Overview

CentOS

Stacks13.9K

Followers9.0K

Votes53

Linux Mint

Stacks289

Followers389

Votes77

Centos vs Linux Mint: What are the differences?

Introduction Centos and Linux Mint are two popular Linux distributions that offer different features and target different user needs. Understanding the key differences between these two distributions can help users make an informed choice based on their requirements.

Design Philosophy: Centos is a community-driven enterprise operating system built from the same source code as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It focuses on stability, security, and long-term support, making it a preferred choice for servers and business environments. On the other hand, Linux Mint is designed with a user-friendly approach and aims to provide a familiar desktop experience for beginners and desktop users.
Default Desktop Environment: Centos comes with the GNOME desktop environment as its default choice, offering a clean and functional user interface. Linux Mint, on the other hand, provides multiple editions with different desktop environments, including Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce. This allows users to choose the desktop environment that suits their preferences and hardware requirements.
Software Availability: Centos focuses on stability and reliability, which means it may have older software packages in its repositories. However, the availability of key enterprise software and server applications is excellent. Linux Mint, on the other hand, offers a wider range of software options, especially for desktop and multimedia applications. It tends to have more up-to-date software packages in its repositories.
Package Management: Centos uses the YUM (Yellowdog Updater, Modified) package manager for package installation and updates. It provides a reliable and secure way for managing software packages. Linux Mint uses APT (Advanced Package Tool) package manager, which is also widely used in many other Debian-based distributions. APT offers a vast selection of packages and a user-friendly interface for managing packages.
Release Cycle and Long-term Support: Centos follows a predictable release cycle, with major releases approximately every two to four years. It offers long-term support for each major version, providing updates and security patches. Linux Mint follows a more frequent release cycle with regular updates and releases every six months. It offers long-term support for specific LTS (Long Term Support) versions, which are supported for five years.
Target Users and Communities: Centos is primarily designed for enterprise users, system administrators, and server deployments. It has a strong community of developers and contributors focused on delivering stability and security. Linux Mint, on the other hand, targets desktop users, especially those transitioning from Windows. It has a strong and active user community, providing support, resources, and a friendly environment for beginners.

In Summary, Centos and Linux Mint differ in their design philosophy, default desktop environment, software availability, package management, release cycle, and target users. Understanding these differences can help users choose the distribution that aligns with their specific needs and requirements.

Advice on CentOS, Linux Mint

Jerome/Zen

Software Engineer

Aug 2, 2020

Decided

Global familiarity, free, widely used, and as a debian distro feels more comfortable when rapidly switching between local macOS and remote command lines.

CentOS does boast quite a few security/stability improvements, however as a RHEL-based distro, differs quite significantly in the command line and suffers from slightly less frequent package updates. (Could be a good or bad thing depending on your use-case and if it is public facing)

271k views271k

Comments

Gopi

Jun 21, 2020

Decided

I liked manjaro a lot, the huge support it has and the variety of tools it provides is just awesome. But due to its parent platform being Arch Linux it has bleeding-edge technology and that meaning, we get updated 'daily', and if we keep updating the system daily, due to the bugs in the recent updates the system sometimes used to crash, this made the OS really unstable. However, one can avoid such crashes using periodical and careful system/package updates. I now use LinuxMint which is based on Ubuntu, and this OS is completely stable with reliable(mostly tested) updates. And, since this OS is backed up by UBUNTU the concerns/questions one can encounter while using the OS can be easily rectified using the UBUNTU community, which is pretty good. Though this is backed up on UBUNTU it most certainly does NOT include the proprietary stuff of UBUNTU, which is on the bright side of the OS. That's it! Happy Computing.

231k views231k

Comments

Jaron

CTO at DDVTech B.V.

Aug 27, 2020

Decided

Using Arch Linux for our systems and servers means getting the latest technology and fixes early, as well as early warnings for potential future breakage in other (slower) distributions. It's been easy to maintain, easy to automate, and most importantly: easy to debug.

While our software target is every recent Linux distribution, using Arch internally ensured that everyone understands the full system without any knowledge gaps.

37.1k views37.1k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

CentOS	Linux Mint
The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.	The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.
Statistics
Stacks 13.9K	Stacks 289
Followers 9.0K	Followers 389
Votes 53	Votes 77
Pros & Cons
Pros 16 Stable 9 Reliable 9 Free to use 6 Good support 6 Has epel packages Cons 1 Yum is a horrible package manager	Pros 16 Simple, Fast, Comfort and Easy to Use 15 Stable 13 Elegant 12 Good for beginners 11 Free to use Cons 3 Easy to mess up with a few settings (like the panel) 2 Security breaches 1 Idiots can break it because it is open source

What are some alternatives to CentOS, Linux Mint?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.

FreeBSD

An operating system for a variety of platforms which focuses on features, speed, and stability. It is derived from BSD, the version of UNIX® developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It is developed and maintained by a large community.