Linux Mint Based on Straight-up Debian

I had previously reported on this development in this post. I am here to report that these developments are getting closer to reality.
Yes, folks. Linux Mint is actually making larger efforts to move towards a Debian base. In my previous post, I reported that the new Debian-based Linux Mint was for PowerPC systems and used the LXDE desktop. Well, the fact that the linked article reports that this new version of Mint will use a rolling-release model, will use GNOME, and will be for i386 systems means that the Mint developers are really serious about moving away from an Ubuntu base and towards a Debian base. The screenshots look really nice, the installer appears to be much-improved over the standard Debian installer, and it is supposed to be a lot faster than current (Ubuntu-based) releases.
I'm even more excited about what will happen. Does this mean that the new Peppermint OS will retain the Ubuntu base and the Mint tools, while Linux Mint itself will shift to a Debian base (while retaining all of the amazing Mint tools)?