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Linux Mint 14 Is Out

Posted by Soulskill on from the new-and-shiny dept.

New submitter medge_42 sends words that Linux Mint 14 has been released. Check out their list of features and release notes to see what's new. One version uses MATE 1.4, which includes some long-needed bug fixes as well as functional bluetooth and mate-keyring, its own character map, fast alt-tabbing, and improvements to Caja. The other version uses Cinnamon 1.6, which contains a huge number of fixes and new features including its own file browser, persistent workspaces and a window quicklist to go with them, a notifications applet, an improved sound applet, and alt-tab graphical improvements. MDM now supports legacy GDM 2 themes and userlists, and has improved user switching. Gedit 2.30 has replaced Gedit 3, and MintStick replaces USB-ImageWriter.

129 comments

  1. Good but... by Andy+Prough · · Score: 2

    I still find that for sheer ability to work on nearly any system and those with minimal resources, it's an excellent idea to keep a Mint 10 LXDE live DVD laying around. Darn thing will run on just about anything. It's practically become my new Knoppix.

    1. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would the newer versions be less capable?

    2. Re:Good but... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would the newer versions be less capable?

      New versions are all fine except for the problem of BLOAT

      --
      Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    3. Re:Good but... by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They tend to require more resources. Also, newer versions of drivers aren't as throughly tested on old hardware and can act very funny. Believe it or not, getting any modern Linux distro to run well on my old Athlon XP is actually a bit of a challenge (video and usb ports can be particularly problematic). And now, with llvmpipe being en vogue (the only thing it renders on slower machines is them unusable), things are worsening rapidly. Also, older ditros fit on CDs and lots of old machines don't even have DVD drives. Having said that, my favorite course of action on slower machines is Debian stable, with select packages from testing or unstable (which is getting harder to do, for some reason - it's very annoying and unexplicable when apt won't update hplip without pulling gnome-shell).

    4. Re:Good but... by kh31d4r · · Score: 3, Funny

      all lyes!

    5. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, Athlon XP is essentially double-porked thanks to the Flash debacle. I'm in the middle of shifting my old boxes to P4 and Nvidia.

      So what's the trouble with USB? I'm not finding any with these P4s and U12.04. Oldest is 2003. Wouldn't have thought they'd handle that differently.

    6. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Are you calling me a lyre?

    7. Re:Good but... by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 1

      Newer versions don't come with LXDE installed as the default DE. Right now, there's MATE, Cinnamon, KDE and XFCE.

    8. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't harp on about it.

    9. Re:Good but... by DickBreath · · Score: 2

      live DVD laying around.

      Lying around. Lying

      It may not be corruption of the language. It may simply be evolution of the language. Language changes over time. Speakers choose the most suitable word for their porpoises. If you suggest otherwise then you are laying.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    10. Re:Good but... by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      Wrong, you get a newer Firefox that puts a lower load on the CPU, and various crappy bugs in the Xorg server, the file manager or damn anything are fixed. Drivers improve, sometimes even on older hardware, sometimes not at all. You're always fine if you're at least running pentium 3 level hardware.

    11. Re:Good but... by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      edit : damn, I should have made clear that you need to run Mint 12 LXDE if you want something really lightweight, else Mint 13 Xfce (will get a 14 version) and Mint 13/14 Mate are great as well and don't require silly shit like OpenGL for windows management.

    12. Re:Good but... by mcgrew · · Score: 2

      He's calling you sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    13. Re:Good but... by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

      live DVD laying around.

      Lying around. Lying

      It may not be corruption of the language. It may simply be evolution of the language. Language changes over time. Speakers choose the most suitable word for their porpoises. If you suggest otherwise then you are laying.

      I *wish* I were laying... with my wife!

      Aww yeah, you know what I'm saying... I'm talking 'bout business time.
      You know how I know?
      Because it's Wednesday.
      And Wednesday night is the night that we usually make love...

      (Apologies to Flight of the Conchords. :) )

      --
      "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
      "A four-foot prune."
    14. Re:Good but... by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 1

      I"m not even aware of a flash debacle. But I haven't used flash in quite a while, now. And my Athlon XP has a Nvidia card, but it's an FX, so drivers (both proprietary and open) are in a sorry state right now. Don't really know what's up with the usb ports. It's a bit weird. But Linux 3.1 and 3.2 have a certain chance of freezing everything when I insert or eject a flash drive or a usb wifi antenna, while 2.6.32 works just fine. May have been fixed in more recent versions, I don't know. These minor inconveniences happen all the time. On another machine, Kernel 3.2 breaks my front 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5 fixes it (unfortunately, I use Debian on that machine and even unstable is frozen at 3.2 for quite a long time, now).

