LMDE 201204

I’d like to thank all the people who tested the RC release and sent us feedback. We identified 68 bugs in this release and we’re currently down to 19 bugs left.

Amongst the bugs that were fixed, some affected the way we build our ISO images and the ability for the CD or USB stick to properly boot on computers which mount order changes during the boot sequence. Consequently, the final release of LMDE 201204 and future releases of Linux Mint should work on more configurations and systems where they previously failed to boot.

GDM3 also went under review during this RC release. Its lack of configuration and the fact that users couldn’t select their language were identified as important regressions. A discussion is ongoing within the MATE project at the moment to decide whether GDM2 should be forked by MATE or simply re-packaged within Linux Mint, and whether the codebase for it should be version 2.20 (which is feature-rich, graphically configurable and theme-able) or 2.32 (which provides a better interface). We’re also considering replacing GDM3 in LMDE and Linux Mint 13.

Linux Mint 13

Linux Mint 13 will be named “Maya” and should be available at the end of May 2012.

The codename was chosen a long time ago, after my daughter’s name who was named Maya in reference to:

In India, people might also know “Maya” as the “Illusion“.

Note: The choice for this codename has nothing to do with the Mayan Calendar or the notorious cataclysmic interpretations for 2012 (by then we’ll be looking at Linux Mint 14 and a different codename).

Linux Mint 13 should feature separate editions for MATE and Cinnamon. Whether one of these and which of these two editions will be considered the “default” wasn’t decided yet.

Upcoming partnerships

CompuLab

Since December 2011, we’ve been working on a close partnership with CompuLab.

The manufacturer produces a unique computer unit called the fitPC3, which comes pre-installed with a custom-made version of Linux Mint 12 featuring MATE 1.2 and XBMC.

Linux Mint and CompuLab are working together on improving this system and providing the unit with a great operating system. CompuLab also help Linux Mint by sharing a margin of their sales on an upcoming model called the “mintBox” (which will be a branded version of the FitPC3 with a Linux Mint logo) and by providing our development team with computer units and equipment.

We’re delighted with our relationship with CompuLab and with the units they produce. We’ll post a review of the “mintBox” and announce it as soon as it becomes available.

Yahoo

Yahoo is joining the list of search engines installed by default and participating in sharing revenue with Linux Mint, after an agreement was signed with DDC for the following regions: USA, Canada, Germany, UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Italy.

The Yahoo search engine will be the default engine in LMDE and could become the default in Linux Mint 13 (depending on ongoing talks with Google).

The partnership with DuckDuckGo will continue going forward and both search engines will be installed by default.

Other partnerships

Partnerships are also being discussed with Google and ThinkPenguin at the moment.

Linux Mint 10 reached “End Of Life”

Linux Mint 10 reached “end of life”. The release is likely to continue to work for a few years, but it isn’t officially supported anymore and won’t receive any more updates.

Linux Mint 11 will be supported until October 2012.

Linux Mint 9 and Linux Mint 12 will be supported until April 2013.

The upcoming Linux Mint 13 will be supported until April 2017.

Note about server speed

Current status:

  • The following servers are fully up to date with UP4:
    • Main Server: deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest (1Gbps, Colorado – USA)
    • Emergency cloud server: deb http://us.debian.linuxmint.com/latest (150Mbps, Texas – USA)
    • RTS Informatique: deb http://mirror.rts-informatique.fr/debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ (France)
  • The synchronization between the server and the mirrors was resumed (3 mirrors at a time).
  • If you experience issues or if you’re going through the update at the moment, don’t hesitate to connect to the IRC chatroom (irc.spotchat.org, #linuxmint-debian)

 

Introduction

Update Pack 4 was released as the “latest” update pack today. If you’re not using Linux Mint Debian, please ignore this post.

In Update Pack 4, the following significant changes occur which might cause regressions on your system:

  1. Gnome 2 gets “upgraded” to Gnome Shell
  2. The Linux kernel is upgraded to version 3.2

Changing your repositories

Please skip this paragraph if you already updated your APT sources for Update Pack 3.

Before you apply the updates for Update Pack 4, make sure you’re pointing to the correct repositories.

Edit your APT sources by running the following command in the terminal:

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Within this file, replace the following:

  • Replace security.debian.org with debian.linuxmint.com/latest/security
  • Replace debian-multimedia.org with debian.linuxmint.com/latest/multimedia

Your APT sources, should now look like this:

deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest testing main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/security testing/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/multimedia testing main non-free

Save and close the file.

Using the Update Manager

… to update itself

The Update Manager always updates itself before other packages. If you see an update for “mintupdate-debian“, accept it and wait for the Update Manager to restart itself.

