The Ubuntu / Linux Mint Discussion and Appreciation Thread.

[-iceblade^]

co-founder: -iceblade^
co-founder: Weirdo124

Honorary Member: Lattyware - the man responsible for bringing me and many others to the joys of Linux

Honorary Member: error10 - a great help to many embers of this forum - his guides have helped make transitioning into a Linux install easier and more painless for a lot of people, me included.

It would seem to me that more and more people on here and around the world are enjoying the joys of Linux. Modeled after the prestigious Socket 939 Appreciation Club and Knowledgebase, it is our aim that this thread can be a place for people new to Linux to find a treasure trove of info on this wonderful operating system.

if you've ever wondered about what it is like to move into Linux, how to install and set it up, how to choose the right distribution, or why you would want to even have anything to do with that penguin, then feel free to ask here.

of course, part of Linux's appeal is its diversity, and whilst initially this thread would be tailored to users of Ubuntu and Mint, users and fans of these and other distributions are welcomed and requested to post their views, experiences, and comments on other distributions.

hopefully, we may all gain a greater understanding of Linux and realise that there is a viable alternative to Windows for those who choose to try something different.

Download Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) you can select 32-bit or 64-bit in the menu presented at the bottom of the page.
Download Linux Mint 5 32-bit
Download Linux Mint 5 64-bit

to open the thread off, ill show off a few screens of my Mint 6 RC1 virtualised install .

[error10]

Thanks... I think.

[Purple]

I appreciate Ubuntu for popularizing linux and familiarizing people with it.

[Sistum Id]

How much of a difference is it from Ubuntu to Mint? Is it easier than Ubuntu? Does Mint have Compiz Fusion because I love eye candy, I'm a sucker for it!!! What does Mint offer over Vista in the long run besides being free? I wanted to pull my hair out from Ubuntu after a month use when I did Lattys try it thread.

Sorry if I slammed you with a bunch of questions all at once...

[-iceblade^]

well, fundamentally there isn't really that much of a difference between the 2 and Mint is derived from Ubuntu. However, Mint helps by offering by default many things that need to be downloaded by Ubuntu by default, whilist using Ubuntu's repositories, and having the vast majority of Ubuntu-applicable advice work on Mint. this along with nifty utilities like MintUpdate and the built in file upload service make Mint IMO easier to use than Ubuntu. Mint does have Compiz Fusion, yes

as compared to Vista, well, Mint offers the benefits of Linux plus the abilty to be stripped to a bare minimum and run well. as you no doubt know most people say Vista needs 4gb of ram, especially on a 64-bit OS where the memory overhead is higher. i have 2. and i am virtualising which makes it even worse for my ram as i often use 1.5, 1.8 gb ro run all the stuff i need. Mint goes along fine with only 256mb of ram, and 8, yes eight mb of video ram. now try the XFCE edition and it will need even less. all this with all the bells and whistles (except Compiz - compiz will not work in a virtual install) enabled.

I have not used mint for long term, so i cannot say (when i started with Mint, Mint 5 was around) but from experience against over a year and a half of Vista (early adopter) it boots quick, and it is stable, very stable, and also it has package management which after using for 2/3 months will annoy you about Vista. the software is very easily available and can be downloaded in a few clicks, and a lot of the things you'd need to use third party apps for in Vista are already there and are improving

lastly, it does not have viruses

the preinstalled codecs thing is what initially made me love Mint - i was on a 14.4k dialup connection, and not needing to go to my mom's office to go and DL codecs really won me over. it was simple from there, really.

[Sistum Id]

Originally Posted by -iceblade^

well, fundamentally there isn't really that much of a difference between the 2 and Mint is derived from Ubuntu. However, Mint helps by offering by default many things that need to be downloaded by Ubuntu by default, whilist using Ubuntu's repositories, and having the vast majority of Ubuntu-applicable advice work on Mint. this along with nifty utilities like MintUpdate and the built in file upload service make Mint IMO easier to use than Ubuntu. Mint does have Compiz Fusion, yes

as compared to Vista, well, Mint offers the benefits of Linux plus the abilty to be stripped to a bare minimum and run well. as you no doubt know most people say Vista needs 4gb of ram, especially on a 64-bit OS where the memory overhead is higher. i have 2. and i am virtualising which makes it even worse for my ram as i often use 1.5, 1.8 gb ro run all the stuff i need. Mint goes along fine with only 256mb of ram, and 8, yes eight mb of video ram. now try the XFCE edition and it will need even less. all this with all the bells and whistles (except Compiz - compiz will not work in a virtual install) enabled.

I have not used mint for long term, so i cannot say (when i started with Mint, Mint 5 was around) but from experience against over a year and a half of Vista (early adopter) it boots quick, and it is stable, very stable, and also it has package management which after using for 2/3 months will annoy you about Vista. the software is very easily available and can be downloaded in a few clicks, and a lot of the things you'd need to use third party apps for in Vista are already there and are improving

lastly, it does not have viruses

the preinstalled codecs thing is what initially made me love Mint - i was on a 14.4k dialup connection, and not needing to go to my mom's office to go and DL codecs really won me over. it was simple from there, really.

Does it have the feature where you can test run it like Ubuntu has? So do you dual boot or vitrual pc type thing? Vista as main and Mint as guest?

