We’re at build #017 already and it’s been a very long week end. I’m exhausted 🙂 But the progress so far has been very good and the ISO is looking great. Firefox 3 and pulseaudio were included. Amarok was replaced by Rhythmbox. Brasero was added and Transmission version 1.11 is to be included.
An upstream bug in Rhythmbox was fixed for Jamendo to be supported and the functionality of pulseaudio was extended by adding support for Flash and the Pulse Audio Device Chooser. The multimedia system selector was also made visible.
PPPOE was added.
The software portal is 1/4 full and now counts 228 applications for Elyssa (thanks to Kronophage for this).
Support for MP3 encoding was added (previous versions of Mint only came with MP3 decoding).
Gnome was tweaked: Images can now be applied as wallpapers from the context menu and folders can be opened as root. When opening a folder as root, XFE is used instead of nautilus. A warning is given, the title of the window mentions “Root” and XFE looks different enough for users not to forget that they have a root window open 🙂
We’re now on a 2.6.24-16-generic kernel with CFS (completely fair scheduler) and with Gnome 2.22. The ISO is about 694MB large and fits on a CD.
As always there’s no ETA or release date planned. It will be released when ready, but as Hardy is out and I can see a lot of people are anxious to know when Elyssa will be out.. looking at what’s done and what’s left on our roadmap it’s reasonable to think we’ll be in a position to release a public BETA in about two weeks. Of course things happen and as any other edition the Main Edition will have to be tested by Exploder so don’t take my word for it, this is only an estimation.
Note on compatibility: A compatibility mode was added as a new boot entry, featuring nosplash, noapic, noacpi and irqpoll. Also, the light edition will come with grub instead of gfxgrub and without pulseaudio. We’ll make it very easy for Light Edition users to add codecs through a single mint file so the Light Edition will also act as an easy workaround for people whose computers have compatibility issues with gfxgrub.
Note on the start page and search plugin: I reviewed the TOS and looked at this in details. I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do to improve the layout of the search results. The google images plugin was given a distinct icon to differentiate it from the search one. Start pages were assigned on a per-release, eventually per-edition basis so we can provide users with more relevant information (user guide, links to release notes and bug report places, security warnings..etc). We’re starting to use google analytics also so I’ll be able to give more accurate stats about the Linux Mint user base for each release/edition. Info on why we’re modifying the search plugin and how to revert to the default one will be covered in the user guide, which will be accessible from the default start page.
That’s about it.. there are also visual improvements in the terminal and a great isolinux theme but I’ll keep that as a surprise 🙂 A lot more is to come but I don’t see anything that could wrong at this stage. I’ll post more news as I go along.
Great Cleam! we’ll be waiting for that surprise. I wrote somthing in the forum, I don’t know if you have read it. I wrote that mplayer plugin for firefox wasn’t working with many streaming sites, I have test it and so many times it hasn’t work. I install the totem plugin, and it works perfect.
Great News!
I’ve just recently switched all of my handed down laptops over to the linux mint fluxbox ce. I’m nothing but pleased with the setup’s and it’s worked flawlessly. So a new release is very exciting!
“Gnome was tweaked: Images can now be applied as wallpapers from the context menu ”
very good !! 🙂
Very good and useful the option of opening a folder as Root.
Congratulations, and thanks.
are broadcom drivers going to be included with default? What about miro ? You could brand it http://www.getmiro.com/blog/2008/04/free-miro-co-brander-for-non-profits/ or https://www.getmiro.com/co-branding/
Great job Clem
Since I have been running Mint’s Gnome I’ve been learning
a lot about it. On Debian Etch, my default desktop is Kde
(other computer)
Ok, never forget to add PPPOE – Telefonica Company and
others in Brazil, put their broadband config. based on it.
Once pppoeconf is configuring on Mint after the installation
you can relax and no worries anymore.
On Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy it’s a disaster. On 8.04 LTS It is good.
I didn’t enjoy Rhythmbox ( i lke Exaile for Gnome) but it seems
this software has been improved much. Good.
Serpentine (no) – Brasero is light for Gnome and works fine
Mp3 support – encoding and decoding looks great!
