The new Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) v3 final release is available for download at:
https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

".....LMDE aims to be as similar as possible to Linux Mint, but without using Ubuntu. The package base is provided by Debian instead.

There are no point releases in LMDE. Other than bug fixes and security fixes Debian base packages stay the same, but Mint and desktop components are updated continuously.

When ready, newly developed features get directly into LMDE, whereas they are staged for inclusion on the next upcoming Linux Mint point release.."

If you'd like to try a Linux distro based on Debian, and you enjoy what Linux Mint does with its main Ubuntu based releases, then LMDE v3 is right down your alley!

Having run LMDE v3 since the beta release some weeks ago I've found it to be one of the best Debian based distros available, easy to install, ready to work right from the start, and simple to customize to your liking as you go along.

Give it a go, you'll enjoy it as well!..

When time permits. Hands full at the moment with work items. Thanks for the update.

Did the upgrade option today on a media PC just to see how it'd go; a few quirks but not too bad. The 'mintupgrade' tool forces you to install and create a snapshot with the 'timeshift' package. Other than having several "foreign packages" that can't be removed by the method described in the upgrade tutorial eveything seems to be working okay. The upgrade path does take a while; probably I'll just do a fresh install on the other systems. Fresh installs are invariably cleaner IMO.

I too do fresh installs when I have a chance. Image BU with CloneZilla first. No doubt a cleaner option but more time consuming. I've also found Linux changes overnight and some "runtime" libraries get removed and/or renamed. Causing some software packages that worked fine on the older version to no longer function.

Nice to get some feedback from others on this O/S platform. Thanks.

Just a follow-up to my difficult removing the "foreign packages", which are probably better called "obsolete packages": apparently the system flagged some obsolete packages as critical which prevented their removal per step D8 in the upgrade tutorial. To force removal the following was done:

% sudo aptitude purge ~o

You can list the obsolete packages with '% apt search ~o' .

Presumably removal can also be accomplished with dpky(1) or apt-get(8) but it's not obvious to me from reading their manpages.

I now depend on Timeshift since using it first of all in Linux Mint 18.3. It's saved me a time or two, rolling back miscues that otherwise would have seen me doing complete reinstalls.


Mint's upgrade paths work just fine. But like you and Scott, a fresh install is the better way to go in my book as well..

A quick update:

Jesse Smith at Distrowatch.com posted an informative review of Linux Mint Debian Edition 3 in this week's Distrowatch Weekly. Worth a read if LMDE 3 is of interest..

https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20180917#mint

George - Thanks for the update.