Problems & Headaches
I’d like to have something significant to complain about in this section but I really don’t. The install went well and I had no problem working in Linux Mint 7. But if you’ve noticed any problems then please be sure to post them in the comments section below. I’d like everybody to have the opportunity to share information about potential snafus.
Final Thoughts & Who Should Use It
Linux Mint has been one of my favorite distributions and it remains so. I happily recommend to anybody looking for a good desktop Linux distribution. It comes with a good bit of software by default, has an extremely attractive theme and makes multimedia related tasks quite simple for the user.
Linux Mint should be right at the top of everybody’s desktop distribution consideration list.
Summary Table:
| Product: | Linux Mint 7 |
| Web Site: | http://www.linuxmint.com |
| Price: | Free |
| Pros: | mintMenu, gorgeous theme, good choice of default software and multimedia ready right after the install. |
| Cons: | Might just be too elegant and easy for Linux tinkerers who would probably become bored with it after a while. |
| Summary: | Linux Mint 7 remains one of the best customized versions of Ubuntu and should be at the top of anybody’s desktop distribution consideration list. |
| Rating: | 4/5 |
Just a heads up for those coming from Linux Today, the discussion forum is now up for DLR. It’s brand new so please drop by and help me get some threads going. I just set it up a few minutes ago.
(18 votes, average: 4.39 out of 5)
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So you don’t lke blnkie-winkie-bouncie nags?? God for you! They drive me nuts!
Nice review on Mint 7, which is an exceptionally well done re-spin on Ubuntu. I do think it is as good an everyday Linux as there is out there, frankly.
One question tht a virutal machine does not touch: How does GRUB work with ext4? My impression from fedora 11 release notes is that GRUB is problematic with ext 4 and it requires an ext3 formatted /boot partition.
OK, if I could type I would have said “Good for you!” We’ll let God pick his on fights.
Hi Bill,
Yeah those bouncie things suck! Or flashing or whatever. Whoever thought those up should be smacked upside the head!
I’m not sure on the ext4 question. Hopefully Brian or someobody else will drop by and have a few thoughts about it.
Hi guys,
Maybe I can answer your ext4 question. I am running Linux Mint 7 on my pc. I have a separate / partition and a separate /home partition. Both partitions are formatted as ext4 filesystems. I do not use ext3 anymore.
GRUB has no problems booting the / partition on my desktop PC. I have been running Linux Mint 7 for several weeks now without issues.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Welcome to DLR! Thanks for chiming in on the ext4 thing, glad to hear it’s working well for you. That’s good for folks to know.
[...] pitched it this morning and they linked to my Linux Mint 7 review over on my new Desktop Linux Reviews blog. Thanks so much Linux Today guys! It made my day to see [...]
i have always said.. when is GNOME… not GNOMISH..!! when it is linuxmint….. im not one for using the Gnome desktop.. it just feels old.. however.. i have switched to linuxmint on one of my pc’s at home.. it just feels to right.. i still have a place for KDE.. especially KDE4 no matter what anyone else says.. but linuxmint is defenelty a very very good distro….
Welcome to DLR, Pete. Nice to have you with us.
And welcome to everybody else who shows up later on too so I don’t spam the thread with welcome messages.
Guys, just so you know there is a KDE version of Mint available as well that puts Kubuntu to shame.
http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia_kde.php
This edition of Mint KDE is based on Ubuntu 8.10. The next release, based on 9.04, is due out any day now. It will be released with KDE 4.2.4 and Amarok 2.1.
G2D2, thanks for that tip. I’ll add that to my list of reviews to do when it comes out.
BTW, a big thanks to Linux Today for linking to this review. I appreciate it a lot. It’s great exposure for such a new blog.
And if you haven’t visited Linux Today, you should:
http://www.linuxtoday.com
The next generation GRUB, GRUB2 supports booting from EXT4 partitions, though I believe that is still in development. There has been a patch for the legacy GRUB for ages though to support EXT4. Ubuntu 9.04 has no problem booting from EXT4 partitions, so presumably Mint 7 would also have no problem with it.
Well, I’m really glad to see your prompt review of Mint 7. I was wondering if you’d do a repeat since 7 just came out, but I thought your piece about Clem and his politics may have taken priority.
In any case, what I would say, from as close to an objective point of view as I can get, Linux Mint (any version) rates in my book as one of the three Linux distributions (or even desktop software, for that matter), that a relative newcomer might have at least a CHANCE to install, as long as they aren’t the panic stricken type of newcomer. SimplyMEPIS and PCLinuxOS are the other two that I feel fit into this category. Ubuntu comes VERY close, but misses by an inch or two.
I can’t say that I am personally a big Mint fan, though, and Clem’s recent political stand just gave me a reason to stay away a while longer. If he shuts up about his politics, I may sneak back later, but if he keeps up his rants, I’ll just respect his wishes and stay away.
For those who are GNOME fans, this is DEFINITELY the NUMBER ONE distro. For those who are KDE fans, you can typically get a Mint KDE community edition a few months after the official release comes out, and in fact, there is a KDE 4 respin out there; well worth KDE fans trying out.
Nice review, Jim, hope to see many more like it!
As hard as I try, I just cannot get into Mint. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, it’s just that it is not Ubuntu. Had I tried Mint before Ubuntu, my attitude may be different. Coming from the KDE world, the interface differences in Mint are certainly less of a shock.
However, the more I use Ubuntu Gnome, the more I like it. It has become so ingrained, that going back to a KDE type arrangement, or even Windows for that matter is just strange to me. Sort of like I cannot imagine how I got along without Gnome before.
At any rate, the built in multimedia capabilities of Mint should certainly be helpful to those newer to Linux, and those who do things like play movies on their laptops. The only thing I add to Ubuntu is Adobe Flash, as all of my other stuff is in native Linux formats. I also do not play DVD’s on any computer. This are reserved for my $89 Walmart home theater.:)
As to the Grub question above, I do know that the version that comes with Ubuntu 9.04 works perfectly fine with Ext4. I am using it right now.
BTW, another distro that may be right up your ally is Elive. I have not tried it, but it does look like it would be interesting to fans of Mac OSX. http://www.elivecd.org/
Jim, if you want to find something to potentially complain about besides the bouncing balls, check out how long it takes for the mint* stuff to update. If I run an apt-get update, it might take anywhere from twenty seconds to a minute, depending on the last time I refreshed the cache. Last time I tried the Mint tools, they were taking on the order of TEN-TWENTY minutes. Whatever value they add, they just were not worth it to me. I use assign an alias, and do this:
alias ug=”sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade”
or, if I just want to download the upgrades without installing them, so I can examine them first:
alias dl=”sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -d dist-upgrade”
After doing either . .bashrc or exec bash to pull in these alias changes (I keep them either in .bashrc or in .bash_aliases, which I invoke from .bashrc), I can upgrade orders of magnitude faster than mint anything, and typing in a two character acronym followed by an Enter key does not stretch my limited keyboard skills too much! ;-)
Minor ding, but see if those tools do any better than the Mint 6 tools. Maybe it was because it was WINTER when I was using Mint 6 – the Mint tools were SLOWER THAN MOLASSES IN JANUARY! ;-)
I’d second the notion to review Elive, and I’d also like to see a sidux review as soon as 2009.02 is released.