Whenever watching a video or reading a post in a community, it feels like a lot of people don’t like or even hate Linux Mint. At least more than any other distro. But why is this so? Because those guys are all linux pros and Mint is just too newbie/rookie for them?
I am afraid I don’t get it.
I’m not 100% sure, I think everyone has their own reasons. Mint has had a history of security issues, but that was so long ago that I think we should move on and not dwell on it. There has been some controversy about them leaching off of Ubuntu’s repositories, but other distributions do that and others don’t complain. I wouldn’t worry about it. If you like it, use it. Nothing wrong with using whatever works best for you.
Hi all…first post here.
Maybe because some feel that Mint is a beginner’s distro. And it is…an easy to install and easy to use Linux Desktop…especially with the default Cinnamon DE. I enjoy it…and it’s one of the main Linux distros that I wind up hopping to over a period of a year. It’s also a solid distro for any user…it just works and very little if any configuration is needed right out of the box. Give it a whirl if you are curious…and try the Cinnamon Desktop flavor of Mint. 
Cinnamon is definitely my favorite of all their versions.
Yeah, it is kind of crazy. It’s like many people want Linux to be used more, but at the same time don’t ‘allow’ for user-friendly or smooth distro’s, like Mint, Ubuntu or sth like that. I started 2 years ago again in Linux with Mint and I would absolutely advise it to anyone coming over from Windows. And now I’ve moved on into first Manjaro and now Arcolinux.
This!
Don’t use windows - use Linux
Oh no… don’t use Mint. Better use Manjaro
no, don’t use KDE. Better use XFCE
…
Exactly! But this is also one of those endless discussions that keeps going on hahahaha. For entertainment purposes it is sometimes amusing indeed. But if you then ask why, or better why not (the negative opinion is easier to communicate for some reason) you hardly ever hear a tangible reason. Like: oh no, no Manjaro, it breaks all the time! And Manjaro ain’t Arch, son (I got that one myself one time). And Ubuntu is terrible! And Mint sucks! But Debian is boring! etc etc
This, so much this! The toxicity in the Linux community needs to stop. People insult others for their choice in distro, desktop environment, you name it. It’s totally sad. We should embrace choice, not shame people for it.
Y’all are correct…there are a lot of Distros…I found that for me, I started with Ubuntu…and then once I got more familiar with a Linux DE…I branched off. Did Manjaro for a good 6+ months…and SUSE…and Mint. The first distro I tried was Puppy Linux. I found it on the Web and it was really fast on some old hardware that I was using. To use it as a daily driver though takes configuration IMO. That’s when I tried using the Ubuntu distros…and why I’m an APT guy. For a daily driver…and not using Windows…I wound up with the Unity Ubuntu. That workflow took some time getting used to but once I did…I loved it. For anyone new, I’d suggest one of the larger more mainline Distros…then start branching off and trying others: like Puppy & Slivatz & Peppermint and a ton of others…enjoy the differences!
I think you need to look at psychology for this one and this relates to other areas of life as well. We have all come across somebody that state that they are giving well researched and evaluated views when in fact they are just finding a way to boost their own preconceived ideas.
There’s a place for Windows, Macs, and Linux. I’ve never owned a Mac due to it’s bloated cost and reduced applications and often the cost of those that were available. However I know many that used Linux and looked down on Windows users as you needed to be more savvy to setup and use Linux. The average user wants something that is easy to use and all setup and security is taken care of. In walks Windows. So until Linux had those abilities you would get them using, or even retailers selling them. So surely that is where Linux Mint comes onto the scene. I personally know somebody, a programmer for Windows and Linux, though mainly for Linux these days, that looks down on Ubuntu thinking it a toy. They are mainly Redhat, Opensuse, BSD user. I think it is very easy to become snobbish and not considering what is best for the individual and we all have our own preferences.
I can see where you’re coming from. People generally seem to prefer to stick to what they started with for the most part. It’s not common for people to embrace a paradigm shift.
I knew someone that was a Linux user from the beginning. Had a Linux install before anything else. She was not a computer expert, she was a complete novice. Still is. But she would get so frustrated when a Windows computer was placed in front of her. She even got upset once that she inserted a flash drive into a Windows computer and an icon for it didn’t appear on the desktop. She complained for five minutes on how stupid Windows was. But people that start with Windows or Mac would take the opposite stance.
Generally, people stick with what they start with. Most people don’t like change. I love change, but I’m a bit of a rare breed.
Funny… I like Mint, even my first Linux was Ubuntu 8 some thing. I tried Zorin for a while, but landed on Linux Mint 13 and since then Linux Mint have been my favourite, as long as I do not find any good reason to change distro yet, I plan to continue to use Mint build on Ubuntu as #1. LMDE4 as #2 and I plan to learn Arch next.
I played with Mint on my first laptop and loved it. I disliked how they prevent Google as a search engine. I got around that, but the practice of going out of their way to prevent users from doing something the distro makers don’t like is a shame.
I wonder if that’s a violation of Mozilla’s brand policy. It might be, but I never had a chance to look into it. I really don’t think they’re supposed to be doing that. Things like that make me nervous about using Mint full-time.
I used Mint for several years, first with Gnome2 until they had to move to Gnome3 because programs didn’t run on 2 anymore.
I did not like Gnome3 so I jumped to KDE and changed DE again.
Only after Mint stopped using a KDE version I abandoned ship and used some others till I found openSUSE.
From my experiences in the Linux world I can say nothing is better than something else, it might be different but that’s all.
Bashing distro’s (including Windows) and DE’s should stop immediately. It is much better to explain why you don’t like distro X or DE Y so others can benefit from it.
Every person is different and so are distro’s and DE’s. Choose the best combo for you and you will be happy.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 6 was released 4 days ago, and is based on Bookworm. I have to say I like it better than plain vanilla Debian 12. Fonts look a lot cleaner for one thing