Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu? • Hacker News Board

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#21

Post by dchest » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:02 PM UTC

Alterlife wrote: post #6

Linux Mint has put Google custom search into the distribution in order to raise revenue. It's in firefox both from the address bar, the search box, and in the quick search from the 'start' menu. It's very annoying, and it isn't just a matter of opting out. Mint doesn't support an easy way to remove it from all three locations without getting technical. I used mint for a couple of months, the custom search engine came…

Also, this is absolutely unacceptable:

Our goal is to give users a good search experience while funding ourselves by receiving a share of this income. Search engines who do not share the income generated by our users, are removed from Linux Mint and might get their ads blocked.

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1851

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#22

Post by bretthoerner » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:02 PM UTC

middus wrote: post #8

w1ntermute wrote: post #7

For those who don't want to shift to a new distro, Xubuntu is a great option. It's lightweight without losing any of the features you've come to expect from a fully-featured DE. And best of all, it's not going to pull the UI rug out from under you at a moment's notice.

Why switch to XFCE? Can't you just install Gnome?

Most people dislike Gnome 3 as much as Unity.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#23

Post by pekk » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:03 PM UTC

w1ntermute wrote: post #7

For those who don't want to shift to a new distro, Xubuntu is a great option. It's lightweight without losing any of the features you've come to expect from a fully-featured DE. And best of all, it's not going to pull the UI rug out from under you at a moment's notice.

You can just apt-get install xubuntu-desktop. No need to reinstall everything (what a pain that would be). You can just install the xfce-* packages if you want to be more specific.

The only reason I don't use unity is that it doesn't handle multiple monitors correctly on my desktop. Otherwise, I find it satisfactory. I approve of a new design which tries to keep clutter off my screen and tries to be keyboard-driven, and I approve of compiz

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#24

Post by udp » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:05 PM UTC

middus wrote: post #8

w1ntermute wrote: post #7

For those who don't want to shift to a new distro, Xubuntu is a great option. It's lightweight without losing any of the features you've come to expect from a fully-featured DE. And best of all, it's not going to pull the UI rug out from under you at a moment's notice.

Why switch to XFCE? Can't you just install Gnome?

> And best of all, it's not going to pull the UI rug out from under you at a moment's notice.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#25

Post by SlipperySlope » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:05 PM UTC

middus wrote: post #8

w1ntermute wrote: post #7

For those who don't want to shift to a new distro, Xubuntu is a great option. It's lightweight without losing any of the features you've come to expect from a fully-featured DE. And best of all, it's not going to pull the UI rug out from under you at a moment's notice.

Why switch to XFCE? Can't you just install Gnome?

Sure on Ubuntu 11.10 I installed Gnome 2.2 (see below comment for correction) as follows. This may not be possible on the next Ubuntu release. That's why I am migrating to Mint.

How to install gnome-classic on Ubuntu 11.10

# apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

# cd /etc/lightdm # gedit lightdm.conf change user-session=gnome-classic

hold down the alt key when right clicking the menu bar to add frequency and system monitor applets.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#26

Post by gerggerg » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:05 PM UTC

Canonical is genuinely trying to make linux the most user friendly it's ever been and make it ready for real mass adoption. It's not going to be easy and not everyone is going to like every change but you can't get so down on them for trying so hard.

Saying the solution is to go backwards is the same as telling canonical to just stop trying all together.

There's no point in stagnating and sticking with gnome. New users aren't going to switch to ubuntu because there's a start(or applications) menu. Canonical has to genuinely create a usable, unique user experience that ubuntu can call its own. It's not there yet, everyone knows. But saying people should just switch to something else and poo-pooing all over canonical isn't going to help make (desktop, mass user facing)linux the best it can be.

If you really care, get involved. Go to askubuntu.com and answer some questions. Make blog posts that illustrate how you'd improve unity. Write some code. Ubuntu is foss. Canonical neither charges for it nor sells hardware, and I'd say they're doing pretty good in spite.

All that being said; you can install gnome in ubuntu 11.10. You don't have to use unity.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#27

Post by udp » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:07 PM UTC

> it’s Ubuntu without someone else telling you what to do or taking the OS into a direction that you’re unwilling to follow

Debian, anyone?

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#28

Post by SlipperySlope » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:11 PM UTC

mbq wrote: post #15

SlipperySlope wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I've grown use to Gnome apps and applets. I especially like the multi-tabbed terminal.

XFCE's terminal can do it too. And you can use Gnome applets.

Thanks! Good to know. I've used xfce some years ago.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#29

Post by nassosdim » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:11 PM UTC

Alterlife wrote: post #6

Linux Mint has put Google custom search into the distribution in order to raise revenue. It's in firefox both from the address bar, the search box, and in the quick search from the 'start' menu. It's very annoying, and it isn't just a matter of opting out. Mint doesn't support an easy way to remove it from all three locations without getting technical. I used mint for a couple of months, the custom search engine came…

I tested the Mint 12 yesterday and I think that they use duckduckgo for default search engine in firefox, which surprised me.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#30

Post by metachris » Fri, Nov 11, 2011, 5:12 PM UTC

vdoma wrote: post #3

What's wrong with sticking to an older version of Ubuntu - 11.04 or earlier where you're not forced to use Unity? That's what I do. And I get a lot more work done without having to worry with the latest shiny new toys in town.

What's wrong with selecting "Gnome" as a desktop rather than Unity when logging in? It's literally 2 clicks to change.