Well.. I was going to answer the last 8 reviews in a single post but I quickly realized it wasn’t such a good idea. The last one, from Distrocheck, is full of constructive criticism and highlights very interesting points. So let’s start by discussing this one and I’ll tackle the other reviews one by one then after.
Link to the review: http://distrocheck.wordpress.com/
Comments:
Distrocheck: “I must say Linux Mint has a very good reputation in the Linux world, personally I find it astonishing how big this community based distribution has become, coming close to the point of dethroning his own father Ubuntu. Just take a look at the current Distrowatch ranking […]”
–> Although one of the best metrics to compare user bases comes from Distrowatch, their ranking is based on hits per day and it generally shows how much popularity distributions get within the website, not in terms of users but in terms of hype. I find it more interesting to compare their traffic stats and to see what percentage of Distrowatch visitors use our distribution. Linux Mint is the second biggest Linux distribution in number of users, it’s far ahead of Fedora, SUSE or Mandriva but also far behind Ubuntu. The metrics tell us that our user base is twice bigger than Debian’s, between 2 and 3 times bigger than Mandriva’s, Fedora’s or SUSE’s and yet 3 times smaller than Ubuntu’s. We’re also observing the fact that Mint is growing faster than other distributions but not as fast as Ubuntu, so it looks like we’ll be in second position for a while. To be honest, we’re delighted with that. Ubuntu offers different pros and cons and I think both distributions compliment each others when it comes to making new users come to Linux and migrate away from Microsoft Windows. I’d expect things to remain as they are within the Linux world but I think all distributions are inevitably going to grow as more and more people discover the choice they have when it comes to choosing an operating system for themselves. It’s great for Linux to have a flagship product such as Ubuntu to get up there and raise awareness. We’re as high as we want to be in terms of success within the Linux community and I think by now, people know about us: If they use another distribution it’s because it suits their particular needs better than we do. Our ambition is to be among the factors that will push people away from Mac OS and Windows, not people who enjoy their operating system for a reason or another, but those who are frustrated with what they have, or who simply aren’t aware of the alternatives that are available to them.
Distrocheck: “The chosen wallpaper is awesome although the wallpapers included are not that good, plus they insist on putting the mint logo on every one of them.”
–> The wallpaper… there’s been so much said about that. One of the things I’m the most proud of when it comes to Mint is something which I don’t think I have anything to get credit for… its community. It’s full of people who want to help, and in particular it’s full of talented artist. Compared to projects like Ubuntu or Fedora, our community is disorganised, it lacks leadership, resources and structures.. and yet, it comes to us with the most brilliant ideas, extremely valuable feedback and now and then with some remarkable wallpapers. I’m not sure why almost all wallpapers created by the community wear the Linux Mint logo… and as most of them don’t come with separate layers it’s hard for us to remove them. I’m not sure whether I’d want the logo to be taken off but I can certainly agree with the point being made here: It would be good for some wallpapers at least to come without any branding.
Distrocheck: “I don’t like the tomboy applet between the Menu and the Show Desktop applets, I feel it just doesn’t look right. I would prefer the tomboy applet on the left of the clock to somehow make it look like part of the rest of the “notification area”. Plus why use tomboy when gnote does the same job perfectly and it doesn’t use mono? Also I would prefer to have the Show Desktop applet on the right corner of the panel for easy access.”
–> I don’t want to bore people with small details so let’s not talk about the panel layout too long, but I take note on this. It’s an interesting point. I’m not sure which is best and I’m probably biased due to the fact that I’m used to having these shortcuts on the right of the menu… I’ll consider that and if people want to tell us what they think about this, I’d be interested to hear their reaction. Please comment on this.
–> About gnote, it was considered for inclusion in Linux Mint 8 and it got rejected. We were interested in it for its smaller footprint (to gain space on the liveCD) and for its better performance. It turned out we didn’t need the space and it wasn’t performing significantly better than Tomboy. It only missed a few features found in Tomboy but none of the important ones. The language it’s developed in only matters to us if we start patching it significantly or if we have an interest in forking it. In this case the only modification we bring to Tomboy is the fact that we don’t want it to open the welcome note by default when you log in the desktop for the first time.. as for Mono and the controversy around it, I’ve asked people to come with reasonable arguments against it and I failed to receive any. I don’t use it personally but I can appreciate good coding and the passion a developer puts in his work. The two products being almost identical I much prefer to follow an innovative project driven by passion than a fork which ambition is only to port something that already works to a different language on the same platform. I don’t know whether gnote’s ambition is political and/or if it has to do with the Mono controversy. I hope it’s more than that. The day it tackles performance and starts bringing features of its own, i.e. user improvements, we’ll have a strong case to include it, until then we’re keeping an eye on it in case Tomboy’s inclusion becomes a concern to us in terms of space on the liveCD.
Distrocheck: “Kudos for not putting the Trash on the panel, I hate that […] I don’t know why distros insist on showing the drives on the desktop, it’s really not necessary and it looks ugly. One of the first things I do when installing a gnome system is disabling that option in gconf-editor, I really think it should come disabled by default as well as the Computer and Home folders. You can access them easily with the menu, it simply ruins the desktop harmony.”
–> I hate it as well (about the trash), it’s typically something people should find when they need it but which should remain hidden when they don’t. I’m not sure about the Home and Computer places though… from my experience, a lot of people use the Home shortcut on the desktop, much more than the shortcut to it available in the menu. As for the “Computer” icon, I think it’s been anchored in our common culture, something we probably inherited from Microsoft Windows? I don’t use it much myself.. I usually go to my home and then access the volumes from the left pane… and if I plug something in the computer, it comes up in a new window for me anyway… I guess in Windows, people are used to go to “My Computer” to click “C:\” or “D:\” or whatever letter they chose or was chosen for them. Would it feel weird to only have the Home shortcut on the desktop? Shall we get rid of “Computer”? Tell us what you think. Also, just a quick note to say that mintDesktop is there for that kind of things, no need to go tinkering with gconf-editor (unless it’s for fun of course).
Distrocheck: “[about mintMenu…] it’s huge, it takes almost 1/4 of screen space when opened and since I’m more of a minimalist type of guy it bothers me. I don’t feel the Favorites and All applications sections look different enough to quickly know what you are looking at, especially since it remembers which one you used last, instead of always showing Favorites when opened or always showing All applications, couldn’t find an option for that. I would set it to always show Favorites. Then there are a lot of options on the left side, fortunately they can be disabled on the preferences. Why have Software Manager and Package Manager? They serve practically the same function, it’s confusing, I guess Software Manager does not deal with individual packages.”
–> mintMenu is (too) big, I agree with that. I’ll look into ways to make it more compact and/or to allow more customization around the way it looks for it to fit smaller resolutions. There used to be an option to ask you whether you want to start with the favorites or with the applications themselves. It was removed. The rationale is that you’ll probably want to use what you used last and we don’t want the application to change its state when you go and perform other tasks. For instance; open something in the Internet category… then open the menu again and it still shows the same category. I think it’s irritating for a menu to constantly go back to some initial state and I much prefer it this way. I’d be interested to hear people’s opinions on this though.
–> The presence of both a Package Manager and a Software Manager is confusing to users and it’s something Ubuntu and Mint are tackling with a lot of efforts at the moment. Software management is very efficient in both distributions and it’s about to get even better with the upcoming releases. There are pros and cons associated with using Synaptic, mintInstall, the Ubuntu software store, app-install etc… and we’re trying hard to gather all the pros and to get rid of all the cons in a single unified tool. I’m working on a project at the moment which I can’t really call mintinstall since it’s been rewriten from scratch, which is taking all the best things out of both mintInstall and the Software Center and which has the capacity to show the 30,000 packages available in the repositories… of course it’s completely broken and nothing works well yet, so I won’t say more about it in case the whole thing falls short and doesn’t make it in the next release. But in brief, we’re working on it.
Distrocheck: “Mint Menu has something that’s really amazing, when you search for a program and it’s not installed it shows options like Search Portal, Search Repositories, Show Package, Install Package, so if you look for emesene and it is not installed, you can simply click Install package emesene, put the password, confirm, done. Awesomeness. I think though, that they have too many options, I would leave just the Install package option and ditch the rest. Another nice function is right clicking an icon and having the option to make it show in the Favorites, to launch at login or to uninstall. Btw I found a bug, when right clicking a program and the clicking the menu again, the menu won’t disappear when clicking outside of it, like it should. The menu is very powerful yet I don’t like it, I just don’t feel comfortable with it because of the way it’s arranged.”
–> It’s the “suggestion” feature of mintmenu. It’s taken care off by mintinstall and that’s something we’ll improve as well. In particular I don’t like the way you need to know the exact package name. For instance if I want to install Google Earth, I’d like to simply type “google” and have “Google Earth” and maybe even “Picasa” show up in a list of things I can install. Again, that’s much too soon for me to talk about, but we’ll definitely improve this aspect of the menu, not just the look of it, but also the way you interact with it.
Distrocheck: “[about mintUpdate…] I don’t like the whole idea of separating the updates in levels, if it’s going to select 1,2 and 3 by default anyway it might as well just hide that level information from the end user and show the updates. The levels should be an internal thing that can be set in the preferences but not the main interface.”
–> I disagree with that. The reason we came with this is to prevent what we call un-educated updates (I love the way this term irritates people, especially when it comes from a non-native-English-speaker like me) to be performed by people who aren’t skilled enough to fix their system once it’s affected by a regression (i.e. a bug caused by a package update). There’s big colored numbers for everyone to notice and most people know what they mean… that in itself is a success. Of course, we like people to be able to choose for themselves and so in Mint 8 it’s possible for you to hide the level column in the Update Manager and to make it look exactly the way you want.
Distrocheck: “It actually uses 4 different icons, icons to show “Busy”, “System up-to-date”, “Updates available”, “Error”. You almost need to take a tutorial to understand this. The error icon is plain stupid, I hate watching that broken lock with the red X every time I use synaptic or I’m disconnected from the network, everytime I see it I think my system is having a seizure. For some reason an open lock means Updates Available, well it makes sense, your system is outdated so it’s open to threats, ok. But then you have a closed lock that means busy, and a closed lock with a green check that means everything is ok. I don’t know why the close lock means it’s busy, a close lock gives me the feeling the system is up to date, the system up to date icon is just unnecessary. Bottom line is, it should use just 2 icons, an open lock and a closed lock, open means outdated, closed means updated. If they want to show the updater is working they can make it blink a bit, or use an animated gear or something.”
–> The blinking isn’t an option (it goes against common UI guidelines) but I agree on the rest. I’ll look into this and we’ll come up with better status indicators for the next release.
Distrocheck: “[about the default software selection…] 2 front ends of mplayer, I don’t know why they have done this, along with Totem it has 3 media players + rhythmbox. They included Pidgin instead of Empathy, they must have their reasons.”
–> When we tested Empathy (during the Ubuntu RC phase if I remember well) it wasn’t completely functional and it failed in basic use cases scenarios such as connecting to Google Apps account…etc. I’m not sure whether it’s on par with Pidgin now and it’s something we’ll look into with each release. In fact, there are a couple of applications we’re keeping an eye on with each release. One of them is VLC and as it was mentioned in the review there’s a bit of a mess when it comes to multimedia players in Linux and it shows in Linux Mint with the inclusion of Totem, Mplayer, Gnome Mplayer..etc. The problem here has to do with playback both inside and outside of the web browser. We’re restricted in our choice by the fact that plugins aren’t fully independent and that they rely on their respective players to work well. The situation upstream is less of a problem with every release though and the dominant solution in the Linux world, totem, is quickly becoming a standard which I think will bring some harmony in all that.
Distrocheck: “[about mintInstall…] wait a minute, score and average rating, what’s the difference?”
–> That’s changed in the upcoming rewrite of mintInstall (which I really hope won’t be vaporware.. it’s quite ambitious). At the time of the Mint 8 release the average rating was the average of the individual ratings for each review of an application. The score was a calculation meant to indicate the popularity of an application, and it wasn’t just based on the average rating but also on the number of people looking at the application and the number of times it had been reviewed.
Distrocheck:”in order to select an applications to be installed, it has to be selected first and then click the button Install”
–> We were approaching code-freeze at the time and so it was easier for us to do it this way. We’re planning on changing that aspect of the interface as well in the next version.
Distrocheck:”why would they recommend a closed source pdf viewer is beyond me, evince can read pdf’s perfectly”
–> I’m not sure why people want Adobe Acrobat Reader, whether it’s because it’s better, or whether it’s the norm, or whether it’s a matter of being able to read PDF from within the browser and mozzplugger isn’t as popular an option, but the fact is that a lot of people want it… and that’s the main requirement for things to make it to our list of “featured software”.
Distrocheck:”I just want to say I don’t like when distros flood web browsers with bookmarks, and Mint
just loves to do that. The default Firefox shows a bookmark toolbar filled with Linux Mint links to different sections of their site, apparently making the linux mint website the home page was not enough.”
–> I’d like to hear people’s opinions on that. From my experience and despite everything I learnt in IT, recurrence is a must. Casual computer users want to use tools more than they want to learn about them and so we can’t rely on the fact that they’ll read the release notes, the user guide, or even the welcome screen. What we can rely on is that most of them won’t change the default settings and so when the time comes and they face a problem they’ll have the forums and the other sections of our websites just one click away. For experimented users and IT enthusiasts, these are extremely easy to remove. If you’re into cars you probably get rid of the sticker on the rear window after you buy the car… but look on the streets, most people don’t. They probably don’t need to know the garage’s phone number on a daily basis (well I hope they don’t) but the day they need it, and considering they don’t mind the sticker being there since they’re not “into” cars, it’s here and they’re happy to find it…. so in brief, if you’re into clean lean desktops you’ll probably remove these quick enough, but for many people who’ll use Mint as a tool it’s a good thing.