If there’s a new Update Manager available, it will only list itself as an update

… to check your APT sources

At the time of writing this blog post, the latest version of mintupdate-debian is 1.0.5. From this version onwards the Update Manager is able to check your APT sources and tell you if they are properly configured.

  1. Click on the “Update Pack Info” button
  2. Make sure “Your system configuration” shows up as green and doesn’t show any warnings or errors
  3. If you see a warning or an error, follow the instructions given and repeat the process until they’re gone.

Check the system configuration and read the Update Pack information

… to know more about Update Pack 4

In the “Update Pack Info” window, make sure to read all the information related to Update Pack 4. Some of it might be irrelevant to you, but it will only take you a minute and it might you save you hours.

… to upgrade to Update Pack 4

When you’re ready and you know all that there is to know, press the “Install Updates” button.

During the update you’ll be asked a few things. One is quite important.. the new kernel will ask you where to install Grub. Answer with the location of your current Grub menu (which on most systems is “/dev/sda“).

FAQ

Will upgrading to Update Pack 4 mean I will lose Gnome 2?

Yes. But you will also gain access to MATE (which is almost the same as Gnome 2). To install MATE install the package “mate-desktop-environment”.

Is Cinnamon included in Update Pack 4?

Yes. To install it, simply install the package “cinnamon”.

Can I keep Gnome 2 and ignore Update Pack 4?

Although it’s not a long-term solution.. yes, you can. Please read the following blog post for more info on Gnome 2, Update Pack 4 and alternative desktops.

Will LMDE get new ISO images with Update Pack 4?

Yes, in the coming days/weeks, LMDE will be released in two editions featuring Update Pack 4:

  • The traditional XFCE edition
  • The main LMDE edition featuring MATE 1.2 as the default desktop and Cinnamon 1.4 as a secondary desktop. MATE will work with Compiz (also installed by default) and Cinnamon will work in Virtualbox, so you’ll be able to enjoy both desktops and see which one you like best.

Donations & Sponsorships:

Many thanks to the following donors and sponsors for financially supporting Linux Mint:

Donors:

