Any distros like linux mint with gnome desktop?

trymeout@lemmy.world to Linux@lemmy.ml – 29 points –

Ubuntu is great but uses snaps and adds other canonical bits. Linux Mint is essentially perfect but does not come with gnome desktop. Is there a ubuntu based distro that is essentially like linux mint but offers gnome as a desktop?

39

I don't know of one, but why not install gnome on Mint (or Debian)?

Yes, just install Gnome on Mint like I do!

sudo apt install gnome

Seriously, I don't get distro hoppers. "I want my desktop wallpaper to be green. Can you tell me how to install an entirely new operating system with a green background?"

I have three possible solutions for you:

  1. Switch to Fedora Workstation
  2. Install Gnome on Mint
  3. Use Pop! OS

Option 1 is probably the best one. Fedora is as easy to use as Ubuntu but without Snaps or the rest of Canonical stuff. The downside is that it's RPM based instead of DEB, but that's not as big an issue as you might think, since Flatpaks cover a lot of ground, and between the Fedora and RPM Fusion repositories, most software is still available.

Option 2 is another way to go. It gives you exactly what you're looking for in a way. Unfortunately, you're going to end up with some Cinnamon remnants in your Gnome set up. That's not too big of a deal, though, just some extra cleanup work removing the Cinnamon desktop stuff.

Option 3 is my least favorite. Pop! OS is great, and almost what you're after once you disable some extensions. The only issue I have here is that Pop! will probably be shifting to their in house desktop environment COSMIC soon. Well, fairly soon anyway. I'm sure they'll keep the Gnome version going, but it's very clearly not going to be their focus. Still, Pop! OS might be exactly what you're looking for!

My recommendation would be to install gnome on mint but if not there's always Pop!_OS

it's just a desktop environment. install it on whatever distro you're using.

So, I finally decided to ditch Ubuntu for desktop and servers last month and went distro shopping.

In the end, I settled on Debian. My rational was I had already been using Debian under the hood for nearly 20 years and it has treated me well. I’ve really come to appreciate that there is always an abundance of help and documentation compared to some other distros.

In addition to apt, I use flatpaks now.

Installing NVIDIA drivers manually kinda sucks but vanilla Gnome shell is so much nicer than Ubuntu’s Gnome.

I've landed in the same boat. Debian is quite usable as is. And fairly familiar when you've been using Ubuntu/Mint for a bit.

Pop_OS! is your choice.

Same here. I'd instantly install mint if it came with gnome. Currently pop os looks like the beat option

You could use Debian, the distro on which Ubuntu is based or Fedora. Debian is more similar to Ubuntu but it’s packages are quite old. Fedora is a rolling release distro and thus gives you access to the newest packages.

I was going to use Fedora, but there's no way I can ever look someone in the eye and say "yeah I use an operating system called Fedora" so I went with Debian instead. It's pretty great

I suggest you to try the Mint diffrent DEs. In the live stick, or in a VM if you know these stuff. Maybe you will find them suitable.

In the end it barely matters what distro you installed. You can always modify your current installation

I mean if buy like Linux mint you mean it's awesome in every way you could give nixos a try :D

I love NixOS, but OP is probably a new user (or doesn't care about managing/customising their system), since they want a distro like mint (which is mostly a distro for new users/ a "just works" distro). So NixOS would probably suck for them

Idk... it sort just works for me. I'm not great at nix itself but putting gnome in the config and a few apps in my environment was easy. If you want to avoid command line nixos will be tough but I think for a beginner who is going to learn how normal distros work anyway, might as well learn nixos if you're interested in it.

Manjaro gnome? Or skip the middle man and go to Debian

What middle-man are you skipping? Manjaro is based on Arch.

Perhaps you meant Ubuntu as Ubuntu is based on Debian and Mint is based on Ubuntu. I agree that I would prefer plain Debian these days over Ubuntu but Debian does not have everything out of the box a Mint or Ubuntu user may like.

Regardless, do not use Manjaro. If you cannot install Arch but like it, use EndeavourOS.

If they like Mint, they should just install GNOME on it.

If you reread my comment you’ll answer your own question if you have a basic understanding of the English language

@manapropos @LeFantome love it when d-bags make these kinds of comments. Now I get to keep my mute list happy by feeding it another name. You know, Linux users get a bad rap because of snark like this.

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Just install Ubuntu, run unsnap, add some repos for Firefox (oe just use Flatpaks), remove extensions (is that possible?)

I would never use an older version of Ubuntu just to fix some things. The problems arent that huge.

But apart from that, why not Fedora? Its not actually that different if you dont depend on edgy software only available as .deb