    15. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or a usb wifi antenna

      Thanks for that heads-up. One of these P4 is heading out the door to be a shedbox with a USB wifi. I'll keep it in mind.

      Otherwise it's completely behaving. Even the FX5200. Full-screen is kinda laggy, but it was never a great card.

      The PAE kernel and Flash for Ytube is what retired all the AMD here. Gnash for Ytube is useless on this hardware, and Lightspark decidely alpha. You may not use Flash but these boxes need Ytube access for things like welding tutorials. HTML5 is still a partial rollout.

    16. Re:Good but... by cristiroma · · Score: 1

      But will it run on your toaster? Geez, it's a DESKTOP for God's sake. What would you expect to boot in command line and have 64MB? Go somewhere else! Actually instead of repacking packages like most other distros, these people took the matter into their own hand and started to build something closer to a real usable desktop more than Ubuntu will, probably, ever be. Or other lame distros. I really appreciate it and glad that Mint exists.

    17. Re:Good but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you calling me a lyre?

      NOW that's funny. ROFLMAO

  2. Full disc encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    unfortunately, still no native full disc encryption...

    1. Re:Full disc encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except this one: http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/344

    2. Re:Full disc encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Needs to be part of the install, a single checkbox option. Probably the only good thing about the latest Ubuntu really.

    3. Re:Full disc encryption by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      Calm down, it will take some time: it's hard to reinvent the wheel :P

    4. Re:Full disc encryption by EmagGeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You know the full-disk encryption in Ubuntu stores the passphrase in cleartext on sector 0x7Gh on the hard disk, don't you?

    5. Re:Full disc encryption by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      You are not supposed to put both '0x' and 'h' to indicate a hex number.

    6. Re:Full disc encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Woosh.
      These hex numbers go to G.

    7. Re:Full disc encryption by fibonacci8 · · Score: 1

      That's not a hex number, that's his signing key in cleartext.

      --
      Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
    8. Re:Full disc encryption by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      But still.

    9. Re:Full disc encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you does G come into a hex number?

  3. If only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wish these guys were in charge of gnome. Talk about getting it.

    1. Re:If only... by rtfa-troll · · Score: 1

      I wish these guys were in charge of gnome. Talk about getting it.

      A quick question; why can't I have both mate and cinnamon installed on the same system. I'd have thought that was the most obvious gnome stupidity to get rid of?

      --
      =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
    2. Re:If only... by RDW · · Score: 1

      A quick question; why can't I have both mate and cinnamon installed on the same system.

      You probably can. A major reason for renaming everything in MATE was to allow co-existence with Gnome 3-based systems (which would include Cinnamon). You'll get one from the installation media, and can install the other from the repositories, then choose which you want to run at login time. However, each is a complete desktop (MATE rather more so) so you probably only need one.

    3. Re:If only... by number6x · · Score: 2

      You can

      You pick which desktop environment to use at login. Your choice becomes the default so you don't have to choose every time you log in.

    4. Re:If only... by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      You also get duplicated entries in Preferences etc. (well, those seem to come from me installing LXDE, Cinnamon only put a shortcut to a control panel). also I'm running Mate, which uses nautilus 2.x (renamed) caja for the desktop window, but the default file manager has changed to Nautilus 3.x. I could change the desktop file manager to Nautilus 3.x in gconf-editor or something, but I reverted back, dunno why (I guess I didn't want to re-arrange the icons)

  4. Horray ! by Celarent+Darii · · Score: 2

    So many volunteers and so many packages - just thanks everyone for another release !

    1. Re:Horray ! by hihihihi · · Score: 1

      seconded.

      Great many thanks to Mint team for this. Had used 3-4 major linux distros before, but after first try with mint, no going back :)

      --
      everyone downmodding this post will be prosecuted for reading my post without first buying a license!!!
  5. Woah cowboy.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    14 major releases in 6 years, of one flavor of Linux, and it's no wonder few consider the Linux desktop "ready" for the populace. I'm actually beginning to think the power-geeks really, truly, don't actually want the masses using Linux, because then they won't feel quite as elite.

    Build it and they will come.. but not if they have to renovate every 6 months.

    1. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      I couldn't agree with you more!

      Besides the terrible gui that supports multitasking and the ability for us to think for ourselves and choose what we want, is having something younger than 11 years old! That means change and we can't have any of that. Just ask any (l)user at work? THey will tell you IE 7, and XP work just fine thank you very much.