  • $200, Neil S.
  • $125.88, Tero H.
  • $123.57, http://societyofcontrol.com
  • $120 (10th donation), Andreas S. aka “Unforgiving67
  • $101, Shiv M.
  • $100 (4th donation), Drazen P.
  • $100 (4th donation), Ronald S.
  • $100 (2nd donation), Nick H.
  • $100, Sean C.
  • $100, Donald B. D. S. aka “rockstar1942”
  • $100, Robert B.
  • $100, Eivind O.
  • $100, Robert W.
  • $100, Gary M.
  • $76.56 (2nd donation), Lukas V.
  • $74.78, Ralph H.
  • $63.8, Nicholas B.
  • $62.94 (3rd donation), Lyudmyla H.
  • $62.94 (2nd donation), Kimmo K.
  • $62.94, Miguel D. D. M.
  • $61.78 (2nd donation), Matthias M.
  • $50 (28th donation), Slavoljub aka “slw”
  • $50 (22nd donation), Matthew M.
  • $50 (12th donation), Tsuguo S.
  • $50 (9th donation), Robert D B.
  • $50 (5th donation), Ronald W.
  • $50 (3rd donation), Sigbjorn S.
  • $50 (3rd donation), Ivan Komarov aka “Komarik
  • $50 (2nd donation), George M.
  • $50 (2nd donation), Gary B.
  • $50, Tad W.
  • $50, Matthew C.
  • $50, Stephen M.
  • $50, Martin S.
  • $50, Douglas J.
  • $50, Brett H.
  • $50, Keith R.
  • $50, Carlos H. G. C.
  • $50, Tyrone P.
  • $50, Peter W.
  • $50, Mark M.
  • $40 (2nd donation), Bill
  • $40, Cinnamon is a great idea
  • $40, Cezar M.
  • $37.77, Simon W.
  • $37.07 (10th donation), Pasi K.
  • $37.07, Juan F. A. R.
  • $37.07, RJGR aka “nzc3”
  • $31.47 (3rd donation), Peter Schallmoser-Schlogl
  • $31.47, Uwe H.
  • $31.47, Frank D. aka “highlandham”
  • $30 (8th donation), Jay Stewart aka “jag1182”
  • $30, William R.
  • $30, Alan Y.
  • $30, David F.
  • $30, Mike S.
  • $27.18, Kerick S.
  • $25.52, Laurent P.
  • $25.52, Marcin Sedzikowski aka “KotFryc
  • $25.52, Gaja S. P.
  • $25.18 (23rd donation), Olli K.
  • $25.18 (10th donation), Laurent P.
  • $25.18, Massimo L.
  • $25.18, Bruno Z.
  • $25 (6th donation), Adam D.
  • $25 (5th donation), Anthony F H.
  • $25 (2nd donation), Bruno D.
  • $25, Niels N.
  • $25, Jerry B.
  • $25, G W.
  • $25, Bill E.
  • $25, Domingo P. V.
  • $25, John N.
  • $25, Caroline C.
  • $25, Jeffrey F.
  • $25, Bruno D.
  • $25, Andrew C.
  • $25, Colin B.
  • $24.71, Frederik S.
  • $24.71, Fabio R. aka “Eldwist”
  • $24.71, Wilhelm H.
  • $24.59 (3rd donation), Hendrik G.
  • $23.68 (5th donation), Matt R. aka “kiswa”
  • $20.12 (4th donation), Rashed aka “SaudiBoy
  • $20 (5th donation), Eugene C.
  • $20 (3rd donation), Alex V. aka “Karashata
  • $20 (3rd donation), James Day
  • $20 (2nd donation), Michael E. aka “West”
  • $20 (2nd donation), Benoit Frigon
  • $20 (2nd donation), John H.
  • $20, Silk Trees
  • $20, Emil K.
  • $20, Patrick Latour
  • $20, Linas A.
  • $20, Harold W. D.
  • $20, Ronald M.
  • $20, William B.
  • $20, James C. S.
  • $20, Laurence D.
  • $20, Andreas K.
  • $20, Mark D. H.
  • $20, John H.
  • $20, The Ethrg Project
  • $20, Dedalo G.
  • $20, Peter C.
  • $20, Michael P.
  • $20, Sharmarke A.
  • $20, Joseph Ziff aka “Sindegra”
  • $20, Bradley F.
  • $20, Kevin S.
  • $20, Jill E. M.
  • $19.77, Alexander R.
  • $19.14, Hans-joachim U. K.
  • $19.14, Daniel A.
  • $18.88, Salvatore M.
  • $18.88, Amico C.
  • $18.53, Dean F.
  • $18.53, Brian E.
  • $15.99, Sean O.
  • $15, Gregory S.
  • $15, Robert L.
  • $13.37 (2nd donation), Josef Steppan
  • $12.76, Taziri Y. H. A.
  • $12.76, Gianmario F.
  • $12.76, Alain B.
  • $12.76, Massimiliano A.
  • $12.76, Kaznowski &. A. -. A. J. S.
  • $12.76, SilFox
  • $12.59 (13th donation), Ulf S. aka “MonteDrago”
  • $12.59 (2nd donation), Vytautas S.
  • $12.59, imeehow
  • $12.59, Miro R.
  • $12.59, Paolo G.
  • $12.59, Erminio M.
  • $12.59, Frank K. aka “Bronko”
  • $12.59, Heinrich S.
  • $12.59, Imanuel S.
  • $12.36 (7th donation), Jarkko K.
  • $12.36 (2nd donation), Anita P.
  • $12.36, Andrey K.
  • $12.36, Andreas T.
  • $12.36, Iord K.
  • $12.36, Francesco G.
  • $12.36, Michael M.
  • $11 (4th donation), John A.
  • $11, Hal E.
  • $10 (11th donation), Tony C. aka “S. LaRocca”
  • $10 (6th donation), SamVimes
  • $10 (4th donation), Hawk Computer
  • $10 (4th donation), James R.
  • $10 (4th donation), Frank Martin aka “”kitanis””
  • $10 (4th donation), Raphael C.
  • $10 (2nd donation), Greg Freeman
  • $10, Joseph C.
  • $10, en)usa
  • $10, Keith Smith aka “Keifur”
  • $10, Nancy S.
  • $10, Stacy H.
  • $10, Geir G.
  • $10, Adewale G.
  • $10, Stephan B.
  • $10, Soonkoo L.
  • $10, Gisle V.
  • $10, Benson F. aka “Direxion”
  • $10, Leonid G.
  • $10, Richard L.
  • $10, Tigran Z.
  • $10, William T.
  • $10, Emanuel S.
  • $10, Daniel C.
  • $9.23 (3rd donation), Stefan W. aka “querwurzelt”
  • $7 (6th donation), Antonina K. aka “Tonya”
  • $6.38, Stéphane R.
  • $6.38, Rolf P.
  • $6.29 (2nd donation), Peter C.
  • $6.29 (2nd donation), tete
  • $6.29, Mattia D. B.
  • $6.29, Rinaldo C.
  • $6.18 (3rd donation), Piermario R.
  • $5 (6th donation), Sinisa Majstorovic
  • $5 (5th donation), Wilson de Carvalho Jr. aka “24horasonline
  • $5 (4th donation), Y.K. aka “Market Analysis
  • $5 (3rd donation), David E. aka “DubiousAlliance”
  • $5 (3rd donation), CouponCodeSwap.com
  • $5 (2nd donation), Kjell O. B. aka “kob”
  • $5, Donna B.
  • $5, Cliff’s C. C.
  • $5, Dimitri A.
  • $5, Joshua P.
  • $5, Magnus T.
  • $5, Piotr W.
  • $5, Pharmacie en ligne
  • $5, Auto Repair Culver City
  • $5, Kamil S. aka “tuva”
  • $5, Tom D.
  • $5, Handojo Goenadi
  • $5, Roman K.
  • $5, Free Photo Hosting
  • $5, Aung K. K. O.
  • $5, David I.
  • $5, Nayyar B.
  • $3.9, Juan Villegas aka “juankvillegas
  • $3.83, NextProducers™
  • $3.78 (2nd donation), Juhani K.
  • $3.78, Antonio M.
  • $3.76 (3rd donation), Josef Steppan
  • $3, Scott V.
  • $2.52 (3rd donation), Jose A.H.
  • $2.47, Angelo L.
  • $2.47, Arnaud D.
  • $2 (10th donation), mold detector
  • $2 (2nd donation), Danilo S.
  • $2, José L. C. R.
  • $1.34 (2nd donation), free domain name list
  • $1.28 (2nd donation), Yannick G. aka “Uggy”
  • $1.26 (2nd donation), Vaclav P.
  • $1.22, Hilmi bin Hamidi
  • $1.09 (5th donation), Rusli P. Tandiabang
  • $1 (4th donation), Sylvestre Burgos aka “sylvestre
  • $1 (3rd donation), cialis
  • $1 (3rd donation), Vitamini
  • $1 (2nd donation), Albert J. P.
  • $1 (2nd donation), iPhone News
  • $1, Jedimus
  • $1, Joe D.
  • $0.5 (2nd donation), Javier Bassi
  • $0.45 (4th donation), Jurek W.