Pulse audio was a very right adiction.
No doubts! Mint 5 Elyssa will be an innovative excellent release
Cheers
Awesome. Love the MP3 encoding. Though I have to ask, doesn’t the MP3 encoding require that you pay license fees?
Develop without stress. Take your time. DO the GOOD….. BETTER
I’m waiting “desesperado” for Elyssa.
I’ve installed Hardy … and … the cube don’t work the wireless is a mess … all things that worked very well in Gutsy … But I believe in Clem 😛
Looks like it’s shaping up very well indeed. I continue to look forward to the release.
Acid_1: According to Thompson both decoding and encoding require license fees and this is based on a patent of theirs. According to us this is called a “software patent” and these things only apply to distributors in the USA and in Japan (as we see it we’re not distributing, we’re making our product available in Ireland and it’s up to people to decide whether they import it in their country or not). Also, to make everybody happy we’re providing people with a Light Edition so they can actively distribute it in these countries. If you look at it closely you can see how similar this is to what other distributions do. Ubuntu provides these codecs, we do too. In Ubuntu you choose to install them or not after the product is installed. In Mint you make that choice by downloading a particular ISO. In both cases the choice is made by the user, and the codecs come from the distribution’s servers. This was looked at in the early releases and it makes no difference whether it’s decoding or encoding the format. We’re talking about an open-source technology on which a software patent is claimed to apply.
Gimmie – python “start” menu
http://beatniksoftware.com/gimmie/Main_Page
and
songbird – mozilla’s player based on firefox code base
http://www.songbirdnest.com/
tow VERY promissing projects. Mint team, look at them with love.
Amarok crashed a lot in Daryna…and Exaile too…I didn’t try Rhythmbox…hope it’s more stable
Can’t wait for Elyssa…great job!
this will be my first time using mint.
Hoping for this. ty.
Rhythmbox don’t even have an EQ. Is there a way to have better sound quality in linux? Amarok, Exaile, Rhythmbox, XMMS etc… any of them sounds good enough for me like its windows counterparts.
“Amarok was replaced by Rhythmbox. Brasero was added and Transmission version 1.11 is to be included.”
After all! No more Amarok on GTK… is the better notice that will happen to LinuxMint. Thank you!
1 more thing: can add (the team) a Banshee or BMPx music players sustituing Rhythmbox to the next versions?
Could you give me a way to implement these things in the mini ce? I’ve been experimenting with upgrading to hardy.
A package that implemented these settings would be fabulous, if you had the time.
That’s perfect! And I agree with the others, take your time, Clem. I installed Ubuntu 8.04 here in my machine while I’m waiting for Elyssa, but it’s helpless. I can’t live without Mint anymore, rsrs. Since I need some Windows programas meanwhile, I will wait for Elyssa to go back to Linux.
And one more time, very well done!
PS: I don’t remenber if this feature is in Daryna or not, anyway what about context menu “open terminal here as root”? It will be gooooood. ^_^
I agree with all your choices, so I’m really eager to meet Elyssa !
You make a great job Clem !
Well, can you tell us if a DVD iso will be released with the support of all languages ?
thanks.
take your time with it.. we only ask for the best …. only the best!
What program is used to do MP3 Encoding?
with mint most of the issues this guy had with his girlfriend would had been resolved
http://contentconsumer.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/is-ubuntu-useable-enough-for-my-girlfriend/
Hmm.
Not convinced by removing Amarok and leaving only Rhythmbox. It’s nowhere near as nice to use…
will it include envyNG? and what flash version?
envy didn’t work in mint 4.0
Changturkey: It’s a gstreamer plugin. I guess it’s using lame.
@Clem: Good thing I live in Canada ;D
Sincerely I don’t like that Elyssa will have Rhythmbox, like others, it will be better if Amarok or Exile will be included, or another option is not to include them at all, and the final user will choose the one he need and will install it via internet.
Will you be including Tor and Samba? Since, for the life of me Samba crashes on my ubuntu 8.04 and Tor just refuses to install.
Kalimati font. LinuxMint is the only distro I’ve seen that includes it. Awesome font! I hope it is included in Elyssa.
