Linux Mint 10 for a Whole Day

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2011-03-13 18:38:52 UTC
Modified: 2011-03-13 18:38:52 UTC

Summary: Rave about Linux Mint 10, which is a recommended option to existing Ubuntu users

Ubuntu, Ubuntu, Ubuntu. Android, Android, Android. Welcome to the new world of GNU/Linux, where brands are merely trademarks of companies which increasingly treat "community" as convenient PR/free labour and do what the heck they want. I decided to give the nice Irishmen from Mint a go and see if it's time to live a Minty lifestyle. On Saturday I used Mint 10 and it lasted almost all day. The reason it did not last a whole day will be explained in a moment. As a bit of background, I've been exploring Ubuntu alternatives that reject poor decisions from Canonical and take what's good in Ubuntu. So, I went with Mint. It was not the KDE version, which had not come out before I burned Mint 10 to a CD and then wrote about it some time last month.

"Granted, a lot of credit is given here to Mint for what Ubuntu has done in the same way that Debian receives little or no credit for what it gave to Canonical over the many years."The desktop experience based on the Live CD was fantastic on good hardware. It hardly felt like a live session at all, it was very polished, the default theme was stunning (although better wallpapers come with the stock), and the selected applications were just right for my needs. The only unexpected downside is that twice throughout the day the session sort of fell. First the mouse pointer vanished from one monitor (just the cursor, the pointer was still functional), then the session froze (just shortly thereafter). Having to restart a live session is a pain because all the stored passwords need to be reentered, not to mention bookmarks and the likes of those. The second crash came just an hour later and it was a real crash, not a freeze that came rather spontaneously. Based on my experience with a Live CD of PCLinuxOS back in 2009, this is not too unusual. Perhaps working uninterrupted for consecutive days on a live session is not too easy. A lot depends on what's in memory and the CD is a sort of unreliable bus, as well.

All in all, however, Mint 10 is better than anything I've ever come across in all the Ubuntu versions I've used (almost all of them) and it is definitely worth using. Granted, a lot of credit is given here to Mint for what Ubuntu has done in the same way that Debian receives little or no credit for what it gave to Canonical over the many years.

The new "Techrights headquarters" so to speak has no wired Internet connection yet, which means I must use cellular networks to access the Internet (slow and expensive). As such, there's going to be no regular posting pace in the week to come (if not week and a half, depending on BT).

Comments

bean.java

2011-03-13 19:55:07

be careful....i have tried out Linux Mint Debian edition and I warn you. It contains Mono. Almost a third of the iso file is a mono installation.

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2011-03-13 20:37:01

That's where the KDE version comes handy.

bean.java

2011-03-13 23:04:28

Linux Mint Debian Edition is based on Debian Testing..... It currently only has Gnome version. The one you tested is based off Ubuntu directly. That is why i tried LMDE instead of 'Mint 10.

dyfet

2011-03-13 23:52:29

I had looked at LMDE also, out of curiosity. Yes, it is a Debian testing rolling distro, though it can be locked onto squeeze for a stable one. It does make me think of Ubuntu without the branding.
bean.java

2011-03-14 18:11:48

on your recommendation i am trying out LinuxMint 10(Julia) KDE version..... it also contains MONO..... as such i won't be recommending its use to anyone
KettleCooker

2011-03-14 20:06:17

I always remove mono when I install a distro for someone.

I know that GNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/HomePage) avoids stuff like mono, which is great.

WattOS is also based on Ubuntu, way more lightweight with emphasis on power savings. Since it's light, there's probably no mono in it either, but I cannot say for sure.
bean.java

2011-03-14 20:23:34

sorry for any misunderstandings on the matter.... but I don't believe in supporting/installing/recommending ANY distro that uses mono. While yes that doesn't stop me from installing it on other peoples computers, the first thing i do is nuke it as well. but personally i will recommend using debian squeeze... but thats because it doesn't have mono/(security-untested-kernel-blobs). when i grew up and left Ubuntu i went straight to debian.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2011-03-14 20:27:26

Ubuntu has Mono too. I guess I ought to recommend Netrunner:

http://techrights.org/2010/06/29/netrunner-2-excludes-mono/ http://techrights.org/2010/04/08/netrunner-debuts/

In any case, I just wanted to say I tried Mint and it was good (although it de-emphasises freedom). :-/
Adrian Malacoda

2011-03-16 01:58:16

I recommend Trisquel, personally. It's based on Ubuntu and is somewhat different (they arrange the GNOME panels differently), but strongly emphasizes free software (as opposed to "open source") and contains no kernel blobs.

Mono is included in the repos, but not in the default install. Gnote is included instead of Tomboy, for instance, and Exaile is the default music player.

There's a KDE version in the works but I don't use KDE so I don't pay much attention there.

Linux Mint 10 for a Whole Day

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