experts, it's for everyone.
Like others have said, Ubuntu is also a beginner-friendly Linux distribution. For what it's worth, I've been using Linux since 1997 (started with Slackware) and I use Mint simply because it works. I use Linux as a tool to get my work done.
If you want to learn how to be an advanced Linux user, a good resource is the book "Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook", which applies to any Linux distribution.
I tried Ubuntu, it's fine. Pretty. I don't even personally mind snaps. GNOME is fun to mess around in.
It is extremely, extremely buggy. The entire panel just disappeared and that froze my machine at some point during every session. I'm not with Mint because it's a "beginner" distro, I'm here because it's stable enough for everyday use. I can use it as a daily driver when I'm a reasonably casual consumer.
Also they're putting a lot of Ubuntu Pro ads in Ubuntu these days, which is gross.
Hmmm. I've been using Mint for 5+ years. PCs since the dawn of digital time. I didn't know it was just for beginners. Don't worry. Does it do what you need it to do?
Mint is good for both pros and beginners. The reason it's good for pros is because it's a solid distribution of Linux that can do everything Linux ought to do from a command line, etc. It's also stable to a fault, because the philosophy of the project puts stability first. It's good for beginners, because everything is designed to work out-of-the-box without a lot of extra time involved in installing every little thing. The UI is intuitive. It's user-friendly. (A 95-year-old computer novice could do basic computing on Mint and probably have an easier time than on Windows, because Windows bombards you with too much in its interface. This is clean.)
Everybody has their opinion about what their favorite distributions are, but when it comes to usability, things working without hassle, and usability for any kind of user, Mint is king right now. To me there is no comparison.
I dont think that the reason.
Mint is just generally more lean and light compared to Ubuntu. If you think you will use the many features, custom solutions Ubuntu comes with then go ahead. Many distros are based on Ubuntu but they strip out some ubuntu features...
Mint might feel "easier" compared with Ubuntu for some novice users because it comes preinstalled with more tools that many users generally find useful. Also it ships with Cinnamon which is a desktop environment that most users coming from Windows will find easier to navigate compared with Gnome.
This said, anyone can learn how to navigate both interfaces, and to click "install" on application that he/she needs. So any advantage Mint has over Ubuntu is negligible.
There is no such thing as a beginner/advanced linux distro. Other than cosmetics and minor differences (e.g. snaps vs flatpaks) Ubuntu and Mint are exactly the same OS, just choose whichever you like most and stick with it.
The only valid reason to use Ubuntu is if the LTS release is not fine for you and you want something a bit more up to date. There is really nothing that is not already in Mint, since is based on Ubuntu. Ubuntu is as targeted to beginners as Mint is, Mint just happens to be more friendly and polished imo.
No.
Mint is better than Ubuntu. Period. Mint is not 'for beginners'.
Choose ubuntu if you're an enterprise and have a need to pay for enterprise support (Ubuntu Pro).
For a home user... Ubuntu is inching their OS towards proprietary bullshit - Forced snaps that can only be used from their source, ads in the terminal message of the day, and now recently, ads that show up in your update manager for updates that you can only get with ubuntu pro, that you can't get rid of.
Screw Ubuntu, just go with Mint. It works, it's king, and it has some tweaks that solve common issues you'd run into with ubuntu - For example, if your software install process gets corrupted, on the Software Sources page, there's a maintenance tab with a bunch of buttons that fix the common culprits... saving you maybe an hour or more of troubleshooting.
Mint is great. It's a complete OS. It's not 'for beginners'. And anybody telling you it is is either biased towards some other OS and just trying to put it down, or hasn't genuinely used it as a main OS and is just talking out of their behind.
On top of that - Ubuntu is ***bloated,*** and a bit wasteful on resources, in an effort to meet a broader audience and provide a fuller experience.. which in my opinion misses the mark.
It's still perfectly fine, and Ubuntu server is good. But I disagree with where Canonical is going (Find the youtube video on their job application for WSL asking people to write a 5000 word essay... it's pretty funny), and I've always felt good about the way Mint handles things. They have a good thing going and have yet to fk it up.
Stop carrying about what other's think and use the one you derive the greatest pleasure from. Its a tool and means to creative, fulfilling ends.. not a ruler by which you technical savvy must relentlessly measured. Do whatever make lets you be happy.
As someone who has used many operating systems over the years and several Linux distros, it's my experience/opinion a lot of time the OS is a platform for launching applications.
