Linux Mint 14 released

[nsane.forums]

Easy distro takes a different UI path than Ubuntu, and we like it.

The release of Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal last month was a big deal, since Ubuntu has for some time now been regarded as the "friendliest" Linux distribution. It is certainly the most well-publicized in the consumer space. Its Debian-based roots give it access to a thriving and well-maintained set of package repositories. Its breadth of supported hardware and easy (well, usually easy) installer means it works just about anywhere. Canonical has put a tremendous amount of effort (both in programming and branding!) into making Ubuntu a powerful and full-featured desktop operating system.

However, many of Canonical's choices have rankled the broader Linux community, particularly its decision to go with Unity as the main graphical shell over a traditional Linux shell like GNOME. It has also included Amazon.com-powered store listings in search results, leading to comical awfulness like this:

In Ubuntu 12.10, searching for "updates" yields this. Wrong on so many levels.

Canonical shows no intention of changing course, so alternatives to Ubuntu are becoming increasingly popular. The most mature at this point is Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, keeping its parent's flexibility and compatibility while taking a more traditional direction with its interface choices. The Mint developers have just released their latest version, Linux Mint 14, codenamed "Nadia," and it has a lot of nice things going for it.

Spin cycle

Like Ubuntu, Mint also features biennial releases, usually about a month after Ubuntu. Since Mint uses Ubuntu as its core, the same long-term support rules apply; the previous release, Maya, was based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and will be supported with security and package updates until April 2017. Nadia will only be supported until April 2014, but newer versions of the operating system will be available prior to that.

The same rule of thumb applies to Mint as to Ubuntu: if you want to put it on critical systems or if you simply don't want to be bothered with distro updates, you should go with an LTS release.

Judging by the cover

Linux Mint comes with a choice of two graphical shells, neither of which are Unity. The graphical shell that gets top billing is MATE, a fork of the stalwart GNOME 2 shell. MATE supports all of GNOME 2's major features and is targeted at being a clean and simple interface with maximum compatibility.

Linux Mint's MATE shell.

The other main shell option is Cinnamon, which unlike MATE relies heavily on 3D acceleration to be flashier and a bit more modern. Cinnamon is forked from GNOME 3 instead of GNOME 2, and so its development pace is faster and its list of features is more in flux than MATE.

Linux Mint's other shell, Cinnamon.

There are also community editions of Mint available, featuring both KDE and XFCE desktop environments, if those are more to your liking.

New stuff

The new release of Linux Mint features new versions of both the MATE and Cinnamon desktops; the update list for Cinnamon is particularly long, with improvements made to the shell's file browser, notification applet, workspace management area, and lots of other places. The system's display manager, MDM, has also been updated, incorporating new theming abilities along with better user switching and support for user pictures at logon.

Version 14 also includes significant changes to the operating system's update system, Software Manager, in the form of its own apt client with full debconf support and built-in root elevation, both broadening the scope of packages that can be installed and also freeing the user from having to enter his or her password for every install.

In addition to the graphical and shell changes, Linux Mint 14 includes all of the upstream software changes made to Ubuntu 12.10, including the 3.5 Linux kernel, Python 3, gcc 4.7.2, and LibreOffice 3.6.

A quick peek under the hood shows the same updated components as Ubuntu Linux 12.10.

Can it serve?

There is no separate server version of Linux Mint, because Mint is primarily intended as a desktop operating system with different graphical underpinnings from Ubuntu. Ubuntu Server is free from all of the graphical woes that haunt its desktop counterpart, so if you need a headless Linux server to do server-y things with, Ubuntu is still a good candidate (along with its parent, Debian, or any other Linux distro with a server variant).

A viable alternative

Mint shows that desktop-friendly Linux comes in flavors other than Canonical's Ubuntu, though the fact that Mint uses Ubuntu as its base means that Mint's continued availability is tied to Ubuntu's success. The maintainers could always switch to another base (Ubuntu itself is based on Debian Linux), but Mint gains much of its power and flexibility through Canonical's polishing of the underlying components.

