Linux Mint: a ready desktop, two bases
Linux Mint 22.3 is the recommended release, LMDE 7 the other edition. The project says it does not collect system data. The website does measure some start pages.
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What to expect
Mint fits a desktop that is already equipped, with an update manager and snapshots. The no-collection line is the project’s statement. It does not cover the website, or packages you add.
Who it is for
Linux Mint fits if you are coming from Windows and want a desktop you can use without assembling the machine part by part. It fits poorly if you want the newest kernel every week, or one single base: 22.3 rests on Ubuntu, LMDE 7 on Debian.
What you gain
The site presents a system already equipped for the desktop, the web and some gaming, a live USB to try without installing, and the option to keep Windows beside it. The project highlights an update manager and snapshots. “It doesn’t break” is their line, not a measurement.
What you take on
You pick an edition. The recommended one is 22.3. LMDE 7 is the other. The two do not receive packages from the same base at the same time. The forum is the support, not a paid desk.
Privacy
The homepage says the project does not collect data and does not work against you. That is a statement about the system, not an inspection of the image.
The policy we read covers the websites. It uses anonymized Google Analytics on addresses that start with linuxmint.com/start/, to estimate how a release is doing. That is not the installed system. We did not read a Mint page that says whether Ubuntu’s telemetry question is removed from the 22.3 edition.
The decision
Choose Mint for a first Linux you can try live, with snapshots. Take LMDE if you want the Debian base. Do not treat the project’s sentence as an audit of Firefox or of the next package.
From the provider
Linux Mint
Downloads, compatibility and current terms.
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Sources for this article
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This article draws on the sources above. The exercises are for you to try on your devices; SecuFocus does not present them as tests carried out by its editorial team. Interfaces and features can change. Method and corrections.
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