Linux Mint 6 (Felicia) Review
I recently looked at the latest beta of Ubuntu: Jaunty Jackalope. Ubuntu has proven to be such a popular distribution that there are even other distributions based off of it. One such distro is Linux Mint which seeks to take the ease-of-use provided by Ubuntu to a new level and, for the most part, succeeds. Linux Mint’s slogan is “From freedom came elegance” and that’s very appropriate for what this distribution is all about.
Linux Mint 6 (Felicia) is the latest version and it is based on Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex). Linux Mint 7 will be based on Ubuntu 9.04 and is being worked on already by the Linux Mint developers. There are two versions of Linux Mint:
* The Main Edition
* The Universal Edition
The universal edition does not include any proprietary software, support for restricted formats, or patented technologies. It’s geared for people in countries that might otherwise forbid some or all of these things.
Here’s some of what’s new in Linux Mint 6:
* Linux Kernel 2.6.27-7
* Network Manager .7
* Xorg 7.4
* mintInstall (software manager)
* mintUpdate 3 (system update manager)
* mintUpload 2 (uploading tool)
* mintNanny (bare bones tool to block inappropriate domains for children)
* mint4Win (Windows installer for Linux Mint)
* Giver (lets you send files from one computer to another on a local network)
* Gufw (a firewall configuration tool)
* Flegita (Gnome scanner utility)
Read the Rest or visit the Desktop Linux Reviews Blog for more Linux Reviews.
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The Collective
I started out with a Ubuntu 9.04 Live CD that was delivered to me for FREE here in Nairobi, KENYA — within 1 week. Amazing. That installed very well on my Toshiba L305-S5944 lappie — everything was detected perfectly. I did the software upgrade to Karmic Koala without any problems. But I had a teenie issue with Gnome-panel applet because I was mucking around and so I couldn’t get back to using my desktop. Then I heard about Linux Mint, read the plethora of reviews and happily installed the new release, Helena version 8.
All I can say is WOW!!! Mint is the freaking sh!t — period. My hats off to the Ubuntu team & Debian pioneers for making such a world class Operating System. I think 2010 is going to be the year of Desktop Linux. Already, Linux Mint 8 X64 is out and the reviews are very positive. I see Mint as taking Ubuntu and cleaning up a few warts here and THERE. Oh, I ran XP-SP2 in VirtualBox under Ubuntu and the speed was so fast. My setup is a 250 GB HD, 2.16 GHz Intel Duo Core, 2GB RAM, WIFI, etc. XP simply flew and then I showed it to lots of peeps down here in Nairobi — and they LIKED it a lot. Suffice to say that I’m now sloowly installing Linux Mint 8 on laptops and desktops because people are fed up with antivirus and spyware apps hogging their Windows memory plus all those USB flash drive viruses/worms/trojans.
(cont’d in next comment)
….
As we speak, I’m writing this comment on the laptop of a CEO from a company down here. Her specs are: Toshiba Portege A600-135, Core 2 Duo U930 @ 1.20GHz, 250 GB HD, 2 GB RAM, Webcam, WIFI, Bluetooth, Finger Print reader, SD Card reader, etc. The only thing it probably doesn’t detect is the stupid finger print scanner/reader. Big deal! I’m freaking amazed that it has the bluetooth icon showing that it’s turned on but no devices are in sight. It simply saw the WIFI connection and then I added the WEP key — connected to the Net with no problems. Then I browsed her Windows Vista partition and opened some of her Powerpoint presentions in Open Office 3.0 just to show her that she’s not losing out on anything from Windoze. I showed her RythimBox, Gimp, F_Spot, FireFox (with FLash already woriking out of the box), Open Office Spreadsheet, Writer and some other goodies — all ran crisp and looked great on her 1200 X 800 screen. And this is just a LiveUSB demo. I want her to get rid of X-Pee from her office PCs and this demo gave her something to think while she breaks for XMas.
(cont’d)
To conclude, Linux Mint has arrived and it deserves all the praises because its creators went the EXTRA mile to make everything run PERFECTLY out of the box. Oh, those Huawei USB 3G/EV-DO modems are automatically detected by Linux Mint (and Ubuntu too). Simply amazing. If I attach my Nokia 6070 EDGE celly to my laptop using a CA42 cable, Mint already sees it and I just have to enter the APN, user name/password for my mobile operator. Wicked!!! On Windoze, I have to bloody download a 35 Meg Nokia PC Suite just to connect to the Net. Eeew!
I simply don’t know what the Mint guys can do for version 9. Right now, version 8 (Helena) is as GOOD AS IT GETS. And I simply haven’t felt the need to install VirtualBox on my lappie. I’m just waiting to find out if Ext4 is ready for prime time and then I’ll switch from Ext3 file system.
- Max (aka Max “The IT pro”)