Monthly News – January 2014

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Gold Sponsors:
VMware Cloud Hosting
Silver Sponsors:
Idera (formerly R1Soft)
ThinkPenguin.com
Bronze Sponsors:
Vault Networks *
AYKsolutions Server & Cloud Hosting
7L Networks Toronto Colocation *
David Salvo
Gutscheindrache.de Coupons
MBCEStore Mexico
Sysnova Information Systems
Community Sponsors:

To become a sponsor or to see the full list of Linux Mint sponsors, please visit: http://www.linuxmint.com/sponsors.php

Donations:

A total of $6493 was raised thanks to the generous contributions of 263 donors:

  • $132.85 (6th donation), Goran A.
  • $132.85, Eero O. K.
  • $100 (2nd donation), Geoffrey G.
  • $100 (2nd donation), Paul S.
  • $100 (2nd donation), Teknosophy, LLC
  • $100, Chris M.
  • $100, Erkki L.
  • $100, Timothy P.
  • $100, Donald R.
  • $100, Ivo P.
  • $100, Brennan H.
  • $100, George Z.
  • $100, Jerry H.
  • $79.71, André L.
  • $79.71, Fiorello F.
  • $75, David J. E.
  • $75, Darren R.
  • $66.43 (2nd donation), David S. aka “dava”
  • $66.43, Frank Z.
  • $66.43, Julian R.
  • $66.43, Javier R. S.
  • $66.43, Göran P.
  • $64, Michael A. aka “one of 2programmers”
  • $55.8 (3rd donation), Nikolaj P. aka “nbpetersen
  • $53.14, Rene V. D. H.
  • $50 (46th donation), Matthew M.
  • $50 (2nd donation), Robert S.
  • $50 (2nd donation), Elliot P.
  • $50 (2nd donation), Charles R. H.
  • $50, Douglas V.
  • $50, Christopher O.
  • $50, Bruce R.
  • $50, Jens G.
  • $50, Roy Q.
  • $50, Arron M.
  • $50, Matthew L.
  • $50, Gary H.
  • $50, Tony B.
  • $50, James J.
  • $50, Trond V. E.
  • $50, Andrew S.
  • $50, Philippe D. P.
  • $46.5, Andreas S.
  • $40 (8th donation), Benoit Frigon aka “bfrigon.com
  • $40, Kenneth J. L.
  • $40, Pete S.
  • $40, Dana Humfleet
  • $39.86 (47th donation), Olli K.
  • $39.86 (2nd donation), Giuseppe L.
  • $39.86 (2nd donation), Paul G.
  • $39.86 (2nd donation), Anthony H.
  • $39.86, Joseph J.
  • $33.21 (5th donation), Peter Schallmoser-Schlogl
  • $33.21 (4th donation), Raymond E.
  • $33.21 (3rd donation), Jon G.
  • $33.21 (2nd donation), Manfred
  • $33.21, Neil P.
  • $33.21, P. D. B.
  • $33.21, Johannes W. K.
  • $32, buche
  • $30, Andrea Denzler
  • $30, Tom W.
  • $30, Robert E.
  • $30, Brad L.
  • $30, John A.
  • $30, Christopher C.
  • $30, Ronald H.
  • $30, Terje B.
  • $26.57 (2nd donation), Eduard L.
  • $26.57 (2nd donation), David Sherwood
  • $26.57, Adrian S.
  • $26.57, Reimund S.
  • $26.57, Peter J.
  • $26.57, Rainer E.
  • $26.57, B S.
  • $26.57, Patrick R.
  • $26.57, Florian G.
  • $26.57, Gabriele B.
  • $25 (28th donation), Ronald W.
  • $25 (7th donation), Benoit Frigon aka “bfrigon.com
  • $25 (4th donation), Robert H.
  • $25 (3rd donation), Gary B.
  • $25 (2nd donation), Steve O aka “stratus_ss”
  • $25 (2nd donation), Everett H.
  • $25, Rick B.
  • $25, Jan B.
  • $25, John C.
  • $25, Raymond M.
  • $25, Bohdan N.
  • $25, Cristina V.
  • $25, Réjean Daigle
  • $25, Michiel E.
  • $25, Drew Anderson dba Anderson Publishing
  • $25, Jim W. S.
  • $20 (6th donation), Antony P.
  • $20 (5th donation), Antony P.
  • $20 (4th donation), Jorgebadad aka “jungle_boy”
  • $20 (3rd donation), Roger B.
  • $20 (3rd donation), Uncle Geek
  • $20 (2nd donation), Philip F. S.
  • $20 (2nd donation), Alex N.
  • $20 (2nd donation), Uncle Geek
  • $20 (2nd donation), Ian B.
  • $20, John M.
  • $20, Steve L. aka “Bigfella”
  • $20, Trevor P.
  • $20, Oliver F.
  • $20, Andrew S.
  • $20, Dmitriy aka “Corpsee
  • $20, Raymond S.
  • $20, Bernardo S.
  • $20, Harman J.