Distrocheck:”I perceive a very positive response from people about the distro and I feel it may actually become the most popular home Linux distro one day, which would only show that small communities with good ideas and dedication can yield a better product than sponsored or corporative distributions.”
–> Our small size has been an asset and it made it easier for us to listen and interact with our community, that’s for sure, and I think most of the credit goes to that communication that users and developers managed to have with each others in this project. As we grow more and more this is becoming harder and harder though. I’m working full time on the distribution now, there’s money to be spent when needed and so we can take on bigger tasks and be more ambitious in our development and our innovations. Yet, the more we grow the more we become isolated in our own ways of thinking and the less our vision gets confronted to people’s criticism, and that’s something we’ll need to be focused on as the real challenge for us when competing with projects like Microsoft Windows and Mac OS will be to be as productive and ambitious as they are while remaining strongly connected to our user base and strongly involved and aware of what’s going on in the IT Desktop world.
I started my linux journey with ubuntu jaunty but converted to linuxmint-7 as soon as it came out. Now i am using mint-8. Mint-8, i feel, is the best thing for a linux newbie. However the default desktop in mint-8 is bad as compared to mint-7. You should look at the mandriva 2010 desktop. It is beautiful. If u want to convert people to linux, please take care of this. As the saying goes, first impression is the last impression. Otherwise, mint-8 is the best thing in linux desktop. Best alternative to win over people from windows.
great going guys. Keep the good work going!!! All the best!
Hey about the Tomboy thingy:
Kick it out of the distribution, no Distro what so ever needs any Mono app. If you use gnote instead of Tomboy you could kick out mono as well and I think Mono alone is nearly 200MB big… so you would get new space for more interesting apps than Tomboy…
In best regards
Roin
Pretty good review for an excellent distro!
Some of the points i agree with, whenever I install something from Software Manager I instinctively click on the box that looks like a tick box but is just the indicator. Also, the bookmarks in Firefox are irritating but useful, on every install I have done, i straight away put them all in one folder on the toolbar called ‘Mint’. Nice and easy to access still but a little more out of the way.
Keep up the amazing work, can’t wait for Isadora!
For the most part I completely disagree with what the Reviewer at Distrocheck said. Some parts I agree with and One part I’m on the fence about;
The Mint Update Panel Icons. Namely the ‘Checking for Updates’ Icon. Unfortunately, I dont have a suggestion for what the icon should look like. Something that indicates its ‘checking’ for updates obviously. A Checkmark would not work tho, because that would most likely indicate completion of a task to most users. The other 3 icons are great. I might adjust the color a bit. I’m more of a Steel/Gray person myself.
I’m on the fence about Firefox bookmarks. The first thing I do when I start Firefox for the first time is remove the bookmarks toolbar. Granted I started doing that when I was using 10″, 14″ and 15″ screens and the needed the space, and now that I have a 20″ Monitor I could have a double layer bar if I wanted. I dont want it. However I do understand that its probably better that they be enabled by default. It is much much much much easier for someone that doesnt know how, to remove the toolbar if they dont want it, than to enable it if they dont even know its there.
I dont use Tomboy or gnotes or the show desktop buttons, ever. I remove those icons as soon as I install the system.
I use my own custom made Wallpaper(s).
I prefer my Icons on the Desktop. All connected drives, Trash, and most used applications. I try to keep the panel as clear and empty as I can. With just the Menu, task list, system tray, clock, and occasionally the Trash and System Monitor at the far right..
I commend Mint for choosing Pidgin over Empathy. Empathy is pure trash right now as most forum users will tell you. It has so many bugs and glitches right now, its reminiscent of KDE 4.0.
I hate Totem. I have no idea why it is even included in any Linux Distro. It is a horrible video player. VLC #1 or SMPlayer #2 should be the default players for all distributions.
Please leave the Computer on the desktop. It’s the fastest way to multiple disks and users can just the delete the icon off if they want to. Thanks!!!
I like the rating levels in mintUpdate, so I say keep those.
I’m fine with evince, don’t need Acrobat Reader.
I don’t have a doctrinal position on Mono. I never use Tomboy, and I’m not sure I’d ever use GNote.
I love having the drives on the desktop, and I use this feature all the time to get to my outboard USB drive.
Geez, what is it about this guy? He loves this distro, just not anything about it that makes it Mint. All of his complaints are customizable. What, you want a distro made just for you? 97% of this article is sour grapes; is this guy from Ubuntu, or Windows ?
Too many Linux reviews forget to look at the distro from the perspective of the user that the distro is aimed at.
Mint is ideal for beginners, more so than even Ubuntu.
The links in the browser are the first things a new user will need if they run into problems.
The link to the software portal is an easy way to get additional software.
I find the Mint menu a lot easier than the new KDE menu in other distros but favourites is of limited use if you add too many to it
BTW I think the mix of themes colours and wallpaper selections are just fine! (There is always that link to artwork in the browser….)
I love it everyday.
It is working great.
I don’t notice the OS and that’s fine.
Many applications, certainly when one also uses ‘Add/remove applications and/or Ubuntu software center.
And communication between user and Mint is very comfortable.
I stay put. And I think Mint still will be more popular.
Keep alive the good work.
I’ve been a Mint user since Mint 7 and now Mint 8. I’ve also been using Ubuntu on some computers.
About the points in the review:
1. The wallpapers are alright. There is no problem with the “mint” logo. I would however suggest widening the choices of wallpapers. Right now by default there are only about 8-9 wallpapers to choose from. I would recommend about 15 to 20 wallpapers to choose from, including more nature/landscape shots. This may sound trivial but IMO it shows polish and fine-touch in a distro.
2. A lot of the criticism about thing in the mintInstall is good. And I’m glad that you’re working on something even better. I’ve noticed that there are packages that I can only find in Package Manager, and cannot find in mintInstall. Is this the way it’s supposed to be?
3. About mono, I think Linux Mint disregard the whole controversy. Mono is not evil. Just focus on functionality. If an application is better, then use that, no matter what its language is.
4. I want to keep Computer and Home. But I agree that USBs and other harddrives should not appear on the desktop.
5. About the menu, it does look kind of big right now. I have no personal complaint, but it can definitely be improved to look slicker.
6. Keep up the good work! I really appreciate what you guys are doing in LinuxMint.
I would agree with the review regarding the Favorites menu. It would be nice that every time I opened the menu it would start with the Favorites. There should be an option to have this behavior.
When I open the menu, my task at hand is to find something in the menu and click on it. Therefore, I actually wish the menu would fill the entire screen and save me the effort of looking through submenus to find something to click on.
Having both “software manager” and “package manager” is confusing.
I find the padlock icons confusing.
One bookmark to Linux Mint should be enough.
I like having the CD/flash drive icon appear on the desktop.
My laptop battery has failed. The only way I can move my laptop is to use hibernate. That’s one reason it exists.
Good discussion.
The magazine Linux Format gives Mint a good review in this month’s issue, and also has the Mint 8 distro on its free DVD. A1.
As a user of Gloria as my main O/S (because I am a huge fan of Mint), some feedback on points raised in the above review from Distrocheck:
Tomboy
For me it’s an unnecessary program … all my notes are in selected Open Office Writer files in Home. One of the first things I do on installation is to remove Tomboy completely.
Icons on Desktop
I like uncluttered space too so I have just 2 icons on my desktop, Computer and Home, and I make use of Computer at various times … having the 2 icons creates balance and symmetry, and the two icons are part of Mint’s design besides being functional … there is no reason to change the system, it isn’t broken.
Big Mint Menu
I love the big Mint menu and the Favourites option was a brilliant idea when introduced, and it still is 🙂
To switch between Favourites and All Applications is only a click of the mouse and no problem. Also the size of the Menu helps in finding the application you are looking for quickly. Please don’t change the big menu because of the personal opinion of one writer/critic.
Mint Update
Another great help to the user. The numbering system is clear and I believe it is necessary (I only install level 1 and level 2 updates myself).
My only problem with Update is having to uncheck so many boxes in order to update 3 or 4 programs – it’s very time consuming ( e.g. I don’t install Thunderbird and Pidgin updates etc because I don’t use those programs). By default, all the install boxes should be unchecked.
Thanks Clem, for giving these opportunities for people to say what they like and don’t like, that’s another Mint plus. Ciao.
There’s much to be said for being smaller – once you reach a certain tipping point, developing the product is no longer fun. The community becomes so big, there are people pushing for this and that, and it just becomes overwhelming, like you’re running to keep up with all the demands from outside and there’s no more time for creativity and that sense of selfless offering that gives a lot of joy. And so far, that’s an important factor for Mint – we all sense that the developers, led by Clem, love what they’re doing. VERY important. When you sense you’re reaching that turning point, why don’t you all just go into deep seclusion – become recluses, like the developers of PCLinusOS and MEPIS? 🙂 Yeah, just start listening selectively to the people who come to you with real positive, creative ideas, and ignore the congenital whiners and complainers. Yeah! 🙂
Re Tomboy, I prefer Basket Notes – also, when I installed Mint 8, it over-wrote my existing Tomboy notes, i.e., replaced them with an empty database. My fault, undoubtedly, but I do hate it when a reinstall overwrites my data.
On MintMenu, please don’t change HOW it works, though a smaller form factor would be nice. MintMenu is the best Linux UI ever.
Re. Tomboy applet: I do not like the default placement, but that might be because I do not use it at all. 😉 For me it is reminiscent of Windows Quick Launch, so placing it there might be construed as pushing Mono on folks (much like Media Player is pushed on Windows users). While I don’t know enough about the controversy to form an opinion, some users object all things Mono on principle, and this default placement might turn them off to a great distro.
Re. ‘Computer’ on desktop: I would prefer that only be placed here by default, but this stems from the fact that I have four kids and have a fear of them causing havoc with an easily-accessible system. I’m sure this fear will pass as I migrate away from the Windows mindset, though (my 4 year old borked a Windows computer once when I forgot to lock my screen). 😀
Re. MintMenu defaults: I like the ‘last used’ approach, but either way is fine.
Re. bookmarks and toolbar: I understand the minimalists’ need to remove as much clutter as possible, since I fall into this category. However, this is EXTREMELY helpful to new users when they are learning Linux Mint, especially if they are also new to Linux in general.
Me gusta mucho LINUX MINT 8, pero…. NO me gusta el MENU MINT.
Tendria que ser mas personalizable el menu, ya que no me gusta que figure el bloqueo de pantalla, como asi tampoco me gusta el MENU LUGARES.
Repito… tendria que ser mas personalizable.
I tried Linux a few years back, (Red Hat 7) and had a horrible experience with it, and didn’t touch it again until recently when Linux Mint 7 came out. I was reading all the reviews and saw that Mint got rave results no matter what website I went to. Ever since then i’ve been using Mint as my distro of choice, and was happy to see how user friendly the OS is. The community as discribed above is very strong, and i’ve yet to run into a problem I couldn’t get a fix for by using IRC or the forums here. I have to give everyone at the Mint team kudo’s for creating such an awesome distro!
ME olvidaba, seria interesante que se creara un soft para cyber,(client y server) ya que, me gustaria implemntar linux en mi negocio.
After a quick read through, the one thing I want to comment on is about what the mint menu shows when its opened. I always want my Favorites to come up when I open the menu. If I go into the all apps menu, it’s because I’m looking for something not in my favorites, but the next time I open the menu, I’ll probably need something from my favorites again. plus the filter will bring me to all apps when needed as well.
This setting is usually one of the first things I do when I do a new install of mint. I change it in gconf-editor, but a more accessible option to change this setting would be great as well.
I know that’s a very small issue (and an issue I can solve) but it is something I do during every new install.
Thanks guys!
I replace the padlocks, only two
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3769/lockr.png
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7619/unlocka.png
You can not please that reviewer and me.
If he does not like default locations of things, let him be able to move them.
I *really* want a search app on the main menu, not in the sub menu. I do not mind if it gets bigger, if I can do want I need easily.
I want to be able to put, say, Opera on the desktop or in the collection of tool bar apps. That is not an option now.
I want to use the latest Wine if the present one does not work for what I want it to do. Throw all the caution flags you want, but let the new user get things done.
I do not mind if the mini-update is the size that it is. I want an option to automatically update daily or weekly on it, even if that takes up space.
I want my canon IP1500 printer to work with Mint.
I like to put Second Life on my machine without a lot of work.
There is more, but that, not the reviewer’s desires would help make this disto recommendable to my kids and wife, and her workplace where she is a manager.
Sean
forgive my poor english (spanish user)
I have used and installed almost all the distros in Distrowatch ranking 100,and sincerely linux mint is the best, most stable and easy option to begin in the Linux world.
mintupdate: works great for me and the aesthetic question of the icon is irrelevant, what matters is to work
I really like the wallpaper
tomboy: I do not use it, and with a single click is very easy to remove the panel
in short the only thing you can question linux mint are minor issues of aesthetics, but overall for me is above the rest
I love mint, it’s installed on everything at home (desktop, netbook, notebook, htpc). It has really spoiled me to other distros. For the opinions you asked for
For the browser, I prefer the mint links when I do a fresh install, gives me a link back to the forum and anything I might need (and then I use xmarks to download all my bookmarks)
I like the 4 icons for mint update, they make sense
I use mint-desktop and configure my desktop with the icons I want, I don’t use home but I do use mounted drives (and I like the custom places in the new mint menu) and with the last release, I finally switched to the mint menu. It is awesome and I didn’t know I can install straight from the menu
when I saw the review write quarter screen I said “wow that’s a big screen, on my netbook it stretches way out there. Maybe there’s a way to theme/skin the menu so the community can write themes, like standard, compact, mini, brush, blue, thin, wide, xp, win 7 ?
I do see why the menu remembers where it’s at but it would be nice to be able to keep the menu on favorites all the time
for the panel, I change my panel as soon as I get it and that’s a personal preference, I would say keep it how you have it
Oh horrors, I tried to back up my system to a external disk,
got a mint upgrade, all my files on that disk look gone.
