Linux Mint Debian Edition 201009 has been released!

A few years ago, I wrote about Linux Mint as an unofficial Ubuntu distribution that is preinstalled with proprietary codecs and plugins then I write a follow up article when the project has evolved into providing a user-friendly Linux distribution, with additional application but is still based on Ubuntu.

linux mint debian edition

But now, the Linux Mint teams has taken another step forward by introducing Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), which is based on Debian GNU/Linux distribution (Debian-Testing or Debian Squeeze). LMDE features a new installer which was developed from scratch with Debian in mind, bleeding-edge application from the Debian-testing repos and the same proprietary software addons from Linux Mint own repositories.

LMDE is however is not compatible with Ubuntu repositories as there are differences between the binary and the configuration files. Those who are seeking for full compatibility with Ubuntu, should download Linux Mint standard edition instead. Another caveat is, LMDE currently is only available on 32 bit X86 platform and GNOME, with no immediate plan to release 64bit edition or with KDE environment, due to complications with the process of making Debian much more ‘friendlier’ to keep up with Linux Mint standards.

linux mint debian thumbnail screenshot

LMDE can be downloaded from its official website : http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php, it comes with a DVD ISO image (875 MB)

How to install Ubuntu from hard disk (without CDROM)

There are times when you need to (re-)install Ubuntu on your computer and at the same time you are in situation where booting from CD-ROM is not possible.

Luckily I found a post from Deepblue Spaces: Install Ubuntu 8.04 from Hard Disk that contains step-by-step to start Ubuntu installer from the official Ubuntu ISO.

  • It involves downloading the Official Ubuntu ISO from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu
  • Extracting /casper/vmlinuz and /casper/initrd.gz from the ISO file.
  • And modifying /grub/menu.lst file to include the boot the cd image.

For more information, please refer to the original tutorial : Deepblue Spaces: Install Ubuntu from Hard Disk.

This trick is particularly handy when you are installing Ubuntu from a computer with buggy BIOS or where CD-ROM is not readily available