Mint 20: Better Than Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows?

As a long term user of Microsoft Windows, Fedora, Ubuntu and Linux Mint, I have seen some of the more intricate tantrums a Windows or Linux operating system can throw. My first Mint 20 installation was in early April 2020, even before Mint 20 was released. I have had the unique opportunity to compare it with Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu 20 for day-to-day work and use, and have made some interesting discoveries. Read on to find out.

In this article you will learn:

  • How Linux Mint 20 stacks up to Ubuntu 20 from a practical perspective
  • Which desktop environments are available, and which one I recommend
  • How Linux Mint 20 compares with Microsoft Windows
  • How to install another file manager in Linux Mint 20

Mint 20: Better Than Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows?

Mint 20: Better Than Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows?

Software requirements and conventions used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Linux Distribution-independent
Software Bash command line, Linux based system
Other Any utility which is not included in the Bash shell by default can be installed using sudo apt-get install utility-name (or yum install for RedHat based systems)
Conventions # – requires linux-commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires linux-commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Microsoft Windows

Let’s first have a look at Ubuntu 20.04. Ubuntu has over many years become a more popular Linux distribution choice. Even test engineers have started selecting Ubuntu rather than Red Hat’s RHEL (the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system) or it’s similar but more modern, and community-supported, Fedora. Soon enough even DevOps engineers may opt for the ease of Ubuntu.

Additional stability and longevity seems guaranteed by Ubuntu’s LTS (Long Term Support) release schedule, versus the .10 series (i.e. Ubuntu 20.10) which are more directed at users who want a little more recent and new software, at an increased risk of issues.

Ubuntu, when it originally started becoming popular, may have gained some traction as the ideal Microsoft Windows replacement. It’s handy Desktop/GUI and the similarity with Windows, and it’s easy installation process surely helped even more novice users to swap more easily, though likely not trouble-free, to Linux, with all it’s advantages of free software on a free operating system.

Though it was not the only choice, it was almost the only reasonable choice (besides perhaps Fedora) for most Windows users. This may have provided the Ubuntu distribution with a wide user base, and given it’s open source nature, a broader use base equals a better operating system.

As far as Microsoft Windows is concerned, for anyone who has used Linux for a few years and then swaps back to Microsoft Windows, various actions in Windows may feel kludgy, and less relevant to the skills gained by the user. Whereas Microsoft Windows has a few advantages especially in terms of it’s explorer, Linux is much more advanced and highly customizable.

Another major difference, which has become more prevalent in recent years, is that Microsoft is a business which is there to gain a profit. This is not the case, or not he same case at least, because the Ubuntu Operating System is build on top of UNIX and is contributed to by a very large community, voluntarily and in an open source fashion. The Ubuntu project in Launchpad shows many contributors.

As Microsoft is in the business to make a profit, they gain much by selling their operating system and subsequently data mining their users (remember all those many tick boxes you skipped by during the installation?) for their own purposes, whether it be for displaying user-relevant advertising, or other reasons.

If you are interested in learning more about Linux, one of the best places to start are the Linux Manuals. Assuming you have a test installation of Linux somewhere (or you can download one of the Linux Mint Live CD/DVD downloads and run that in VirtualBox for example), have a look at How To Access Manual Pages for Linux Commands.

With all of it’s greatness, Ubuntu also had it’s challenges. It had to find an ideal balance between being a user-facing Desktop operating system, and a different segment of the market, a company-facing server operating system. This was realized into two versions, the Desktop version and the Server version. Whereas a skilled engineer can easily change either into the other to some extent, the two basis provide a solid foundation and base setup.



Later on other business venues happened like Ubuntu for Raspberry Pi and optimized Ubuntu on public clouds, much alike to other SaaS/PaaS (Software as a Service,Platform as a Service) providers who optimize their products on the cloud and sell it for a hourly subscription fee. A handy way for any company to make a recurring income once their product has reached maturity. But has Ubuntu reached maturity?

It is a difficult question to answer. In some ways, yes, as the software is generally quite stable (though read on for more…) and well supported on forums etc. In some other ways, no, as apparently other providers can take Ubuntu and do better…

Then Came Mint

With it’s initial release in 2016, Linux Mint has made a lot of headway. If one had to write a one line summary, in as short a format as possible, I would summarize Linux Mint 19 or 20, based on much experience with both operating systems, as “Ubuntu, better.” Or, if you are a developer and understand code, we can do one better; “Ubuntu++”.