      What we need is the console with a green color as the background just like in 2001. We just type startx or ./xf86config and manually enter the monitors horizontal and vertical frequencies (careful not to fry your CRT bigscreen) and then xdm choose either fvwm or gnome-shell with a custom script that prevents the ability of having more than one window open at a time. That way we could be sooo hip and cutting edge or hate change and everyone is happy.

      Before you know it these new folks will tell us it is a good idea to upgrade your OS and run apt-get update. The nerve! We do not have all our Windows Server 2003 locked at May 28th 2009 (no updates afterwards) for DerpCRM so our 1 guy can just put out fires all day and not run the whole IT department. Pffft it is a cost center and I am glad all our financial trading is on such a critical platform that handles 15 trillion in dollars. Kids today l...

      It aint broke just leave them and never touch them because our accountant said so in 2006 when Vista came out so this means any updated software after that is bad and will cause financial ruin and collapse the whole world economy. ... going back to my Redhat 6.2 box.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    2. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your post is very amusing, thanks for the laughs. :) None of that addresses the fact that the kernel guys can't stop screwing with critical internals every month, or the fact that most Linux software written more than a year ago is no longer able to be compiled unless you happen to have copies of old or outdated libraries (many of which are replaced or superceded because they're unstable and/or buggy). My point wasn't to diss Linux as an OS - I use three different flavors and work and love it as a development environment - my point was that until these folks can get it stable and consistent for more than a lunar mont, with a consistent API for all interfaces that doesn't get changed between flavors and releases, we won't get a popular Linux desktop. As awful as writing COM/Win32 may be, at least I can still write the same code today that I wrote 12 years ago and get exactly the same result (aesthetic differences aside).

    3. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Dr+Max · · Score: 1

      Having everyone use linux would need big changes. If the masses can't figure out how to use an os themselves within about 10 seconds they start rioting, anything remotely confusing would have to be deeply hidden (so they don't accidentally open command prompt and freak out), and good luck getting them to customize anything that isn't the simplest of GUI. The Linux crowd aren't paid enough to put up with those people, let apple or maybe MS do it.

      --
      Rocket Surgeon.
    4. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A requirement for the masses to figure out the OS themselves within about 10 seconds require that the OS is actually ready for the masses. When a fresh install is broken to begin with and the poor user is told to open a terminal by "support" in order to fix their fresh install how can you blame them for opening a terminal and freaking out?

      Just go to the support forums of Ubuntu, Mint, etc, and see what sort of problems people have to deal with on *fresh installs*!

      It's a big difference between having to deal with something that "just works" and something that "just works after you spent 3 weeks fixing it which included reinstalling it 4 times". Things can't be broken out of the box.

    5. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's something that was a problem in 2010:
      http://www.question-defense.com/2010/06/03/ubuntu-10-4-eth0-not-available-rtl-81398139c8139c-rev-10

      and is still a problem today:
      https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-nettool/+question/214707

    6. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Dr+Max · · Score: 1

      Things can be broken out of the box providing it's easy enough for the person to fix (and be the right price). I may have been a bit harsh on the masses, i appreciate an OS that works well easily as well, i just don't think linux will ever be like that (without great changes that would remove what linux holds dear). It's very powerful in the right hands, but usually the people that need/want that kind of power have the right hands any way.

      --
      Rocket Surgeon.
    7. Re:Woah cowboy.. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      If the masses can't figure out how to use an os themselves within about 10 seconds they start rioting

      I've put Linux on clueless, computer-illiterate users' machines for years. Without fail, they all found Mandriva and kubuntu easier to use than Windows. When it comes to useability (especially discoverability), Windows suck big time. From what I've read, W8 and Unity are tied for the #1 unusable OSes (I haven't tried either one).

      They all especially like the fact that their computer is faster with Linux than with Windows, and that they don't have to call me every two weeks because it doesn't work at all because they've stupidly installed some trojan.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    8. Re:Woah cowboy.. by Dr+Max · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah of course, if you set it up, make sure all the devices and hardware are working, save a shortcut or two and point them in the direction of the software center (explain they can't just download stuff and double click), they will be fine (I've done it for a few people, kde mint is my weapon of choice), but are you willing to do that for all the noobs, for free. Windows generally haven't really been for the noobs either (that's why IT departments are so big) if you want it to work well you have to be willing to dive into settings and commands. To put the start menu back in windows 8 (fixing 98% of user problems) you just have to type %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs into the new toolbar dialog box (to fix the other 2% you just need to delete programs); if that is too hard for the a lot windows users, i don't like your chances talking them through why their wifi card isn't working.

      --
      Rocket Surgeon.
  6. So outdated! by Billly+Gates · · Score: 5, Funny

    It has too many things that help content creation. The gui supports the mouse, gives you the ability to change it, and worse lets you have more than one Windows open at a time!

