Debian GNU/Linux vs Linux Mint

Debian offers stable and testing CD images specifically built for GNOME (the default), KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce and LXDE. Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, GNUstep, IceWM, Window Maker and others can also be installed.

Debian runs standard Gnome, XFCE, KDE - it doesn't use its own special desktop environment or debian specific modifications or customisations, which means that users benefit from the work of the whole Linux community, Debian developers can focus on the distribution itself, and any support for your desktop environment on other distributions should work on Debian as well.

Debian has the widest choice of hardware platforms, including:
amd64, armel, armhf, i386, ia64, kfreebsd-i386, kfreebsd-amd64, mips, mipsel, powerpc, sparc, s390, s390x, source, multi-arch.

Debian has a Stable branch, where packages are thoroughly tested before release. Furthermore Debian is know to be the definition of stable when it comes to production systems.

Once installed you can almost forget about it and start to use your desktop for your daily tasks.

Debian is one of the oldest and most popular distros out there. Debian's popularity means that you will always be able to find a solution for your problem just by searching on Google, or if by chance nobody has had the problem you are having it's very easy to ask the community and quickly get a solution.

Because of its popularity, Debian has a lot of applications available which range from productivity programs to business software, games and development tools. It comes with over 55.500 packages (software that is precompiled and ready to be installed on a local machine) -- all of them for free.

Known for being consistent in maintaining a highly secure system. Several other popular distros use Debian as a base or core for their own Linux OS, the security being one of the main factors why it's so commonly used.

Every Debian Release can either use a Rolling or Release based model.

The developer works very well so the the code is one of the best written out there.

You can either use aptitude, apt or apt-build to install software from the Debian package archives.

As Debian is the base for SteamOS and because Ubuntu is based on it, it's almost certain that all Linux games will run properly and require no hacks like creating symbolic links because of some hardcoded paths.

The Debian project is one of the biggest open source projects with over 5000 active contributors.

You don't have to disable SecureBoot if you use it, which is useful for LiveUSB or dualboot setups.

Guaranteed commitment to adherence to values, principles, priorities, requirements and guidelines by the Debian project.

Unlike other distributions that just extract their Live image, Debian offers a real traditional and modular installer to customize the installation.

Debian is one of the few distros that let the user choose if he wants a free system or not.

Depending how it is configured debconf does the most of the hard work for you and only asks you with configuration /file conflicts.

Almost any software that is available for Linux provides a Debian package.

Debian supports almost any Kernel maintained CPU instructions set. It has also a few non Linux Ports.

It is possible to rebuild the entire system and optimize it for your hardware (of course, it is not as detailed as Gentoo's USE flags).

The most Linux distros have one or two stages before a release, but Debian has five before a new stable version is released (experimental > unstable > testing > code-freeze/bug hunting > stable).

The Debian installer can still be launched as text/curses-like installer which is more compatible and keyboard-friendly than the graphical version.

Debs are normal ar and tar archives with shell scripting and additional gz, bz, lzma or xz compression.

Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for the i386 and amd64 architectures, and with a choice of desktop environments. These Debian Live images allow the user to boot from a removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer.

Debian stable does not update a lot and instead provides stability and well tested softwares. You don't get distracted by every shiny new stuff that comes out, and focus on what matters: productivity and reliability of your system.

Stable gets backported software from here.

If you haven't used Linux for a long time, say 5-10 years, it's a great distro in which you can quickly get in the boat again. You don't have to worry about falling back. Everything is in its place.

But has quite a few bugs from 2016-2017, apparently for long term.

Mint is highly recommended for both users coming from Windows, as well as users coming from Ubuntu, but unhappy with Ubuntu's recent, rather dramatic interface changes. Mint provides an updated interface with a look and feel similar to Gnome 2, with an application menu reminiscent of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with categorization and search.

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks.

Mint gains a very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories.

It's based upon Ubuntu LTS or Debian.
It depends on which one you select - Linux Mint or Linux Mint Debian Edition.
The Debian Edition is even more stable.

Linux Mint uses the same installer as Ubuntu. It is very easy to use for beginners, and also allows more advanced users to choose their own partitions. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop is highly customizable and can be made to look however preferred.

Long Term Support versions are versions of software that are continuously updated for an extended period of time, even after newer versions are launched. LTS versions will typically get feature additions and enhancements for an extended period of time, then security updates up until its End of Life. An LTS release should typically be considered good for at least 5 years.

There are several different ways to get support for this distribution, including the forums, their IRC channel, or their github repositories if you think their software isn't behaving as it should.

The Linux Mint team is very dedicated to upgrading and improving Mint, to the point where the releases are fairly predictable. They are also dedicated to their users, meaning that they are responsive to critiques, suggestions, etc.

The OS has different update settings for different users and has easy manual within the OS.

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it does offer full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, Teamviewer).

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu.

Linux Mint is currently the most hit page on DistroWatch. Because of its popularity, long-term support is pretty guaranteed.

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever.

This tool backs up the core OS files to an external drive with an option for full encryption.

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE.

Linux Mint has a quite pretty default desktop. Cinnamon is adopted by other distros also.

Mint is extremely easy to install, and with community support, easy to move onto adjusting the OS to meet your specific needs. The vast majority of instructions for undertaking configuration work and are easy to understand.

MATE is a classic desktop as opposed to the newer "Unity" desktop. For people who prefer the classic style this is one of only few modern distributions with still active MATE desktop development.