I used Mint Mate for over a year. I had it set up the exact same way as Ubuntu Mate, same panel layout, same wallpaper. You couldn’t tell the difference. There are some minor differences under the hood like crash reporting, no snaps and a few things I liked better like the kernel manager.
The reason I switched back to Ubuntu Mate was the forum (Ubuntu Mate was so much better) and some of the Ayatana indicators like battery percentage or time weren’t working. Do they now work?
Mint Mate is as good as Ubuntu Mate, but Mint’s main focus is Cinnamon and the forum also includes Xfce. So Mate is just another desktop not the main focus.
Still it is where I will go when I do a new clean install.
I am currently on Fedora, so if that disappeared I would most likely go back to Arch since that is where I came from and I know it has the support for tiling window managers. If I were to go down the line, the next would be opensuse. Debian would probably be last on my list.
I run LMDE - so if Debian ever dies, I wouldn’t touch Mint (because of its Ubuntu dependency).
I would probably be really stuck.
I don’t really want some super-complex distro with lots of fancy ways to install a package.
I only want apt!
Ubuntu is also dependent on Debian, so if Debian died so would Ubuntu as we know it. The question the would be would Mark Shuttleworth/Canonical continue on by itself, which would again bring major unknown changes. The good news is I don’t see Debian going away. It survived Ian’s Murdock’s passing in 2015.
I missed your earlier posting when the topic came up. Would you mind answering a few questions I posted elsewhere, for which I did not receive a response?
May I ask …
how long have you had NixOS as your primary desktop ?
what is the estimation of how complete your migration … of old functionality to NixOS … is ?
how confident do you feel about your mastery of the admin and customization tasks for NixOS ?
is strong familiarity with Debian-based distros a facilitator … or a hindrance … in approaching the migration to NixOS ?
My questions are motivated by an interest in possibly adopting NixOS, because of the “functional-specification” approach, but fear that such an approach
would involve too esoteric a “specification language”, or
would possibly not give the necessary fine control.
Would you care to share any opinion on that possible issue?
Good approach for those willing to plug something in and go. No objections to those who prefer such things. I’m on the other end of the spectrum. While I do want to start with a modest system, I want complete control to do what I prefer, and I own all the bits and pieces, so I support it, back it up, modify it, etc. That doesn’t mean I don’t use a distribution; I do: I usually start with antiX Linux and add, update, modify and configure it to suit my personal needs. I don’t redistribute what I build because it’s my own personal configuration. Others can start with antiX, leave it alone or modify it to suit their own tastes. It’s free, has a solid user forum, one that I help moderate, so these days that’s my “contribution”.
SuSE, and then OpenSUSe was my OS of choice for years, until the switch to the not-yet-ready KDE 4.0 forced me off to Ubuntu, where everything just worked, and later to Kubuntu, after KDE settled down.
Those are solid choices on both ends. If you ever want to experiment with KDE again, the Kubuntu is no longer the featured KDE version; I’d suggest looking at KDE Neon to explore the latest KDE Plasma software; otherwise you’re in great shape with what you’re using!
Same thing: SUSE is a good choice; if something happened with KDE and you want to stick with KDE Plasma, as above I’d recommend KDE Neon; if you want more of a “rolling release” configuration, Open SUSE Tumbleweed is an excellent option; I’ve used it on many occasions. If you don’t really need KDE Plasma, then OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with the Xfce desktop would be a reliable choice and you wouldn’t have to continually reinstall, you could simply update your system periodically and that would take care of it; with the “rolling nature” of Tumbleweed you may experience quite a few updates each time, so keep that in mind before deciding upon it, but I do endorse it as a solid experience, going with the package update route rather than the reinstallation route.
I’d probably go super old-school with the L.E.A.D. 2.5 Word Processor and a stack of lined paper. (While the L.E.A.D. 2.5 Word Processor was a playful jab at word processing circa 1984, it reminds me to not waste too much time on a computer.)
I run Fedora on 3 machines and Kubuntu on a fourth. The Kubuntu machine dual-boots with Windows 11 (Home edition) and one of the Fedora machines dual-boots with Windows 11 Pro (and it’s the only one with a DVD drive).
I have recently tried installing OpenSuSE and Kubuntu on my (other) Linux-only Lenovo laptop for portable operation of my ham radio…and have come away from the experience more frustrated than anything else. (Computers, like ham radio, are a hobby for me. I need some enjoyment out of what I’m doing, and OS installation always seems to cause my Computer Tourette’s Syndrome to reappear.)
So I’m not sure how well I’d fare with any of the RedHat alternatives, unless I locked myself away from civilization for a week.
So what would be your non-Arch fall back.
(While the L.E.A.D. 2.5 Word Processor was a playful jab at word processing circa 1984, it reminds me to not waste too much time on a computer.)