    Screw that. Where is the crappy cell phone interface? I want to be hip and have my productivity limited so I can save 10 whole pixels on my 27 inch dual screens and tweet to my friends, which is why I purchased my Icore7 extreme edition! Now I can read a document and cut and paste things into another app at the same time which is sooo 2000s.

    This is too technical to get my brain around Mate and this whole concept of multitasking that I need my shiny things back. Going back to WIndows 8.

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
    1. Re:So outdated! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 funny

      That was some very effective sarcasm, and very effective in highlighting the things mint is doing right that other platforms are really messing up.

      Go Mint Team Go!

    2. Re:So outdated! by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

      No doubt. You have dual 27 inch monitors you really want that MP3 on the lock screen! You also want to run all your apps in full screen, you have 2 monitors, 1 app per screen. Functionality and user friendly interfaces died at gnome 2, its gnome 3 and unity baby. The future is NOW!. Don't you read the gnome3 blogs?!?

    3. Re:So outdated! by fbobraga · · Score: 2

      Remember: the new DEs are not made for your setup, but for the most common...

  7. Looks tempting .. by blackpaw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ramblings ...

    I love my KDE 4.9x/Kubuntu 12.10 install except for the flakiness that the poxy virtuoso/nepomuk/akonadi brings to it. Thats what I find attractive about the gnome derivatives - they haven't bet the farm on integrating their environments with the buggy unstable CPU hogging piece of crap that is nepomuk/virtuoso.

    But I find gnome unattractive compared to KDE and I dislike Unity & Gnome Shell. But I do like where Cinnamon is going and this latest rev looks quite good.

    If only I could find a decent gnome based Pim - I love Kontact, when its not being ass reamed by nepomuk/virtuoso. Thunderbird is getting creaky, Evolution is OK but not as slick as Kontact.

    1. Re:Looks tempting .. by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 0

      You're running KDE without deactivating nepomuk and akonadi? Are you trying to turn into the Hulk or something? If you're not, just go to System Settings and nuke them, for christ's sake. If you are, though, might I recommend Bit.Trip Runner? Great game for inducing murderous rage. In the words of Gandhi: "FUCK! I JUMPED, YOU FUCKEEEER!"

    2. Re:Looks tempting .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Disabling akonadi disables kontact, unfortunately

    3. Re:Looks tempting .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck is nepomuk and akonadi? Am I the only one who remembers the time when apps/daemons/subsystems/whatever the fuck they are actually had a meaningful name that let you at least guess what their purpose is?

    4. Re:Looks tempting .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nepomuk and Akonadi are two gremlins that hide inside each KDE install. If you don't fight them fiercely they will come and eat your lunch.

    5. Re:Looks tempting .. by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Disabling akonadi disables kontact, unfortunately

      Parrots are not the only fruit, apparently.

      Greetings, comrade. Your code phrase has been authenticated. Proceed to the safe house for debriefing.

    6. Re:Looks tempting .. by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 1

      Unity was my biggest complaint with Ubuntu. Cinnamon is awesome. I've been using version 1.6 of Cinnamon on Ubuntu 12.04 for a few months. This weekend I will make a full transition to Mint 14 Maya (Cinnamon). I used to be a big fan of KDE before 4.0 came out...Maybe some day I'll check it out again.

    7. Re:Looks tempting .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Proceed to the safe house for debriefing

      No need to enter the safe house for that... any TSA line should do.

    8. Re:Looks tempting .. by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 2

      If you haven't noticed, "akonadi" and "nepomuk", backwards, are "idanoka" and "kumopen", japanese words meaning, respectively, "torturer of users" and "that which cripples hard drives".

    9. Re:Looks tempting .. by graphius · · Score: 1

      Exactly, good names like Excel, Outlook, Access, Safari, Firefox, Thunderbird, Vim, and of course who can forget Gimp

  8. upgrade? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    can you upgrade a mint 13 system?

    1. Re:upgrade? by MurukeshM · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not directly, since the upgrade tool packaged is for Ubuntu, and well create a horrible mix of Ubuntu Quantal and Mint 13 if used (if it even worked at all). There are alternate instructions provided at http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/2

    2. Re:upgrade? by ssam · · Score: 1

      yes, you can update using apt. but it not recommended.
      http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/62 (note you want to change "maya" -> "nadia" and "precise" -> "quantal")

    3. Re:upgrade? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why upgrade? Reinstall and copy /home!

    4. Re:upgrade? by jones_supa · · Score: 4, Informative

      Better yet, keep system and home on separate partitions. Then you just only reformat the system partition during reinstall.

