Linux Mint 9

[Phenom II]

I think there is already a thread for this, but thanks :)

[HawkMan]

Yeah linux mint is pretty awesome.

With the Ubuntu install I just overwrote I had some issues during install since they didn't bother to include my wlan drivers so I had to hook it up with a cable to grab the driver.

With linux mint they likewise didn't think it wise to include the wlan drivers. so I had to hook it up with a network cable... which didn't connect to the network... WTF! brilliant, break basic networking.

And they still don't have a boot menu editor during install.

And why did they include the annoying notification from ubuntu. Who thought it was a good idea with notification that dissapear when you move the mouse over them so you can't click them away.

[markwolfe Veteran]

If you're using an LTS release (like Hardy, which is supported until 2011), this can be the case. Example: the Hardy repos still offer Firefox 3 and OpenOffice 2, if I'm not mistaken.

Would that count?

That is actually a pretty good example. ;) For those choosing to stay with a more stable 'Long Term Support', they put themselves (voluntarily, I might add) into the same situation that people who choose to stick with XP over Windows 7, just because they prefer the stable 'tried and true' software.

However, to claim that *buntu leaves packages unupdated is clearly not true, when you uncheck "LTS" the more current packages are there.

[Negi]

However, to claim that *buntu leaves packages unupdated is clearly not true, when you uncheck "LTS" the more current packages are there.

Except that those "more current" packages are often months behind the most current versions as well.

That so many PPAs exist for so many packages should be a clue of that.

[wahoospa]

Just got it downloaded. Now to decide which hard drive to put it on.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Except that those "more current" packages are often months behind the most current versions as well.

That so many PPAs exist for so many packages should be a clue of that.

I agree.

Up to 6 months can pass (new release) for things like the Firefox release that too significant of a change (not just bugfixes, but a new version) to backport into the previously release version of Ubuntu. Bugfixes and minor revisions make it fine. But there were a lot of Ubuntu people adding in the firefox PPA to get the new version as soon as it came out.

Other distros, such as Fedora (which I used to use until recently) do the same thing.

But this is "months", not "years". Big difference.

[Negi]

I agree.

Up to 6 months can pass (new release) for things like the Firefox release that too significant of a change (not just bugfixes, but a new version) to backport into the previously release version of Ubuntu. Bugfixes and minor revisions make it fine. But there were a lot of Ubuntu people adding in the firefox PPA to get the new version as soon as it came out.

Other distros, such as Fedora (which I used to use until recently) do the same thing.

But this is "months", not "years". Big difference.

I did say that it could sometimes be years, not always. It's the case if you're on LTS.

Besides, I don't really think everyone who uses LTS wants to be stuck on year-old software for everything, instead of just the OS itself. Using your analogy, I doubt that all (or even the majority) of XP users choose to cling on to Firefox 3.

[SaltLife]

Going to give this one a try in my virtual environment. Does this OS fair well on a 1.6GHz (Pentium M Laptop) with 1024GB RAM? And does it come with compiz or all that so-called eye-candy turned on by default?

[TDT]

It does work with Wubi, but from what I checked, it doesn't work with some of the Community editions (xfce)

Actually, it doesn't. You can't install this via Wubi, I've checked. It's only Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Mythbuntu. So...

I don't know if this version includes mint4win or not, but I'll try.

Edit: it does have mint4win. :) Installed with no problems on Win 7 x64.

[Joshie]

See, my problem with 'ready to go' is that it is obsolete the day after you burn your CD/DVD. I'd rather use a minimal install of Debian and set my repositories to unstable/experimental and then download the current build of whatever applications that I choose. I could use that same Debian mini-CD next year and it would work just about as well as a starting point.

Debian set to use unstable binaries never really gets obsolete. Unless you b0rk your entire system there's no need for an upgrade CD. You just continually update as you go.

Hey I feel you. I'm still impatiently waiting for Linux to actually do something really cool, like a network-ready light-weight install image, where you just boot up, establish a connection to the internet, and it downloads/installs every single component of the OS hot and fresh. Of all the OSes out there, Linux is the best equipped to pull it off, and talk about a bad-ass thing to be able to do. Heck, you could practically make a floppy-sized img that can install the most feature-complete, bleeding-edge edition of your favorite distribution at that point.

Oh well.

[dreamz Veteran]

threads merged

Hey I feel you. I'm still impatiently waiting for Linux to actually do something really cool, like a network-ready light-weight install image, where you just boot up, establish a connection to the internet, and it downloads/installs every single component of the OS hot and fresh. Of all the OSes out there, Linux is the best equipped to pull it off, and talk about a bad-ass thing to be able to do. Heck, you could practically make a floppy-sized img that can install the most feature-complete, bleeding-edge edition of your favorite distribution at that point.

Oh well.

i use arch linux precisely because i can use the lightweight install image to download and install the latest version of every component of the os. :D

[Pallab]

Going to give this one a try in my virtual environment.??Does this OS fair well on a 1.6GHz (Pentium M Laptop) with 1024GB RAM? And does it come with compiz or all that so-called eye-candy turned on by default?

Don't expect Compiz to run on your configuration.

If Linux Mint Gnome doesn't perform satisfactorily, you can use Linux Mint Fluxbox (which should be released in a few weeks).

