Linux Mint or Ubuntu?

1

I have both and ready to do a fresh install. Wanting to know which is better for programming. I have windows 10 but I am not a fan at all.
Any help deciding would be appreciated.

2

They’re both pretty solid distros. MATE (or Cinnamon) on Linux Mint will resemble Windows the most, if that’s something you’d like.

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3

‘Better for programming’ depends on what you want, but you’ll find they are essentially the same from a programmer’s perspective.

You’ll want a decent terminal and a decent editor…and that’s about it :slight_smile:

For what it’s worth I’m on Ubuntu 16.04 and have no complaints.

I like being able to switch desktops with hotkeys, so I usually have my code editor on one desktop, terminals on another, a browser with live versions of the site I’m working on in the third and then my Docs, Trello, Github stuff open on the fourth. Once you get used to the hotkeys it’s like having four monitors :slight_smile:

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4

For web stuff it won’t matter much, but in other areas it shows that bubuntu and debian have older packages and therefore toolchains. I would suggest open suse tumbleweed instead.

edit: oh wait, browsers! Definitely go for something with rolling releases.

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5

I like Cinnamon on Mint. Lower memory usage and in my opinion, better software manager.

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6

ubuntu, only complaint is the memory usage on older hardware

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7

Been using Ubuntu since I joined a coding school. No complains so far. Most important thing is the IDE you choose and the packages installed. You get to learn the terminal and you are good to go on both

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9

No difference for programming, it’s more about look and feel. Run the live versions from USB and then you can choose which you prefer.

10

I am on Mac now, but I did use and experiment Linux Mint and Ubuntu for a while, personally I would use Mint Cinnamon.

There is a guy called Joe Collins on YouTube and he talks a lot about Mint, Ubuntu and Linux in general.

My thoughts on Linux Mint 19, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Ubuntu MATE 18.04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJcKeEOH8iA

11

I think you’ll be fine with any of these two.
Actually Mint, Ubuntu and Windows 10 are just fine for programming.
I’m using Windows 10 for a long time now, never had problems with it and kinda like the system.
Using VSCode and changing the terminal settings, makes it a great editor for development.
I decided to give Linux a try, since it’s been some years now that I haven’t used it. Tried some distros:

  • Fedora 29 - Great distro, easy and simple for most things;
  • Deeping - Great distro, beautiful UI, simple and easy, but it was hard for me to make it work with some cloud services like OneDrive and Google Drive;
  • Manjaro Deepin - Another great distro. It’s the one I’m using right now. Easy and simple, beautiful with Deepin UI and very good for most updated packages. Doesn’t have a pretty store like Mint and Ubuntu, but enabling AUR packages makes you find most of what you may need with instructions to run it.

If the Windows 10 UI is not something you like, I would say to go for Ubuntu instead of Mint.
Anyway, the best advice I can give you is to check some Youtube Videos to help you decide.

Also, Ubuntu new release 19.04 is coming next month, you may want to check it. I’m waiting to try Ubuntu Budgie and decide for it or Manjaro Deepin, but anyway, for development, as far as I know, it makes not much difference.