Just some more tipps:
-tool for restoring GRUB after installing other OS
-two panel file manager by default (krusader/gnome commander)
-CompizConfig Settings Manager
-instead of PPPOE, a graphical tool to set up adsl connections (or has it a GUI?)
-CNR:)
-Hungarian translation:) (I will make it, if I have some time)
First of all, good luck. I am looking forward to Elyssa. I have a Dell D620 running ubuntu hardy (2.6.24-16) and my wireless (intel 3945 ABG) never connects to my school network. (WPA2 enterprise, PEAP, Dynamic WEP, MSCHAPv2 are the important options that I need to choose to connect using network manager). The problem could be because of iwl3945 drivers. I would really like to see complete wireless support in mint given that hardy has missed it big time in spite of being LTS. If mint resolves such vital issues, it would become very popular. I think contributions have to be really strong to pull people into Mint. I wish good luck for the mint team and looking forward to try the elyssa beta.
Dell laptops sold with XP, need the broadcom drivers. I tried Ubuntu Hardy, and wireless wasn’t setup. PCLOS 2007 Gnome, ran a ndiswrapper wizard as the live cd loaded.
Clem, great software choices! The best of the GTK world!
WTG Mint Team!!
take a lookt ate thes theme:
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/DeltaGreen+Icon?content=75563
GREAT THEME!! loved the green icons
and the wallpaper… perfect. A good choice for default wallpaper.
Hey Clem, I’ve being using Banshee, a native music reproductor for Gnome and I think it is very useful. Please try it, it is better than Rhythmbox. It allows to keep in order music as Amarok, and it is very stable, Please try it! it also use plug-ins.
BANSHEE
Golly, am I the only one who thinks Amarok roks compared to Rhythmbox? Does Rhythmbox have MySQL integration, MusicBrainz integration, etc?
sounds Great Clem!!!
I eagerly await Elyssa!!!!
Amarok gone? I have tried Rhythmbox, Amarok, Banshee, Exaile, and several others, and I keep coming back to Amarok because, frankly (and IMO, of course, duh), it is the best. GTK or not. In fact, part of what made me like Mint so much is that Amarok was installed instead of the less good Rhythmbox favored by Ubuntu.
I do like having a Gnome desktop that is populated by just GTK apps, but frankly, sometimes that is just not practical. Or at least, has not been always sensible in the past. There are some Qt apps that are just better than their GTK counterparts, (and vice versa, certainly).
And this is what is/was so nice about Mint. Mint hasn’t been so Gnome-centric, as has been its Ubuntu mother, and has always just skimmed the best Open Source apps off the top of the pile, regardless of their desktop-centricity. Mint is *not* just Ubuntu + codecs. Mint is Ubuntu configured with a base set of applications that are a bit better than Ubuntu’s base choices.
Thank you, Minty minters for your minty mintosity. I now eat only mint flavored cookies whilst wearing a mint-green smoking jacket, smoking Kools menthol (mint!) and drinking creme de menthe, as I chew doublemint gum handed to me by green haired minty vixens from the planet minton wearing mintusian skin mintokinis and mintolian fur mintles.
Okay, so, yeah, maybe got a little carried away at the end there. A little. But Mint has been great so far.
Thanks!
Good work. old boy! And thanks.
When are we going to have the Mint 5 Beta released?
Cheers,
npap
WE WANT THE BETA! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (joking (: )
Thank you for all of your work, Clem.
I’m VERY exited about the Elyssa release, looking forward alot. I’ve been using Daryna for a couple of months now, and I really like it, although, I would appreciate a better functionality for the wireless-laptop-stuff. It doesn’t work very good for me, everything else is a blessing though!
Looking forward to the release, good luck on your continued work.
I prefer Deluge over Transmission, and I prefer Banshee over Rhythmbox. Brasero is definitely a good choice, and PulseAudio sounds good.
A few people here were attracted to Mint because it had Amarok by default. I was attracted for this very reason, but after trying Banshee out, I’ve never looked back. If more people agree with me, I’d say it’d be a good choice for ((F)girls’name) Mint 6.