Linux Mint
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 | |
 Linux Mint 7 ("Gloria") | |
| OS family | Derivative of Ubuntu |
|---|---|
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Open source |
| Latest release | Linux Mint 7 ("Gloria") / May 26, 2009 |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Update method | APT |
| Package manager | dpkg |
| Platforms | x86, x86-64 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic |
| Default user interface | GNOME |
| License | Mainly the GPL, and various others |
| Official website | www.linuxmint.com |
Linux Mint is an operating system for personal computers. While Linux Mint is mostly based on (and compatible with[1]) Ubuntu, the design of the user interface differs. Design differences include:
- A distinct user interface, including a simplified bootloader, desktop layout, theme, and the custom Mint menu.[2]
- A strong focus on full functionality out of the box (E.g.: Wireless drivers included, plugins required to play common media formats installed by default, screen resolution automatically set, etc.).[3] Linux Mint also includes Adobe Flash player so users can view sites such as YouTube without having to install anything else.
- The Mint Tools, a collection of system tools designed to make system management and administration easier for end users.
Linux Mint is available for download in the form of ISO images, which can be used to create Live CDs or Live USBs.
Branches
Like many other Linux distributions, Linux Mint has different repositories, or "branches". The branch with the newest features, or "unstable branch" of the repositories, is called "Romeo". It is not activated by default in Linux Mint releases. Users who wish to get cutting-edge features and help the distribution test new packages can add Romeo to their Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) sources.
New packages are first released in "Romeo", where they are tested by developers and community members who use it. After a package is found to be stable enough, it is backported to the latest stable release.[citation needed]
Editions
Linux Mint comes in several editions including GNOME, the main one being a x86-32 edition. There is also a 64-bit version, called 'x64 Edition', which is designed to be as similar as possible to the main edition. There is also the Universal Edition, which doesn't include proprietary software, some patented technologies or support for restricted formats, allowing easier redistribution[4][clarification needed].
Linux Mint is also distributed via Community Editions, with the KDE, Xfce and Fluxbox versions.
Repositories
Linux Mint has its own repositories for tools specific or customized for Linux Mint but also uses Ubuntu's repositories for other software.
mint4win
As of Linux Mint 6 'Felicia', a Windows installer is included as one of the installation methods, a rebranded version of Wubi.[5] It is activated when the CD is inserted into a computer under Windows providing AutoRun is enabled.
Releases
Originally, Linux Mint didn't follow a predictable release cycle. Recently however, it has been decided that Linux Mint will correlate with the 6 month Ubuntu release cycle and Linux Mint releases now reach end of life when their corresponding Ubuntu releases do.
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Old release; not supported |
| Green | Supported release |
| Blue | Future or test release |
| Version | Codename | Edition | Code Base | APT Base[clarification needed] | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Elyssa | Fluxbox CE | Ubuntu 8.04 | Ubuntu 8.04 | 21 October2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | Fluxbox CE | Xubuntu 8.10 | Ubuntu 8.10 | 7 April 2009 |
| Version | Codename | Edition | Code Base | APT Base[clarification needed] | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0 | Barbara | Main | Ubuntu 6.10 | Ubuntu 6.10 | 13 November2006 |
| 2.1 | Bea | Main | Ubuntu 6.10 | Ubuntu 6.10 | 20 December2006 |
| 2.2 | Bianca | Main | Ubuntu 6.10 | Ubuntu 6.10 | 20 February2007 |
| 2.2 | Bianca | Light | Ubuntu 6.10 | Ubuntu 6.10 | 29 March2007 |
| 3.0 | Cassandra | Main | Bianca 2.2 | Ubuntu 7.04 | 30 May2007 |
| 3.0 | Cassandra | Light | Bianca 2.2 | Ubuntu 7.04 | 15 June2007 |
| 3.1 | Celena | Main | Bianca 2.2 | Ubuntu 7.04 | 24 September2007 |
| 3.1 | Celena | Light | Bianca 2.2 | Ubuntu 7.04 | 01 October2007 |
| 4.0 | Daryna | Main | Celena 3.1 | Ubuntu 7.10 | 15 October2007 |
| 4.0 | Daryna | Light | Celena 3.1 | Ubuntu 7.10 | 15 October2007 |
| 5 | Elyssa | Main | Daryna 4.0 | Ubuntu 8.04 | 8 June2008 |
| 5 | Elyssa | Light | Daryna 4.0 | Ubuntu 8.04 | 8 June2008 |