However, if you're fed up with Unity and disagree philosophically with Canonical's design choices, Mint is an excellent way to keep Ubuntu's compatibility while abandoning its UI. We had no problem installing both the MATE and Cinnamon flavors and spending some preliminary time with them—both work and act like a good desktop operating system should, with polished design elements and automatic hardware detection.

We'll keep Linux Mint on our review radar. If you are interested in a further deep dive, please comment below.

View: Original Article

[stylemessiah]

Good article.

I downloaded it yesterday....

Had a PC spare where i volunteer and they wanted Linux on it....of course they had only heard of Ubuntu (or Ubuttu as i call it, the slowest and kludgiest version of linux its been my misfortune to use).

Against my better judgement i decided to give them what they wanted, crappy Unity GUI and all, but there were a few issues....lets call them massive bugs

1) Ubuntu 12.10 install dying at wireless connection screen during install - Barely three screens into installing theres a massive bug in 12.10.

When i had confirmed that the ISO and CD i burnt were okay and this stall happened a 2nd time i checked the system logs....partition manager was where it was stalling.....but why....simply because Ubuntus crack team of idiots had decided to release a buggy distro that hates your PC if it has partitions created already.

This PC had, funnily enough before it was brought to me, Linux Mint 11 on it, and being a Linux Mint fan (of all the non true geek Linuces that is) that whats i would have installed on it, the latest version of course. So this PC had 2 ext4 partitions on it....and Ubuntu 12.10 did not now what to do with them....fucking comical.

A quick scan of the Ubuntu forums showed others having the same issue and crazy advice from what passes for experts in Ubuntu land like , "oh, install 12.04 fresh and then upgrade to 12.10". Again fucking comical

I had a copy of SystemRescueCD handy, so i booted to that and used the partition manager to clean the HDD completely...

2) Even with a blank HDD Ubuntu 12.10 will likely still not install - So with a blank HDD, i started install again and got past the wireless connection screen and went through partitioning where i let 12.10 handle partitioning (i even used the erase disk and partition automatically options so i didnt upset the precious bug ridden POS). Got to copying packages which got about 20% in and failed with an error (paraphrased) "an unexpected error has occurred, you will now be dropped to the GUI to allow you to investigate the cause"....clicked OK on error and waited for GUI to appear....just the background....waited 20 minutes later...still the background....

Gave up on POS Ubuntu which had again wasted another hour of my life with its buggy existence

Went along to Linux Mint's download page and there was a brand new release...14.... i arrived on the right day

Burnt CD

Ran though install...no issues

System Running

Tell me how its possible that Ubuntu cant get it right, but a smaller group using Ubuntu as base can....

Why people bother with Ubuntu is beyond me, its like Apple, Windows 8.... survives on fanboys alone, no one with any real appreciation for a proper working system would use them.

Linux Mint....use it...because it works.

[nIGHT]

Downloading.... :dribble:

[hobbykiosk]

so mint, ahhh :lol:

[calguyhunk]

....simply because Ubuntus crack team of idiots had decided to release a buggy distro that hates your PC if it has partitions created already.

After reading your post I did go over to the Ubuntu forums and saw what you're referring to, but it must be hardware specific then. I'm running QQ with W7 and W8 on 3 different partitions and the only problem I've been having is with "Secure Boot", which is playing havoc with my bootloader :(

Why people bother with Ubuntu is beyond me, its like Apple, Windows 8.... survives on fanboys alone, no one with any real appreciation for a proper working system would use them.

Linux Mint....use it...because it works.

All distros have their designated fanboyz. You know it. I'm not saying you're a Mint fanboy (although some might :P ) but I think we've all seen Apple, MS, Linux, Android, Nintendo, etc. all have fanboyz all over the place. What would the netz be without 'em and their proclamations that "mine is just the best and yours sucks. Deal with it"? ;)

No point getting upset over that unless you yourself are one of 'em :P (of any other competing distro, that is) ;)

[shamu726]

Nice, I think I'll ditch Win 8 and use this instead. :P