Abstract

• Linux Mint lacks flexibility and personalization in comparison with different distros like Fedora KDE, Ubuntu, or Garuda.
• It prioritizes stability over cutting-edge updates, interesting to customers valuing reliability over state-of-the-art know-how.
• Linux Mint is superb for brand new customers searching for a Home windows-like expertise however might not swimsuit energy customers wanting customization.

Linux Mint is a steady, dependable, and user-friendly Linux distro that gives a easy transition for Home windows customers coming to Linux. However regardless of giving it a number of sincere tries, I simply do not appear to love it. This is why Linux Mint and I simply do not click on, regardless of its goal deserves.

Linux Mint looks like transferring to a brand new metropolis however adorning your condominium precisely like your previous one! In different phrases, I don’t see the purpose of this train.

Don’t get me flawed—Linux Mint as an OS is okay, within the sense that it’s constructed on strong foundations and does every little thing anticipated of an OS. It helps virtually all of the instruments you want for desktop computing and features with out main hiccups—all the sensible qualities you’d need in an working system. The issue, nevertheless, is simply that—Linux Mint is extra substance, much less fashion!

After I use an working system, I’m not simply searching for one thing that works—I can get that with Home windows or macOS. I’m in search of one thing that feels fresh and exciting, that can really feel good to make use of as I toil away eight hours of my life sitting in entrance of it each single day. I need an working system that’s enjoyable and adapts to my wants and necessities.

Linux Mint nails the fundamentals of what it means to be an working system, however it’s simply not as versatile as I’d prefer it to be. It lacks the persona and liveliness that I crave from my working system. It tries to seize the standard desktop metaphor harking back to Home windows 7 and XP—which it admittedly nails. Sadly, that’s the factor I’m attempting to go away behind searching for a brand new desktop computing paradigm.

Customization Choices Are Comparatively Restricted

If I needed to be extra particular, my most important qualms with Linux Mint are its desktop environments. When downloading Linux Mint, you might have entry to a few desktop environments—Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce. All three carry the identical Home windows 7 and XP-style desktop structure. Granted, Cinnamon is more polished than the others, however they appear roughly the identical with a design that feels a long time previous at this level.

Compared, KDE Plasma (one other desktop surroundings) can be Home windows 7-ish with its default structure, however it manages to look recent and fashionable. The desktop surroundings can be loaded with an insane quantity of customization choices. With entry to tons of (probably extra) themes, widgets, and customization scripts, you can’t solely give KDE Plasma a whole design overhaul, but in addition add tons of helpful options to the computing expertise.

And it’s not simply Plasma! GNOME—the desktop surroundings for Ubuntu, additionally gives extra customization freedom in comparison with Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce. Granted, GNOME does require you to obtain a few apps—GNOME Tweaks and GNOME extensions—to unlock its full customizable potential. Nevertheless, there aren’t any apps or straightforward fixes to Linux Mint’s comparatively restricted customizability drawback.

It is Newbie-Pleasant, However I am a Energy Person

I contemplate myself an influence person and need as a lot management over my working system as I can. I wish to get underneath the hood, tweak settings, and make my system bend to my workflow somewhat than adapt to the system’s limitations.

The truth is, this lack of management is among the explanation why I ditched Home windows. Microsoft has been steadily eradicating person management, forcing updates, pushing cloud integration, and limiting what you can modify. For instance, do you know that in Home windows 11, you’ll be able to’t transfer the taskbar to the suitable or left fringe of the display screen? It simply sits on the backside. Why? Particularly when Home windows 10 had this characteristic?

Now, Linux Mint is way extra open, versatile, and customizable than Home windows, however there are nonetheless some guardrails. I desire a strong plugin system (or extensions library) from which I can obtain and set up stuff I want so as to add new options to my desktop. I desire a assortment of modern-looking and practical widgets to make the desktop extra helpful. I need entry to tons of themes that I can combine and match to boost my desktop’s feel and appear after I get bored. I need highly effective multitasking options as I juggle a number of duties for a number of purchasers. Sadly, Linux Mint’s flexibility doesn’t attain this far.

After all, you’ll be able to customise Linux Mint and lengthen its performance—it’s Linux in any case. Nevertheless, it’s not as easy as with KDE Plasma or GNOME, which have these options constructed into the working system.

It Prefers Stability to Chopping Edge

I take pleasure in staying on the innovative—getting the most recent software program updates rapidly, testing new options, and experiencing the most recent enhancements as quickly as they arrive. That’s more durable to do with an LTS-based (Lengthy Time period Assist) distro like Linux Mint.

Linux Mint is constructed on Ubuntu LTS, which prioritizes stability over frequent updates. This makes good sense for a lot of customers—particularly in skilled environments the place reliability is extra essential than state-of-the-art. Nevertheless, for somebody like me, it looks like Mint retains me all the time a step behind. That is why I want rolling-release distributions like Arch, or no less than these with extra frequent replace cycles, like Fedora, the place new software program arrives with out lengthy delays.

Sure, Linux Mint does enable customers to put in newer functions via Flatpaks and AppImages, however the core system stays LTS-based and doesn’t replace as steadily as distros like Arch or Fedora. Moreover, I a lot want repository packages over Flatpaks and AppImages due to the smaller footprint and higher system integration.

I Don’t Love Linux Mint—However You May!

Simply because I dislike Linux Mint doesn’t suggest it’s a must to agree! That is the great thing about having so many distros. Linux is all about alternative and discovering the distribution that most closely fits your particular wants and preferences.

It is completely okay to love Linux Mint, and I say extra energy to you! If you happen to worth stability, ease of use, and a well-recognized interface over bleeding-edge options and in depth customization, Linux Mint may be precisely what you are in search of.

It is a superb distro for people who find themselves new to Linux, desire a Home windows substitute, and an OS that simply works with minimal problem. It excels at offering a easy expertise with out requiring customers to study advanced instructions or spend hours tweaking settings.

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Contemplating what it got down to do, Linux Mint serves its goal admirably. The problem is that I’m not amongst its target market. However that’s okay! And the explanation I emphasize it is because, as you employ Linux, you’ll discover some distros which might be closely praised, however it simply doesn’t click on for you. That is certain to occur given how distros are centered on particular person varieties and use circumstances. On the similar time, this range of Linux distros means there’s a distro for everyone—whether or not you’re a tinkerer like me or somebody who simply desires a dependable computing expertise with out the effort.