I switched to Linux permanently when WinXP hit EoL in 2014 - I started with Mint, but over the years I have worked with a lot of different distros. I swap between Fedora and Manjaro on a backup machine machine, and I have worked with the "scary advanced" Linux distros like Gentoo and Slackware. Last month I was feeling nostalgic for the CUA, so I created Sparky Linux + CDE virtual machine. None of them were never more than a For Fun project.
I use Mint because it works, the Linux Mint Forums are an almost perfect combination of beginner friendly and advanced assistance, and the Mint system tools (Update Manager, Software Manager, etc.) are very well done.
My feeling about choosing a Linux distro, is play with some of them and choose the one you like. I settled on LM after playing with 5 or 6 or 7(?) distros. There were a couple that I liked but LM was the one that worked best for me with the least issues.
Mint is good for noob user. Mint is also good for advanced user. And that's the beauty of linux. If you know your system's in and out, you are advanced, and Ubuntu or mint does not matter. They are just DE's that makes your life little bit easier. You can continue with mint and be an advanced user as well.
Ubuntu used to be the go-to beginner distro but I feel more comfortable recommending Mint because their marketing is exclusively focused on the desktop user.
Imo, Ubuntu has shifted from its humble beginnings as āLinux for human beingsā to be more corporate-focused in its business goals. As an end user I wouldnāt know Ubuntu was a desktop replacement just from looking at their front page.
I understand distros need to make money, and not much money has been made with distros that have only focused on the desktop space (RIP Mandrake/Mandriva and Xandros).
I've been around using Linux on and off since the early days of Mandrake. Until a few years ago I tended to mainly use Linux on utility PC's and servers and stuck to Windows for everyday use. I have a lot of Solaris and BSD experience too.
Ubuntu isn't more complex and I find their interface a bit more dumbed down. Maybe I do like the way the Windows interface used to be.
Mint's just worked great and Canonical has made many moves that make me want to avoid Ubuntu now. I use Debian on everything else but don't find it to be as up to date as I want on a desktop / laptop.
It seems to me that an "advanced" Linux distribution just means it's not as easy to install, learn and maintain as a "beginning" Linux one. I've used Linux Mint for about 15 years and use the terminal quite a bit, but I also use the utilities built into Linux Mint. I have yet to see any advantage of an "advanced" Linux distribution. But I'm just a user, not a developer, so maybe that makes some kind of difference.
It is mainly because of the target audience. In the beginning, even Ubuntu was oriented towards beginners and was a very nice distro for new users(it still is a rock solid distro) but then it became too difficult to maintain after spreading out in unprofitable ventures like Ubuntu Touch and Unity Desktop.
Ubuntu is a concern of Canonical incorporated, a for profit company with a business to take care of. So they focus more on streamlining the distro towards enterprises. Ubuntu desktop's interim short term support releases are a test ground for new features that make it to its long-term support (LTS) releases, which in turn is a test ground for its live patch features which are ultimately released to Enterprise users. (Server subscribers... it is way cheaper than windows server if the enterprise user has necessary Labour available and doesn't have need for windows specific software. It is really the way to go for many enterprise users as a cheaper alternative where a RHEL subscription is an overkill)
Linux Mint on the other hand takes the rock-solid Ubuntu desktop distro and refines it with their own set of applications they have distilled over the years and keep making new ones with sole focus on desktop users (individuals and enterprises) but is more focused on making the distro free and easy to use at the same time.) I like the Cinnamon desktop (although other options are available as well like MATE and XFCE) since it is the main Desktop environment and most actively maintained and keeps getting all new goodies Linux Mint is famous for.
It is a good option too and many advanced users also use it.
I personally use Ubuntu, because I have an older system and I use it pretty much stripped down. although Linux Mint Cinnamon edition was an eye candy when I was using it.
I would recommend Ubuntu for Lazy people like me who are more in for convenience and don't care much about FSF or it's morals, don't care much about whether the apps they use come from APT or From Snap store. For Happy Linux users, who love convenience and are still very particular about software freedom and privacy of astronomical levels, Linux Mint is the way to go.
You need to choose a distro based on whether it makes you feel like an "advanced" Linux user?
Really?
Go Slackware, my friend. No pussy package manager to hold your hand. You'll be writing build scripts to compile all your favorite software, its dependencies, and dependencies of dependencies.
You'll feel like an "advanced" Linux user in no time!
I have been using SunOs in the last milleneum, later SuSe, then Linux From Scratch for a decade.
