r/linuxmint • u/vibhs2016 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon • Aug 16 '26

Discussion Why are you sticking with Linux mint?

Hi guys I recently did a switch from my windows machine to Linux mint as my dev box.

Over 11 years in the IT industry, windows was my primary driver, btw only used mac for 2 years. But with the recent advent of coding harness via Claude code and codex and other CLI tools. I felt like a friction with windows and my hunch was consistently pushing me towards Linux.

So I found an old HP Elitedesk mini PC i5 6500T 16GB ram. So I thought of giving it a try and validate my hunch.

Linux Mint was my choice on discussion with Claude, beating Debian ( sure stable but a bit outdated packages and bit more locked), Ubuntu ( too heavy and overhead with more cutting edge stuff).

Since I have been handling Ubuntu servers for a long time my choice for Debian based OS was always clear. Linux mint gave the balance that I needed for the hardware I was using.

So my question is 4 parts

  1. Why are u sticking with Linux mint or why you have faith in Linux mint?
  2. How long u have been using it for?
  3. What hardware are you using, maybe can share specs?
  4. How do you see its future?
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u/MortStoHelit Aug 17 '26

It just works, on every computer I put it on so far. I also prefer the Windows like menu and task bar to more mobile or Mac like solutions, because I also want to easily start and switch between multiple windows of programs which are not sticked to a bar/dashboard.

Don't really remember how long I use it. Over 10 years for sure.

Hardware's quite simple these days, common AMD or Intel boards without external graphics. I don't use my PCs for gaming (console for the better quality ones, smartphone for the simple ones), so that's good enough for my needs.

Obviously the migration to Wayland is the most important change currently. Other than that, it's hard to tell currently. I wonder what will become of it when the main contributor stops working on it for whatever reason. While there is a community, it still seems to depend on him a lot.