[farmeunit]

Going to give this one a try in my virtual environment. Does this OS fair well on a 1.6GHz (Pentium M Laptop) with 1024GB RAM? And does it come with compiz or all that so-called eye-candy turned on by default?

Should be fine with that hardware. I have actually installed one since since Mint 6, but plan to soon. I believe Compiz was on by default in that one. Might depend on the video card more. If it's not on, it's easy to turn on.

[ViperAFK]

Hey I feel you. I'm still impatiently waiting for Linux to actually do something really cool, like a network-ready light-weight install image, where you just boot up, establish a connection to the internet, and it downloads/installs every single component of the OS hot and fresh. Of all the OSes out there, Linux is the best equipped to pull it off, and talk about a bad-ass thing to be able to do. Heck, you could practically make a floppy-sized img that can install the most feature-complete, bleeding-edge edition of your favorite distribution at that point.

Oh well.

Its called arch linux, you can do an ftp install off the disc and download all the newest packages right during install. And its always updated with the latest packages. If you dont mind a learning curve to get it installed its great.

[Negi]

For anyone using the "final" release, what sort of RAM usage numbers are you seeing? For some reason it's abnormally high on my end (400-500MB while idling).

[x-byte]

Do people still care about RAM these days? Looks normal here. About 200mb with no other big apps running. Though I wish Linux could cache more.

[TDT]

I must say that this is a big + compared to Ubuntu. No dual screen issues anymore, worked like a charm after installing the nvidia driver, no weird panels problems, etc. I do hate, however, that there isn't ONE decent video player for Linux... VLC sucks big time, compared to the OSX version, for example, MPlayer (installed from the software packager) gives me just audio, after errors about the video renderer (and I tried them all in the program's settings). I also tried that Gnome player that comes with the distro, it's the only one that works, but it crashes randomly, sometimes even when just saving the preferences... :(

Also, I have a small question about pidgin: is there any way to have avatars, like on YM?

Thanks. :)

[Pallab]

@TDT: Try SMPlayer.

[Joshie]

i use arch linux precisely because i can use the lightweight install image to download and install the latest version of every component of the os. :D

Its called arch linux, you can do an ftp install off the disc and download all the newest packages right during install. And its always updated with the latest packages. If you dont mind a learning curve to get it installed its great.

:o

The things I fail to keep up with. I've heard of Arch Linux, but that's all: heard. Never knew any details about it.

Well crap. *looks into*

[HawkMan]

Yeah mint still won't connect to a network when I plug in the cable, not at home not at work. just tries for a bit and says disconnected. all settings set to dynamic/dhcp tried making another connection with everything set to dynamic to see if autho th0 was borked.. but no. quite simply it appears simple cabled networking is broken in this thing. So I don't have wifi drivers and I can't use a cable to get them. brilliant.

I'm not one of those who want lionux to be widnows or anythign, in fact I prefer if it's not. However, maybe a centralized collection of system events, logs and errors wouldn't be a bad idea...

And why don't they have simple icon based logon screens anymore, neither mint nor uibuntu. I'd rather just hit enter to select the default/last used user on a icon based login screen and then type the password instead of having to type my username first. as if that's supposed to be some kind of security feature.

[Joshie]

I'm not one of those who want lionux to be widnows or anythign, in fact I prefer if it's not. However, maybe a centralized collection of system events, logs and errors wouldn't be a bad idea...

Personally I feel a little irritated whenever I see somebody use the old "Linux isn't Windows" story whenever someone points out something Windows has/does that Linux doesn't. :( It somehow feels like a cop-out, and doesn't even argue the usefulness/uselessness of the feature being brought up.

Ya, I know it isn't what you said, you just reminded me of it. It seems to have become the go-to talking point whenever one of Linux's shortcomings (or even minor frustrations) is brought up and someone dares to have the nerve to point out how any other OS may have addressed it.

[hjf288]

/var/logs ?

[Negi]

Personally I feel a little irritated whenever I see somebody use the old "Linux isn't Windows" story whenever someone points out something Windows has/does that Linux doesn't. :(

Actually, I don't think anyone outside the Linux fanboy circle has ever accepted that as a valid argument.

[HawkMan]

/var/logs ?

And that's convenient compared to event viewer how ?

[TDT]

Yeah mint still won't connect to a network when I plug in the cable, not at home not at work. just tries for a bit and says disconnected. all settings set to dynamic/dhcp tried making another connection with everything set to dynamic to see if autho th0 was borked.. but no. quite simply it appears simple cabled networking is broken in this thing. So I don't have wifi drivers and I can't use a cable to get them. brilliant.

I'm not one of those who want lionux to be widnows or anythign, in fact I prefer if it's not. However, maybe a centralized collection of system events, logs and errors wouldn't be a bad idea...

And why don't they have simple icon based logon screens anymore, neither mint nor uibuntu. I'd rather just hit enter to select the default/last used user on a icon based login screen and then type the password instead of having to type my username first. as if that's supposed to be some kind of security feature.

I think you're trying something else, not Mint. First of all, there IS an icon based logon screen, I never had to type my user name or do something else than click on the picture and type the password.

And I also have a dhcp lan that I use, it works without problems in this distro. Or Ubuntu, for that matter. :)