    5. Re:upgrade? by mgcarley · · Score: 1

      I'd be interested to know who *doesn't* do this already - and why not.

      Recently transitioned from Ubuntu (12.10 broke a lot of stuff that I had set up nicely in 12.04) to Fedora 17 myself... seemed to work mostly OK and best of all, almost everything was kept intact, right down to desktop icons and background images.

      --
      Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
  9. LTS by Andy+Prough · · Score: 3, Informative

    For production machines, you would use the Long Term Support version, which currently comes with 5 years of support.

  10. Bodhi is better at that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've found Bodhi Linux to require even fewer CPU resources (but a bit more RAM) as the compositor in e17 is far more efficient than other X compositors. Zero crashes in the WM for me on 2.1.0.

    when I saw there were 10 comments on this article I thought to myself: there are that many people running Mint? And all of them are on /. ?

    1. Re:Bodhi is better at that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh pshaw.

      Mint overtook Ubuntu as the most popular distro - all flavors vs. all flavors - a few months ago. Although I dunno if it's still leading. Don't really care. It's good. That's what I care about.

      Don't care much about utilizing old machines, either - 4 Gig of RAM on at least a dual core is great for any Mint flavor, and if I have to use hardware that's older than that it means older applications too, so I'll install Win98SE or XP.

      Quite the reversal of circumstances, isn't it? Heh.

    2. Re:Bodhi is better at that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [citation needed]

    3. Re:Bodhi is better at that by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      I never run a compositor so I guess this requires even fewer CPU resources. Really, I like black backgrounds on my terminals fine.

    4. Re:Bodhi is better at that by mister_playboy · · Score: 1

      He's referring to this. It's from last year, but Mint is still ahead of Ubuntu in those metrics.

      I still expect Ubuntu has more users total, but that's not going to last forever.

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    5. Re:Bodhi is better at that by mister_playboy · · Score: 1

      Oops, messed up my link:

      He's referring to this

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    6. Re:Bodhi is better at that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks, but probably a waste of time. I think this AC has been trolling Mint - here and there around /. - for awhile.

      Likely a Shuttleworth bot - seeking to divide for Unity...

    7. Re:Bodhi is better at that by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      Distrowatch ranking has nothing to do with the number of people using a distribution, just the number curious about it. People have already heard of ubuntu for years.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
  11. So what? Ubuntu has been around 8 years. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    For most people it has been 3 major releases in 8 years. 6.06, 8.04, 10.04, and 12.04. You can expect another major release in nearly 2 years. Plus the variations of Ubuntu like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc which are the same distribution but with a different set of default packages. You can grab mini.iso and pick through every variant on a large list if you want.

  12. Re:I don't get it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware version 10.0 is out. Oh, and Planetside 2 F2P.

  13. Coming from a Windows background by Shemmie · · Score: 2

    I am loving Mint. I had a look at Mint 13 a while ago, and Ubuntu 12.10. I downloaded the Mint 14 RC a few nights ago.

    And I liked what I saw enough to dive into something Linux-ie on my desktop. And I decided I prefer KDE for my desktop. And I prefer regular updates to big version changes, so I opted for LMDE KDE. I actually stuck around long enough to have an opinion on gnome vs KDE. The KDE menu is awesome - like a highly customizable version of the Windows 7 Start - very impressed.

    So I'm dual booting Windows 8 and Mint - and Mint is getting a lot more use at the moment. In fact, if I could just find a way to get the bloody Steam beta to install on Mint, I'd spend even more time there. But I know it will come as they sort things out.

  14. Mate on Mint = Awesome by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I switched to Mint when Ubuntu forced Gnome 3/Unity on me. Been extremely happy except one big issue. Mate uses GTK 2 but newer apps use GTK 3, so you get stuck in this world of mixed themes that looks bad. Found a nice gtk 2/3 clearlooks compatible theme, so I end up with Mate DM with GTK 3 apps looking normal again. Best thing, Compiz still works...

    While I'm very grateful of what Canonical has done for the Linux community and have paid for services and software to show my support, I cant take the design choices or direction the company has went seriously. Gnome 3 has chosen a new direction, one that I don't need or want. Ubuntu is embracing that direction.

    Mint right now is the best balance I can find out there. Keeps the popular Ubuntu base, but with Mint or Cinnamon DE which is hands down superior to Gnome 3 for the desktop.

    1. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by mrbluze · · Score: 2

      Mint right now is the best balance I can find out there. Keeps the popular Ubuntu base, but with Mint or Cinnamon DE which is hands down superior to Gnome 3 for the desktop.