Do not put a user through this without recourse.
Sean
I don’t have any issues with the default layout of mint, or application choice. How long can it possibly take to move the tomboy icon to the other side of the taskbar? or change the wallpaper for that matter. It would be nice to have a single all-powerful media player but it doesn’t exist yet. My main reason for replying is to concur with runbei…. the MintMenu is superb, and unique to mint. Please don’t change it. The only curious thing I’ve found is (has always been) that mint presents a single workspace (with no workspace switcher on the task bar), but has 4 workspaces defined.
PS: I’m getting old and my memory isn’t what it was but wasn’t Gnome-Do running after a default install previously?
I have been using mint off and on for 1 year now. I started with Ubuntu and just liked the looks of mint better. I tried several other distros but some application would not work on my computer.
1. I use Tomboy notes a lot. I can highlight a section of a website copy it to Tomboy and print. This is very valuable in learning Linux.
2. The lock is frustrating to me as it always seems to be unlocked.
3. I like the bookmarks as an easy way to find help. The bookmark tool bar is not needed.
4. I do not care how the icons are on the panel. You learn to use them.
I would like to have more detail on how to use software manager and Package manager. I read the forums and think what someone is doing is nice but get confused when I want to load the software. I am not sure what will run on Mint. AWN is a good example. Python,Vala,C extras, waht do I need? Another is missing recommends, do I need or not?
I was very good with windows and wang before that. I lost it with vista and made the 95% switch. Like CAD programs in windows.
Why not include pay for programs? I love Moneydance.
Thank you from a newbe
Michael
I would like something in software
DON’T make the mintMenu smaller as was suggested in the review. Unless you can somehow make it smaller without sacrificing any of the functionality. I find mintMenu one of the most useful and most ergonomic apps I have ever seen on Linux. Please don’t ruin it. Of course the menu should work in any resolution (including 640 x 480 or maybe smaller?). In general you must assume that the user with broken graphics drivers also tries to use mintMenu. Make mintMenu detect the resulution – reduce its size (and features) for extremely small resulutions, but keep it big for large resolutions. That should please everyone.
I agree that Software Manager together with Package Manager is a bit confusing. I am really happy to hear, that this issue is being addressed.
I love to have Mint logo on the default wallpapers. Promote the logo!
I love to have some bookmarks from Mint in firefox. (I removed some, but I also kept some). In general – include them in the future releases by default.
First of all Mint is a fine distribution even if I, a complete Linux beginner, say so. But I know a few things about computers and the internet in particular and Mint will grow because it’s doing the right thing, it’s not drifting aimlessly out there, it has a goal.
A well stated one I might add: “Our ambition is to be among the factors that will push people away from Mac OS and Windows, not people who enjoy their operating system for a reason or another, but those who are frustrated with what they have, or who simply aren’t aware of the alternatives that are available to them.”
Music to my ears. I love the drive I hear in this. I’m new to Linux and I’m quite enthusiastic about what I’m finding out, except the occasional insular, apathetic way of thinking from the very people who are creating these exciting products! Not here; very good.
As for the review linked to from here I’m a little disappointed. How many times will I read about wallpapers and icons and fonts. You can customize the hell out of this thing any old way you like. Meantime, for instance, I’m haplessly searching the internet looking for a solution to the sound on my notebook, the only issue I have with this distribution. Not fair 🙂 Still waiting for a review that will address that issue 🙂
I like the look of the update icons, but, given that people are generally told to look for a padlock at the bottom of the screen to ensure that a website is secure, I think having a padlock routinely appear at the bottom of the screen for other purposes is a risky design choice.
The worst issues he could come up with are cosmetic, and they are just his opinions. I think that’s fantastic. He did not find any real errors are crashes.
The Mint team has a lot to be proud of. In the last several months, I’ve read so many reviews about so many other distros that note errors and crashes. I’ve tried dozens of other distros in the last few months and none are as solid as Mint.
I know how people feel about Mono, but C# is a fantastic language and I like the idea of being able to use it for Linux apps. If you are that opposed to Tomboy, try Zim.
My comments:
Desktop – You should only have by default icons of mounted drives.
/volumes (including filesystem) and the home folder. The desktop configuration tool should be easily accessed with a right click over the desktop (or in a tab inside the “change desktop background).
Themes contributed by the community to Linux Mint should be easily accessed from the “change desktop background”, currently there is a link there for the “gnome themes”, which doesn’t make much sense, as there is a specific place for mint themes.
MintMenu – What I hate in MintMenu is the documents section (when active). Please find a better option which uses less space.
Regarding the favorites, you should be able to configure to have always the same mode when you startup the computer. I don’t want it to be changing while I use the computer, but it would be nice to always start with my favorite mode.
Lock: Why showing the icon when there is no connection? I also feel it doesn’t make sense and it’s not useful.
Media Player: You should include VLC and one Music Player. Rhytmbox is OK, I would prefer Songbird.
Closed source pdf viewer: I choose Mint exactly because I don’t care if something is closed or open. I just want an operating system that works as soon as I install it. If Acrobat is better, so, just use it.
Bookmarks: I don’t care. When I install Mint I just sync with my Xmarks backup and overwrite all of them. This would have to happen even if it was empty. Your arguments make sense to me, so, just leave it as it is.
People use Adobe’s PDF because open source PDF viewers don’t work right. At least that’s been my experience. The open source versions are faster, but I get messed up graphics and stuff pretty often with them. Adobe’s always works right. (It’s just dirt slow.)
Another vote for Zim. I got so annoyed with TomBoy in Gloria that I removed it as soon as I could in Helena.
I also love NoteCase (I use it a lot).
Gnome Do – pressing Win + spacebar is habitual 2nd nature (I feel at a great loss without it).
It depends on your usage of Mint 8 whether Tomboy is to be skipped. I am a science writer and use it all the time to collect data for specific items I research. What I missed was Parcellite, a clipboard, to cut/paste links and material on the fly.
A continuing ‘problem’ I find the absence of a (reasonable) video editor still. Not something for Mint persé, but an item to be aware of.
The Mobile Media Converter is a wonderful thing I missed too.
The stability of Mint-8 is what surprises me. None of the installations I made for the family has ever failed…, no matter the sometimes ‘strange’ ways my wife (for example) juggles with her files and programs, haha.
What more can I say about Linux Mint 8. You can peek my thoughts here?
“From Ubuntu to Linux Mint”
http://maxtheitpro.com/from-ubuntu-to-linux-mint
– Max (aka MaxTheITpro)
Finnish Mint visitors increased from 200 hits to 600 hits a day in two months, it just says the popularity rises. 😀
I started using Linux Mint in version 5, now use the 8 and I can safely say:
Linux Mint is the Best Distro EVER!
Clem, you don’t need to reply to every review on the web, they reconize the merits of Linux Mint and how happy the community is with you and your team. We all know how to customize the OS and make the changes to make it look according to our tastes. You guys are doing an amazing job and we are with you in this project. I have the feeling, if Helena 8 KDE is succesful you will see an immediate increase of new members to the community. The bottom line is, the good quality of the Linux Mint OS.
he complains about things tha can mostly changed by the user.
Has he worked, and I mean really worked, with it? It doesn’t sound so for me.
I’m a Mint user since 4 and now have 8×64 on my compu. I’ve installed it on some other computers of my relatives (Windows users since 3.11), between them my sister and my brother in law (both seventy). And all of them could understand it out of the box.
Ok, now to me. I like a clean screen. so the first thing I do after the complete install (nvidia driver included and customize the settings of the nvidia x server display ), after changing the wall paper to my own I put the icons of home and computer on the panel next to the menu, then I disable them on the desktop. Then I put the panel on top of the screen and make a second panel on the bottom, (both 23 pixel high,not too much on a nineteen inch screen) there I have the desktop icon, the window list, the screen changer and the waste.
In the top panel I have Menu, tomboy (which I don’t use, but be to lazy to de install), home (which I use very often), computer (which I use not so often, but it’s comfortable to have it there if I need it, then Thunderbird, Firefox,
Google earth. Then some games which I play some times, and then tools: search, screen shot, end a broken app, console, sign collection, pocket computer, changing user, shut down (I have it all in German so I’m not sure how they are called in English), computer monitor (cpu, memory, cable, system last, hard drive, not the swap partition, mint never used it on my compu), weather forecast and of course mint update and the date and clock. So if that guy had really worked with Mint he could have seen that Mint is very easy to customize to the users wish and want.
To FF I have to say, I change the bookmarks to my own (with only one icon for mint.com) just in the beginning. It’s easy done, so what?
And for my not so good eyes the mint menu is just big enough if I need to use it. Please don’t change that.
to say all this in short, Clem and the mint team are doing a good work. I thank for that again.
Becouse USB wifi didnt work, i had to use Mint 7… dnt know whats the problem with 8… thats only problem I had with it..
I agree with all the media players… I would put just VLC and rythmbox…
I love mint menu, although i would prefer it to always show the favorites.
I love the mint logo on ALL the wallpapers, in fact, i thing there sould be a wallpaper with just the mint logo.
I love Pidgin, it actually works, f**k empathy.
I don’t really care about tomboy or gnote…
What troubles me the most about mint is when i try to update. Although i consider myself a specialist in the IT area i’m not sure on how to properly keep my system update… Should i use just the packet manager? Or just mintupdate? Or both? Wich should i use fisrt?
Bottom line: Mint is not perfect. But is definitely the best. And it’s definitely going in the right direction.
Just my two bucks…
Hey guys,
Just my $0.02 as a medium term Mint fanatic.
Wallpaper – as long as the default wallpaper is smart (first impressions), the other options won’t really matter, wallpapers are easy to find and they’re very subjective.
Tomboy – I havent seen many thumbs up for this from your user base, and i don’t think tomboy needs to stick around.
Mint Panel – The issues raised are trivial, the menu works great for me, im the kind of user who will figure out the most straight-forward, robust way of doing things and stick to them. The reviewer may be easily aggravated?
Updates – Numbered updates have never been an issue, i dont see a need to change anything there.
Package Managers – Personally, ill use synaptic and tend towards apping PPA’s via the gui. Look forward to your upcoming uber package manager!
Update icon status – The four icon images are EASY to understand and work with, plus the error icon doubles as a simple diagnostic tool when im dealing with my lacklustre australian isp. I totally disagree with the reviewer here, too.
Firefox shortcuts – Disagree with the reviewer, the shortcuts have never looked cluttered, i use the shortcuts semi-regularly and find them very convenient.
It seems alot of the ‘issues’ raised here could be easily fixed with some post-install tweaking, others are more obvious and being worked on, a good part of the review seemed to be nit-picking, which i can only see as a credit to LM.
This really wasn’t much of a “review”. Nearly everything mentioned by the reviewer can be customized by the computer owner. I know of NO operating system that does not get (or need) tweaked in some manner by their owners, as it should be. Quit bitching about it. The ability to tweak a Linux system to such a degree is one of its strong points over Windows. It seemed the reviewer wanted Mint to come out tweaked to his liking. Remarkable.
Having said that, I found Clem’s answers to be of interest. What I do take away from this post that it is Clem’s desire to improve Mint. Really, his attitude is positive and very open. I find that very comforting.
Mint is a fantastic OS. I have Windows 7 which is head and shoulders above the bloated Vista and the very long in the tooth XP. Mint, however, is the one OS that is on all my computers and what I use 99% of the time. Do I have a few gripes about the system? Yep. But they fall in the category of the reviewer’s and simple to fix. Tomboy notes? Right click, “Remove from Panel”. End of problem. The notification area on my system seems to have a mind of its own. Things I have there show up when they want and at whatever location they find comfortable. A little irritating but in the scheme of things, nothing to worry about. The bottom line for me is this: Mint works and gets better with each distro because the developer’s care about the product. I’m a fan and will be for the long haul.
One of the first things I do when I install Mint on a computer is set the Mint Menu to open favorites each time you launch it. Remembering the last category you used is really nice, but favorites is the stuff you use the most so it only makes sense to have that display first every time. I think there should at least be an easier way to change this than gconf-editor.
Just to chip in:
One of Mint’s biggest strengths, as I see it, is the willingness of Clem an company to listen to our input. MS has been running a huge marketing campaign for Windows 7 that focuses on the notion that they finally listened to users. The Mint team not only accepts our input but requests it frequently, and it goes directly to the highest levels of the organization. I hope this will continue, and it sure looks as though it will. Thank you Clem!
Ax the “Computer” desktop icon if you like. I use the “Home” icon, but rarely the “Computer” one. It is unnecessary, imo.
Wallpapers? Do they really matter? I am a strong believer that the default wallpaper needs to be a killer that is simple but impresses new users enough to boot Mint a second time. But other wallpapers don’t matter, as many folks like to find/create their own, even Windows users. Time can be better spent elsewhere rather than picking these nits.
Firefox bookmarks: the first thing I do with a new install is clean this up, throwing everything in one folder rather than deleting, just in case I want them again later, which I never do. Too much clutter in what is likely most people’s most-used app is not a good thing. And I’ve still never read any user guide.
Evince is great, and I much prefer it to a pig like Adobe’s reader, but I recently encountered a doc that it didn’t like, or that didn’t like it. The Adobe reader is sort of universal now, so many users will expect it and some will insist that they want it. It should be an option, though evince should remain the default.
Keep up the good work, and thanks again!
As far as Tomboy and the rest are concerned i don’t use neither of them.
For the mint menu, I would like to see folders supported into the apllications. For example, after installing wine and several windows apps everuthing gets mixed up. Also, after searching for an app already installed, i would like the first item that comes up to be already highlighted and just press enter and not to have to press down and then enter.
For the bookmarks in firefox, I delete them the irst time I use firefox. It doesn’t bother me much doing that.
