When comparing Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) vs Tails, the Slant community recommends Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for desktops?” Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is ranked 17th while Tails is ranked 33rd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro It’s faster and more responsive than Ubuntu-based editions
Pro Feature rich
Incredibly lightweight yet feature rich and familiar desktop. Low CPU usage. Low memory usage. Runs VMs super smoothly. Native apps are universally best in class stable open source tools.
Pro Privacy focused
Pro Has TOR built-in
Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network.
Pro Easy to use with an USB key
Cons
Con May not work with newer packages from Ubuntu
LMDE is Debian based and while Ubuntu is also Debian based, Ubuntu uses newer packages than the version LMDE is based on, which can lead to some Ubuntu apps not being able to be installed.
Con Not for daily use
Tails is a privacy focused Linux distro. The updates that you will receive are only for improving privacy and not for improving user experience.
Con You can't install it to a hard drive
Con Saved states are not present for security
For security reasons, saved states are not supported in Tails. Files can be stored in a separate, persistent volume which must be accessed with a root password. Personal settings (e.g. -- keyboard layout, window settings, etc.) are not saved persistently across reboots. This can be a hindrance for anyone not using English as their language, or not using a QWERTY keyboard layout.
Con Only GNOME desktop environment
Con Slow internet
Tails uses the TOR network and as a result the internet on your computer will be very slow.