I wanna rephrase that:
what is in your “distro” that can’t be done with a script on top of a minimal install of some other distro?
1 Like
Despite the sentiment that mint and ubuntu are the same (yes I understand they are ubuntu LTS at the core) there are some specific differences and I just want to make sure op isnt trying to retain some of those specific software choices and features of mint that ubuntu does not actually have available to it.
Adubs Linux Rant Warning
So when someone says they want to do something like run KDE Plasma on top of Mint, I’m wondering the thought process of how they arrived at this conclusion and how I can help them work smarter not harder.
People get spooked by the idea of moving away from that ubuntu ecosystem too which is frankly silly. The idea that ubuntu/mint is the ‘beginner distro’, so thats what you should use if you’re a linux noob, is flat out wrong in my opinion. I found fedora to be easier than mint in many ways and its almost as if they’ve catered to the normies. I’ve heard nothing but good things about manjaro even though I have basically 0 experience with it.
I wouldnt have a problem recommending any of the triumvirate to a noob because they’re all pretty solid. I personally prefer mint to a lot of alternatives only because its desktop layout is already what I am looking for out of the box and I prefer the software it comes with.
2 Likes
After the well-thought and meticulous post from Adubs above I’ll just say it:
use debian instead
2 Likes
When I was researching for a Linux distribution for my new desktop, I decided to take my time, create a live CD of every major Linux distribution, test them out, whichever tested Linux distribution worked out of the box that distribution would be installed.
I tried Ubuntu 19.10, Pop OS 19.10, Linux Mint 19.3 and Debian Stretch. By using the following testing method, create a virtual machine, install each tested Linux distribution in a virtual machine, I found Pop OS to be the best Linux distribution for my new desktop. Ubuntu and Debian got eliminated because of screen freezing issues and display issues inside the live environment. Linux Mint didn’t have any issues in the live environment, but since Pop OS’s Linux Kernel is newer than Linux Mint’s kernel, I decided to go with Pop OS instead.
Unfortanly after about one week after installing Pop Os, The new desktop developed a lot of stability issues; I eliminated the stability issues by booting up an external USB hard drive of Windows 10. By using the external hard drive and running some special testing software, I found Pop Os was causing stability issues. Since I hadn’t installed a lot of software that isn’t included by Pop Os’s live environment, I thought the best way to fix the stability issues was to nuke Pop OS from my desktop’s SSD and go ahead install Linux Mint. That’s the reason I think Linux Mint is the best Linux distribution for my desktop.
1 Like
Well, I cant fault you for that logic and really thats not much different than how I got started. Linux is a funny thing.
I guess I’ve asked you the wrong question this whole time really… What is your end goal here?
1 Like
My end goal is to keep Linux Mint 19.3 on my desktop but replace the Cinnamon desktop environment with KDE Plasma without creating a broken Linux operating system.
I think we’re not going deep enough, and thats probably my fault for not seeing your perspective better. Why are you trying to install plasma on mint? What does cinnamon not do for you? Is it just the lack of options or is there some functionality you’re looking for?
The reason I ask this is because you’ve already tried and got a broken system. Now that doesnt mean you cant install KDE but rather the amount of work it would take to fix things is probably not going to make it worth doing.
If you want KDE then kubuntu 18.04 is not going to functionally differ from mint 19.3
https://kubuntu.org/getkubuntu/
If you’re dead set on keeping mint, which is fair enough, then you might consider MATE as an alternate as its very customizable too.
You haven’t tried Manjaro KDE yet. Give it a shot. I’m sure you’ll like it.
1 Like
I think the problem why nothing I have tried to accomplish my goal is working is threefold, One I am trying to replace Linux Mint default desktop environment in a broken VirtualBox created machine first before I try to replace it on my desktop, two I am having trouble getting my point across, and three I don’t understand what I am doing.
I am trying to install Plasma onto Mint because of the better controls over graphic settings Plasma provides over Linux Mint Cinnamon. Maybe I should give Mate a try and see if that works better.
It can be really frustrating because you dont know what you dont know. What graphics settings are you looking for?
MATE has a lot of control over stuff with compiz so its probably not a bad way to go.
My suggestion is to spend more time in some VMs or on liveCDs. If you want to testrun KDE, give kubuntu a shot in a VM and see if it is what you really want. It seems like youre pretty serious on sticking with Linux Mint so if that is the case, try some different DEs like MATE or XFCE and see if those provide what you’re looking for out of a UI.
Oh, get used to it. It never goes away. When you think you got it then shit goes wrong.
Computers are made to fuck themselves up. As Wendell says it was a mistake teaching sand to think.
I did try setting up a Virtualbox virtual machine for Marjaro but the installation didn’t go well. The reason I think it failed is threefold, One I can’t create a proper working Virtualbox virtual machine. The reason I keep creating a broken Virtualbox machine is the Linux kernel on the host machine doesn’t match the Linux kernel of the guest machine. Two I tried to install Manjaro at 2 A.M this morning and for the last two weeks, I have been surviving on only 4 or five hours of sleep. Three When an installation fails I don’t know enough about Linux to fix the situation.
I have heard of Manjaro, but since it is based on arch I just didn’t test it when I was testing Linux distributions. Maybe I will try again to install Marjaro on a virtual machine. I have access to a real nice Virtual Server at work with proper GPU pass threw, instead of messing around with VirtualBox and keep getting nowhere.
you like dividing things in three, don’t you?
give it another go on bare metal, come to the small linux problem thread and we’ll help you
only issue I had with it was my wireless card, and I broke an install once, all the sources were corrupted when -syuing and I had to reinstall (I installed a program from AUR without -syu before so that was on me)
or then go for kubuntu
or try to fix your problems with lock up, make a thread
might be just you being GNOME’d
what hardware do you have?
There seems to be no way to gradually adjust the DPI setting on my Monitor. there is only one option either doubling the default setting or leaving it at default. The doubling option makes all windows to big. I will post a picture of the setting I want to change.
you could try installing arandr as an alternative. I cant remember off the top of my head but you can use xrandr to set a specific dpi and arandr is just a GUI frontend for it. You should be able to just apt intstall arandr.
Just a quick update, I am currently updating a Marjaro Created virtual machine. One interesting fact I have found is Marjaro sure takes longer to update than Ubuntu or Mint. It currently is still updating with Unbuntu or Linux Mint it would be done updating by now.
1 Like
totally depends on mirrors and how out of date it is.
manjaro is also rolling release and generally more up to date.
1 Like
Linux mint is indeed a very decent distribution.
You could install the kde desktop ontop of it like mentioned above.
However it might not be as smooth of an experience like you might hope.
1 Like