Also, I’d like to add that I consider gparted, vlc, and deluge to be nearly essential. Transmission just doesn’t offer enough options and is too simplistic. Please consider these for inclusion.
I prefer to have the panel/menu/et. at the top, but when it refuses to auto-hide it causes a problem. Any idea why it sometimes doesn’t hide as it should? Not sure where the problem lies, but it can be annoying.
The menu system has a bit of a learning curve, in my opinion. It took me a bit to understand about clicking on and hiding sections, but now I love it. The first time I hid a section I though it was gone and almost panicked!
I really wonder about some reviewers. He doesn’t appear to have used it for any length of time. I can recall at first when using Linux Mint being a little out of sorts and wondering what was what, but once you get used to it, it becomes natural.
– Adobe Reader can die, I dislike it, wish Fox-it Reader was on Linux.
– VLC is far superior for video, I don’t even bother with Totem
– Any icons on the desktop I usually delete as IMO they aren’t available when you have windows open
– I like the mintMenu though wish you could skin it or something (maybe you can but I haven’t found it) – plus if you don’t like the menu use a dock or Gnome Do (pretty quick and easy to use)
– not a notes user, so don’t care about TomBoy
– I like the mintUpdate with the numbers for importance
– I do find I have to decide do I want Software Manager or Package Manager, however, most times I know what I want I use the Package Manager, software one is good if you need more information to decide on what program to use, definitely helpful if these get combined.
– the Firefox bookmarks for Mint are understandable and its not like you can’t delete them if you don’t want them, but new users need resources.
One thing I think might be good though is to add a video accessible (perhaps an option to select during install) for newbies to give a guided tour or something.
Either way Linux Mint rocks.
Hi, I’m an old Solaris SA (weaned on UNIX, not Windows) who was forced to use MS for the past, oh, 9 years. It’s good to be home! I’m loving Mint. I tried Fedora, SuSE, and even OpenSolaris. They were all fine but Mint’s LiveCD sold me on Mint, mainly because I didn’t have to go hunting for drivers and I heard that Mint’s Software Manager worked better, among other things, and I could download any package that Ubuntu users could download. The only real prob I’ve had was with my digital camera, had to turn off the gphoto2 volume monitor script/exec at boot time and now all is well.
Anyway, I’m grateful for VLC, personally. Works great for me.
Got rid of the Computer and Home icons first thing; reminded me way too much of MS–the beast I was fleeing from. I’ve very comfortable with the UNIX/Linux filesys structure, et al and usually use the command line commands and “vi” to do anything interesting. But I do use the Nautilus to browse photos on occasion.
The bookmarks for Mint did sorta remind me of the clutter you get with Windoze. I just ignore them, since Mint is listed at the top of the browser. I’ll prob ditch most of the bookmarks and perhaps stick what’s left in a folder as one poster has done.
Everything else I have nothing to say; the panel, updates lock, etc, are fine with me. Haven’t played with Tomboy yet; haven’t seen a use for it yet. But I’m prob not your typical Newbie?
Kim
Like some others have stated, I too create a Mint folder on my Firefox bookmarks bar and drag all the Mint links into the one directory on first run.
VLC seems to be the least buggy media player for me when it comes to DivX and Xvid. The other players are sometimes missing sound while playing video.
I use BitTorrent Download Client over Deluge because I can choose which files within the torrent I don’t want to waste bandwidth on by unchecking them.
I like Mint Menu, but there’s like an unsweet spot that causes the menu to flicker back and forth while browsing through the different levels- like a skipping record. It happens often enough on different computers where it has become almost a turnoff. It pushes me towards KDE, but, KDE is still too much of a resource hog, as I notice the performance hit on lower end machines. (BTW, I check daily for the new Mint XFCE to test.)
As far as backgrounds, I like the way KDE makes it easy to select multiple backgrounds to shuffle through. Specifically, Mandriva has some beautiful wallpapers readily available upon install. I just have to select the wallpapers and the timing and I’m done. I know there is a Gnome plugin or app to do something similar. This would be a plus for me if it were included in the main edition.
I used to check MintInstall to install packages. But, the software I was searching for was not available enough times to where I just go straight to Synaptic to avoid wasting time searching twice.
I am also a Gnome-Do fan. I like that it now includes a dock option. (Actually, it may have all along and I only just noticed it.)
I try many of the latest distros from Distrowatch, and Mint still remains the best at detecting hardware while requiring the least command line actions. It is the distribution I most recommend to people confused about which one to install. Most distros are doing a phenomenal job, and I enjoy testing them, but often still require some ‘tinkering’ to get things running correctly. Most people I introduce to Linux are turned off by command line tinkering.
I appreciate the work you do. Thank you.
Note that I am a new Mint user. Started with Gloria and am now on Mint 8. Mint is my first, and so far only, linux distro that I have used.
Most of the reviewers comments are silly. Most of them are so easily changed; even by a linux newbie non hacker (aka…me) The few “real” issues brought up all seem to have action plans in place or on the table.
I would not want the Mint Team to get too distracted changing default desktop icons around in circles. The biggest issues, in my opinon, especially for a linux newbie who is not a hacker etc, is hardware compatability. A first time linux user can install linux and all activated drivers work properly and all the devices work properly (webcam, microphone etc). To be fair though, I do not know how much impact the Mint Team can have on this since it may have to do more with the Kernal etc.
Anyway…I am super happy with Mint and a big thank you to the community and to the Mint Developers etc.
A couple of things:
The menu. It’s great, yes, but it is a bit on the large. That said, I’ve never found it too obtrusive simply because it’s so well laid-out and convenient. I like the idea of a combined MintInstall/Package Manager.
Adobe is bloated. It’s not bad (I firmly believe that just because it’s not open-source, it’s evil), it’s just… bloated. Evince would be fine.
Software manager still has some odd hang-ups when my network connection is local, and I think that it’s due to the screenshot feature. I’ll report it as a bug if I can reproduce it a few times.
The links aren’t bad, but I find the vast number of green LM logos sitting on Firefox straight from a fresh install to be an eyesore. Perhaps that could be made into a bookmark folder labeled “Linux Mint Links.” Just a thought… They’re useful, just overbearing.
Otherwise, I have few complaints. I stopped distro-hopping since Mint 8.
Ok I agree with DistroWatch on the start bar stuff and the firefox bookmarks. I also disable the fortunes in the terminal because they are just annoying. I would like to see better backgrounds and I do like the linux mint logo on them as when someone looks at my desktop they know automatically what I am using. Just my two cents.
Forgive the English confused.
Congratulations for the work you played teem. Here in Brazil like much of mint, root for the whole community to come and the next version.
Was created including a mint site of Brazil.
http://www.linuxmint.com.br
Abração.
Suez Santana
Bahia Brazil.
Well I do not like pitting distros against one another but this Swedish review seemed to like Mint 8!
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http://www.datormagazin.se/multipage/article542163.ece%3Fpage%3D2&prev=_t
I like Tomboy Notes, maybe im the only one? (And I don’t care if it is written in “evil” Mono) =)
Only thing I think is missing now on the livecd is Gparted (Have not tried latest version of Mint, so I could be wrong about it being missing on the livecd) =P (But it was really nice to have on the Mint 6 Livecd)
And I like the numbering in mintUpdate, it easy to see what to update, and I think the 4 icons are simple and easy to understand.
Removing links from firefox and icons from the desktop is so easy that i wonder if that is something that you can complain about, if you don’t like them, then just delete them. But for people just starting with Mint they could be very useful.
/Walle
I’m a fan of Tomboy having started using it just a few months ago. It’s easy to make a note about something that won’t go anywhere else – I use it for odd recipes or to remind myself of websites I might need in the future. When I didn’t use it, I wondered who on earth would….I would have liked a wider selection of wallpapers for Helena – I still love the selection in Daryna! I must admit that for now I prefer Gnome Do to mintMenu.
I have been using Linux from last 3 years. I started with knoppix. got from my IT friend, I also tried Ubuntu 7.10 many times but left me searching for a silly Mp3 plug-in to play my MP3s.Same thing with Fedora. Then Digit Magazine in India provided with Mint-6 Felicia and a small booklet describing Linux but covered mostly Mint. I was delighted. Ever scene then my Windows Xp would boot up 1-2 times a month for odd application use. Now I regularly use Mint for daily purpose and trying to educated people about a better alternative which is free as pirated XP but lot more efficient and usable.
I believe a Open source software may have some limitation and bugs, but this things can be overcome with time.
Thanking you Linux Mint community for such a lovely OS.
I note a few criticisms of COMPUTER icon presence, but I do find it very useful.
I have my files and gallery stored on separate partitions which are generally accessible to Mint or in my case (and only occasionally), WinXP as appropriate. I have two other PCs with Helena installed and on a domestic ADSL /Router. One is x64 version and running just as well as the other two 32 bit versions.
The COMPUTER icon, now as a sign-post icon and renamed Files & Data, shows graphically all partitions, and connected USB, LPT . . devices in icon form which are ready for me to access after password verification.
I think too that Mint is well ahead of UBUNTU, I suspect largely due to Clem and his team.
I’m not used to creeping to anyone but I have to say I think Mint is brill. If only I as a retired electrical engineer could convince more that they should go this way simply to set an example to some fee charging competitors.
I know tremendous effort has gone before and continues to go into the Mint evolution , however Grub partitioner and Router related set-ups need to be even more user friendly and forgiving and I’m sure they will be, THEN I say, there can be a sudden and massive take-up by all.
WELL DONE !! Mint and Ubuntu creators.
Comment on Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Even if I prefer a light fast PDF Reader (e.g. Foxit) there are usecases where you need the Acrobat Reader (Adobe ensured that there are these usecases)
“I think it’s irritating for a menu to constantly go back to some initial state and I much prefer it this way.” Holy words!!! I hate kde4 for this feature! I love the way the mintMenu works! Indeed I think mintMenu it’s the main reason I’m using Linux Mint.
Seventh Reign says “I dont use Tomboy or gnotes or the show desktop buttons, ever. I remove those icons as soon as I install the system.”, same thing for me.
On the points, one by one:
1) The wallpapers are fine, I like some more than others, but that’s just me. It’s really strange to see a critic criticizing on wallpapers (!?), which is an issue of personal preferences. Criticism must be objective and based on FACTS, not personality. The only thing i would like to see about wallpapers, is MORE OF THEM!
2) i agree on the criticism on tomboy, i dont think it’s a necessary application, and the position between menu and show desktop is definitely wrong.
3) the drives MUST be shown on the desktop, I think it’s priceless, you can see at a glance what is mounted and what is not, and you can unmount in an instant. The computer and home are a must too (especially home that includes all my files). The computer also helps to see with just a click what devices exist but are unmounted. Don’t even think about removing those, it will be a big blunder.
4) Totally disagree with the writer’s point of view on mintmenu. I’m not happy with “favorite applications”, i just switch to “all applications” immediately after installation. When I make changes to the desktop, i would like to SEE THEM STAY THERE. Having to switch all the time to an option as basic as seeing all programs, is plainly stupid, even microsoft wouldn’t do it. It’s not the Linux way either.
5) The suggestions of mintmenu is one of the most incredible features of this distro. I mean ALL OF THEM. I just don’t understand, why remove an option??? Options are good, as long as they are not in the middle when you dont need them. If you type for a package and it’s not there, you need as many options as possible.
6)I aggree with criticism on mintupdate icon…
7) Updating in “levels” of security is PLAINLY WONDERFUL. I really cannot understand a single freaking reason someone could be unhappy with that
8) Until all media players can play everything, more players = better, it’s as simple as that. If something doesnt play, try a different player. I always install as many as i can.
9) Boo, down with acrobat reader, and adobe corporation. Commercial, closed source, disgusting corporate product, which is also heavy as hell. Should be removed immediately, Mint should support open source software, unless there is a reason to do the opposite, and there isn’t any here.
10) The mint bookmarks in firefox can simply go under a folder, like the “latest headlines” of firefox. Simple to find for the beginner, doesn’t bother someone who wants a clean toolbar…
one more thing:
GNOME DO IS A MUST!
Why was it removed? I really don’t get it… would be curious to hear the reason…
I have been using various Linux distros for about 9 years but each one had some minor flaw or required serious tweaking. Then I found Mint 6 Fluxbox CE. It was almost perfect out of the box! The amount of customization I had to do was very minimal (removing Bluetooth, and installing WICD) and it performed much better than other Distros, even Ubuntu!
As such I was ecstatic to know that LM 8 also had a Fluxbox CE and quickly made the migration on my laptop as well as my home workstation. So far they’ve both been running beautiful, save for a few user-induced menu annoyances 😉 I can honestly say that Linux Mint has been one of the best distros to work with in a long, long time. I am sticking with LM for the duration. Keep up the good work!
– Flinx
p.s. Most of the desktop and panel complaints in the review can be solved by installing Fluxbox 😉 Just a thought.
Hi from France.
Some points i want to react.
1- Mint Menu is too big
Ok it depends the computer. On my main computer the mint menu is not that big due to the high resolution i use. On my laptop i agree that’s a bit huge. So what can you do? A very simple thing : Creating a configuration tool (post installation or user only, i don’t care) With the choice between Big menu and minimalist. It doesn’t mean to recode all the mint menu but just changing size of icons, size of fonts, width and height.
2- Links on firefox.
Ok there are a lot of links but they are not useless. I aften click on the Mint webpage to check news about my favourite system. Anyways, it’s possible to reduce the amount of links by creating a web portal, isn’t it? And just one button to access to the “Mint Web”.
3- Ok Mint is using 2 packages managers.
And what? I LIKE that. When i’m searching something “easy to find” i just look at the mint one, other cases i use synaptic. Maybe you could just put a link in the mint menu leading to the Mint packages manager and ON the Mint package manager, a button “advanced” to launch synaptic? I don’t really care.
4- Updates level.