      I agree, in most cases Mint is the best general purpose Linux distro out there at the moment, and it is very slick indeed. The problem is that Windows has produced an OS that looks stupid now, but the strategy is there because it is clear that displays intended for interaction are all going to be multitouch. It is just too easy to do now to not consider it standard in the future.

      I am waiting and waiting for the Linux community to come to this realization that desktop linux has to take into account a mouseless touch-screen userbase that is set to grow rapidly, especially once GNU/Linux distros appear on more tablet PC's.

      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    2. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I am waiting and waiting for the Linux community to come to this realization that desktop linux has to take into account a mouseless touch-screen userbase that is set to grow rapidly, especially once GNU/Linux distros appear on more tablet PC's.

      As long as they don't abandon us mouse+keyboard users entirely like Microsoft is trying to do. Windows 8 is the main reason why I even considered switching to Mint.

    3. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by mrbluze · · Score: 1

      I am waiting and waiting for the Linux community to come to this realization that desktop linux has to take into account a mouseless touch-screen userbase that is set to grow rapidly, especially once GNU/Linux distros appear on more tablet PC's.

      As long as they don't abandon us mouse+keyboard users entirely like Microsoft is trying to do. Windows 8 is the main reason why I even considered switching to Mint.

      If history is a guide, they won't abandon you!

      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    4. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none." comes to mind.

      Just look at Unity and Windows 8... sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little.
      You need to have one interface for mouse+keyboard and one for touch, you can't have the same for both.

    5. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Waccoon · · Score: 2

      Mate uses GTK 2 but newer apps use GTK 3, so you get stuck in this world of mixed themes that looks bad.

      That is not a big issue. It's a feature. A big issue would be old stuff (GTK 2) not working at all, which seems to becoming the norm with other OSes these days.

    6. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Raumkraut · · Score: 2

      I am waiting and waiting for the Linux community to come to this realization that desktop linux has to take into account a mouseless touch-screen userbase that is set to grow rapidly, especially once GNU/Linux distros appear on more tablet PC's.

      Where have you been these past couple of years? Gnome 3? Unity? KDE Plasma Active?

    7. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 1

      Been extremely happy except one big issue. Mate uses GTK 2 but newer apps use GTK 3, so you get stuck in this world of mixed themes that looks bad.

      According to the site:

      Special attention was given to Mint-X and its support for GTK3.6 to make GTK3 applications look native and integrate well with the rest of the desktop.

      So perhaps Mint 14 will solve this problem for you?

    8. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I am waiting and waiting for the Linux community to come to this realization that desktop linux has to take into account a mouseless touch-screen userbase that is set to grow rapidly, especially once GNU/Linux distros appear on more tablet PC's.

      I would have no problem with a "tablet edition" linux distribution, but the problem I see with Ubuntu right now (and why I kicked it to the curb) is that it is optimized for an experience that doesn't fit my hardware or use case. Why would I install a tablet-optimized OS on my laptop or desktop PC? I use these devices primarily for content creation (programming, graphics, presentations, etc), where I need a mouse and keyboard and a high-resolution screen. On a tablet I can watch movies and browse the web.

      Maybe Canonical and Microsoft are on to something, but I don't get it. And in case you were wondering, yes I use vi.

    9. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

      I bet you are right, the Mint team does provide a great looking desktop. I just installed the Mate 14, and it looks great.

    10. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by lennier · · Score: 1

      direction the company has went

      Went, or has gone. Unless you want to sound like you flunked high school English.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    11. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by lennier · · Score: 2

      You need to have one interface for mouse+keyboard and one for touch, you can't have the same for both.

      Agreed. But it's a far bigger problem that, after decades of preaching object-oriented loosely-bound separation of concerns and Gang of Four pattern-language model-view-controller dogma, changing an interface apparently still requires rewriting all our application software from scratch. Instead of, just, you know, changing the interface, which all that MVC stuff was supposed to take care of.

      How did that happen, OOP advocates?

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    12. Re:Mate on Mint = Awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      compiz never worked

      well at least for those of us with multiple monitors (4+ monitors, 2+ video cards) and want any kind of decent performance.

      It's all shit.

  15. There will also be KDE version soon by aglider · · Score: 1

    Read here!

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re:There will also be KDE version soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What surprises me is that they have so many versions, similar to Ubuntu. Debian has tasksel, you can select pre-defined bundles of packages when installing it. You don't get different OSs or different versions of the OS by choosing different desktop managers, what you get is the same OS with diffent desktop managers, and those are just packages, like all other software in the distribution. Why are they so keen on misinforming people about that?