| 5 | Elyssa | x64 | Ubuntu 8.04 | Ubuntu 8.04 | 18 October2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | Main | Ubuntu 8.10 | Ubuntu 8.10 | 15 December2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | Universal (Light) | Ubuntu 8.10 | Ubuntu 8.10 | 15 December2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | x64 | Ubuntu 8.10 | Ubuntu 8.10 | 6 February2009 |
| 7 | Gloria | Main | Ubuntu 9.04 | Ubuntu 9.04 | 26 May 2009 |
| 7 | Gloria | Universal (Light) | Ubuntu 9.04 | Ubuntu 9.04 | 26 May 2009 |
| 7 | Gloria | x64 | Ubuntu 9.04 | Ubuntu 9.04 | June 2009 |
| 8 | Helena | Main | Ubuntu 9.10 | Ubuntu 9.10 | November 2009 |
| Version | Codename | Edition | Code Base | APT Base | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Ada | Main | Kubuntu Dapper | Dapper | 27 August2006 |
| 2.2 | Bianca | KDE CE | Kubuntu Edgy | Edgy | 20 April2007 |
| 3.0 | Cassandra | KDE CE | Bianca 2.2 | Feisty | 14 August2007 |
| 3.0 | Cassandra | MiniKDE CE | Bianca 2.2 | Feisty | 14 August2007 |
| 4.0 | Daryna | KDE CE | Cassandra 3.0 | Gutsy | 03 March2008 |
| 5 | Elyssa | KDE CE | Daryna 4.0 | Hardy | 15 September2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | KDE CE | Elyssa 5 | Intrepid | 08 April 2009 |
| Version | Codename | Edition | Code Base | APT Base | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | Cassandra | Xfce CE | Cassandra 3.0 | Feisty | 07 August2007 |
| 5 | Elyssa | XFCE CE | Daryna 4.0 | Hardy | 8 September2008 |
| 6 | Felicia | XFCE CE | Xubuntu Intrepid | Intrepid | 24 February 2009 |
- As of "Elyssa," the minor version number has been dropped (i.e. "Linux Mint 5.0" is now "Linux Mint 5"). This is due to a decision to follow Ubuntu's 6 month release cycle; there should no longer be more than one release per Ubuntu base.[6]
Team
Linux Mint is maintained by the following people:
- Clement Lefebvre - Founder, project leader, developer and maintainer of the Main, Universal and x64 editions
- merlwiz79 - Maintainer of the Xfce edition
- Jamie Boo Birse - Maintainer of the KDE edition
- Shane Joe Lazar - Maintainer of the Fluxbox edition
A full listing is available on the distribution's website: http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
Mint tools
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (June 2009) |
Linux Mint comes with its own set of tools aimed at making the experience easier for the user.
- MintInstall: Lets you run .mint files, which are files containing instructions to install packages. As of Linux Mint 6, this tool has been revamped, and now lets you view all the applications on the Mint Software Portal offline, providing you have an Internet connection to download the information first. Also allows you to install any of the programs listed directly from the desktop, instead of going to the site.[7] The option to use the old MintInstall program is available, where you can go to the Ubuntu Repositories or the Getdeb.net website from a search.
- MintUpdate: Update-software designed specifically for Linux Mint. MintUpdate assigns updates a safety-level (from 1 to 5), based on the stability and necessity of the update. Updates can be set to notify users (as is normal), be listed but not notify, or be hidden by default. In addition to including updates specifically for the Mint distribution, the development team tests all package-wide updates. This system is designed to prevent inexperienced users from installing updates that are unnecessary or require a certain level of knowledge to configure properly. If mintInstall is used to install a program from the default repositories, that program is able to receive updates via mintUpdate.[8]
- MintDesktop: A desktop configuration tool for easy configuration of the Gnome desktop. Also acts as a background process to do various tasks upon login. Also network browsing is made easier (through fusesmb). MintDesktop has received a major overhaul in Mint 4.0.[9]
- MintConfig: (Obsolete from Daryna.) A customizable control center. It gathers all the tools from "Preferences" and "Administration" and organizes them into categories. The purpose of mintConfig was to give users a control center since Gnome didn’t have one. In Daryna only the Gnome Control Center is present.
- MintAssistant: A customization wizard that appears during first log-in for users, asking a few questions to customize Mint based on the user's level of knowledge and comfort with various Linux components. It currently asks if the user wants to enable or disable fortune-cookies in the terminal, and if the root account should be enabled or disabled. As of Linux Mint 7, this tool has been replaced with MintWelcome.
- MintUpload: An FTP client that uploads files to a server by right-clicking on the icons and selecting upload. The user will then be given a link he or she can give to other people for quick and easy sharing.