This is just great i really like it. This way we know what is important to update and it really helps new comers to understand how the system deeply works.
To finish keep on the good work, Mint RULES 🙂
Djip
Like most converts from “Winzoze” I started with Ubuntu 3 years ago, Since then I have tried many distro’s (Including Mint), but always went back to Ubuntu, however after the last upgrade, I fell out of love with Ubuntu, I tried OpenSuse, but found to get something working it disabled something else, so a month ago tried Mint 8 after reading a good things about it. Brilliant. Keep up the good work and don’t change things for change sake, only if it makes what is already good even better. Keep Pidgin, Empathy is rubbish, There is plenty of free wallpaper on the Internet if people want something different.
I use adobe for pdf, simply because it has more tools that I need which are not available on evince, such as snapshot which I use daily to convert sections of a pdf file to image.
After reading this article, I think I will have to think more about my daily-used Mint system. 🙂
Been using LM since v5.
Tomboy Notes got moved right away.
I made the menu as small as I could. There really should be an option to remove text with any of those groups; ironically, my favorite menu of any OS is Luna Element 5.0.5 small edition on the windows start menu.
http://tornado5.deviantart.com/art/Luna-Element-5-0-5-29511577
Eliminating the text (or maybe making it smaller) makes it seem so much nicer.
The links on firefox are a bit much for me personally, but I know why you put them there.
There is no ‘real’ grey theme. You have awesome grey backgrounds with the linuxmint logo and no fully grey theme. This is a tragedy. It usually takes me a while to get a theme fully customized and grey-ed up enough.
The multiple media players is indeed confusing.
Offtopic: is there any possibility to see Mint+E17 some day?
And yes – thx Mint team!
A little tardy to the party but here goes.
This is a blueprint I have been thinking about creating for a good while and the direct request from Clem to submit whatever improvements I could suggest for the mintMenu motivated me to do so.
This blueprint: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+spec/mint-menu-smaller – shows how a small portion of the mintMenu could be shaved off without any loss in usability or comprehendability.
I really like the bookmarks list as default on Mint. Yes I do know how to remove and update them, but I choose to keep them on as I find them useful. You can always remove them if you don’t like them or download a different browser. Easy. I have tried many distro’s and will keep doing it for fun, but I keep Mint as it is very logical and great to use. It’s great though that you take on board constructive criticism and seek to improve the distro as well as deliver what people want.
I mostly agree with Seventh Reign.
The Mint Update Panel Icons: Maybe a green icon for “up-to-date”, and red for “updates available”. If you really want an “error” state, make it orange.
Firefox Bookmarks: Keep them in a folder called “Mint”.
“I dont use Tomboy or gnotes or the show desktop buttons, ever.” Me too. Remove them from the default installation please.
“I use my own custom made Wallpaper(s).” If I want to change my wallpaper, I can find it, I don’t care about the ones pre-installed, except the default one, which is always good.
“I prefer my Icons on the Desktop. All connected drives, Trash,” and computer. I will use the panel if possible, but sometimes it gets too cluttered.
Pigdin is good.
VLC is good.
evince is good.
mint update levels are good.
gnome-do is good.
I kind-of agree with menu comments, about “all applications” vs “favorites”. I don’t need favorites. If some application is my favorite, I can put it on desktop, or on panel. This also may save a lot of space on the menu…
Thanks guys, keep up the good work… 🙂
I agree with tomboy note, i never use it.
Mint menu, Mint Update and Mint Desktop are perfect.
People are familiar with windows desktop, so keep the icons for now.
There should be something done with video players, not all the movies can be played in one player.
So keep up the good work. 🙂
Desktop computer icon? I say keep it for the same reasons mentioned, it’s a familiar concept for new users, and easily accessible while they get to know their system. It’s something I still use too, and am disappointed when I don’t find said link on any other desktop.
Tomboy – I don’t even use this application, despite seeing the potential value therein, it hasn’t found much personal use for me yet, and is usually what I first change about the panel. The placement thereof? I’d rather have it to the right of the “show desktop” icon, so they simply swap places.
This “rewrite of mintInstall” sounds appealing, I hope to see what becomes of it.
Can’t say much about the review itself. Seems more like an excuse for a subjective nitpicking session to me. That aside, at least the reviewer felt strongly enough about Mint to create a wordpress.com blog site just to include a single post about it. 🙂
For myself…
I used Tomboy on a regular basis for saving snippets of code, howtos, snippets of text from a post I happen to be writing, etc. And it’s right there on the panel when I need it.
I also like having both MintInstall and the Synaptic package manager. It’s rather obvious to me that they each serve different functions. Where the Package Manager may well overwhelm the new user with it’s “everything including the kitchen sink” features and functions, MintInstall provides a toned down, user friendly interface for installing many but not all packages available via the Package Manager. This is as it should be as it serves both types of users, newbies and the more advanced users alike (me, I spend most of my time rummaging around the Package Manager).
On the size of the Mint Menu: I may be wrong but it seems to me that if you’re using the Mint Menu that’s where your attention is focused? At the menu and it’s contents? Not the Desktop or the browser, or whatever programs you may have open at the time? Personally, I find the menu size to be just right. Not too small, not too big when viewing on a 19″ wide screen. Ieven ran the Live CD on my wife’s old HP laptop with a 15.4″ wide screen display and it looked fine there too.
Personally, I don’t think much about “the review” at all. It’s 90% personal preference gripes and about 10% constructive criticism. What it does accomplish though is showing me how much Clem takes his distro seriously although I kind of knew that already. =-)
I would just like to add my voice to those who would like the option to make the menu default to favourites when opened. This can just be an option in the preferences so that people who want it this way can turn it on and those who don’t can leave it as it is.
There also seems to be an issue with the spacing on the right of the menu being much less than on the left. Or is it just me?
Thanks
Hi, I really adore the looks of Gloria and have tried Helena. Unfortunately both freeze quite often on my computers so I had to switch to Ubuntu Swedish Remix 4.2 which I find stable so far. May I hope for a stable Isadora with the beauty of Gloria? I would really like to go back to Linux Mint but can’t work on a freezing distro.
I don’t really agree or disagree with most items in this review, however there are a few things I would like to point out:
* MintMenu: it is nice as it is, remembering the last state and restarting in that state when activated again. However this can be annoying if you usually use favorites but notice the state change every time you enter something in the search area, and you have to change back to favorites next time you open the menu. Also I am in favor of more customizability.
* Tomboy: I think it is ok to leave in Tomboy instead of gnotes, particularly because the Linux Mint philosophy likes software in general and thus doesn’t hate a product just because it’s (partially) proprietary. However I don’t think Tomboy should be on the panel by default, instead I would suggest putting sticky notes there. Sticky notes provides more instant access to all your notes at once, single click show/hide, double-click note creation (but it is also in the right-click menu for people who don’t know) and also shows them on startup so you will not forget about things.
Of course these suggestions are personal, but I think a lot of users would agree with me. Otherwise I would not suggest changing the defaults 😛
For the most part, I don’t care what the default user setup is, as long as it can be customized. Easily. The problem is, many things can NOT be customized, at least easily- such as the Mint Menu. I should be able to change it to a simple, single column list of the 3 or 4 applications I use, and nothing else, if I so choose. If that is possible, I can’t figure out how to accomplish it.
Big. Little. Tall. Short. Those are options I should be able to command.
Despite my little complaint, thank for a great distribution.
Lesss of a review and more of a critique is what most people have cottoned on to. And given the huge advances in Linux Desktop distro’s lately, its probably a fair way to attack each new one. Perhaps the writer approached it as a Windows user having a “look” at a potential change in OS. But thats flawed because he had enough savvy to know what was wrong (for him) and why.
-Evince v Adobe. Adobe probably should be the default for NEW users (stability)
-VLC, enough said.
-No issue with the default icons on desktop.
-DO LIKE, mounted volumes (USB etc) to appear on Desktop.
-Atrwork and polish. Well thats what got me here way back in 5. I was a SuSE KDE user for ages. I know how to change almost everything, but its normally months before I move away from the default install appearance
-Mint Menu, spooked me the first time in 7. Now, cant live with out it
-MintUpdate, No issue
-I package manage over software manager more often than not. If I know what I need and where, I console.
-Bookmarks, No issue. I eventaully folder them.
So there are a couple of common replies in here for Clem and the Team to discuss.
Gidday to all my fellow Aussies! Thanks Team and Community. And kudos for throwing this “reveiw” up and having an open discussion araound it. THAT IS MINT!
I wrote a response as an article on my own website, available here….
http://archerseven.com/A7/index.php/linux/8-response-to-a-mint-reviews-response
MENU:
I do agree with the Menu being kind of huge.
What about having the menu show in three different sections?
Then when you scroll over it fades in the menu in section two and you can hover the mouse over it to show section three?
Or what about just 2 sections just cut the menu in half for when you click the Menu button and put the search all the way to the LEFT and make the bar smaller(its search bar doesnt need to be as big as it is anyways). Then when you hover over applications and stuff it shows the old menu really quick. Sort of like Puppy Linux menu or Windows XP/98 Menu. Or heck just redo the menu.
I agree on the menu personally what ever direction Clem takes with it I really don’t care it’s pretty well done to me. Just PLEASE DON’T REMOVE THE SEARCH! Don’t listen to that reviewer on the last application. I totally agree with CLEM alot of times it’s better for it to display the last application than the menu a new thats just stupid it’s repetative and will get anoying FAST. Plus sometimes an Application will crash and you go into the menu to reopen the same application seeing it there AGAIN automatically is WONDERFUL saves time and makes working with Linux more efficient. Don’t take his advise on that. I think it’s great the menu shows the last opened application! I agree with the criticim it’s huge but personaly it doesn’t bother me as long as it works I really don’t care if he leaves the same menu for the next 5 installs.
The rest of the criticisim in the review eh… can’t agree much with the guy. Just seems like the reviewer was to picky(Firefox is full of links[right click delete problem solved], change that option to hidden, change this there, and that here take out this option include this software). Just sounded like a picky guy to me.
Personally I think it’s cool that when ever I plug stuff into my computer like my PSP and when that shows up on the desktop it saves me time from clicking around to acess it’s files and drop MP3s and stuff into it.
One thing I wonder about adding as a new feature that maybe I’m taking this from Windows culture, but what if when we insert a USB device we hear a sound to confirm it was detected properly and anotehr sound to hear if it was detected but may not work as intended?
PAD LOCKS:
Besides the Start Menu maybe the reviewer was right on the padlocks the icons look alot alike. It would take some time of using Linux Mint (for some users) to get used to the different (very similar looking) padlock icons. Maybe we can put a big THUNDER BOLT over one of the Pad Locks for the “busy” icon… that should make it a little less confuesing. Becuase I could see how easy it could be (for people who can’t see very well or people who are looking at the monitor from far away) to get confuesed witht he “busy” and “System up to date” icon. I say put A BIG thunderbolt over the padlock so that way it wont be to different(to not confuese current users into relearning the icons) but it will show you obviously it’s busy. 😉
As far as the argument goes about the PDF viewers, I use Linux/OSS apps to run my business…. and it’s fundamental to be able to check what I’m creating for my clients in the same tool as they’ll use to read or even print the documents… so using Adobe Reader is an absolute must! Evince is completely unacceptable for this purpose.
For those who use Mint for home, entertainment, fun…. then it’s fine to use the OSS tools – but those of us with businesses can’t take the chance on the OSS software having missed something that’s essential.
REThinking of the Links in the browser—
I did say I deleted them but I never said don’t include them!
When I rethink it
If the links would have came in a FOLDER like “Mint” I probably wouldn’t have deleted them right away becuase I needed the space for other bookmarks.
Although I am STRONGLY AGAINST not including the Links/bookmarks becuase for newbs it is highly necesary and beneficial so they can get help right away!
Maybe it should come in a folder or do you guys and women think it would be to confuesing for a Newbie if it came bundeled in a folder or in the Bookmarks drop down menu?
Regarding Clem’s comment that it would be good for some wallpapers to come without any branding, agreed. But I personally don’t mind those with branding, and I think the authors only do so because they’re so happy with (proud of) Linux Mint.
Regarding the big colored numbers for update levels, keep it as is. It’s the best no-brainer system that I’ve encountered, for all the reasons that Clem cited.
Regarding the four icons for the system update status, while I certainly don’t see the “need to take a tutorial to understand this” like the reviewer, I could see opportunity for improvement here.
Regarding the Firefox bookmark toolbar filled with Linux Mint links, keep it as is. Newbies need this kind of accessibility. People who know they don’t need them can move/delete them in seconds.
Re: Firefox
When I do a default Google search, I don’t get Google’s normal menu at the top left in the results (and the Mint branding logo messes up the layout). So, if I change my mind after doing the initial search and want to look for, say, an image, then I have to fiddle.
Re: wallpapers
I prefer a stable set of wallpapers that don’t change with every new release. I know some people like the art and it is used to show something new, but…
You can also require that any new wallpapers get submitted with either layers or in two versions – with and without the logo – otherwise they won’t be accepted.
An on-line database of easily changed wallpapers shouldn’t be hard to implement. That way they don’t need distributing through each release.
Re: Tomboy
Don’t use it, never heard of Mono.
I really look forward to the new changes, and “thanks” for listening to us, Clem.
I still don’t understand why having an error icon on the update manager a good thing. I think the system update system has to become an internal thing, working under the hood. Yet it’s not really critical if the update manager has no internet connection or synaptic is blocking it, I mean it’s not something that should demand user’s attention. Users should just be notified of new updates available.
Also I think that moving to a gnome-do centric system can be a very good idea.
Maybe some options by installation would be good. There can be a Standard Installation and one with some Options where you can check or uncheck things like the Bookmarks or maybe (for later) some Features and or the Choice between some Software (Rythmbox or Amarok etc.).