  • $20, Kelvin Maffey
  • $20, Brian L.
  • $20, Thomas T.
  • $20, Frédéric E.
  • $20, Julian E.
  • $20, Roger C.
  • $20, Tomislav K.
  • $20, Kodiak Firesmith aka “for Cinnamon DE”
  • $20, Tim D.
  • $20, Alicina M.
  • $20, Prukhorov M.
  • $20, Marie I.
  • $20, Jean-charles B.
  • $20, Klaus G.
  • $20, David W.
  • $20, Paul B.
  • $20, Mario C.
  • $20, Victor C.
  • $20, Chan S. Y.
  • $20, Oleksandr L.
  • $20, Ian B.
  • $19.93 (2nd donation), Maarten O.
  • $19.93, Jonathan M.
  • $19.93, Angel C. S.
  • $19.93, Jochen S.
  • $15, Giovanna R.
  • $15, Emmanuel G. aka “setec astronomy”
  • $15, Ralph S.
  • $15, Jacob R.
  • $15, William Z.
  • $14.76, Gerd K.
  • $13.29 (9th donation), Mark W.
  • $13.29 (7th donation), Siegfried H.
  • $13.29 (4th donation), Joanna Z. aka “GreenCatX”
  • $13.29 (2nd donation), Daniel C.
  • $13.29 (2nd donation), Wieger W.
  • $13.29 (2nd donation), Juan C. S. A.
  • $13.29 (2nd donation), Mick J.
  • $13.29 (2nd donation), Reinhard W.
  • $13.29, Jan A.
  • $13.29, Thomas A.
  • $13.29, Gábor A.
  • $13.29, Olaf S.
  • $13.29, Franz W.
  • $13.29, Piotr Wiejaczka aka “profesorleniuch
  • $13.29, Janoš Z.
  • $13.29, Michael S.
  • $13.29, Michel H.
  • $13.29, Pierre F.
  • $13.29, Eduardo M.
  • $13.29, Christian B.
  • $13.29, Helmut P.
  • $13.29, Jaroslav J.
  • $13.29, Abdellah T.
  • $13.29, Mattia S. aka “mat”
  • $13.29, Patrick S.
  • $13.29, Morel I.
  • $13.29, Jordi F. N.
  • $13, C. Ken Brady aka “KingOfWeird”
  • $10.63, Keith B.
  • $10.63, Martin S.
  • $10 (12th donation), Maarten E.
  • $10 (7th donation), Geoff Perry
  • $10 (5th donation), Randolph Carter aka “Schattenjager”
  • $10 (3rd donation), Jeff T.
  • $10 (2nd donation), Лялин В.
  • $10, Richard R. P.
  • $10, Raphael C.
  • $10, Edwin W.
  • $10, Charles E.
  • $10, Kenn H.
  • $10, Jose P. M. S.
  • $10, Jonathan G.
  • $10, Howard B.
  • $10, Salem E.
  • $10, Przemyslaw C. aka “PrzemCio
  • $10, Martin W. K.
  • $10, Bertrand D.
  • $10, Vinny P.
  • $10, Daniel I. M.
  • $10, Robbie T.
  • $10, Hubert P.
  • $10, Bryant L.
  • $10, Russell C.
  • $10, Christopher D.
  • $10, Popov R.
  • $8 (2nd donation), Victor C.
  • $7.97 (2nd donation), Philippe C.
  • $7.97 (2nd donation), José J. A. A.
  • $6.64 (26th donation), Marco aka “Dictionary-Maker
  • $6.64 (25th donation), Marco aka “Dictionary-Maker
  • $6.64 (2nd donation), Daniel S. aka “Sennemaa”
  • $6.64 (2nd donation), aka “Rus”
  • $6.64, Rafael B. M.
  • $6.64, Simion I. C. V. I. I.
  • $6.64, Christian L.
  • $6.64, Piotr W.
  • $6.64, Javier V. A.
  • $6.64, Ulrich F.
  • $6.64, Örvar S.
  • $6.64, Marko L.
  • $6.64, Romans M.
  • $6.64, Dieter S.
  • $6.64, Jose M. R. S.
  • $5 (10th donation), Miljenko D. aka “ljacmi”
  • $5 (7th donation), Carlos W.
  • $5 (6th donation), Edward S.
  • $5 (6th donation), Christopher R.
  • $5 (5th donation), Edward S.
  • $5 (3rd donation), Stuart K.
  • $5 (3rd donation), Scanplus aka “The Brochure Printers
  • $5 (2nd donation), Gonzalo M. D. O.
  • $5 (2nd donation), Donald H.
  • $5 (2nd donation), Selim Ö.
  • $5 (2nd donation), Grzegorz G.
  • $5, Stephan O.
  • $5, Robert Woestman
  • $5, Tyler B.
  • $5, mashter
  • $5, Adam H. aka “Acid_1
  • $5, Jh B.
  • $5, Fiona M.
  • $5, Miles R.
  • $5, Marius G.
  • $5, Hayrettin Ç.
  • $5, Juan R.
  • $5, Özgür Ö.
  • $5, Yolkin T.
  • $5, Vladimír L.
  • $5, Gerard A.
  • $5, Shawn D.
  • $4, Phillip D.
  • $3.99, Alberto B. C.
  • $3, Andrew A.
  • $2.66 (3rd donation), Daniel S. aka “Sennemaa”
  • $2.66, Ali P.
  • $19.86 from 15 smaller donations

