Debian vs. Ubuntu vs. Linux Mint: Which Distribution Should You Use?

If you’ve heard of Ubuntu, the most popular version of Linux for desktop PCs, there’s a good chance you’ve also heard of Debian and Linux Mint.
With so many Linux distributions to choose from, a newcomer can understandably have a hard time telling them all apart. In this case, these three options have a great deal in common, but there remains a lot that sets them apart.
Debian-Based Linux Distributions
In the Linux world, there are hundreds of Linux-based operating systems (commonly known as “distributions” or “distros”) to pick from. Most of them expand from an already existing distro and implement various changes. There are only a handful that aren’t based on something else.
Debian is one of them, a parent that a majority of other versions of Linux have spawned from. Ubuntu is the most prominent descendant.
Yet while Ubuntu may be based on Debian, it has gone on to become a parent to many other distros as well. Linux Mint, for example, is based on Ubuntu .
If you’re connecting the dots, that means that Linux Mint is ultimately based on Debian.
But Linux Mint is not Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is not Debian. While they may largely share the same technical underpinning, chances are you won’t have that impression when you boot them up for the first time.
Debian

Software engineer Ian Murdock released the first version of Debian in 1993, in the process establishing a community of developers who would work together to provide a stable way to use the best software the free software world had to offer. The name came from the combination of his name and the name of his then-girlfriend, Debra.
While you can install Debian on your laptop and replace Windows, Debian is more than a desktop operating system. It’s a massive collection of software that you can configure in different ways to create the kind of experience you want. This is why so many projects use Debian as a foundation.
But yes, you can install Debian as a desktop operating system. Technically there is a default desktop experience available, but the installer enables you to pick and choose which desktop interface you prefer. You can even choose not to have a graphical interface at all, which is ideal for servers.
This freedom means the Debian teams leave the bulk of design and usability decisions to the various free software projects themselves. How Debian looks and feels has more to do with what the GNOME or KDE teams decide than the opinions of Debian developers.
You won’t find the custom themes and personal style that Ubuntu and Linux Mint both offer in spades, though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The GNOME desktop interface, for example, doesn’t support custom themes and many app developers actively request that distros stop theming their apps .
Debian’s Package Management
Yet there is a major part of the experience that is specific to Debian....