@Wallpapers: I dont know … I like the black one with the Scanlines. I found some other good Wallpaper on Deviantart and i think most of the Users search her own Favorit or create one.
In my opinion: The Green can be a bit more colorfull / modern – looks a bit to much like a Olive / German Military, the Theme a bit darker (i change the Colors so that there is no light grey – only dark grey like the Panel) – maybe a bit more Black like Aero from Vista or maybe some Transparent Effects (not so glassy and round like Aero and Win7 – dont know the Themename).
Tomboy is a thing that i remove completly but i agree with him that the Place on the right is smarter.
Btw: It would be nice when the Language from the Wikipediasearch in Firefox is the same as the System Language. I use it in the right Text Field by default to have a fast way to search things there.
I use tomboy a lot, theres so much convenience in it to just write, no worries about saving, and it takes care of your notes organization.
Kind of better than firing up a word processor and manage em in folder by yourself? Why do that when theres an app thats better for that?
Also, I would keep tomboy at hand where in the place it is located now, not on the system icons xp.
You can remove the icons of home, my folders etc from the desktop. It is more comfortable as you say, to go to home and do things from there.
I’m glad to be a user of Linux Mint (KDE) and be in a so wonderful community. The Clem’s attitude is an example for other people that want to work with the open source. His openness is a rare treasure. Many distribution leaders can learn.
Suggestion: For the upgrade level’s icons mint can use road signals.
Please, don’t forget the KDE Community!
The acrobat reader is essential for the student who has someone in the department make videos in Acrobat that cant be viewed by any software. Please do not remove it from your list.
Keep the browser page with linuxmint but please remove the bookmarks. They are pretty irritating. It is not about the bookmarks themselves, but being a chrome user, I enjoy having a minimalist page.
Re: wallpaper branding
I don’t mind the lm logo but would prefer to have more wallpapers without “from freedom came elegance.” LinuxMint is elegant but becomes less so with constant reminder.
Re: mintMenu
I like the size. As for the default view of all/favorites, I don’t care as long as there is an easy keyboard shortcut to switch between the views. In Mint 3, I think, alt-a/f worked. Please bring that back or offer something similar.
Thanks.
I love TomBoy!!! I appreciate it being exactly how it is, please don’t change this while functionality on others still lacks. I use it all the time.
The good news is that the developer of Mint bothers to discuss this stuff with Mint users ind such detail. Full marks and that is a big part of Mint’s success.
I don’t like the menu at all, although I acknowledge that many of its unique features are excellent and should be retained with any change.It is counter-intuitive, too cluttered and too intrusive. I always get rid of it and install Main Menu from the “Add to Panel” options. Simple, neat and logical.
Cheers
Star
I have been using Linux Mint 8 for a week and I already love it. I really wanted Elive but my wireless card didn’t work with it. I really like the Mint Menu. Its big size makes it easier to find things. And I like how everything is separated into groups: If I’m looking for solitaire, I know it will be in the game tab.
I don’t know much about Linux programs, I have been using Windows since I was 10, so I have no opinion on the Tomboy issue. I took all the applets off my panel, minimized it, and installed Avant Window Manager in honor of OS X.
There are a couple of things I don’t like. In the Open Office programs, it tells me that certain words, such as honor, favorite, and color, are misspelled. It wants me to change them to honour, favourite, and colour but these are the British spellings and I am American. This is only a very minor detail and I don’t even know if Linux has any control over Open Office.
Another small problem is that for the Compiz Configuration settings, it is hard to understand them. For example, It gives me options to change timestep, speed, and acceleration for the desktop cube. I have no idea what the difference is between these three. It would be nice to have a little explanation menu show up when the mouse hovers over each choice.
I think Linux Mint should have a help manual that come with it so that new Linux users can read it and understand the basic functions of Linux. One for the Terminal would be greatly appreciated.
These are just very minor problems that I think would make Linux a little easier to understand for a new user. I love Linux and never want to go back to Windows.
1.
I get a strange feeling to see people comparing Ubuntu and Mint.
It reads as if there would be a competition ongoing. There is no competition it is a symbiosis.
Mint is piggybacking to a very large extent on Ubuntu. To me it is just another flavor. Without Ubuntu which does 95% of the job, Mint
wouldn’t be able to come up with the performance they deliver today. Mint wouldn’t even exist.
Let say it this way: Mint makes Ubuntu shine!
That’s how I see it. 😉
2. Media players
This is a total mess under Linux. Too many average players around.
Most of them look like being leftovers from another decade.
VLC becomes an high quality opensource standard player on all OSes.
This is IMO a huge argument to make VLC the standard under Linux. Linux would make live easier to people starting up with a working player they already know.
Compatibility to Windows or OSX is not neglectable anymore if you intend to grow. Like Openoffice (21% marketshare) and Firefox – it makes decisions much easier to switch the OS. You need a common denominator for all OSes. A common Multimedia player I consider a
key feature, beside Web browsers and Office Suites, of every OS nowadays. Mint would really add value if the would integrate that player (incl. intergration into FF)
3. Nobody is touching the key issues – ( my key issues) – SOUND
Alsa: Alsa drivers are always outdated.
Instead of talking about wallpapers or where tomboy sits on the panel, I’d really like to see some real improvements — under the hood.
It should be a key effort to make the latest Alsa drivers available to the community. “No sound” “No headphone” “No SPDIF” keeps people away from Linux. Ubuntu is up to a year behind Alsa latest driver snapshot. It can’t be so difficult to introduce this crucial improvement.
And:
Why can’t make somebody Pulseaudio “Optional”. As it is with Jack.
Pulseaudio is just causing trouble all the time. It makes the general “sound”problem under Linux even worse. You can’t get even rid of it.
Please guys make Pulseaudio “optional”!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guys never mind. I am a great fan of Linux Mint since quite some time and I am promoting it wherever I go. Take above as constructive feedback.
Cheers
Yep, i like the Mint Menu and dont know what is so hard to change it – there are some other Menüs for People who want Smaller one – AND dont forget that u can minimize some Parts of the Mint Menü.
Hi there!
i was wondering if it’ll be any chance to have a Mint development for minimal hardware, such as a PIII+128MBRAM+video32MB or similar… obviusly without a great number of animation that came with the ‘original’ Mint distro.
Thanks everybody
Thanks to Mint, I think Linux has finally arrived on the desktop segment (atleast to me, and i mean where you can get rid of Windows entirely w/o needing to dual boot). I was able to get rid of Windows this year 🙂 after Helena release. Tried so many other distros in between and was never satisfied completely, every one of them had some or the other quirks, not so with Mint.
Quite stable distro (though can’t understand why ppl think it’s just Ubuntu with pretty framework). Things which had issues in Ubuntu used to work flawlessly in Mint.
Big thanks to the entire Mint team for a fabulous distro, hope u keep rolling out such goodies consistently (only wish is if we could make it a rolling distro so that we don’t have to upgrade every few months then it would be perfect ;-))
I dunno what’s went wrong? but it seems to me that mint 7 can detect my graphic card pretty well than mint 8, is there a solution, bro?
After hopping about several distros, settled on Mint 4, haven’t looked back since.
Drives on desktop are essential. The Mint team deserves full marks for THE best one out there!!!! Keep up the excellent work, things can only get better.
We want Adobe Reader in our distro because there seem to be versions of pdf’s which Evince will not print. Some New Zealand government websites offer pdf reports of public information. Evince goes through the motions of printing, but nothing appears in the print queue. This is a known issue and other commentators have recommended the work-around of installing Adobe Reader for Linux.
Thanks for the great work on an excellent distro!
I started playing with Linux in September 2009 and quickly settled on Mint (Gloria). It is familiar enough to learn quickly but different enough to be interesting.
I don’t use Tomboy so I don’t care too much about its location in the toolbar – it’s easy enough to get rid of. I appreciate the mint shortcuts in Firefox, but I would appreciate if you put them into a sub-folder in the shortcuts, the way M$ puts their heavily used sites aside in IE.
My other feedback is when browsing folders with music files, when you click on a file it automatically starts to play the file in preview. If you launch the file, the preview continues and Totem starts to play it, so you hear it in double. Once I have launched the file in a media player, the preview should be discontinued.
Great piece of software, thanks for the effort and I’m looking forward to Isadora!
Gnome Do – It’s one of those necessities in life – like oxygen. Will it work on Mint 8 KDE? I actually looked for Gnome Do ported to Windows… I can browse any folder without even opening it in Nautilus.
TomBoy – Thumbs down. NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. I actually tried using it in the beginning and it just got annoying. One problem is that it didn’t local hyperlinking very well and would always FAIL (ex. /opt/mystuff/notes.pdf).
Zim, though not as pretty, works well.
More stuff I had to re-install in Mint 8:
– NoteCase (note taking)
– Gnome Schedule (this should be a default app)
– Ur-Quan Masters (melee is the best arcade space shooter)
– KeePassX (it’s nice to have)
– Gimp
– Inkscape
– GParted (why did this go away?)
– Google Chrome
– VirtualBox (seamless mode – using my copy of XP, I have an Internet Explorer window running in Linux; I thought that was pretty cool. USB works now too with the latest PPA)
I’ve worked for years on Unix (Solaris, AIX, HPUX, etc) and tried many, many Linux distros through the years. To put it mildly, they all SUCKED! And then I made a happy discovery – LinuxMint 6. One thing, please keep packages that people start getting used to – like wubi. That has stopped me updating my Felicia dual-boot on my main desktop (which I can’t convert fully due to PhotoShop and other paid Win32-only software that I use daily). Mint is what I recommend to friends at every opportunity.
New to Linux and Mint has me hooked.
Was reading the reviews. It was mentioned that FoxIt Reader (for PDF) wasn’t available. I went to their website to check – FoxIt reader is available for Linux – go here –
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/desklinux/
As I have used it with PortableApps – this could be a good choice on Mint for a PDF reader.
Keep up the great work! Hooked for life!
🙂
We at our house use a personal computer with Elyssa as “mediacenter” with a TV card and connected at our wi-fi network, and we see without problems videos, TV, browse any web page and all the max speed.
He uses the whole family, including children who have no difference with windows. All this in a simpre “Sempron” with modest hardware resources. Thanks!.
I use the Linux Mint at home since I knew it. (v-4-Daryna -Gnome)
That was a long two years and I must say that I am always very happy
with all released versions of the Linux Mint. I use the Gnome Main
x64 edition and this time also the 32bit version of Helena. Ok, I am
a fan of KDE specificaly in Debian and Mint, but never had anything to complain about the versions of Gnome.They always worked very well in my equipment.
The Linux Mint is constantly evolving and always for the better.
I like all the Mint’s tools, firefox, etc. Never used Tomboy.
I think we can conclude that tomboy wont be as default on the next release?
I am a LinuxMint fan, it’s absolutely brilliant for Home users.
I’m still using Mint-4 because of its unique version of mencoder, able to invoke x264 in acidrip, not just 2-pass xvid.
Frustrations with Acrobat Reader spyware and its commercial interference, akin to other OS ‘nannying’ then made me a great fan of Evince and its clean operation, especially when used together with the ‘PrintPDF’ Add-on for FireFox.
Just as I always install ‘VLC’ for its much better video quality, I always add the much-overlooked ‘Exaile’, which is less complex than offerings like Rhythmbox, but it’s so easy to immediately customise with Synaptic so please don’t ever lose that capability. The Software Manager is currently a great browse for new packages, introducing me to Google Earth in Mint-7 and now PiTiVi in Mint-8 so that’s a very useful alternative. As to customised desktop icons, they are great for more newbie-obvious Favourite Apps and I always quickly add ‘ntfs-config’ for customised and remembered drive access to legacy data that’s shared with other OSs.
Mint is now so good that it’s reached the stage where, despite nit-picking Reviews, it’s capable of being customised ‘to please most of the people most of the time’, so please don’t lose that ability.
As to Reviews, they have to nit-pick about something to earn their money, whilst a certain magazine took about nine months to learn that the Main and Universal Editions were different and still concentrates on the less-capable Universal Edition, so I’m not over-impressed by Reviews, especially those that merely plagiarise the words of others.
Catching sight of another comment, I too have switched to the 64-bit versions on my core2 rigs because it’s perceptibly slicker and more stable than the 32-bit versions of Mint, long may that also continue.
Although I still look at other distros like Sabayon, PCLinux GNOME and Ubuntu itself, LinuxMint has become my yardstick for ease of use.
About the bookmarks, they arent annoying, in fact if you dont want the solution is quite easys, erase it.
But i findo quite useful.
I am not a Mint fan. I’ve just selected this OS (and Linux distro) TO WORK. Since that (approx 1.5 year period) I havnt disappointed.
The system seems very integral and consentient. I was amazed by the comfortable way of upgrading system and packets.
I was Windows user more than 17 years and was afraid it will be very hard to switch into Linux. But it was pleasure and great luck to meet Mint. It helped me in migration.
Thank you very mach for your work!
I have installed Mint over the past year on about 12 computers for myself, family, and friends. I do however tweak every install.
I remove mplayer, gnomemplayer, and totem and replace them with vlc and vlc mozilla plugin.
As for the update status icon, I actually use a couple icons I found in the artwork forum. I can not find the owner’s screen name right now, but they are basically mint logos in different colors. I use a clear/1px (basically no icon) for the ‘up to date’ and ‘busy’ status, and then I use the yellow mint icon for ‘updates available’, and a red mint icon for ‘no connectivity’. I like NOT seeing any icon when my machine is up to date or if it is searching for updates. I’m not sure if this follows the UI guidelines or not, but it’s an idea. I feel less intrusive is better.
About the firefox bookmarks…leave them in there but compile them under 1 folder. It will keep them organized and out of the way.