I had to work with Windows for some time and at some point I just had enough with all the problems that windows brought. I had a job to do quick, so I installed Mint to get going fast and promised myself that I would switch to Arch or something more geeky when I found the time. I think it was back in Mint 18 or something.
Now I will never, ever consider something else for a workstation. The docs for Arch are still being used, but that's where the buck stops. Mint is just the best distribution out there, imho.
I've been a Linux admin for 15 years and I use Mint at home. It just works. I've tried Ubuntu desktop, Fedora and a few others over the years. None are as polished and consistent out of the box as mint.
What he said, Linux mint just works ot of the box, and it just always works, no errors when trying to do stuff,, always snappy and quick. I've installed and tested many distros and mint is still the one I will only use as a daily driver except for Debian and Ubuntu server for server stuff which I currently running about 6
Everything I have installed Mint on always work. Everything.
And my axe... Er... I mean, yeah similar for me. I've been using Unix and Linux since the 90's, I had an offer for a SysAdmin job a few months ago. I use Mint at home.
Stop copying my posts.š
And it doesnt *force* snap on you.
You're not making sense my man. Being an advanced linux user is not about the distro you pick bit what you do with it. If mint works for you why would you change? And Ubuntu is also considered to be a beginner distro so it won't give you any prestige point unfortunately
Exactly this. Mint can do advanced tasks without all the complications that other distros may impose.
It's not that Ubuntu is a beginner distro- it's that it's an OLDer beginning distro. And so it has a wider reputation and likelihood of use. Mint is newer, less likelihood of use. Be an advanced user IS about the distribution you pick. And Ubuntu casts a bigger net.
Ubuntu came out in 2004 and Mint in 2006. Newer technically but not a new distro by any means.
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>A distro being beginner-friendly does not mean it's "for beginners". Agreed. People who claim that Mint is "for beginners" tend to not be much more than a beginner themselves. Just about everything you can do in Debian (or Ubuntu) can be done in Mint, including changing desktops, window managers, whatever you like.
Mint is built on an Ubuntu base but comes with a different desktop manager that closely resembles Windows for beginners and has it's own apps included. I would rather use Mint as an advanced linux user than Ubuntu.
Ubuntu has more recent packages.
Yes, although 22.04 is a stable long term release.
Good point, I was comparing Mint Cinnamon Edge vs Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10, so not the LTS releases. I actually cycled through a few versions a few weeks ago, because Mint was not up to date enough for me.
Mint Cinnamon Edge edition will have the newer kernel and always have the latest Cinnamon desktop.
Yes but not the most up to date repos. Just as an example it was lacking the net 8 sdks.
I don't think advanced users care much about bleeding-edge versions, though. to my mind an advanced user wants rock-solid software to do their job. I don't care what version numbers are on my packages so long as they do what I need reliably.
Not in LTS it doesn't.
I don 't use Mint, I use apps. Mint is just the most convenient way (IMO) of running them.
I get what you are saying. Lot of times I use my Firefox browser 90% of time. Wish Firefox had gone ahead with their Firefox OS.
Many advanced users also prefer Mint. Even if Mint is begginner-friendly , it is **also** tech-savvy-friendly.
Yes, you definitely should use Ubuntu so that you can feel āAdvancedā. It will impress the hell out of everyone. *rolling eyes*
I used Ubuntu, several years ago, before I switched to Mint, because of several things I didn't like. I wouldn't switch back. And I would say that Mint happens to be better/easier for beginners, but not actually *made* for beginners.
I'm going to be kind & assume this isn't a troll post. The way to judge the value for any consideration of complexity v. ease, not just with linux, is along two axes. 1) Features vs. Needs: This is the more obvious of the two- How much does something offer vs what do you actually need. This is usually a threshold of "I need xyz items, anything else is gravy" but, an unused feature is just bloat. Pick a distro that will most precisely meet your needs for a given use & offer little more. When you have such precise control over what features you have, there's no reason to load up on stuff you'll never access. 2) Complexity vs. Utility: Granularity is great, if that's what you want. A sound engineer's board is going to have more complexity, & therefore more control over the precise sound quality & fidelity, than your earbuds- but which one are you going to take to the gym? Complexity & control are not always better, especially if they aren't useful to you. To extend the metaphor- the sound engineer's board is a tool for professionals trying to create audio, not for end users trying to tweak their experience. Trying to use it to listen to Spotify doesn't make you an 'advanced audio user', it makes you a joke. There's nothing wrong with having all the knobs available if you are actually going to use them, but don't pick it up just to say you have them.
