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i have been using ubuntu 12.04 for quite sometime and was happy until i decided to upgrade to 12.10 which IMO does not match even upto 12.04.. I like gnome and its intuitiveness, so was looking for another linux distro when linux Mint came to my mind. I have been reading on it and came to know that LM is based on Ubuntu.

My question is, if LM is based on Ubuntu, does that mean I get to use any or all of the ubuntu packages on LMint also? Or are there any restrictions imposed by LM on the packages?

Also, would I be able to use the Ubuntu Software Center on Linux Mint? I see they have a different software center, which to me looks like a form of Synaptic Package Manager. I kind of like Ubuntu's SC.

Please also guide me to get the key difference, from a packages point of view, between these two distros. I use Ubuntu for programming so LAMP, sublime text, etc.. are required, then i use Lightread for RSS, etc. I would like to have these in Linux Mint also.

Thanks!

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    All that I am looking for is the ease of use in installing the packages. I do not want to compile or do it the manual way. I would prefer the sudo apt-get install model in ubuntu or the simple Software center model of installation. Is this level of simplicity available in Mint also? In general most sites give a Ubuntu version when they give a linux version of the software.. Would such Ubuntu versions work in Linux Mint also? What are the differences?
    – luttappi
    Nov 14, 2012 at 7:37

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Linux Mint also uses apt for packages and since it's based on ubuntu the repositories should be compatible. For example for sublime text see this link. The packages available in the official repositories depend on the distribution for Linux Mint you find a list here. So since they use the same basic package manager and you find many tutorials about using each other repositories when you google "ubuntu mint repositories" I would say most ubuntu packages should work on mint (without trying).

When you are not sure about switching distributions you can always try them in a virtual machine (tutorial for ubuntu host) without doing harm to your old system.

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There is only one major different between LM and ubuntu . LM comes with some pre-installed applications otherwise LM & Ubuntu are same they are using same repo's.

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Linux mint is based on ubuntu so most of the packages in ubuntu are also available in mint, But they use different repositories , So you can't say every package in ubuntu is available in mint repository and vice versa

Why you want change os? You can easily install mint interface(cinnamon) in ubuntu

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