Mintmenu – I love it. It is probably THE SINGLE feature that keeps me with Mint. I think it is one of the best implementations of a main menu I have used. The Suse slab is a distant second. The new KDE menu falls short of usable. All other style menus just don’t look modern. I don’t think there is a problem with size either. It works perfectly on my girlfriend’s HP mini 10.1″ netbook. I do heavily modify the applications shown using the menu editor. I think this is one area that ALL linux distributions could use some TLC. Standardize the application naming and description.
For Tomboy, I have no political reason to get rid of it, but I do know that mono takes up a lot of space and I’ve read that mono based apps are slower than c++ based apps. I have no benchmarks for this claim though.
I would also like to see a project like bisigi themes get integrated into a distribution. The themes he creates are extremely polished and add a lot to the overall user experience/impression.
@agnux: Try the Fluxbox CE.
I don’t use Tomboy.If I want to make a note of something or grab a snippet of something from a website I use gedit either to make a note or to copy and paste.
Wow…
Linux is about FREEDOM and most of the things the reviewer mentions fall under that topic. Mint allows the user the FREEDOM that makes Linux so attractive to begin with.
After installing Mint, here’s a list of things I do right away:
1. Move the start bar to the TOP
2. Replace MintMenu with Menu Bar
3. Delete Tomboy
4. Install AWN
Do I think Mint should include those changes? NO! That’s just how I like them. Do I think Mint should take away my freedom to change them? I’d quit using it if they did.
Mint offers a great “first experience” for the Windows convert.
Pidgin is a GREAT application, so why not use it?
One last thing:
I find it silly when folks point out that it’s a great HOME distro. Let’s face it, Mint = Ubuntu = Debian. I can make it into a full blown server if I want. I just like that it’s easy for my wife (NOT at computer person) to use, and I’ve never had to clean a virus off of it like I did every other week when she used Windows.
I think the bookmarks are VERY appropriate.
Oh, I forgot…
Use Adobe Acrobat. I had a “signature form” doc that I couldn’t do with Evince, and had to use Adobe.
I use Evince, but if a new user had that problem, it would kill the whole idea of migrating to Linux.
About the bookmarks, I don’t see anybody complaining about the useless bookmarks Microsoft includes on I.E. … Every time I have to re-install Windows at a costumer’s machine (which is quite often, if I can say) I take the time to erase them all, but I don’t complain about it… In the case of Mint’s bookmarks, I prefered to organize them in a folder.
If you think about it, the first time you open I.E. it also takes you to some MS webpage… and I don’t see anybody complaining about it either… Also MS webpage doesn’t provide google search engine (like you could find something decent using “Bing”… come on…)
Anyway… too many complains from somebody who seems to be an expert, but too lazy to turn off the customizations destinated to the newbies…
First Tomboy is bad, try to make backups – its a pain…. I tried Gnote and Notecase ± -now I use Zim and Osmo[very good]but these are not for quick notes. For this RedNotebook is the best, stays in the >infotray< – using not much memory easy and its fast. Like Mint 😉 take a look
PLEASE don’t change the >MintMenutrashMyPC$HomeMintUpload Package managerSoftware managercontrol-center< between them in the menu???
If you test some other distros you will see how good Mint is.
I love it and hope Clem and the team go on on their way – reviews are nice, but as always with critics – its very subjective. 😉
The people love Mint because Mint! and there are a lot.
cordial salu2
A couple of quick thoughts;
1. Adobereader is essential for some business related websites please keep it,
2. Put xsane in and dump the default scanner as it is almost worthless,
3. I would go to a dvd sized iso in 2010 as everyone has a dvd drive that is using the normal Mint I believe (certainly all 64 bit users). This would allow all of the featured applications to be included (maybe 2 gb) and deleting some less capable replacements (I love Songbird)
4. Allow a way for selecting auto mounting of all drives on start up by default when installed,
10 being perfect Mint is a 9 and climbing.
jf
Linux Mint just works the way it is, good for Linux newbies and experts alike, and it’s free, why are some users complaining about little things like the menu, colors or tomboy being in the menu bar…???
I love mintUpdate and it’s icon levels. If there was only one thing that made me love Mint over Ubuntu was the clarity this gives!
With all the configurations in an operating system you cannot please everyone, you shouldn’t have to respond to distrowatch’s nit picks. I love your OS and think you do an amazing job. If someone doesn’t like an icon or a theme or a task bar they can always run the Ubuntu SE theme 🙂
Keep up the good work.
I come from Pakistan, a developing country, whr people dont even knw wat linux is. Here we only use windows. But i’m sort of obsessed about keeping myself up to date with technology. I seriously got fed up of using windows becuz every new edition requires you to upgrade ur hardware and on top of dat it crashes very often, has loads of viruses, spyware, malware. Basically its pretty hard to maintain all together. So my this year’s resolution 2010 was to find an alternate OS. I began my search in december 2009 mid, and i think my search for a user friendly ex-windows user alternate OS has ended with “LinuxMint8”. although i’m still trying to figure out some of the functions in linux but its pretty easy to use even for a layman. Its Click-Click simple. I loved some of the feature that Mint added to Ubuntu and it has made things alot easier. I have downloaded and tried the following linux distros before MINT8:
1. Ubuntu 9.10 (Easy)
2. Kubuntu 9.10 (Heavy, Pure KDE4.3 nothing extra)
3. Mandriva 2010 (Unstable, But love its installed and config center)
4. openSUSE 11.2 (Heavy, Yast Package Installer is confusing)
5. puppy linux (tried 4 different subtypes, is light and nice for emergency use)
6. NimbleX (Customized online and downloaded it. nothing special)
7. Damn Small Linux ( nice for very old Hardware like P166MHZ w/ 16-64Mb Ram)
8. DeliLinux (Its not a live CD. I had to install it and never found it on my computer again. It doesnt even show in boot Menu)
9. Linux Mint 8 (Everything dat i wanted in my customized linux and more. Best replacement for windows. Very user friendly. just install it. and forget about all kinds of issues. i’m the biggest critic in the world. I dont accept changes dat easily and i want things to be perfect. and so trust me, i loved it. i’m satisfied with it)
Please never stop making MINT. Keep growing. Keep making it better.
Hy!I use Linux for about 8 month’s and you could say that i’m a begginer!I tried ubuntu,kubuntu,Linux mint 5,and now i have Linux mint 8!I must say that Linux Mint is much more easy to learn,easy to use and fun.Now i’ll go straight forward to what i have to say:
First about the logos:i like to see mint logo,it doesn’t bother me and you must think that everyone use his logo:window’s does,mac os does,ubuntu does everyone use his own logo,and that logo remaind that i’m a part of a great distro and a great project!
About the adobe reader:it’s much better than evince.Evince look a little rudimentary,but i must say that i only use okular and i like to see it by the default(i like especialy that he remember were i was the last time )
Now i see that you talk alot about mono!what is mono?Did you refer at monodevelop?An if it is MonoDevelop what’s wrong with it?(don’t forget that i’m a begginer)
Even if i’m a begginer i have an advice:i measure the boot speed..from the moment when i select the kernel from the grub until it shows me the login manager it takes 34 seconds that’s to long for a linux distro it almost reach the windows boot time!
For the final:you can’t please everyone,there will always be someone that will have something to comment,so keep it up boy’s!
Cheers!
I have used many operating systems over the year. On the PC I was stuck with Windows then finally found a version of Ubuntu (v6 I think) that I could use. I do a lot of stuff with music and could never get all the sound working on Ubuntu 910. Mint7 just worked out of the box as does 8.
Music players. It is important for me that there is no gap between the track files when they are replayed. The only player I have found that leaves no gap is aqualung. http://aqualung.factorial.hu/. If totem did not leave a gap I would probably use it. I prefer vlc for most things because it comes with all codexs configured. If you listen to music where a long work is divided up onto many tracks, like in an opera so you can locate different sections, any silence between the tracks is not acceptable. I did not see this mentioned in this blog.
Here is a forum about gapless players:
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1101330.html
Linux Mint es la única distro GNU/Linux que he probado, y no la cambio por ninguna otra, es simplemente EXCEPCIONAL… Y bueno… Como decía Natalia Oreiro:
“¡Que digan lo que quieran!
que las palabras vienen y se van
y yo soy como soy y en realidad quiero vivir a mi manera
¡Que digan lo que quieran!
yo tengo ya mi brújula interior
me importa lo que dice el corazón
y se muy bien a donde voy
¡Que digan lo que quieran!
Saludos.
In my opinion, the Tomboy icon isn’t at the right place. I’d prefer it near the clock. The updater icon, it’s a bit annoying the Error icon when I search something on Synaptic, but not a big issue at all.
Wallpapers are really cool and I think Mintmenu is quite good. It’s big, so what? I mean, when I look for something in the menu, I don’t actually need to see something else on my desktop. The search option really rocks.
For me, the best menu ever was the Tasty menu, available in Mint KDE CE 5 -it was quite big, though-, it’d be great to have something like that.
About software and package manager, I don’t see the problem. It can be a little confusing for the first time, but it’s easy to learn.
Acrobat reader is good software but I hardly ever use it. It has some interesting options at printing, like booklet printing.
Browser bookmarks are easy to remove. I just have the Main Page bookmark and I removed every other default bookmark.
I personally think that Mint 8 is a GREAT JOB. It’s easy to install and make everything work. It has a cool look. That’s all.
pour les francophones, traduction du post de Clem’ ici:
http://www.linuxmint-fr.org/forum/communaute/evenements/18455-traduction-fr-du-dernier-post-de-clem-sur-mint.html#18463
by the way, great work Clem’. I appreciate your taking the time to explain things at length, even though some of Distrocheck’s remarks read a little far fetched…
I prefer Tomboy over gNote. I am not aware of the mono controversy – I guess I’ll have to google that. The reason is simple… I have a Fedora desktop @work. Mint on my laptop & home PC. With Tomboy, I can sync my Tomboy notes between all 3. You cannot do that w/gNote.
I’ve been installing Linux Mint as a Windows desktop replacement since Mint 5 on several client computers.
All in all I’ve been impressed with it. The only major problem I’ve had with Mint is trying to install an internal modem as the client’s computer requires a dial-up connection to interact with the world wide web. I know, I know, a little command line work and compiling some modem drivers isn’t really that complicated. No, its not; however scanModem is still confusing as hell. They’ll still have to use W$ndoze for their internet connection as I am not able to take the time necessary to figure out how to compile, install and test modem drivers when installing on client computers who still require a dial-up connection. The rest of the networking support is incredible and very easy to use.
The installer also has not been able to correctly resize partitions. Gparted (an older version that I used at first) didn’t like the Vista partition I had to resize. I had to resort to Acronis Disk Director to do what turned out to be a not so quick resize of the Windows partition.
And reinstalling grub2; well – a yes or no prompt before installing it to sda1 would, apparently; make too much sense. Please fix this.
The lack of parental controls is a big knock against Linux Mint for people with kids. They want to be able to control when and how their kids use their computer. I haven’t been able to find a way to set time constraints on accounts as of yet, nor found a way to block access to applications. MintNanny just doesn’t cut it.
An easy way to configure OpenDNS for dummies would be a nice how-to to provide somewhere as well.
Another feature that would be nice to see is something like xPud, or a mobile environment such as Moblin.
As to the finer details; you seem to have a good grasp on what works and what doesn’t. Mints popularity is a pretty clear indicator of this.
Some final thoughts:
My requirements for software are quite simple. All software needs to work and work well and be easy to use and understand. If the software (free software, I might add) that comes bundled with Mint happens to support projects and people with a passion to build something useful and functional, then so be it. This is kind of thinking is refreshing and my hope is that you do not stray from from it.
Most people who are coming from the Windows world want as much if not more functionality and ease of use from their computer, with noticeable gains in their computing speed for virtually no cost. Mint solves this problem cost effectively in a minty fresh way!
Keep up the great work.
Wooooaaauuu! One person means one opinion but it there are 3 persons there can be 6 opinions 🙂
Well here is another opinion, if there is something not to like about Mint, most probably it can be re-configured as desired. Another alternative is to type some code and help Mint team on getting there.
Just want to say that the decisions made by Mint team are so good that now they are deserving so much attention.
Bravo Mint! keep up doing a good job!
Unloca ICT Solutions – from the executive members, we would like to formally extend our gratitude for time and efforts that have been dedicated to make a final “tasty”, elegant distro. Unloca ICT Solutions is proud of all of you and your great work. Unloca ICT Solutions proudly deployed Linux Mint in all its workstations. Unloca ICT Solutions recommends Linux Mint as the bigginer’s choice OS. Unloca ICT Solutions provides managed Linux services, Open source solutions and IT support to small business, organizations, schools and individuals. Unloca ICT Solutions greatly thank you and look forward to great next version of Mint 9. God bless – Unloca ICT Solutions.
Unloca ICT Solutions – South Africa
I did not read the main Distrocheck article, but if the rest of the article is anything like the snippits responded to, I would say Distrocheck has too much time on their hands. Although some of the points Distrocheck brings up is valid (Package manager and Software manager confusion, two front ends of mplayer, and three for Totem) most of the complaints to me, are very silly:
The wallpaper having the LM logo, I mean really, are they joking? Does any distro not market for themselves? To me the LM is a good talking point, because Windows users do not know what LM is, and they usually ask about it.
Tomboy vs gnote, including Pidgin instead of Empathy (Install the one you want, and uninstall the one you don’t. No distro can please everyone by having certain software than others installed)
MintMenu size (Never thought this was a “big” problem. I love the way mintMenu show the previous category btw)
Separated updates in levels. (I found these useful, they help me learn about Linux)
Four different types of “Busy” icons. (I have never needed a tutorial to understand what the meaning of icons were, and I totally understood what the lock\unlock icon meant for the system update)
Closed source .pdf view (As long as I can view .pdf’s who cares? Besides, I don’t remember LM saying it was only ever going to be using open source software. There are other distros which cater to these types of needs)
LM Bookmarks (Funny, my browser was not “flooded” with LM bookmarks. If is was not for the LM bookmarks, I would not have joined the community as easily as I did. It is also nice to have the home page start at the Latest news page. Again, nothing wrong with a little self marketing. If you don’t like them, delete them. I say keep them and let the user decide what to do)
“Distrocheck: in order to select an applications to be installed, it has to be selected first and then click the button Install” (Are you kidding me? You are really concerned about needing to click the install button? To me this is a needed failsafe feature for newbies. I have used it as a learning tool so I know what other packages will be needed to complete the requested install. I happly select the application and then click the install button.)