If you want to help Linux Mint with a donation, please visit http://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php

Rankings:

  • Distrowatch (popularity ranking): 3665 (1st)
  • Alexa (website ranking): 5387th

Events:

News and summary:

  • We’ve had a fantastic end of the year in 2013 with two consecutive all-time highs in donations in November and December following the releases of the Cinnamon, MATE, KDE and Xfce editions of Linux Mint 16. In December alone we received donations from 332 people! What a feeling for us here not only to love the work we do but to be able to give you a product we’re proud of and to see so many of you react to that and support us. We had tremendous fun working on “Petra” and backporting its features and improvements to Linux Mint 13 “Maya”, and your reception to that has been amazing, you gave us praise, thanks, support but also constructive criticism and feedback and we’re not just eager to get the next cycle started again and to work on Linux Mint 17 LTS but we’re also full of ideas on how to make it better. As you can see you’re making it all happen, you’re empowering us so much and these monthly stats are the best opportunity for us to thank you. Many many thanks to everyone involved.
  • UP8 was released and brought LMDE on par, if not slightly ahead of Linux Mint 16, with updated MATE 1.6, Cinnamon 2.0 and Mint tools packages. We’re currently working on new LMDE ISO images. Although they’re not publicly in QA yet both editions look really good. Design considerations around systemd and a bug impacting 3D acceleration when more than one session is open are currently holding the release. I can’t give you an ETA but I don’t expect it will take too long for these ISOs to come out as RC. All our resources are on this at the moment.