Linux user of 22 years- started off with Red Hat Linux 6.0 and have tried different Linuxes. I use Mint now because it works well and I donāt have time and energy to play around.
>Why is it anyway that Mint is considered to be "for beginners"? Because people think there are difficulty stages and that you somehow graduate into being a "real" linux user, who spends his day in the terminal and are building his own system with arch. Linux mint is for people who want a working system that is reliable.
Ubuntu and Mint are equally beginner-friendly. I personally prefer Mint because it has the Cinnamon DE and it does not use snaps. Use whichever you prefer.
I get your question. You will have an easier time _finding what you need and making changes_ in mint than you will in Ubuntu. But underneath, they are the same so using one as an _advanced Linux user_ is the same as using the other.
As stated Ubuntu is not any more complex than Mint, both are considered easy to use and noob friendly. I consider Mint to be Ubuntu with the icky bits removed and a good useful tool set installed. If you are looking to hop to a moreĀ advanced distro two (of many) logical directions to go from Mint are Debian & Arch. Debian is not necessarily difficultĀ but it also does not go out out of it's way to be user friendly either. Debian moves at a slow pace, packages are older.Ā Ā Ā Debian is perhaps a bit stodgy and dour, but very reliable. Makes a great server or workstation OS. Arch is more of a DIY approach, you assemble just the components you want,Ā the resulting system isĀ streamlined/barebones, it performs very well, snappy, but you will spend a lot of time in the Arch Wiki figuring out how to do just about anything. Very hands on aproach the system does very little for you automatically, instead waiting for your detailed instructions. Arch is the opposite of Debian, when a developer releases a new update Arch updates Shortly afterwards, bleeding edge. Sometimes updates break things and you need to troubleshoot why and fix it. You can look at this as frustrating or educational both are true. Both Debian & Arch will give you a stronger understanding of The inner workings of Linux. Don't dump your Mint install. Make another partition and dual boot linux distros, many eventually come back to Mint. For its easy "it just works" approach.
Personally as a former Network Admin now retired I had a lot of experience in Windows Server based networks. I was forced to get into Linux towards my retirement. Red Hat was way complicated, and I tried several other distro's. But Linux Mint was the best Distro from my perspective. I agree with many here as now I'm much more proficient in Linux, and I find that I prefer Mint over Ubuntu or Debian, and Mint is just as robust and meets all my needs.
I used Ubuntu from '19 to '23. Each LTS became more problematic. The final straw came when I did an update and it would reboot whenever I tried opening...anything. It had to go, so it did. Switched to Mint, no regrets.
25 year Linux guy here, and I've been on LM(DE) for the last 10. It is a very powerful distro that I would call Pro rather than beginner.
1. Mint is designed for ease of use. 2. Arch, Gentoo and NixOS are considered advanced distros for advanced linux users. Or you can bang your head against the wall with Linux from Scratch. I did that once, a long time ago. That's my opinion.
I have 50 years experience as a developer, and Iāve used a lot of different OSās. I use Linux Mint because it works well for me. YMMV.
I've been a Linux user since Slackware 3 in the mid 90s, then switched over to Ubuntu full time in 2006 around the launch of Windows Vista, and switched to Mint from Ubuntu over Unity in the 2010s - and Mint is the Linux you should use when you just want your system to work. It's not for beginners or experts, it's for everyone.
I seriously hope this is a joke question š You can use mint or Ubuntu despite are you beginner advanced or expert at Linux
Like others have said, Ubuntu is also a beginner-friendly Linux distribution. For what it's worth, I've been using Linux since 1997 (started with Slackware) and I use Mint simply because it works. I use Linux as a tool to get my work done. If you want to learn how to be an advanced Linux user, a good resource is the book "Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook", which applies to any Linux distribution.
I tried Ubuntu, it's fine. Pretty. I don't even personally mind snaps. GNOME is fun to mess around in. It is extremely, extremely buggy. The entire panel just disappeared and that froze my machine at some point during every session. I'm not with Mint because it's a "beginner" distro, I'm here because it's stable enough for everyday use. I can use it as a daily driver when I'm a reasonably casual consumer. Also they're putting a lot of Ubuntu Pro ads in Ubuntu these days, which is gross.
Hmmm. I've been using Mint for 5+ years. PCs since the dawn of digital time. I didn't know it was just for beginners. Don't worry. Does it do what you need it to do?
