Mostly I don't post, but when I do, it's some mild or hot take about free software. Mildest take: all distros except like five of them (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, maybe Arch) suck and shouldn't be used by 99% of people.
@samueljohnson@egeexyz So the article explains in more detail, but the gist is that I do not trust the small team at Mint or insert-small-distro-here. Or, more precisely, I trust the giant community at Ubuntu/Debian a lot more, and appreciate the benefits of having such a large community over a small team of volunteers. Especially as pertains security, accessibility, internationalisation, QA, documentation, et cetera.
@carmenbianca@egeexyz As a long time user of both Ubuntu and Mint, first apologies I didn't read that including your specifically addressing the question. However, I don't agree. The argument that replacing the default desktop means it's not Ubuntu is a bit of a stretch imo. I suppose Ubuntu with Cinnamon isn't Ubuntu either. In my experience the changes in Mint are all positive and user-centric, and I trust the developers. Canonical has screwed up repeatedly and is borderline coercive.
@samueljohnson No need to apologise :) I didn't specifically link that article in the first place.
I think we disagree on something sort-of-kind-of fundamental, but I'll concede a few things:
Ubuntu isn't very good.
Canonical isn't very good.
… But still, I'd recommend Ubuntu over Mint. This is because I view technology differently. I view operating systems as common digital infrastructure. And you don't build a society on a small team of volunteers—you build it on large collaborative projects that are far more able to address the diverse needs of everyone.
Regarding whether Mint is Ubuntu or not… I'm not sure how to make this argument. Mint is Mint. It's authored, remixed, and distributed by a separate group of people who have effective root access to all users' computers through package updates (as do all distros). It completely replaces the most important component, and any other modifications are untested by the Ubuntu community.
But yes, Ubuntu with Cinnamon isn't really Ubuntu either. It's not the thing you download from their website, and Cinnamon isn't in their main repository. For Debian it's a different matter.
Just the Ubuntu community? Which leverages Debian in similar ways to how Mint builds conservatively on Ubuntu, stripping out the radical changes imposed with an eye on maximising commercial gain (I'm sure I needn't enumerate though much of the reaction is often overblown).
For sure I would and did use Ubuntu in environments requiring professional support and I use on servers but for individuals Mint's design & community have been better. Imo.
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