29 comments

  1. does LMDE use systemd?

    Edit by Clem: So far it’s been using a traditional init for the boot sequence and consolekit for session handling.

  2. Thanks for the update. I will give the new LMDE ISOs a try, now that Mint 15’s support time is going to end. Still having trouble with Mint 16 because of bug in libimobiledevice.

  3. Can’t wait for new LMDE ISO, my new self built PC just wouldn’t take the last UP it failed every time so gave up and put on Mint15 (hate Nemo in 16, column behaviour is awful, need some options about auto-resizing). Thanks for all the hard work.

  4. Waiting for new ISO’s. Currently my LMDE works fine but it’s a little bit slow. I just want make a fresh installation. 🙂

  5. Also waiting for the new ISO.

    Is there any difference if I upgrade from the previous ISO or install the new ISO?

    If there is no difference, does it mean the current update pack 8 also has the 3D acceleration problem?

  6. Any chance LVM full disk encryption will make it into the LMDE installer this year? Looking for a back up plan in the event the Ubuntu base goes wonky…

    Edit by Clem: No. You’re getting better localization, GPT/EFI support, bug fixes and UI improvements this time around 🙂

  7. Wow, waiting for the iso, I really want to get out of ubuntu base, and ubuntu’s dad will be fine I think. 😉

    Edit by Clem: I would have thought of “her” rather… You can see Debrah’s name not only in the name of the distribution but at the end of every single package.

  8. The new ISOs will have an updated kernel? Or are you going to stay at debian wheezy version?

    Im hoping for the debian wheezy kernel… Im an radeon legacy customer..

  9. Mate 1.8 is close to release, so I guess we will wait until Mate 1.8 release to get new LMDE iso?

    Edit by Clem: Sorry Sam, 1.8 is yet to get Bluez5 support afaik and the ISOs are almost at QA level.

  10. @Yro: of course the new ISOs will have the new kernel because the new ISOs will contain all the packages that are in UP8.

    I don’t know why you’re hoping instead of doing: if you want the kernel from Wheezy, add Wheezy repo to your sources list and get that kernel.

    As for the radeon legacy, I don’t know what you mean. You can use any kernel. What you can’t use is proprietary legacy drivers because ATI dropped the support for Xorg 1.13. But that’s already mentioned in the Update Pack notes.

  11. Monsta, so are you suggesting that I use my computer with an crap video driver instead the official from AMDs so I can have an worst desktop experience?

    The LMDE é based on Debian. The actual LMDE has the wheezy kernel. So why upgrade the Kernel if the goal with LMDE is to keep it stable?

    I dont see the point on upgrading the kernel or xorg. If so, the users who has legacy amd videocard will be forced to drop another one distro. And I can tell that the majority of Linux Mint users (if not the Linux base users) has some kind of hardware on legacy branch, like I have with AMD radeon HD 4350 video card.

  12. Yro@12

    Not to oversimplify what Monsta is trying to say, but the development roadmap for our friends at Mint isn’t always to the liking of each individual user. When that happens, the only thing that we are “forced” to do, oddly enough, is to make a choice. That sounds like a paradox, but it is what it is. If the old Kernel serves you better, go get it. Mint chose to update for their own reasons, and I’m sure they didn’t pull the reasons out of their backsides. Sorry that it doesn’t fit your needs perfectly, and there is no sarcasm there. I’ve been there myself, and will be there at some point again, and I’m not even an LMDE user yet. I test it when new .iso files come out, but I’ve always hit a wall with something. It’s getting better for me, but not there yet. Even the main edition suffers regressions from time to time. Guess what? I use what works and wait for something better when it comes.

    Further, as you well know, proprietary video performance has always been a hit or miss dynamic. Until proprietary developers give real contributions to the open source video project, it will never change.