  16. Supports four monitors by cruachan · · Score: 1

    Anyone know if this... or any other debian distro... can support 4 monitors? I run Ubuntu on most of my machines, but my main desktop has a motherboard with dual graphics cards and four (large) monitors. I'm running windows 7 which allows me a nice continuous desktop with all the eye candy, but I'd like to move to a debian based distro (I'm agnostic over what UI I use) but when I tried this 6 months ago with Ubuntu 12.04 and the corresponding Kubuntu/MiNT variants none would support 4 monitors without sever limitations.

    1. Re:Supports four monitors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      every distro supports four monitors..

    2. Re:Supports four monitors by evilad · · Score: 1

      I've had good success with 3 dissimilar monitors (small-wide-small) on Ubuntu 12.04 / fglrx. The irritations are pretty minor, and mostly involve the occasional dropdown dialog or maximize operation not going to the expected screen.

    3. Re:Supports four monitors by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      You probably need two graphics card from the same vendor and able to run the same driver - and have it supported. When I tried two graphics card I had two X11 graphical sessions runnings, with different panel settings, I could move the cursor from one screen to another but couldn't move windows around.

    4. Re:Supports four monitors by cruachan · · Score: 1

      Yes, that's exactly my setup, a pair of identical graphics cards... on a twin PCIe motherboard. It's just really frustrating, I'd love to dump windows but linux seems so far behind on this (and you wouldn't have thought 3+ monitors was that unusual among geeks)

  17. Looks interesting by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2

    But when is it going to ship with Unity? The desktop is so old-fashioned and clunky looking.

  18. Progress! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the bugs of Mint 13 + a lot of new ones!

  19. Like what they do; although not the non-free stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I like the user interface developments they are working on and how they partnered with ThinkPenguin for hardware. It's one of the few companies which gets the problems in the hardware ecosystem. It's about time somebody realized free software has its advantages and refuse to ship stuff dependent on proprietary software. Of course Linux Mint includes non-free software too which is the only downside that I see. Maybe the option to install a free kernel without non-free drivers/firmware and a warning about purchasing such hardware and the disadvantages. I'd probably be in heaven then.

    Or they could do two versions with one being called “Linux Mint: Designed for Crap” and the other being called “Linux Mint: Designed for Freedom”.

  20. Release all together by unixisc · · Score: 1

    I wish they'd wait until all the DE versions are ready, and release them all simultaneously. Also, if they are supporting XFCE and LXDE, wish they'd add Razor-qt support as well

  21. Just stick to Ubuntu,,, by unixisc · · Score: 1

    ... if you want Unity

    1. Re:Just stick to Ubuntu,,, by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Or...

      (lowers sunglasses)

      Windows 8!

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
  22. Cinnamon on Ubuntu by dmt0 · · Score: 2

    I installed Cinnamon on Ubuntu 12.10 through a PPA and I'm liking it a lot. Is there any reason why I would want to switch from this setup over to the actual Mint?

    1. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by jones_supa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Good question and it brings up a point which I have been wondering. Why was Mint released as a complete distribution and not just a collection of packages for Ubuntu? They could have released the tasty bits (Cinnamon, MATE) only as PPAs, no need to duplicate the whole Ubuntu base.

    2. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by 0123456 · · Score: 2

      Because I totally want to give random PPAs root access to my machines.

      I trust an actual distro used by large numbers of people far more than a PPA few have ever heard of.

    3. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am currently using Ubuntu 12.04 with Cinnamon (through PPA). I plan to replace all this with Mint 14 Maya (Cinnamon) this weekend. I've heard it's not just the choice in DEs that sets Mint apart from Ubuntu. Ubuntu only provides free open-source packages in its software library (along with some optional non-free proprietary stuff). Mint supposedly provides most of the Ubuntu open-source packages, plus the option to install free proprietary software. This sounds appealing to me because I have to use Oracle Java for a lot of software dev. I usually end up installing Java straight from Oracle's web site because I don't trust 3rd party ppa. So, on Mint, I'm assuming, I can install packages for Oracle Java and other stuff directly from Mint's repository.

    4. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by dnixx · · Score: 1

      By installing Mint you'd get:

      * mintUpdate: Mint's update manager which lets you categorize packages into different levels depending on how "dangerous"/unstable they are. Eg. level 5 packages ("dangerous packages") can be excluded from the update. Screenshot: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Mintupdate.png
      * mintInstall: Mint's software manager which features a lot of crappy reviews written by users.
      * MDM Display Manager: Themable and based on GDM 2.20
      * Nemo: Mint's file manager, forked from Nautilus 3.4 because "Nautilus 3.6 is a catastrophe" according to the Mint/Nemo team.
      * Some non-free packages (drivers, codecs) are included by default ... and some other stuff.