Sponsors:

Money raised in January:

* Donations: $5737.16 (227 donors)
* Sponsors: $8104.92 (162 sponsors)

http://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php
http://www.linuxmint.com/sponsors.php

Rankings:

  • Distrowatch (popularity ranking): 3485 (1st)
  • Alexa (website ranking): 6,593rd

Events:

News and summary:

  • Linux Mint 12 KDE was approved for a stable release and should come out either today or tomorrow.
  • Our new partnership with Blue Systems improved the quality of the Linux Mint KDE edition as well as the Netrunner distribution and brought in a significant and predictable source of income, allowing us to welcome an extra full-time developer.
  • Following the feedback we gathered on Gnome Shell after the release of Linux Mint 12, it was clear that despite our efforts with MATE and MGSE, we still didn’t manage to reach our goals and to offer Gnome 2 a valid alternative. Some people were enthusiastic about the new alternatives, others were disappointed. For this reason and in an effort to please a wider portion of our user base, we decided to continue to support MATE and to develop a new desktop called Cinnamon. MATE 1.2 should be out soon. Cinnamon 1.2 is already out and available to Linux Mint 12 users via the repositories.
  • Update Pack 4 should hit the “incoming” LMDE repository in the coming weeks and provide MATE, Cinnamon, GNOME 3 and Gnome Shell to LMDE users.
  • Finally, on behalf of Linux Mint I would like to thank all the people who help us. Whether it’s financially (like the people listed above who donated or sponsored us) or by other means. At the end of last year we lost our main source of income, and since Gnome 3 we lost our main desktop, a vital upstream component… it was tough to get back on our feet but we did it, we’re now as healthy and stronger than before and with MATE and Cinnamon we’re not relying on other projects and inadequate solutions, we now have the technology and resources to take matters into our own hands and to build the components we need to reach our goals and provide you with better releases after each cycle. It’s extremely tough, but even though we’re only half-way there we’re confident and your support, your feedback, and the trust so many of you have in us is extremely motivating. Reaching the #1 spot in the media and the press was also an important milestone, along with commercial agreements and upcoming partnerships (I’ll detail them one by one as they get finalized), we’re getting closer, every day, to a situation where we’re empowered to take on anything we need, and so when something doesn’t properly fit in with our vision of the desktop or doesn’t provide us with a solution to satisfy your needs based on your feedback, replacing it with something that does now gets easier and easier. These are tough times and a lot of really hard work is required, but the challenges ahead are also very exciting, we know exactly what we want to achieve and the support from the community and the media attention we’re getting right now are catalyzing our efforts and making it easier for us to achieve our goals. To all the people who are part of this, I’d like to send a big thank you.