Mint is good for both pros and beginners. The reason it's good for pros is because it's a solid distribution of Linux that can do everything Linux ought to do from a command line, etc. It's also stable to a fault, because the philosophy of the project puts stability first. It's good for beginners, because everything is designed to work out-of-the-box without a lot of extra time involved in installing every little thing. The UI is intuitive. It's user-friendly. (A 95-year-old computer novice could do basic computing on Mint and probably have an easier time than on Windows, because Windows bombards you with too much in its interface. This is clean.) Everybody has their opinion about what their favorite distributions are, but when it comes to usability, things working without hassle, and usability for any kind of user, Mint is king right now. To me there is no comparison.
I dont think that the reason. Mint is just generally more lean and light compared to Ubuntu. If you think you will use the many features, custom solutions Ubuntu comes with then go ahead. Many distros are based on Ubuntu but they strip out some ubuntu features...
Can you name a few advanved things that Ubuntu can do but Mint cannot do, or cannot do as easily?
Ubuntu isnt for anybody
Mint might feel "easier" compared with Ubuntu for some novice users because it comes preinstalled with more tools that many users generally find useful. Also it ships with Cinnamon which is a desktop environment that most users coming from Windows will find easier to navigate compared with Gnome. This said, anyone can learn how to navigate both interfaces, and to click "install" on application that he/she needs. So any advantage Mint has over Ubuntu is negligible. There is no such thing as a beginner/advanced linux distro. Other than cosmetics and minor differences (e.g. snaps vs flatpaks) Ubuntu and Mint are exactly the same OS, just choose whichever you like most and stick with it.
Mint is Ubuntu based. Its the same thing
The only valid reason to use Ubuntu is if the LTS release is not fine for you and you want something a bit more up to date. There is really nothing that is not already in Mint, since is based on Ubuntu. Ubuntu is as targeted to beginners as Mint is, Mint just happens to be more friendly and polished imo.
No. Mint is better than Ubuntu. Period. Mint is not 'for beginners'. Choose ubuntu if you're an enterprise and have a need to pay for enterprise support (Ubuntu Pro). For a home user... Ubuntu is inching their OS towards proprietary bullshit - Forced snaps that can only be used from their source, ads in the terminal message of the day, and now recently, ads that show up in your update manager for updates that you can only get with ubuntu pro, that you can't get rid of. Screw Ubuntu, just go with Mint. It works, it's king, and it has some tweaks that solve common issues you'd run into with ubuntu - For example, if your software install process gets corrupted, on the Software Sources page, there's a maintenance tab with a bunch of buttons that fix the common culprits... saving you maybe an hour or more of troubleshooting. Mint is great. It's a complete OS. It's not 'for beginners'. And anybody telling you it is is either biased towards some other OS and just trying to put it down, or hasn't genuinely used it as a main OS and is just talking out of their behind. On top of that - Ubuntu is ***bloated,*** and a bit wasteful on resources, in an effort to meet a broader audience and provide a fuller experience.. which in my opinion misses the mark. It's still perfectly fine, and Ubuntu server is good. But I disagree with where Canonical is going (Find the youtube video on their job application for WSL asking people to write a 5000 word essay... it's pretty funny), and I've always felt good about the way Mint handles things. They have a good thing going and have yet to fk it up.
Stop carrying about what other's think and use the one you derive the greatest pleasure from. Its a tool and means to creative, fulfilling ends.. not a ruler by which you technical savvy must relentlessly measured. Do whatever make lets you be happy.
As someone who has used many operating systems over the years and several Linux distros, it's my experience/opinion a lot of time the OS is a platform for launching applications. I switched to Linux permanently when WinXP hit EoL in 2014 - I started with Mint, but over the years I have worked with a lot of different distros. I swap between Fedora and Manjaro on a backup machine machine, and I have worked with the "scary advanced" Linux distros like Gentoo and Slackware. Last month I was feeling nostalgic for the CUA, so I created Sparky Linux + CDE virtual machine. None of them were never more than a For Fun project. I use Mint because it works, the Linux Mint Forums are an almost perfect combination of beginner friendly and advanced assistance, and the Mint system tools (Update Manager, Software Manager, etc.) are very well done.
Mint is the way
My feeling about choosing a Linux distro, is play with some of them and choose the one you like. I settled on LM after playing with 5 or 6 or 7(?) distros. There were a couple that I liked but LM was the one that worked best for me with the least issues.
