More than two months after Linux Mint 21.2 and three of Bookworm, Clement Lefebvre made Today the official launch of LMDE 6. LMDE stands for Linux Mint Debian Edition, and as Clem explains, it is an edition that aims to be as similar as possible to Linux Mint, but without using Ubuntu. There is part of the community that wonders and even wants this to be the main edition, but for now it will continue to be a special one.
Codenamed "Faye", LMDE 6 is now based on Debian 12 "Bookworm", and uses the kernel Linux 6.1. The graphical environment in which it is available is Cinnamon 5.8, and has almost all the new features that Linux Mint 21.2, such as improved support for applications in flatpak format, global dark mode to support GTK4 and libadwaita applications, and updated applications.
LMDE 6 uses Cinnamon 5.8
LMDE is a Linux Mint project which stands for “Linux Mint Debian Edition”. Its goal is to ensure that Linux Mint would be able to continue offering the same user experience, and how much work would be involved, if Ubuntu were to disappear. LMDE is also one of our development goals, to ensure that the software we develop is compatible outside of Ubuntu.
It is striking that it is mentioned "if Ubuntu were to disappear." As we have explained, there is part of the community that wants Linux Mint to become based on Debian and forget about Ubuntu, partly due to some moves by Canonical that they do not like. I had never read that if it were to disappear, but it must be just a way of speaking.
Among the differences between the edition based on Ubuntu and LMDE 6, we can find for example that the one based on Debian uses PipeWire by default and support for PAE in the 32-bit ISO.
Some of its new features (come from Linux Mint 21.2)
Among the general new features, which it shares with the rest of the Cinnamon editions, we find:
- Sleek Greeter, the login software:
- Support for multiple keyboard layers. Now you can see different ones and which one we have selected from the system tray.
- Improved support for the touch panel.
- The tap to click option is automatically detected and activated already from Sleek Greeter.
- Visual improvements to the software center, including the list of featured apps has been updated to now include flatpak packages. The scoring system improves on previous versions and now prioritizes hot new apps.
- Pix, the photo tool:
- It upgrades its base to that of gThumb 3.12.2, which has made it possible to apply visual improvements.
- Now uses header bars and buttons instead of toolbars and menu.
- In total 168 new functions have been introduced.
- Improvements in the interface and user experience:
- Folder icons have changed from showing one line to offering two-tone icons. The different types of colors have been introduced thinking about colors widely used by the community, such as those of the Yaru theme.
- Information messages are now more consistent, leaving behind the times when these tooltips They looked different depending on the libraries that had been used to create the applications.
- Support for XDG Desktop Portal in XApp, which has improved compatibility between different graphical environments and non-native applications. This allows these types of applications to take screenshots and also support the dark theme.
- Improved support for touchpad gestures, which can now manage windows, workspaces, stacking, and media controls.
- The main menu can now be resized.
- It is now possible to disable low battery level notification on connected devices.
LMDE 6 is the Debian-based edition of Linux Mint 21.2. If there is anything new in the second that we have not written about here, as long as it has been possible to implement it, it will also be available in LMDE.
How to update from LMDE 5
To update from LMDE 5, follow these steps:
- The repositories are refreshed and the mintupgrade tool is installed:
apt update apt install mintupgrade
- The update tool is installed:
sudo mintupgrade
- Then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
- Finally, it is recommended to uninstall the update tool and restart the operating system:
apt remove mintupgrade sudo reboot
Being a major update, the process can take hours depending on the computer and its hardware.
For new installations, ISO images are available from the following buttons.
For my use, Linux Mint or LMDE?
These questions put a person like me, who likes to be honest and evaluate all possibilities, in a bind. Yeah There are several options because there are different types of users., and it is oneself who must know which group they are in.
If we talk about the current versions, Linux Mint 21.2 and LMDE 6 They are more or less at the same point. The base of the normal edition is Ubuntu from April 2022, while that of the Debian-based edition is from June 2023. Why are they more or less at the same point if LMDE 6 has a newer base? ? Because Debian usually uses software that is somewhat older than Ubuntu. LMDE 6 has a newer kernel, but only until they release the next regular Mint version that changes the first number.
Things will change in about six months.. Linux Mint will be based on Ubuntu 24.04, and at that time it will be the newest Ubuntu version, so the software will be too. Meanwhile, LMDE will be using the foundation of a year-old system that also relies on less new software.
Without counting the versions, the differences between normal Linux Mint and LMDE are in that, at the base. And it is this point that we have to be clear about. It is more of an Ubuntu LTS vs. They had to do something else, so I can refer you to our article on Debian 12.2 vs. Ubuntu 23.10 which, to a greater or lesser extent, is valid.