- MintSpace: The larger sibling of MintUpload. Provides an additional 1 GB of storage space and files stay on the server for seven days (rather than 2 days).[10]
- MintMenu: A python-coded menu that allows for fully customizable text, icons, and colors. It shares the same hotlinks to software as the Gnome main menu.
- MintWifi: Drivers for quite a few wlan gadgets and mintWifi.py. Located in /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi
- MintNanny: A basic domain blocking parental control tool. Lets you manually add domains to be blocked system wide. This tool was introduced with the release of Linux Mint 6.[11]
- MintMake: A command line tool that allows you to make .mint files for programs.
- MintWelcome: Introduced in Linux Mint 7, MintWelcome is an application that starts on the first login of any new account. It shows a dialogue window welcoming the user to Linux Mint, and providing links to the Linux Mint website, user guide etc.
Software from the Mint repositories can be installed in Debian and Ubuntu as well through APT.[citation needed]
Comparison with Ubuntu
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and the two distributions have much in common. Both distributions use the same software repositories.[citation needed] For instance, release 6 (“Felicia”) uses the package pools of Ubuntu “Intrepid Ibex” (8.10). Most packages are the same on both distributions, and as of Linux Mint 6 'Felicia', each Linux Mint release is based on Ubuntu, whereas before they were based on the previous Linux Mint release.[12]
Most differences are on the desktop. Linux Mint has a stated focus on elegance, and it includes a number of applications that are not available in Ubuntu (see aforementioned Mint Tools). Support for popular sound and video formats are installed by default in Linux Mint's standard edition[citation needed], but there is a "patent-friendly" version intended for the United States and Japanese markets. Visually, the distributions has some GTK+ themes not found in Ubuntu[citation needed], and cowsay is enabled as of Mint 5 for terminal sessions[citation needed].
Position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and controversy
On 2009-05-03, the lead developer of Linux Mint, Clement Lefebvre, said he was touched by what was happening in Palestine and asked supporters of the Israeli government not to use or donate to Linux Mint. This was expressed as his own personal stance, but displayed on the official Linux Mint blog. He later apologized to the development team and to the community for the initial wording of his post and for posting it in the wrong place. [13] As requested by the development team and many people within the community, the post was rephrased and moved to his personal blog. [14] This incident caused some users to quit the project and others to join it. [15][16]
On 2009-05-07, Clement Lefebvre posted in his personal blog to further explain his position. He refuted accusations of racism and anti-Semitism, and underlined that he was primarily opposed to cruelty and terror in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He explained that he didn't blame citizens for their need of protection or their patriotism, but people, Israeli or not, who thought cruelty and terror should continue and for whom peace wasn't an option. [17]
On 2009-05-12, Clement Lefebvre said he hoped for peace in the Middle-East and expressed his support to Palestinians and Israelis who suffered from the conflict. [18]
Critical reception
One of the main things that Mint is praised for is its user friendliness and out of the box functionality.[citation needed] It is often complimented for providing multimedia codecs and Adobe Flash by default, saving the user from having to install them.[citation needed] It has also been praised[citation needed] for the large variety of utilities (called mintTools) available for it, adding extra functionality via a GUI.[19] As of May 2009, DistroWatch ranks Linux Mint as the third most popular distribution.[20]
Criticisms of Linux Mint are that it does not support enough media formats commonly found on the web[citation needed], and that it still has some features of Ubuntu that are undesirable, such as the screensavers that come with Ubuntu, which are claimed to be resource hogs.[21]
References
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
- ^ http://on-disk.com/product_info.php/products_id/612
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php Download - Linux Mint
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia_whatsnew.php
- ^ Minor version number dropped
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia_whatsnew.php
- ^ Blueprint: “Integration with mintInstall”
- ^ mintDesktop in Launchpad
- ^ "MintUpload tutorial and integration with mintSpace". Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia_whatsnew.php
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=560
- ^ http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=775
- ^ http://eclelef.blogspot.com/search/label/Politics
- ^ http://www.linuxhaxor.net/2009/05/04/linux-and-politics-dont-mix-well/
- ^ http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2346637,00.asp
- ^ http://eclelef.blogspot.com/2009/05/personal-facts-mistakes-and-apologies.html
- ^ http://eclelef.blogspot.com/2009/05/middle-east-what-matters-most.html
- ^ http://linuxbsdos.com/2008/05/12/linux-mint/
- ^ http://distrowatch.com/stats.php?section=popularity
- ^ http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1271263&seqNum=2
External links
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