Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, but removes or otherwise avoids most of the problems with Ubuntu.
It doesn’t come with KDE, but it’s a solid option for those not quite comfortable with Debian or Linux in general (or people who prefer Ubuntu as a base).
You can e.g. mintify your Kununtu by installing Linux Mint packages instead of the original Ubuntu packages (add the corresponding LM repos matching your Ubuntu version and give them a sufficiently higher priority) or, alternatively, install KDE on Linux Mint.
I’ve heard that KDE on Mint can be a bit temperamental. I assume because most of their stuff is focused around GTK instead of QT and adding KDE somehow messes with stuff.
Of course one should avoid using the originally provided GTK software under KDE, as it’s also spamming the app drawer.
It should work the same as for the Ubuntu -> Kununtu transition: Install some KDE Plasma desktop metapackage, logout and login using KDE, then remove the libgtk* packages to uninstall the Mate/Cinnamon desktop and it’s associated applications. One can reinstall the desired packages, e.g. Firefox, Thunderbird, Synaptic, afterwards.
@BlameTheAntifa, I disagree. To test your claim, I ran a search with admin privileges for snap and snapd on my Kubuntu LTS workstation, and there’s no trace of it.
Also, the following is from a query to Gemini Flash 2.5:
Kubuntu’s minimal install, especially in version 24.04 and later, generally does not install any Snap packages and often leaves out the snapd service by default, resulting in a snap-free system. Be cautious, as installing certain common applications like Firefox from the default repositories may still pull in snapd as a dependency.
I think that’s what they were saying: it still uses Ubuntu repositories, which use snap. So to install, e.g. Firefox natively, you need to manually meddle with PPAs, or compile from source. The package manger, arguably the biggest strength of any Linux distro, becomes next to useless unless you want to run snaps
I’ve been daily driving Kubuntu LTS for 3 years now completely snap-free due to --minimal-install, and use Waterfox, a Firefox fork that doesn’t use snapd as far as I can see. snap-free *buntu is alive and well. It doesn’t take much effort.
seriously. now you basically don’t have access to a large number of packages. sure, waterfox is a good alternative to firefox. but say you do want to install firefox (or any other package that canonical distributes only as a snap), what do you do?
I get that it’s possible to run Kubuntu, or even stock Ubuntu, without snap. that’s the beauty of an open OS, you can do whatever you want with it. I just don’t get why you would want to run a distro that is actively pushing a standard on you that you don’t want
Until you run an apt command and both snapd and snaps get forcibly reinstalled.
Just don’t use Ubuntu. If you need to stay in the Debian ecosystem then just use Debian with KDE.
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, but removes or otherwise avoids most of the problems with Ubuntu.
It doesn’t come with KDE, but it’s a solid option for those not quite comfortable with Debian or Linux in general (or people who prefer Ubuntu as a base).
There’s also LMDE if you want a Debian base.
It doesn’t come with KDE preinstalled
You can e.g. mintify your Kununtu by installing Linux Mint packages instead of the original Ubuntu packages (add the corresponding LM repos matching your Ubuntu version and give them a sufficiently higher priority) or, alternatively, install KDE on Linux Mint.
I’ve heard that KDE on Mint can be a bit temperamental. I assume because most of their stuff is focused around GTK instead of QT and adding KDE somehow messes with stuff.
Of course one should avoid using the originally provided GTK software under KDE, as it’s also spamming the app drawer.
It should work the same as for the Ubuntu -> Kununtu transition: Install some KDE Plasma desktop metapackage, logout and login using KDE, then remove the libgtk* packages to uninstall the Mate/Cinnamon desktop and it’s associated applications. One can reinstall the desired packages, e.g. Firefox, Thunderbird, Synaptic, afterwards.
@BlameTheAntifa, I disagree. To test your claim, I ran a search with admin privileges for
snapandsnapdon my Kubuntu LTS workstation, and there’s no trace of it.Also, the following is from a query to Gemini Flash 2.5:
I think that’s what they were saying: it still uses Ubuntu repositories, which use snap. So to install, e.g. Firefox natively, you need to manually meddle with PPAs, or compile from source. The package manger, arguably the biggest strength of any Linux distro, becomes next to useless unless you want to run snaps
I’ve been daily driving Kubuntu LTS for 3 years now completely
snap-free due to--minimal-install, and use Waterfox, a Firefox fork that doesn’t usesnapdas far as I can see.snap-free *buntu is alive and well. It doesn’t take much effort.but why
seriously. now you basically don’t have access to a large number of packages. sure, waterfox is a good alternative to firefox. but say you do want to install firefox (or any other package that canonical distributes only as a snap), what do you do?
I get that it’s possible to run Kubuntu, or even stock Ubuntu, without snap. that’s the beauty of an open OS, you can do whatever you want with it. I just don’t get why you would want to run a distro that is actively pushing a standard on you that you don’t want
To explicitly piss off the distro purists and cultists.
Jk😅
Really, it’s because sometimes I like to run my experimental DNN applications on bare metal, and many of those use containers have an Ubuntu base.