Linux Mint 7, Mmm, this is good!

[Beta-brain]

I thought I would mention how good I have found the latest version of Linux Mint 7 to be (Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu) after trying it for a few days and how the problems I had previously with Ubuntu have been fixed,
I've used Ubuntu 8.10 for a while (dual boot with XP) and it's only a few little things that I couldn't get working like Java which needed installing but I gave up trying to install it because the d/load from Sun was so insanely slow, this issue is well know and was mentioned in "Micro Mart" magazine when they did an article on installing and using Ubuntu but all that is sorted with Linux Mint 7 and java and flash are installed by default and WiFi cards drivers are better supported, I don't have WiFI but my Ethernet cable connection was detected and connected in seconds and I was on-line.

There are plenty of integrated media codecs and playing some flac tracks and DVD/CD's was no problem and with the Totem movie player you can also search for and play Youtube vids, Linux Mint is a community driven distribution and has tried to deliver what the forum members asked for and this makes it a really user friendly distro.

Linux Ubuntu/Mint distros just keep getting better and the reasons to use windows are getting fewer, there are some programs that won't work on Linux but with 1000's of apps in the linux depositories you can probably find something to do the job so playing games is for me about the only reason to use windows any more.

If you've tried Linux before and not got on with it but would like to give it another go then Mint is really worth trying and you can run it from the Live CD so you don't have to install it to try it, I find it amazing that you can get an OS like this for free
You can find out more and d/load Mint from here.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

I've been meaning to Linuxize the backup machine anyway (the P4). Scha-weet. This ish is gettin' downloaded. I'd heard of the Mint, but hadn't gotten around to trying it - this is the excuse I needed.

The other machine's quieter and less obtrusive than the Monolith (the gaming rig)... might as well run that more often, if this works out!

[x88x]

So it's basically Ubuntu with all the 3rd party stuff already installed? Nice. I can completely understand why Canonical leaves it uninstalled, for licensing reasons, but this sounds like a really good idea, especially for people new to Linux.

[Beta-brain]

So it's basically Ubuntu with all the 3rd party stuff already installed? Nice. I can completely understand why Canonical leaves it uninstalled, for licensing reasons, but this sounds like a really good idea, especially for people new to Linux.

Yes absolutely, getting people to try Linux is hard enough but when they are then put off it buy some small issues it's going to be even harder to get them to try it again, as a Linux noob I thought Ubuntu was good apart from a few small issues but it was good enough to get me hooked and Mint is even better and very like windows for those converting, the new menu system is also really good.

[BuzzKillington]

I wonder why they never go heavier than 700MBs? I understand so it will fit on a CD but I wonder how much more they could incorporate if they went bigger?

Either way +rep for the info and /downloading.

[Kumo]

I have Mint 64b on one of my laptops and it's nice for games, multimedia (nvidia+hdmi in example) and other things. With more update drivers. It isn't just a Ubuntu's Child (like ubuntu isn't just a Debian's child).

@BuzzK: Tar and Gzip are way better than zip and rar, and can save a lot of space in a CD. Anyway some distros are also distributed on DVD or multi-cd (Debian, Gnopixx). But repositories are a very powerful tool so you don't really need a lot optional software in the CD to install a server or workstation. In add, even you can download small footprint versions to make a network install. Or directly a small distro like DSL or puppy

[progbuddy]

It's cute.

[Beta-brain]

It's cute.

Yes it is kind of cute and it's also easy to create a portable version that boots from a USB flash drive, I created one today and used it to boot the DOSBox mod I'm building and it works quite well.
It runs surprisingly fast and I tried plugging in another USB flash drive just as a storage device and mint found it straight away so you can save data straight to it so as not to take up space on the USB flash drive that mint is on.
The next trial is to see if I can load a full install of mint onto a flash card using one of these adapters that plug into a IDE connector on the mobo or fit in a case slot and link to an IDE connector via a IDE cable and take power from a floppy drive power connector.
It's a cheapish way to get a SSD if it works but obviously not with much storage space but it could be very useful for building small mods.

I bought them a while ago but the only CF card I've got is 2GB and I would like to do a full install of mint and have some storage space left, back to ebay for a bigger card I guess!
The info on creating a USB bootable version of mint is here

I also found some light reading in a local book shop sale.

[chaksq]

I've looking into using CF as HDs in the past. Cool idea, but I hear the read/write cycle is somewhat limited for a boot type drive, meaning it wont last as long as traditional methods. I still think they are useful and the only reason I haven't tried it is lack of money or a need.

As for Linux Mint, it sound really good. I want to try it but at the same time don't want to delete my current install of Fedora to do so.

[Beta-brain]

I've looking into using CF as HDs in the past. Cool idea, but I hear the read/write cycle is somewhat limited for a boot type drive, meaning it wont last as long as traditional methods. I still think they are useful and the only reason I haven't tried it is lack of money or a need.

As for Linux Mint, it sound really good. I want to try it but at the same time don't want to delete my current install of Fedora to do so.

Hi, chaksq, Your correct of course about the read/write cycle it's something that's discussed a lot on forums about USB booting and some people say it's not a problem others disagree, I tried booting a modified version of windows from a USB stick but gave up as I couldn't get it working very well it was very unstable and sometimes it would boot other times not.

I thought I would try installing a persistent Linux install on a CF card as it allows data changes to be saved back to the storage device instead of leaving the information in system RAM, (and as only the changes are written back to the storage device, the read/write cycles decrease, prolonging your flash drives life.) this data can then be recovered and used again on subsequent boots, even when booting from different machines, typically a separate Persistent storage space is used in conjunction with a compressed Live Linux OS.

I created a copy of mint that boots and runs from a USB stick and that works surprisingly well but the persistent version would be far more useful if used on the same machine as updates and updated drivers especially for graphics could be saved.
More about persistent installs here.


You can try booting mint from a live CD to see if you like it