      I switched directly from Fedora to Mint a couple of months ago and didn't see the need for Ubuntu.

    5. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by dmt0 · · Score: 1

      Nemo actually is in the Ubuntu PPA...

    6. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mint was around -- and quite popular -- long before the gnome 3 fiasco. It seems like nobody realizes this. The original goal was simply to provide a more "out of the box" experience than stock ubuntu, for example by including proprietary codecs in the base install. The idea was that a new user wouldn't have to mess around trying to install the flash plugin (for example); it was already there and just worked. Cinnamon and mate are the next evolution of mint.

    7. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oracle Java? Oh, the Java Oracle invented?

      I will never recognize "Oracle Java". You must be newb.

    8. Re:Cinnamon on Ubuntu by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 1

      Would you prefer I call it "Sun Java"? I'm not a big fan of Oracle as a company but Sun is no more. Maybe you're implying that open java is what I should be using. Well the fact is there are some applications and development environments that still require Sun/Oracle Java instead of the open one.

  23. Liberated software by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Trisquel, Dyne:bolic and GNewSense are all based on Ubuntu, just like Mint is, but are Libre distros. So take any of them, which will give you your Libre kernel and then take a Mint DVD and then install all the liberated stuff you find there to that base system. Should give ya the same thing. Of course, had Mint put what you sanctimoniously called 'Designed for Crap' out there, the FSF wouldn't endorse them - just see their approach to Debian, which all this is based off in the first place.

  24. Re:I don't get it... by jones_supa · · Score: 2

    On this day in history thousands of new versions of software were released.
    Many of them far cooler, way more interesting and useful than this one.

    If you have found something even cooler, you must submit them as articles to Slashdot. Ever noticed that "xxxxx writes" in beginning of each article? That's how stuff gets published here.

  25. Re:mod )3own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey look, it's the "mod down" BSD retard once again.

  26. Does it still use Nouveau? by sadler121 · · Score: 1

    So can you boot this version with a newish nvidia card? Cause last time I checked, it used nouveau as default, which fails massively for any newer nvidia cards. All I get it a screen with white blocks. Why linux distros insist on using an alpha video card driver to boot the system for the first time is beyond me.

    Doesn't it make sense to use a generic one that will work with everything and then let the person choose to install the alpha one (or propitiatory one)?

    1. Re:Does it still use Nouveau? by WhitePanther5000 · · Score: 1

      You might just need to choose "Start in compatibility mode" when you boot of the disc to use the generic drivers. Alternatively, I've seen several suggestions to add 'nomodeset' to the end of the grub boot line - though I haven't had to do this.

  27. Very polished release by bwat47 · · Score: 1

    I am really liking Mint 14/Cinnamon so far, which surprised me since I never particularly liked mint or cinnamon when I tried them in the past. Mint 13 with cinnamon just seemed kind of buggy and unpolished to me. Linux mint 14 just works perfectly for me, one of the best out of the box linux experiences I've ever had. They fixed a ton of issues in cinnamon 1.6 and added some useful features. Cinnamon has now become my preferred DE. I really like that cinnamon maintains a sane interface, while being built on the modern gnome-shell/mutter base; so its got solid and well integrated compositing and useful features like scale out of the box (and compiz has always been buggy for me, so I'm always glad when I can avoid it). Cinnamon maintains a good balance between customizability, features, eye candy, and polish.

  28. Amazing! by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

    You are not supposed to put both '0x' and 'h' to indicate a hex number.

    That's not a hex number, that's his signing key in cleartext.

    That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage!

    :-P

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
    1. Re:Amazing! by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      Apparently nobody watches The Simpsons anymore ...

      Sheesh...

  29. Nice FUD, Mr $hill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The truth is that the POSIX API has been stable since 1995 or so. I bet you get the same stability from X11 and probably also from other GUI libs. Don't tell me you need to interface to some obscure internal API of the kernel.

  30. Crap Meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I did know XP quite well and had to fuck for hours with all the transposed GUI mechanisms, UAC and other unnecessary crapola of VISTA. So much to your "10 seconds" argument.

    1. Re:Crap Meme by Dr+Max · · Score: 1

      Do you remember all the people freaking out when Microsoft gave them vista? If not just look at what is happening with windows 8, any fairly computer literate person would have it setup and running well for them in a hour or so, but the masses are terribly confused.

      --
      Rocket Surgeon.
  31. WHEN THE HELL by xuvetyn · · Score: 1

    are they going to implement rolling updates?????!!!!!!

    --
    alive to the universe, dead to the world