    Finally, I’ve never understood why people are so hooked on upgrading if their current system is fully operational. My idea of obsolescence is the hardware/software is only obsolete if it no longer does what you need it to do. If a certain OS is no longer supported by developers, and becomes a security risk, then okay. We should think about updating. But how much time do we spend updating a system that really needs nothing? That’s a question that only we ourselves can answer. Don’t get me wrong, if you like bleeding edge, that’s perfectly okay, but there is a downside to it, and your issue is in part, related to that downside. It sure isn’t Mint’s fault.

  13. I know PB. The Mint team is doing what they need to do to release good distros and for that mather, they need to have builtin better compatibility with hardwares.. Thats why, I guess, they upgrade the kernel (and to avoid bugs, etc). My point was: “I hope they dont upgrade it or Ill be forced to abandon LMDE as I did with LM”. Just my feeling about that question… Im unhappy as hell with almost all the distros upgrading xorg and kernel and AMD craping on our heads.. 🙁

  14. Sorry i comment here, but Linux Mint 13 post is closed. I tried LMDE and it has an option for see important issues for updates. Should be a option for that on the traditional Linux Mint version, because fixing the medibuntu issue was a little hard for me. Thanks for all and keep the good work!

  15. @Yro

    Is there anything you still need proprietary drivers for? The open drivers for the AMD cards are in pretty good shape today. You even have OpenGL 3.3 now with the latest code.

  16. Linux mint is simply the best linux os out there. I don’t care about what haters are going to say. I just simply love it. Keep up the good work mint team. I have high hopes for the next version.

  17. Yro@14,

    Like I mentioned before, I’ve been in a rut like that, and yes, it STINKS! I will be again at some point, I’m sure. I’m not quite 100% happy with open source drivers yet, as in some very specific cases, they aren’t up to snuff. Those are cases that I have imposed on myself, so I still install the proprietary drivers, and hope for the best. My goal is to avoid proprietary video drivers, but have not seen my way clear to reach that goal yet. If nouveau keeps improving, it’s just a matter of time.

    Gabriel, if you’re reading this, hopefully you will see and understand the frustration. These types of things will always be a per user experience, but your question is certainly valid.

    Perhaps the following segment from a DW post will infuse some more confidence for the open source driver project — at least for nvidia folks. Have no idea how real this is, but still intrigued. Maybe AMD will cough up some code as well.

    “In a surprise move, NVIDIA, the notoriously proprietary company, has contributed code to open-source driver development. Alexandre Courbot posted source code patches for Nouveau, a project which creates open-source drivers for NVIDIA video cards. The patches are for GK20A, a Kepler-based GPU that will be used in Tegra K1 chips. Courbot wrote: “I guess my [NVIDIA] email address might surprise some of you, so let me anticipate some questions you might have. Yes, this work is endorsed by NVIDIA. Several other NVIDIAns, including core GPU experts, have provided significant technical guidance and will continue their involvement.” This unusual move has pleased Linux founder Linux Torvalds who raised “a thumb for NVIDIA” on his personal Google Plus page. Hopefully this is one of many more open-source contributions from NVIDIA.”

  18. @PB

    I can understand the frustration…just pointing out that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As for Nvidia…its a start. They have a long way to go on the open drivers before they get close to AMD, let alone Intel. I do hope the trend continues as I would like to see all graphics drivers as open source and backed by their respective companies in the future.

  19. PB, its good to see NVIDEA keeping developing on the free way of things, but AMD just sux on that matter.. I dont think that this is an per user experience. Im from Brazil and here I can tell You that the majority of computer users (desktops, laptops, etc) still has some kind of legacy hardware. The AMD Videocards from the legacy branch are selling like hell because the price x bennefits in here. The AMD legacy driver keeps on 13.1 and supporting nothing new for newer kernels and xorgs. The free AMD drivers are crap. The power consuption is not verified, there is no functional temp control on the drivers, the hardware does not run on its full power because the free driver cant handle it, and a lot of problems… I have an Videocard that can do X + X + X with proprietary drivers. I dont want to be forced to use only X – X because the free drivers. Thats the point.

    And again, I see no way of leaving windows for good. I still need my video card power to run some aplications that I make, some games offcourse, and some softwares that needs my videocard.