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. Whereas the core of the operating system is the same, that is also – to some extent – where it ends. The desktop, main file manager and look and feel are all quite different from Ubuntu. In fact, you can choose from one of three different desktops: the Cinnamon desktop, the MATE desktop and the Xfce (also written as xfce in all lowercase) desktop.

Having personally tried MATE and xfce, I can highly and warmly recommend the xfce desktop environment. Microsoft Windows users may also want to have a look at the Cinnamon desktop as it looks quite similar to the Microsoft start bar, but research shows that the xfce is the most lightweight, and therefore the fastest, desktop available. No fancy graphics, but more then sufficient graphics to still look modern.

It can be a little confusing when you have never downloaded Mint before and you end up on the Mint download page having to pick a Desktop environment without knowing what each one does, looks like, how heavy (in memory use and graphics) it is etc. Perhaps in time the Linux Mint team may consider doing a better job of informing or guiding customers here. A side-by-side comparison table or “what would you like to have” form would go a long way. Still, pick one, test it, and swap if necessary.



Mint++

Once your desktop is selected, and your system setup, it is now time to explore. You will soon notice that – assuming you selected the xfce desktop – you have an easy to configure display setup, and that with many beautiful nature backgrounds.

Working with multiple screens is a breeze too, and the latest Mint 20 allows you to drag the background configuration window to the monitor you like to configure backgrounds for, and it will automatically swap to the correct setting for that monitor! This functionality can be a little confusing at first, until you get used to it at which point it becomes a handy feature.

The standard file manager in Mint 20 xfce is thunar, and I am not impressed with the same. You may want to add an additional file explorer like nemo (A simple sudo apt install nemo will get you started), which is the standard file manager which comes with Cinnamon. You can also uninstall thunar by using sudo apt purge thunar, though be aware that you may have to do some more tweaks to get this to work well.

Beyond this, it is all cookies, goodies, and fun. Highly customizable, ultra fast, ultra stable, and modern, the Linux Mint 20 operating system (and the 19 version before it) have much to offer. Installing your favorite applications like Slack, LibreOffice, Terminator (multiple console windows in one), ClamTK (for antivirus), Firefox (present by default), Chromium, Wine (for running Windows applications), Pinta (like MS Paint on Microsoft), Audacity (for Audio), and much more is quite easy in most cases.

Still, there is something which the new/beginner Linux user may miss, and this is the most important of all in the end: a super stable library core. Once your skills as a Linux user (or engineer) grow, you may find yourself installing more programs or compiling programs you downloaded from source. Doing so is confusing at best for newer Linux users. A complex myriad of Linux libraries and compilation programs (like cmake) need to be present before attempting the compilation of most software.

This is where Mint, in my humble opinion, absolutely shines. For example, I had a complex package which required compiling on both Ubuntu 19/20 and Linux Mint 20. Though I have compiled many packages over many years, and have an expert level understanding of what I am doing, the compilation on Ubuntu was not straightforward by any means, even though the procedure constructed and followed was basically identical.



On Mint the whole compilation and any necessary steps thereunto progressed smoothly, and any messages or errors were clear and actionable. There was only a single issue which was quickly resolved. In the end, Ubuntu required an additional compiler option where Mint does not.

When you have a custom build computer there is always a risk that a small offset between software and combined hardware will cause issues. It does not happen often, but when it happens it is quite annoying as it may stop your work short right in the midst of what you were doing. I had such a case some time ago, where a custom build computer – running Ubuntu – would somewhat regularly halt/freeze without warning. On the same machine, Linux Mint 20 was installed, and while the issue still happens occasionally, it happens much less frequently. No other system changes were made.

In Summary

While Ubuntu, and especially Microsoft Windows, may feel like a distant memory after you have used Linux Mint for a while, keep in mind that Linux Mint exists as a direct result of Ubuntu existing. Then again, Ubuntu is in itself based on Debian!

In other words; let’s keep our heritage in mind and remember what has gone before, and be thankful to the many people working on UNIX, Debian, Ubuntu and Mint, who have brought us to where we are today: Linux Mint 20.1.

Linux Mint, “the better Ubuntu”. It is fast, works well and does what it is meant to do: provide the user with a solid base operating system from where to build. I highly recommend you try out Linux Mint 20.1 with the xfce desktop, and drop us a note once you’re settled in!

You can Download the latest version of Linux Mint 20 (20.1), with the xfce desktop here. Simply pick the right download mirror and don’t forget to verify your ISO image.



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