The average rating in mintinstall. (For me, partly basing the average on the number of people looking at the application and the number of times it had been reviewed does not accurately show how useful the application is to the community. Basing the numbers on the actual downloads would be very useful to newbies.)
Funny, I never have used the Computer Icon, I only use the icon which is on the desktop or in the fiel browser when a device has been mounted. This could be removed in future releases.
It is too bad the distrowatch article did not have more constructive opinions about the LM O\S. They were more or less worried about the very basics of LM which is too bad.
Keep up the good work on an awesome distro!
Converted three Windows XP users to LM, and proud of it! 🙂
Hello,
Mint is by far the easiest to use. I have tried most of the Distros and highly recommend Mint… up to the Elyssa version. Later versions don’t seem to like my video. I’m using an old Acer Aspire 5002 WLMi with AMD Turion (ML-30) Processor. Any version after Elyssa the video is very poor! Looks like some sort of “limp”mode 16 colors? No video at all unless I boot in “compatible mode” and no way to change it.
(this machine doesn’t support 3-D Video) Has anyone dealt with this issue?
Thanks for a really good operating system! Just wish I could use the later versions! Any input would be welcome.
Terry Lavictoire
flyinterry03@gmail.com
Acrobat or Evince? A plague on both your houses, say I. Foxit reader for me, every time.
I’m using Gloria over Helena for the simple reason that when I went to Helena I had no luck getting my wireless adapter to work in Helena. I had to go back to Gloria because it was working flawless for me. What is the difference with the wireless drivers between the 2? Second of I had some problems figuring out how to edit the boot menu with the change to grub 2. I may have to consider giving Helena a second chance. Is the X86_64 version still in beta?
As an IT pro and director of an IT consultancy firm I have to say Mint has impressed me over and over again. In our offices we have been through many o/s’s including Thorhammer, Mandriva (and Mandrake), Puppy and it’s derivatives, Osensuse, Knoppix, Debian, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, the list goes on and on. And yet now, all of our machines are at least Dual booted with Mint,and in some cases it is the primary O/S. It even powers our PHp/MySQL databasing machines. Our sales of Linux based machines doubled (to home users) within 12 months of changing from Ubuntu to Mint.
The point i’m making is that you seem to have a winning formula here so tread lightly as the distro continues to develop.
And as a special note to the developers please remember what a wise man once said- “If you write a book for everyone, then no one will want to read it. If you write a book for yourself, then everyone will want to read it.”
I believe there to be a lot of truth in that statement. The day you guys don’t enjoy developing this distro is the day it’sdevelopment should end.
And if you try to pamper to everyones own personal tastes then you end with a fat, buggy, crashy, disorganised distro. (And then you have to rename it to Mandriva One 😉
This is just my opinion, not out here to step on toes or cause offence.
Regards.
One things that bugs me is how the customized google search Mint uses omits the links at the top for news, images, shopping, etc. It makes searching much less productive. PLEASE FIX THIS! Thanks.
i never thought mint will be this big when i used mint 5. but i really love the color. i am green guy. when mint grow older, its become huge. after mint 8 release, i see any linux site talk bout it.
review things :
1. the menu is windows style but much more helpfull. favorite can be much helpfull for some people. and i really love uninstall right click.
2. some part of this distro i dislike but i sill can customized it the way i like. other i just leave it and never used it. tomboy is #1 i remove.
3. mint need to keep forward with software manager. i like it. easier for me to search what i need. maybe lately we don’t need package manager.
keep on rockin, guys!
Good points all but I think it would be better practice to make Mint more polished. For example make sure the taskbar doesn’t keep losing its Autohide function, automount ALL drives specified on boot, wake up quicker (it takes about 3 minutes to lose the stuttering after a nights sleep). Why cannot I save to mounted network drives, rather than having to drag across? Why is xscreensaver not auto? Also why cannot I run xsane as user rather than needing to su… etc? I know some of these can be solved from the command line but they should be automatic and invisible. Great distro: needs finesse.
i have only been using linux for 1 year so my perspective is from a beginners standpoint. I have found mint & pclinux to be my favourites of around 8 or more distros i tried.
1. pls leave the trash icon – i hate it but for the first few months of using/learning linux the trash icon was the only way i knew to empty the trash & free up space. When using windows i disabled the “recycle bin” but in linux i learnt to use it.
2. pls leave the menu as it is – the way i see mint is that it is ubuntu with popular programs/codecs that are reliable. So now after using linux for a year i can download a small iso then using a package manager i can add my favourite programs without adding ones i do not use; this saves hdd space & downloading. The reason i returned to mint is that:
a. there are more deb’s than rpm’s out there in 3rd party world (& most deb’s work on ubuntu/mint, but only _some_ rpm’s work on pclinux)
b. i prefer the mint menu.
Simply put, i am returning to mint because of the way the menu works.
Btw, this _REALLY_ is a great distro for beginners into linux. Learning about deb’s, repositories, kde/gnome/xcfe/etc, multiple file managers (dolphin, konquerer, nautilus, etc), downloading codecs to play dvd/mp3/audio cd…. then more & more…. i _ALWAYS_ can recommend mint to _ANYONE_! It works out of the “box” & it works well!
Thank you all for mint, i would have gone back to window$ if not for this distro! (my window$ was totally killed by a virus because of an out of date virus dat file: i had no internet at the time = no virus dat update = dead windoze = try linux)…
I think all these things are quite petty, things I changed immediately after installing Mint. What bothers me MUCH more, is the fact that Mint does not authenticate software in Synaptic, wheras other distros based on Ubuntu do. This is a MAJOR security loophole, but apparently Mint does not care about user security.
I agree and disagree with a lot of points. I love mint, it is a wonderful distribution that makes me feel safe when suggesting it to friends and family because it already has everything out-of-the-box and the average Internet surfer and email-fetcher can just install it and stay out of the repositories which tend to scare new users.
My one suggestion…I too do not like Mint menu, I don’t think it does the distribution justice, as the menu is kind of like the front of a store or packaging of a product. Is there a way to have “favorites” and “Applications” buttons at the top, but when applications is selected, have an option to JUST display the applications? In other words, have an option to eliminate categories and just display the applications. Most people know Mozilla is the web browser, OpenOffice is the office suite, and so on. If people don’t know that, they can look at the descriptions under each application and it will tell them so. This option could eliminate one full column in the MintMenu and keep it limited to two. This way, you still have “Places”, “System”, “Applications”, and “Favorites”, but reduce the display size by 25 – 35%. For those who do want categories, I still think they should be an option, it helps new users get there land-legs.
“I’m not sure why people want Adobe Acrobat Reader” — Evince and xpdf are faster, Acrobat is bloated and I do not like it, but there are some (public domain) PDFs from Google Book Search where both open source programs show simply whitespace, contrary to Adobe Acrobat, which reads there what I guess it sees as little images. Of some special format, god knows which.
First of all, many thanks to Clem, his team and everyone who contributed to this GREAT distribution!
I used MS for the last 15 years and got more and more fed up with this, thinking how to get rid of it and all the connected problems: viruses, spyware, safety-leaks, safety-updates (with broken internet-connection afterwards), the system becoming worse week by week, what the heck ist my computer doing and when?, and so on, and so on …
So I changed to firefox some years ago and last year to open office and was amazed by the ease of installation and use, thinking harder how to drop MS.
Now I am new with LINUX (if you don´t mention a short glance at Knoppix in 2002). I searched the internet for the current situation (I had no idea how much distributions there are …!) and decided to try LINUX Mint.
WHOW! The installation went in practically no time (compared to the last horror with XP and all the other programs needed), a lot of useful programs are included and everything worked out of the box – wonderful!
Changing from MS to LINUX Mint has been very easy up to now, even for the family members who are no computer fans. It was a bit like changing your car model (or make): some details are different, of course, maybe you are searching for the fog light switch at the first use, but the main things work like expected. You can drive from A to B immediately without reading hundreds of pages of manuals or something like that.
Please stick to that concept, and lots more people will change from MS to LINUX Mint!
Best regards!
P.S.: Much of the discussion in this blog seems to me about the colour of the seats and the make of the rims of the car (to stick at the comparison above). Maybe not unimportant, but every expert can change that easily. Most of the normal users will be happy to get an efficient and reliable car.
VLC is a must. It should be the default and replace all other media players. Totem et al are completely ridiculous and pointless in comparison.
Using Linux Mint for 6 Months now and i’m very satisfied with it. Like the look and the handling. I was easy to migrate for someone who used nearly 10 years win 98 se and maybe 1 year winxp. All trouble i had so far ( could be resolved by searching the community.
1. I like the mintmenu, but it needs a lot of resources. On older (but no so old) machines it takes 2-3 seconds to open, when there are some apps running. Or longer when the system is very busy and so you can’t open e.g. the system monitor. This maybe important for new user, which don’t know all shortcuts. Switched to gnome-menu for some time, but it is so un-individual. MintMenu takes 2/3 of my montor, when opened (1024*768), but it’s ok for a menu. And so i can access it comfortably from my couch without a telescope 🙂
2. Is it possible to add electric sheep to the default screensavers? It’s a little tricky for new users to install, but very impressive. If you don’t know: it displays rendered videos of moving fractals, fading them to each others, generating new ones by distributed computing. However, it won’t run from livecd 🙁 (too much space needed)
3. Could you put back the janitor? I know, this can be done by apt purge, but think about the potential newusers testing this distro on a usb-media with less space
4. remastersys and usb-creator are very worthfull for testing purposes
5. empathy don’t works stable. used it for 2 days, but it had trouble with the germanic umlaut (very ugly to read) and it didn’t look attractive.
6. tomboy is annoying me
7. and what about gparted? This is very usefull.
Good news and bad news.. from me obviously.
The good news is that Linux Mint is a little Black-Style wich I love it.
The bad news are that I hate Tomboy, I hate the “show desktop” button on the left, and I hate the size of the panel (I’m talking about the xfce and the fluxbox desktops): by default it comes at 16 px wich is a ridiculous size, you can’t even read text there (or, maybe is the only thing you can do at this size..), and icons appear really ugly at lower resolution. Why don’t you resize it a little, something about 24px?
Also, I do agree about the Mint menu and about the updates icons. The first time I saw the updates available icon I think there were something not good happening to my pc, and it was when I just installed Mint.. think how bad it could be having troubles when you just install an OS, the updates available icon makes the same effect…
Another bad news last thing… I saw there are 3 options to boot when you insert the Mint CD, normal booting the live – live with compatibility – live with OEM install. But there is no option to install directly the OS. I hate waiting to boot the Live OS, on slow pc’s there is needed lot of time to do this (and I have a pc with a 900 MHz processor).. why don’t adding a “Install now” option to the menu ? Mint is Ubuntu-based and the Ubuntu CDs do have this…
The last thing: I hate Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is slower on Windows and it is slower on Linux, don’t mind what distro you ever run, and it is also a non open-source software. I think I’m not wrong when I say that people will love having something better and Open Source… I hope you understood what I am talkin’ about.
Anything else in Mint is ok, for me.
Keep up the good work,
bye!
Ah I forgot about Empathy and Pidgin: they’re ugly… I prefer Kopete instead, even if that requires some KDE packages.
Linux Mint is Great!
try it u will love it
A lot of fuss about the size of the menu personally I use the main menu from the ADD to Panel list:-( might be to widoze for some but its quick as every thing else if you don’t like it change it
The reviewer is a silly nitpicker. If you don’t like the MINT menu, change it. I use a gnome menu, this is my preference. Everything about the Mint OS is changable. If you don’t know how, there is always someone who will point you in the right direction. I don’t use Tomboy, gnote, etc. This reviewer sounds very close minded.
I’ve been a regular Mint user for about a year and a half now, moving it from my secondary machine to my primary for the last six months. I’ve been able to convert three people to Linux Mint who loved the idea of Ubuntu, but wanted something that looked closer to their beloved Start menu. And when I describe the Mint menu and all its awesomeness, I like to mention that it somewhat looks like what Vista/Win7 tried to do (and failed miserably). I love the Favorites section, the applications split into their categories (a-la Gnome), and how easy it is to move around in. I apologize for the comparisons to Windows, but LM seems to show people what Linux can really look like, and how easy it is to move around in.
It sounds like you have some great ideas for a great distro, keep up the great work!
for total noobs its very eayse if thay plug in a usb stick it wil apair on the desktop. some pepele otherwise can’t find there usb stick documents and stuf.
Hi,
Love Mint 8, having never stuck with any other distro in the past. It works really well on my NC10 netbook.
Please can you include TrueCrypt in the list of packages. Would also like an option to have a netbook remix (maximus and netbook-launcher).
I thought this was interesting to post. My hits by operating system in the last 6 months.
Windows 173457 74.1 %
Linux 39630 16.9 %
Macintosh 17924 7.6 %
Unknown 2133 0.9 %
Symbian OS 814 0.3 %
and now the Browser Wars…
MS Internet Explorer No 120653 51.5 %
Firefox No 76986 32.9 %
Google Chrome No 15844 6.7 %
Safari No 15030 6.4 %
Opera No 2743 1.1 %
Mozilla No 1843 0.7 %
Unknown ? 684 0.2 %
Nokia Browser (PDA/Phone browser) 75 0 %
Netscape No 37 0 %
Its interesting to see such a big leap for Linux as well as Firefox.