The Linux Mint Blog

The upgrade tool is ready. It makes upgrading from Linux Mint 5 to Linux Mint 6 trivial. Now, having said that… this is still a risky operation.

Warning

The recommended way to install Linux Mint is to perform a fresh install. We’re planning to release Linux Mint 6 tomorrow so I personally recommend you wait until then and go the safe way, try the ISO, see if it works well with your computer and then decide to upgrade, or even better, to perform a fresh install.

With all these warning you probably wonder why I’m trying to convince you not to use the tool I just wrote. It’s been properly tested, it works well but it still presents a risk. Even though I prefer people to perform fresh installs from the live CD, a lot of people asked for this tool. As usual I provide a choice and a recommendation. If for any reason you can’t afford loosing your current system, then stay away from this tool.

How to

From Linux Mint 5 Elyssa, install the package “mintupgrader-elyssa-main” and run the upgrade tool from the menu (“Upgrade to Linux Mint 6” in the Administration category).

When the upgrade is finished. Reboot the computer by opening a terminal and by typing “sudo reboot” (without the quotes).

Give us your feedback and for those who make it all the way to Felicia, enjoy Linux Mint 6.

Edit: This tool is designed for the Main edition.

As you probably know the release of Linux Mint 6 is coming very soon. In fact the ISO itself is ready and some of you may have already found it in one of our mirrors. Be patient and bear with me for a few extra days. Although the ISO is ready, a few other things remain to be done before we can officially release Mint 6 Felicia.

I’m currently working on the Universal Edition (which replaces the “Light Edition”, comes with a text-based grub for improved compatibility, removes codecs from the Main Edition and adds language packs on a live DVD media). The reason it’s taking time is because I still don’t have broadband… and the size of some of the language packs makes it difficult for me to perform this ridiculously simple task 🙂

I just finished editing the Linux Mint 6 User Guide. If you want to help please read it and report any typos/mistake you may find in it:

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/stable/6/user-guide/english.pdf

The Software Portal is ready but one thing is missing: Your ratings and reviews. The new Software Manager (mintInstall 5) is a great tool but it relies on YOU to know which apps are popular and which apps are not. So PLEASE log in the Software Portal and start rating and reviewing the applications for Mint 6:

http://linuxmint.com/software/?sec=categories&release=4

To be realistic we’ll probably be fully ready and announcing the officialy release of Linux Mint 6 early next week. That leaves you a few days to review the user guide and the rate applications in the software portal.

Sorry again for the delay. Thanks for being patient and thanks to all of you who contribute and help Linux Mint get better all the time.

Charles Olsen and the mintCast team published the second episode of their podcast. Happy listening everyone!

In Episode 2:

• Fedora 10 released
• Wine 1.1.10 Released
• Backing up your PC: mintBackup, FlyBack, Jungle Disk
• Microsoft segment – Preview of Internet Explorer 8 (by Adam Hainstock)
• Listener feedback

To subscribe to this podcast use the following address: http://mintcast.org/podcasts-only/rss2.aspx

For more information about this podcast please visit http://mintcast.org/

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