I will try Mint once I get my my motherboard back this Monday...I hope

[IEATFISH]

WooHoo, I'll be part of this thread. I really like Mint and I have customized it quite a bit so far. Linux has been lots of fun. I never put Vista back to default and find myself only booting to Vista for Office 2007 and games.

[-iceblade^]

Originally Posted by Sistum Id

Does it have the feature where you can test run it like Ubuntu has? So do you dual boot or vitrual pc type thing? Vista as main and Mint as guest?

I will try Mint once I get my my motherboard back this Monday...I hope

you mean test it without installing it? yes it does - that is what is called Live Cd mode iirc.. simply burn the Linux Mint disk onto a spare CD / DVD, enable boot from CD in your BIOS, and then chuck the disk in and boot off of it.

don't like what happens? take the disk out and use your PC normally - no harm done.

I personally am using what i call a hybrid tri-boot setup. i say hybrid because i partitioned my drive so i have a dedicated Mint 5 install and a dedicated Vista install. however, i have a virtualised Mint 6 release candidate 1 guest install within my Vista host install in the way you described above - pics of which i have posted above.

great to have you onboard, IEATFISH .

[sfdxsm]

It comes with a Live CD to test, yes. You install from the Live CD actually. I've also ran it in Virtualbox in Vista 64. Runs fairly well even in that situation.

[Madmaximus]

Well I started usng Mint 3 days ago because of Lattyware's Challenge Never been convinced by Linux? Here is a challenge. Here is my first day post from his thread.

I have only been using it for one day but here are my thoughts so far:

1. I downloaded it and got it burnt to a CD easily. (after some one suggested some free ISO burning software ISO recorder v2 windows xp powertoy (thanks Higgins) I couldn't get my version of nero to burn it for some reason)

2. I like the live CD it makes installation very easy. I also liked the install wizard it was very straight forward and easy to understand your choices also it gave me a since of control over my OS that Windows has never been able to give me.

3. Once it was installed it just worked. One of the first things I noticed is unlike Windows which gives you an 800X600 screen size until you get the video drivers installed, Linux Mint gave me my standard moniter screen size of 1440X900 right from the start. Also it detected my Nvidia 8800GT and let me now that I needed to install proprietary drivers and when I clicked to enable them it took care of everything for me it downloaded the right driver and installed it. Once that was finished I did a reboot and Linux again let me know that it was enabled and working. Very simple and clean.

4. It may just be me but the background images on my desktop and the windows and text all look cleaner, sharper, and better than they every have with XP. I noticed that the Firefox browser makes this site look a lot cleaner and sharper too. Visual appeal is very good with linux Mint from what I am seeing.

5. It is different from XP and I really do have to just play around with it to find what I want to do. But this is what I like to call a learning curve and is to be expected.

6. So far I have been able to find a driver for my Creative X-Fi card but have not figured out how to install it yet but some of the other guys are working with me in my thread to fix this and I am sure I will get it fixed soon. The other thing is I had read error10's Linux hardware guide so I knew going into Mint that I might have trouble with the drivers for this card and that this is not problem with Linux Mint but with Creative. They have released the source code for this driver and I am sure that in time the good folks working on the Mint project will get this fixed.

For only being one day into the challange I would have to say that I am well pleased with Linux Mint and I am looking forward to learning more about it. If TheSims2 and TheSims3 would play on it I (Don't get me started on DRM ) would discontinue use of XP for ever.

I started with the 32-bit version but upgraded last night to the 64-bit. I still love it but have been unable to get the Creative XFi Driver to work at all. Here is what I know about it so far:

I have gotten this error on both the 32bit and 64bit versions when installing the XFi driver

make: *** [install] Segmentation fault

Once this happens if I reboot I got the exact same problem with it (It locks up on the splash screen). So I have been able to determine that this is a consitant and repeatable problem with both the 64-bit and 32-bit version of LinuxMint.

After removing quite splash from the boot I found that it stops at this:

[70.422709] --- [end trace 20eddc055cdc47cd] --- udevd - event [3576]: Run_Program: '/sbin/modprobe' abnormal exit

[OK]

*setting the system clock
*loading kernal module
*loading Manual device

error10 has already let me know that the lines above this one:

[70.422709] --- [end trace 20eddc055cdc47cd] --- udevd - event [3576]: Run_Program: '/sbin/modprobe' abnormal exit

are the ones I should look at.

After reinstalling the 64-bit version again I tried the beta driver. I ran it and it also errors during install but it just says install failed. I tried this in 32-bit as well same resualts the difference is that Mint will still boot afterward.

However the sound card works fine when I boot to XP.

Bottom line I think I need to install the card that come with my motherboard and wait for a better driver for the XFi Card. i Checked Asus's site and they have a linux drive for the sound card that comes with my mobo I also notice that they have a chip set driver for linux also. I have all ready downloaded both of them as well as the current Bios it menchions somehting about fixing a problem with the patch install in linux.

I do know this I am going to run the 64-bit Mint I like it, of course the Mint web site says that the 32-bit is more stable. But since I am doing this to learn about Linux the 64-bit may teach me more.

I know I have learned a lot just from my experience with the XFi Driver. I went to bed last night with the things I was typing into the Terminal burnt into my head and my first thought when I awoke this morning was Kernel. Thanks for turning me to "The TUX Side" guys!

I hope some of this will help someone else. Thanks again to everyone who has help me. I hope I can return the favor sometime.