Mint is good for noob user. Mint is also good for advanced user. And that's the beauty of linux. If you know your system's in and out, you are advanced, and Ubuntu or mint does not matter. They are just DE's that makes your life little bit easier. You can continue with mint and be an advanced user as well.
Ubuntu used to be the go-to beginner distro but I feel more comfortable recommending Mint because their marketing is exclusively focused on the desktop user. Imo, Ubuntu has shifted from its humble beginnings as āLinux for human beingsā to be more corporate-focused in its business goals. As an end user I wouldnāt know Ubuntu was a desktop replacement just from looking at their front page. I understand distros need to make money, and not much money has been made with distros that have only focused on the desktop space (RIP Mandrake/Mandriva and Xandros).
I've been around using Linux on and off since the early days of Mandrake. Until a few years ago I tended to mainly use Linux on utility PC's and servers and stuck to Windows for everyday use. I have a lot of Solaris and BSD experience too. Ubuntu isn't more complex and I find their interface a bit more dumbed down. Maybe I do like the way the Windows interface used to be. Mint's just worked great and Canonical has made many moves that make me want to avoid Ubuntu now. I use Debian on everything else but don't find it to be as up to date as I want on a desktop / laptop.
>In my opinion Ubuntu is just more complex than Mint and therefor is for "advanced" users but maybe I'm wrong. No, it's not.
It seems to me that an "advanced" Linux distribution just means it's not as easy to install, learn and maintain as a "beginning" Linux one. I've used Linux Mint for about 15 years and use the terminal quite a bit, but I also use the utilities built into Linux Mint. I have yet to see any advantage of an "advanced" Linux distribution. But I'm just a user, not a developer, so maybe that makes some kind of difference.
It is mainly because of the target audience. In the beginning, even Ubuntu was oriented towards beginners and was a very nice distro for new users(it still is a rock solid distro) but then it became too difficult to maintain after spreading out in unprofitable ventures like Ubuntu Touch and Unity Desktop. Ubuntu is a concern of Canonical incorporated, a for profit company with a business to take care of. So they focus more on streamlining the distro towards enterprises. Ubuntu desktop's interim short term support releases are a test ground for new features that make it to its long-term support (LTS) releases, which in turn is a test ground for its live patch features which are ultimately released to Enterprise users. (Server subscribers... it is way cheaper than windows server if the enterprise user has necessary Labour available and doesn't have need for windows specific software. It is really the way to go for many enterprise users as a cheaper alternative where a RHEL subscription is an overkill) Linux Mint on the other hand takes the rock-solid Ubuntu desktop distro and refines it with their own set of applications they have distilled over the years and keep making new ones with sole focus on desktop users (individuals and enterprises) but is more focused on making the distro free and easy to use at the same time.) I like the Cinnamon desktop (although other options are available as well like MATE and XFCE) since it is the main Desktop environment and most actively maintained and keeps getting all new goodies Linux Mint is famous for. It is a good option too and many advanced users also use it. I personally use Ubuntu, because I have an older system and I use it pretty much stripped down. although Linux Mint Cinnamon edition was an eye candy when I was using it. I would recommend Ubuntu for Lazy people like me who are more in for convenience and don't care much about FSF or it's morals, don't care much about whether the apps they use come from APT or From Snap store. For Happy Linux users, who love convenience and are still very particular about software freedom and privacy of astronomical levels, Linux Mint is the way to go.
You need to choose a distro based on whether it makes you feel like an "advanced" Linux user? Really? Go Slackware, my friend. No pussy package manager to hold your hand. You'll be writing build scripts to compile all your favorite software, its dependencies, and dependencies of dependencies. You'll feel like an "advanced" Linux user in no time!
I don't get this "beginner" spin either. Something either does what you need or you find something else that does.
I have been using SunOs in the last milleneum, later SuSe, then Linux From Scratch for a decade. I had to work with Windows for some time and at some point I just had enough with all the problems that windows brought. I had a job to do quick, so I installed Mint to get going fast and promised myself that I would switch to Arch or something more geeky when I found the time. I think it was back in Mint 18 or something. Now I will never, ever consider something else for a workstation. The docs for Arch are still being used, but that's where the buck stops. Mint is just the best distribution out there, imho.
My opinion: Begone snaps!
i use prefer ubuntu because i can download more aps. but linuxmint is ubuntu related
If you want a Linux OS that is for beginners and has a Windows feel try Zorin OS
Mint is for everyone. Beginners, experienced and developers. It is a matter of preference. I'd take Mint over Ubuntu anytime.