bytesandsuch.com » Linux Mint

Staying With Ubuntu

don — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:18:19 +0000

I have read numerous posts in other blogs advising Linux ‘newbies’ to install install Ubuntu as their first Linux distribution. The reasons are many, including that it installs (and uninstalls) easily, it’s easy to use and it recognizes most hardware peripherals. I do not disagree with any of this. What I do find annoying is an inference that once one is no longer a newbie that some other distro would be preferable. I have been using Ubuntu for over a year and a half. In that time my user status has progressed from newbie to intermediate and probably on to advanced. Is it time to move on to another distro?

I looked at Linux Mint and did not like it. It was a step backward, not forward. Many say that Fedora is the “bleeding edge” of Linux distros. I don’t dislike Fedora but I can’t find anything that it can do that Ubuntu cannot. In fact, installing third party proprietary software in Fedora is a bit more difficult.

The point is that Ubuntu works and there is little motivation to change to something else. Some will say that this makes me a “fanboy”. Not really. I have simply not found anything that justifies a change. If something better comes along, I’ll change in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, I’m staying with Ubuntu.

Linux Mint 7 (Gloria) – R.I.P.

don — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:54:06 +0000

In a previous article I indicated indecision in picking the distro that will finally be in control of my desktop PC. I made a decision to install Linux Mint 7. The live CD looked promising and I could always replace it with some other distro if I had problems.

Mint is supplied with a highly customized Gnome desktop. There is only a single panel at the bottom of the screen. This is where my problems started. Gloria comes with GnomeDo installed. This is a launcher app, not unlike the Launchy freeware available for Windows users. GnomeDo has a “skin” that makes it accessible as a dock. I like docks. The first thing I did was to enable the dock (Docky). The dock appears at the bottom of the screen and is not movable. This takes up more space at the bottom of the screen. Gloria does not have virtual workspaces enabled by default. This is easily fixed but doing so results in yet another object at the bottom of the screen and things are messy to say the least. I disabled Docky and installed the Cairo-Dock I had used in Ubuntu. This dock is movable but the virtual desktops remained a nuisance at the bottom of the screen.

At about this time the system crashed. X-winows could not be restarted. The machine could not be powered off, at least with the soft switch. I finally pulled the power cord out and restarted.

Continuing on, I installed VMware Player. Player normally shows up on the “System Tools” menu. But wait, there is no “System Tools “menu although it is correctly configured to show! It is available via the “All” option, but this is quite a nuisance. Also missing is an icon for the Trash Can. The Trash is now in the Places menu. Another nuisance and one that is bound to cause problems.

Before struggling with the shortcomings of this distro any further, I installed Super OS (a.k.a. Super Ubutu). Mint strives to achieve simplicity and elegance. To some extent it achives this goal but only at the expense of functionality. It might be okay for a Windows migrant, but an experienced Linux user will not be happy with it.

Windows 7 .. R.I.P.

don — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:20:13 +0000

I am not a sucker. In my previous article I mentioned how you can legally use Windows 7 until March 2010 absolutely FREE! But, what then? I have read, but cannot confirm, that Windows 7 will be more expensive than Vista. I have installed the “Ultimate” version of Windows 7. The “Ultimate” version of Vista is priced at $400. Who, in their right mind, would shell out this kind of money when a better alternative is available for FREE? Microsoft hopes that you will install a bunch of Windows programs and the upgrade will become essential instead of optional. I am bot falling for that.

After living with Windows 7 for two weeks I decided that while it works pretty good, there was no point in continuing to use it when I knew that eventually it would be discarded in favor of a GNU/Linux distro. Which One?

Fedora 11 will be released in about a week. I tried some pre-release “test spins” of this distro and consistently had problems of having my monitor recognized. I resolved the problems but was disappointed with with the selection of default applications. The latest version of GNOME hides some features I love, but it is strange that I had to consult some Ubuntu forums to resolve a Fedora problem.

Of course there’s the Ubuntu 9.04 release. This is certainly a contender but why not install an “improved” version like “Super OS” or” Linux Mint”? These derivatives pre-install some software and codecs that you’re going to want anyway.

At this moment, I am using the release candidate of Linux Mint 7 running off a flash drive, I will wait a few days before making a permanent install of some version of GNU/Linux. Reader comments would be appreciated.