Linux Mint 13 [Maya]

[MidnightCowboy]

Started a new thread for this because unless I had a bad burn with the RC they've done a lot of work between that and the final. I looked at the Mate x64 version over the weekend and apart from the file manager keeping opening for some reason, the install was faultless. Usual boring wait for the language packs to download but this is just part of the process.

Added quite a bit of stuff to test out the Software Manager, and it all works without errors. Screenlets too is more or less functional except for those needing transparency. Don't want to risk Compiz though, in fact not even sure if it's compatible with Mate. Otherwise, everything I normally use runs fine, including sound and network.

No time for a more in depth look until next weekend but impressed with what I've seen so far.

[wdhpr]

Dedoimedo has a review of Mint Maya [Cinnamon] He will be reviewing the [Mate] version shortly. I have great respect for Dedoimedo's linux knowledge and experience but sometimes I feel his glowing reviews are a bit premature. My experience with new distro's have been that it takes awhile of using before the bugs start coming out of the cracks. This is not to say that his reviews are inadequate, quite the contrary they are very helpful. His reviews are great for preparing you for problems that may be confronted you. I guess I could compare it with a car dealership. They are sure to point out all the great accessories, the not so good things don't start popping up until after you have drove it for awhile.

[MidnightCowboy]

From the Mint site description:

• Cinnamon is among the sleekest and most modern looking environments
• Cinnamon features innovative features and emphasis on productivity with traditional desktop metaphors
• Cinnamon is built on rapid technologies and its development pace is really fast
• The Cinnamon community is very active, and produces a lot of new themes and applets

Thought I’d help out with a translation of the above.

“Cinnamon is among the sleekest and most modern looking environments”
It looks uncluttered because most of what you might want to install into it won’t work.

“Cinnamon features innovative features and emphasis on productivity with traditional desktop metaphors”.
Because what you want doesn’t work, we had to think of something else.

“Cinnamon is built on rapid technologies and its development pace is really fast”
What does work today probably won’t after the next update.

“The Cinnamon community is very active, and produces a lot of new themes and applets”
dozens of angry devs are bound to produce something usable if they jump up and down for long enough.

[wdhpr]

ROTFL
Thanks MC... I needed some cheering up

[Dedoimedo]

I am not trying to sell cars yet, honest!
I'm trying to be objective ... but I can't please everyone.
It comes down to taste, mood, needs ...
Dedoimedo

[MidnightCowboy]

My post was designed to be humorous.

In truth I did run Cinnamon x64 too and had very few problems with it considering its honestly defined status. Certainly IMO whatever happens to Mate it will always be a throwback to it's roots in Gnome two and Cinnamon has to be the way to go. It looks impressive, already has an array of applets (most of which work ) is nicely balanced and is a huge leap forward.

I had a frozen desktop resulting from using the menu and lost my sound after a while which reverted to "dummy output" with a constant clanging coming from all four speakers. A reboot fixed this though. I also had a couple of issues with the software manager but none of my experiences were anything to really put this distro down for. I feel if folks like Mint, then use Cinnamon because this has to be the future and the more that use it, the greater benefit will be the feedback.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by Dedoimedo

I'm trying to be objective ... but I can't please everyone.

That would be impossible. I read your reviews with great interest because you try to give relevant information while highlighting the good, bad and ugly on a given linux OS. Its quite probable that its my interpretation of that information that has heighten my expectations. For biased reviews, all one has to do is read the selling points offered on a distro's website to expect the worlds best linux system. As MidnightCowboy eloquently demonstrated
When I give the whole matter more thought there are a number of variables that can effect the outcome, namely hardware and their drivers. With that said, I do have a couple of questions. How long do you use a distro before writing a review? I have found it takes awhile before the bugs start popping up to the surface. Does installing KDE applications on a gnome desktop cause conflicts? When doing so, they often require a huge number of files and other dependencies which may not play well with Gnome system.

[Dedoimedo]

As little as 6-7 hours, but sometimes weeks.
In this case, Cinnamon is not a new thing for me.
I was playing with Mint extensively in the past two months.
I've logged hundreds of hours with my favorite distros.
But the one-time reviews, several hours.

As to KDE, I'll answer tomorrow, in a bit of a hurry now.

Dedoimedo

[MidnightCowboy]

I install KDE variants into Gnome because I prefer the presentation more, but nothing intense, games mostly Yes, they do ship some extras files but nothing drastic enough to make you think twice about it. Maybe there are some that aren't advisable to install, but Dedoimedo will be the guy to answer this.

[Dedoimedo]

Kde wise, never seen an issue that would break the distro by running either kde apps on top of gnome or vice versa. Works just fine and I occasionally do that to get the best app spectrum.
Mrk