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Linux Mint Hack Is an Indicator of a Larger Problem (techrepublic.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On February 20th, a hacker working under the handle 'Peace' took control of the website of Linux Mint, a popular Linux distribution derived from Ubuntu (and Debian) targeted toward non-technical users and power users unhappy with modern desktop environments. While these attacks are regrettable, and part of an infrastructure problem rather than a problem with the distribution itself, it increasingly appears that the Linux Mint team is spread too thin when it comes to security. The distribution itself blacklists updates that work perfectly in Ubuntu and Debian, and the graphical utilities don't update the kernel. Because the value added by Linux Mint is in Cinnamon, why do the developers need to distribute a broken version of Ubuntu when the Cinnamon DE could be distributed as an Ubuntu spin?
I'm moving to Arch
Good for you. Arch is not for newbie users as it lacks a tool to perform automated installs, but once it is up and running i'd venture to say is the most reliable, easiest to use distro out there.
Non-technical users should use a Mac, as it simply works.
I wish this was true so I wouldn't have to deal with so many support requests from Mac users.
"Non-technical users should use $WHAT_I_THINK_IS_BEST_FOR_THEM_BECAUSE_I_UNDERSTAND_ALL_USE_CASES as it simply works". Gotcha.
Some of the better IT shops are giving users the choice between Mac and PC. From what I've seen in the field, non-technical users and engineers prefer the Mac. Macs and PCs are pretty much interchangeable these days.
I would say he's accurately describing what Mint is, not what user's want or don't want. He's saying "This is what it is, so why not do it properly?"
I don't doubt that many Mint users want something different, but right now Mint is Ubuntu + An Extra Repo with Other Packages + An default package list that's slightly different. It's so much of a hack that a recent Ubuntu update caused /etc/issue and /etc/issue.net in Mint systems to report the machine as running Ubuntu, not Mint (in fairness we were all prompted to ask us if we wanted that changed. Somewhat amusing but...)
Mint kinda needs to decide what direction it is. Becoming something other than a flavor of Ubuntu means disconnecting one's self from Ubuntu, having a large pool of maintainers, etc. That's probably not something they have the resources to do.
So... the other option is to just be explicitly a part of Ubuntu, be CUbuntu or whatever. That would provide end users with exactly what we want - a well maintained, well supported, operating system whose desktop is actually modern and usable rather than trendy and terrible. It'd also discourage unnecessary silliness like mdmwebkit which seems to exist solely out of a wish to show independence, rather than for any functional reason.
But the "Rely on Ubuntu while replacing problematic packages" model? Nah. It's ugly. It's pretty much a recipe for things being missed, leading to instability and security problems in the long run as Ubuntu and Mint diverge further and further, while the latter continues to rely on the independent and unpredictable choices of the former. /etc/issue showing Ubuntu is amusing. The next change may well not be.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Macs and PCs are pretty much interchangeable these days.
Not really. Macs require a much more current IT staff. Unfortunately many IT departments have been force fed the Microsoft dribble for so long that they don't know what real IT looks like. Adding Macs to corporate infrastructure should be done carefully.
It's not about the user or the OS. It's about the infrastructure behind it.
They wouldn't replace Unity with Cinnamon in the primary version of Ubuntu, but given they have no problems distributing versions of Ubuntu with KDE, GNOME 3, XFCE, LXDE, and even MATE (the other thing that came out of the Unity sucks movement), I don't see why they wouldn't do a Cinnamon version if there was a community willing to maintain it.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
The Linux Mint team should just cut their losses and focus all their resources on their secondary project, Linux Mint Debian Edition. Making this the primary project and the new default "Linux Mint" would help because they'd be less dependent on upstream changes from Ubuntu, while providing usability improvements to Debian that are not considered important enough to implement in Debian proper. Heck, it's exactly the method of how Ubuntu came about, but Linux Mint's mission goal is just to make the best desktop it can, and not to go on some kind of hopeless tangent with mobiles and the cloud that Canonical is trying to do.