What is Linux Mint
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@scottalanmiller said>
Thenstart asking questions!
OK.
So, what is Mint, exactly. I thought the "Mint" part of it was the desktop. Like that is what made Mint "for the masses".
But then you can install all these other desktops. So, what gives?
Could you just install those desktop GUIs on other distributions and get the same thing?
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@BRRABill said in Remotely Accessing Desktop of GUI-based Linux Clients:
So, what is Mint, exactly. I thought the "Mint" part of it was the desktop. Like that is what made Mint "for the masses".
Linux Mint is a full distro, like CentOS, Fedora, OpenSuse Leap, Ubuntu, etc. It is a distro that focuses on desktop usage rather than server or mixed. But it is a distro. The desktop of Mint is Cinnamon, Mate, LXDE, etc.
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@BRRABill said in What is Linux Mint:
But then you can install all these other desktops. So, what gives?
They are the actual desktops. Each one is a different desktop option of Mint. All are available on other platforms.
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@BRRABill said in What is Linux Mint:
Could you just install those desktop GUIs on other distributions and get the same thing?
Yes, you can install any of them on pretty much any Linux system. Ubuntu, Fedora and Suse famously ship with all the same desktop options.
No, you can't get the same thing because the underlying operating system would not be the same.
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This post is deleted! -
@BRRABill said in What is Linux Mint:
@scottalanmiller said>
Thenstart asking questions!
OK.
So, what is Mint, exactly. I thought the "Mint" part of it was the desktop. Like that is what made Mint "for the masses".
But then you can install all these other desktops. So, what gives?
Could you just install those desktop GUIs on other distributions and get the same thing?
You can basically do everything with every distro. Some distros are specialized in some way, like Kali (based on Debian) SystemRescueCD (based on Gentoo) or Knoppix (also based on Debian) for example. Other distros, like OpenSuSE or Debian are more general purpose distros without much of a focus.
You can use the very same pen testing tools you are using in Kali in Mint without much of an issue for example (expect for dependencies).
Some Desktop-focused distros, like Mint, tend to have more up to date packages regarding the desktop experience and tools like Libre/OpenOffice. On the other hand, you'll find more up to date server packages in distros like Ubuntu or Debian. Gentoo is another special flavor where you have the option to compile everything from source with a package manager in front (portage). It can be optimized to any degree (make flags etc) and they tend to have the most up to date packages.
Linux guys tend to call distros "flavors", because they are just that: flavors. They are all running some customized version of the very same Linux kernel behind the scenes.