  20. You mentioned one sponsor twice in the list of community sponsors.
    Apart from that I have no complaints about Mint 16 so far.

  21. Yro,

    I never questioned the point you were trying to make, I understand completely, and hate that you have to contend with this. But that does not change the fact that each and every one of us — no matter what part of the world we come from, no matter what’s popular, or considered the norm — have our own experience based on the choices we make. On that basis, it is a per user experience. Your experience might be exactly the same as one other person based on hardware being exactly the same. However, what you personal decide/need to do with a computer makes it a unique experience to you. I still have to crank up a Windows machine from time to time. It relates to my job, so some would say my hand is forced. No matter how much that stinks, and believe me, it does, it is purely related to my own personal dynamic in computer use. As much as it pains me to say this, if Linux ain’t right for you at this stage, then you have to use what is. Like I said before, I’ve been there, and will be again. I hung on to LM9 for the longest time, and to this day have very fund memories of it. I’m sure that doesn’t make you feel much better, but nothing is perfect, and some of us feel that more than others at any given time frame. Buddy, it might just be your turn.

  22. I have been using Mint 16 Cinnamon for about a month now with no trace of MS Win on my system anymore. I love it! The only real issue I have is with my connection to my FiiO E10 DAC. Mint recognizes it out of the box perfectly, but after a hibernate it reverts back to the built in speakers. I have to rectify the situation by going into Sound Settings on every start up. It also has a lot of pop sounds on some pauses and skips. I would love to write a script for this at start-up, but I am a newbie and my programming knowledge is real elementary, which leads me to another question, OpenJDK or Oracle JDK? I’ve used both. I like both. The former I use just because it is GNU/Linux.
    That’s all my feedback.

  23. Wine still has issues in dual screen mode. I reported this bug during the RC phase, and it was not addressed, and is still an issue in both the MATE and Cinammon versions of Mint 16 x64. Go ahead and open Civilization 2 and see for yourself.

  24. Hey, I saw DVDs of Linux Mint Petra attached to the cover of Linux Format magazine this weekend. The DVD included 32 and 64 bit as well as MATE and Cinnamon desktops. These were available in both the UK and in Holland. Pretty cool!

  25. Please don’t switch to systemd or upstart. sysvinit is so much better and easier to config.

    Edit by Clem: We kept sysvinit in this iteration although it’s possible for the user to switch to systemd and it works quite well. I find systemd promising personally, we won’t rush anything but I like the idea of switching to it eventually.

  26. Impressive news. I’ll probably be donating myself as soon as I get my next paycheck. It’s nice to be employed again. I’m eagerly waiting for the next bit of news on Mint 17 LTS and the next Debian Update. I’m trying to decide which one I’ll want to install next.

    Right now, I’m leaning towards 17 LTS, but it’d be nice to have an installation of Mint that I would never have to upgrade. Upgrades can be so messy with the main Mint branch.

  27. I like Mint very much, and find it a refreshing step up and step back from the disorienting Unity desktop of Ubuntu, which I’d been using since “Dapper Drake”. I echo the favorable comments above about Mint 13 and Mint 16, and I’ll mention a new one. I’m very pleased that Mint 16 now supports USB-FDD drives as “plug-and’play” devices. We’re still using an old MSDOS 3.0 machine in the house, running an ancient version of Word Perfect, and those floppy disks are read flawlessly by Abiword running on a new laptop with Mint 16.

    I hope a fix for the inverted (red is green, etc.) and grainily pixellated graphics problem that afflicts many linux distributions (including Mint 16) when they run on laptops with dual graphics cards (Intel/AMD), in a dual-boot configuration with Windows 8.1, under the UEFI boot manager. My Dell 3737 suffers from this, and I’ve noticed that quite a few other recent laptops have this problem too. It makes the screen difficult to read and the color distortion makes images of any kind impossible to look at. Perhaps this problem is one that you might look into?

    Thanks for the great distros you’ve provided to date!

Leave a Reply to Thomas Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *