Linux Mint 20.1 Released With Web Apps, IPTV Player, Cinnamon 4.8 Integrated

[kneekoo]

Linux Mint gave us Cinnamon, elementary OS gave us Pantheon, Solus gave us Budgie.

Does Ubuntu damage Debian just because it's based on it? They released plenty of buggy releases, some of which aggravated their users so badly that they gave up and switched distros. Then Ubuntu 17.10 even damaged hardware. Did all that affect Debian users? Nope. It was on Canonical and their fixed release schedule, which obviously allows for more serious bugs to get into a release just because there's not enough time for proper testing.

Having the luxury to delay a release can save a lot of people from a lot of issues. Having the luxury of not being constraint to various other policies about branding and others is also a good thing for derivative projects. So there's no problem with having different teams working on similar projects. This kind of freedom has the potential for other good results for the users. What other distros have such a tight release schedule? Pretty much everyone delays to come out with a smoother release. So no, Cinnamon being confined in the Ubuntu ecosystem doesn't look appealing nor productive to me. Non-LTS releases are what doesn't make much sense to me, considering how easy it is for less knowledgeable users to mess up their systems with PPAs that don't migrate well post-upgrade to a newer Ubuntu release just 6 months later. Mint dropped that madness years ago because it was an uphill battle too big for a small team - although their flexible release dates came in handy because by the time they put out their releases, some fixes were already solved in Ubuntu. But then they also fixed stuff on their own, and even contributed upstream.

Now Cinnamon is of course the main thing Linux Mint does. But they also have the X-Apps, which are available in all Mint variations. For your average "Linux connoisseur" this might be unimportant, but the Linux desktop marketshare is tiny and new people constantly show up to try some distro. Having the same set of programs across different editions is a user friendly thing. How do others do it?

Simple text editors:
Gnome: Gedit/Pluma
KDE: Kate
Xfce: Mousepad
LXDE: Leafpad
etc

For your average Windows user who knows Notepad from their early Windows days up to this day - without having changed almost a bit, having the same basic set of programs is much better when you switch to another DE. Is that enough to warrant a spin? Not in theory, but in practice... it's there, and people use them. And the good thing is that if a newbie wants to try another DE, Mint is a very nice choice - at least to start with. The users are supposed to choose what fits their needs best, regardless of distro or DE, so Mint is not magically the best because of some software choices that they made. But it's a great OS in its own merit and given the Mint team's track record, I think it's safe to say that it will remain user friendly and useful in the future.

[Charlie68]

Linux Mint is yet another OS. There's no reason to throw crap at anything just because it's not your favorite OS/DE/etc.

@danmcgrew: I assume you don't use Linux Mint, which is probably why you don't know why and how they have a new release each 6 months. They only used Ubuntu LTS releases as the foundation for Mint since 2014. Each "point release" is an update for those LTS-bases releases, which are good to have as separate ISOs when you have to do fresh installs. They're largely bug-fixing releases with a few new stuff like kernel updates and others. So they only release BIG stuff on major versions. The point releases are usually only significant for Cinnamon, which is a great DE for a lot of people (just as KDE and others are great for others).

Surely you understand that not everyone likes or needs the same things. That's why there are so many distros out there, and why people keep using them.

I understand your speech, however it is undeniable that the derivatives damage the parent distribution on which it still depends, fragmenting its development. This inevitably leads to a decrease in both the contributions, which will be fragmented, and the quality of the distribution itself, damaging both of them. Nobody wants to deprive users of Cinnamon, which could be distributed by Ubuntu as Flavor, just like KDE, XFCE, Mate etc. , but creating a distribution for a DE makes little sense to me.

[kneekoo]

Oh, it looks like I was trying to have a conversation with a forum quote bot. Yay, me!

[danmcgrew]

@kneekoo--

Keep up the sterling work; we continue to learn about you from your comments.


“I well understand the gentleman’s desire to speak on; he needs the practice badly."--Winston Churchill

"I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence."--William F. Buckley, Jr.

[kneekoo]

Ha! Did you assume I'm American with your Asimov quote, or why did you bring up the US' cult of ignorance? And do you realize that your comments come out as hateful against Mint? That easily leads others to believe you would use another distro, just because it makes no sense to use something you have strong feelings against.

So you complained about them cranking out a buggy release each 6 months but you didn't back that up with anything other than skewed personal opinions about what they should do, disregarding the fact that Mint is one of the most popular distros - meaning lots of people actively use it successfully and enjoy using it. And you claim you know what you're talking about but you're stuck with Mint 17.3 - released 5 years ago and no longer updated since almost 2 years ago. Have you tried a newer Mint seriously? Have you reported bugs and followed through? I have.

I first tried Mint on version 2.2 and I went through all of them on real hardware since version 3. Then I switched to Mint full time in 2009. On occasions I tried other distros, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months, but I went back to Mint because it was as close as an OS could get to my needs. There were always some bugs that affected some people, which is the case with any OS/software. So I don't know what made you feel like Mint is in a sad state, other than your strange way of considering periodical updates to LTS releases as something bad. Mint 18 and 19 were great as well, just as 20 is. So what did really trouble you or your hardware with newer Mint releases?

By the way, I'm on Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon and it's super smooth on my Intel Core i5-4690K (+integrated graphics) with 16GB DDR3 and a Samsung 860 Pro SSD.

[danmcgrew]

Linux Mint is yet another OS. There's no reason to throw crap at anything just because it's not your favorite OS/DE/etc.

@danmcgrew: I assume you don't use Linux Mint, which is probably why you don't know why and how they have a new release each 6 months. They only used Ubuntu LTS releases as the foundation for Mint since 2014. Each "point release" is an update for those LTS-bases releases, which are good to have as separate ISOs when you have to do fresh installs. They're largely bug-fixing releases with a few new stuff like kernel updates and others. So they only release BIG stuff on major versions. The point releases are usually only significant for Cinnamon, which is a great DE for a lot of people (just as KDE and others are great for others).

Surely you understand that not everyone likes or needs the same things. That's why there are so many distros out there, and why people keep using them.

This is what happens when you spout personal opinion rather than fact... and the reason you spout personal opinion rather than fact is because you're too self-centered and too lazy to believe anything other than your closely-held, wrong, personal opinions.

Simply starting with the very first statement and assumption of your illustrious, self-aggrandizing comment: "I assume you don't use Linux Mint, which is probably why you don't know why and how..."

I have used Mint Linux for years, ever since I switched from Ubuntu 10.04 (since you don't seem to know anything, that corresponds to the year 2010)
I use Mint Linux on all my computers.
I use, and will use Mint Linux 17.3, the VERY best of all the modern 'Mints'--and indeed, most all 'modern' Linux distros--until I find another, better, Linux distribution which suits my purposes. It hasn't happened yet, but MX-Linux 18.1 is an outstanding contender.

Apart from your opening--wrong--salvo, with which you demonstrated that you are (1) only spoiling for a fight, and (2) out to demonstrate how smart you are; all of the rest of your illuminating comment is just as wrong.

Don't get me wrong--we all did learn something from your comment; likely not what you had in mind, however.

Try again, fanboy. This time, use facts.

Dunning-Kruger strikes again.


“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States...nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge'.”― Issac Asimov, 1980

“You are entitled to your own opinion; you are not entitled to your own facts.“--Daniel Patrick Moynahan

"There's no defense against stupidity."--Friedrich Nietzsche

[kneekoo]

Linux Mint is yet another OS. There's no reason to throw crap at anything just because it's not your favorite OS/DE/etc.

@danmcgrew: I assume you don't use Linux Mint, which is probably why you don't know why and how they have a new release each 6 months. They only used Ubuntu LTS releases as the foundation for Mint since 2014. Each "point release" is an update for those LTS-bases releases, which are good to have as separate ISOs when you have to do fresh installs. They're largely bug-fixing releases with a few new stuff like kernel updates and others. So they only release BIG stuff on major versions. The point releases are usually only significant for Cinnamon, which is a great DE for a lot of people (just as KDE and others are great for others).

Surely you understand that not everyone likes or needs the same things. That's why there are so many distros out there, and why people keep using them.

[danmcgrew]

Personally, I believe that derivatives usually ruin "parent" distributions, which is why I avoid them. Obviously there are exceptions, Ubuntu is a Debian derivative, but it was born with the aim of making it easy to use a Debian, now installing Debian is no longer that difficult, but it once was.
Same goes for Manjaro ... indeed this type of distribution can even help the parent distribution, another matter are the dozens of derivatives that have yet another DE as their sole reason for existing and little else.

Excellent observation.

It is, however, a sad and unfortunate fact--but very 'prove-able' simply by an investigation of all of Mint's history since version 17.3--that Mint's slow demise towards obscurity and irrelevance is solely of Mint's own making. At one point, it seemed as if a return to 'the halcyon days' was possible. That point has long since disappeared.

[Charlie68]

Personally, I believe that derivatives usually ruin "parent" distributions, which is why I avoid them. Obviously there are exceptions, Ubuntu is a Debian derivative, but it was born with the aim of making it easy to use a Debian, now installing Debian is no longer that difficult, but it once was.
Same goes for Manjaro ... indeed this type of distribution can even help the parent distribution, another matter are the dozens of derivatives that have yet another DE as their sole reason for existing and little else.

[Danny3]

When even their flagship (Cinnamon) is not as good as other desktop environments, I find no reason to use LInux Mint.
KDE Plasma is way ahead of Cinnamon and light years ahead other desktop environments.
But yeah, they were too lazy to keep it.