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The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

blog.linuxmint.com

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Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#41

Post by fingerprinter »

tikhonj wrote: post #17
fingerprinter wrote: post #11

I'd love one of these...though I would put Ubuntu on it...but at those prices? I don't think so. The mintBox is available in two versions. mintBox Basic ($476 + shipping, duty & VAT): 250GB HDD APU G-T40N (1.0 GHz dual core + Radeon HD 6290 – 9W) 4GB RAM Flat metal case mintBox Pro ($549 + shipping, duty & VAT): 250GB HDD APU G-T56N (1.65 GHz dual core + Radeon HD 6320 – 18W) 8GB RAM Ribbed metal case

I'm curious: what do you see as the advantage of Ubuntu over Mint? My understanding is that Mint is just Ubuntu with a different default desktop environment and some multimedia codecs. Do you just like Unity? (For what it's worth, I actually like it as well.)

Well, fundamentally, there is nothing in Mint I can't have in Ubuntu (and sort of vice versa, though I don't know if Mint has Unity yet). Those codecs, for instance, are a click away in Ubuntu (either at install time or in Software Center).

That being said, I prefer Unity to any of the DE in Mint. Plus there's HUD and I'm going to assume all the other stuff Canonical is going to put out soon. I'm one of those people REALLY looking forward to being able to buy an Ubuntu for Android phone. I mean REALLY looking forward to it. In that case, I'll like the consistency of Ubuntu everywhere (Perhaps we'll see a TV soon with Ubuntu TV on it...that would be sweet. etc.).

Nothing against Mint. They are doing something pretty cool, just not my cup of tea.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#42

Post by idleloops »

crumblan wrote: post #22
dbaupp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a little ridiculous: you can trivially add the DuckDuckGo (or Google) search provider; e.g. on the right-hand side of the DDG search page[1] there is a "Add to Firefox" (and presumably similarly for Chromium) link that you can just click, and it just works. [1]: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=add+a+search+engine

I know, but I wanted Google, and I found it difficult to remove the branded search and switch to basic Google. It's not a ridiculous complaint, I just think if they are willing to treat their users like that it will only get worse in the future. I jumped off of Ubuntu because of Unity, though, so I might be feeling very "once bitten..."

I bypass the search box. By adding a keyword search (inspired by Opera,) to my browser (Firefox.) Then when I want to search, I hit CTRL + L and then type something like 'dd search term' for say duck duck, then hit return. I can set up multiple keyword searches - which I find personally more flexible.

You loose suggest which is slightly annoying, but I can live with that.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#43

Post by codesuela »

ekianjo wrote: post #34
hack_edu wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ubuntu has a huge community that makes any question you have easily Googlable, as well as a much more mature ecosystem in general. Even if they're built on the same foundation, these little things really make a difference and ease headaches. And really, you can't write off the simple fact that its been around and strong for so many years. You can rest assured that it will continue to be.

I don't really understand your point. You can install the exact same thing on Mint as on Ubuntu. Both environments are very similar, and you can have the more resource efficient Cinnamon as Framework on Mint instead of Unity on Ubuntu. It's basically the same thing, and Mint benefits from the very strong Ubuntu foundation,.

exactly, if you have a problem then you can just Google for the Ubuntu solution which will always work unless it is a DM specific problem.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#44

Post by idleloops »

crumblan wrote: post #19
ineedtosleep wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a simple package that's installed with Firefox. The parent is just making it seem like a huge deal, but it's trivial to remove the package and/or change your default search provider.

I did not find it trivial to remove the package, and changing my default provider didn't work for whatever reason.

Sounds annoying. Did you try through the firefox (registry) - about:config? Failing that you could try something like Firefox Nightly.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#45

Post by ekianjo »

codesuela wrote: post #43
ekianjo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand your point. You can install the exact same thing on Mint as on Ubuntu. Both environments are very similar, and you can have the more resource efficient Cinnamon as Framework on Mint instead of Unity on Ubuntu. It's basically the same thing, and Mint benefits from the very strong Ubuntu foundation,.

exactly, if you have a problem then you can just Google for the Ubuntu solution which will always work unless it is a DM specific problem.

I forgot to mention you can even install the Ubuntu software center on Linux Mint. So, you get the best of both worlds, with no compatibility issues.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#46

Post by ekianjo »

idleloops wrote: post #40
drostie wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the one big thing that this one has going for it is its noiselessness due to using its case as a heat sink. Torvalds has also talked about how he wants a "whisper-quiet" computing environment; I'm surprised that so few companies treat this as a design target. It's probably more popular among computers designed to be used as thin clients, which it looks like the mintBox is. It's nice to see how much you can comp…

Noise bothers me, I even get bothered by the heads resting in a hard drive. It seems that the quieter you get your environment - the more bothered you can become. I've a pretty decent asus gfx card that remains unused, because it has an onboard fan. Both my desktop and laptop are whisper quiet. I had a friend with a Pentium 4 machine, that he just kept in a nearby cupboard. Once shut behind the door, you couldn't hea…

A desktop is usually noisy. Recently it gets really hot where I live, and I can see the noise difference my desktop fans make VS the same conditions in Winter... By the way, are there some manufacturers of desktop cases which you could recommend to reduce the noise?

I like your idea of having the PC in a different room than the actual screen and controls. But that's not really an option if you rent an apartment and cannot drill holes through the walls :)

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#47

Post by cuu508 »

ekianjo wrote: post #46
idleloops wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Noise bothers me, I even get bothered by the heads resting in a hard drive. It seems that the quieter you get your environment - the more bothered you can become. I've a pretty decent asus gfx card that remains unused, because it has an onboard fan. Both my desktop and laptop are whisper quiet. I had a friend with a Pentium 4 machine, that he just kept in a nearby cupboard. Once shut behind the door, you couldn't hea…

A desktop is usually noisy. Recently it gets really hot where I live, and I can see the noise difference my desktop fans make VS the same conditions in Winter... By the way, are there some manufacturers of desktop cases which you could recommend to reduce the noise? I like your idea of having the PC in a different room than the actual screen and controls. But that's not really an option if you rent an apartment and c…

Lots of good advice on http://silentpcreview.com

Recommended cases: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Case_Basics_and_Recommendation...

They have similar recommendations for PSUs, heatsinks, fans, HDDs etc.

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#48

Post by cfn »

ekianjo wrote: post #46
idleloops wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Noise bothers me, I even get bothered by the heads resting in a hard drive. It seems that the quieter you get your environment - the more bothered you can become. I've a pretty decent asus gfx card that remains unused, because it has an onboard fan. Both my desktop and laptop are whisper quiet. I had a friend with a Pentium 4 machine, that he just kept in a nearby cupboard. Once shut behind the door, you couldn't hea…

A desktop is usually noisy. Recently it gets really hot where I live, and I can see the noise difference my desktop fans make VS the same conditions in Winter... By the way, are there some manufacturers of desktop cases which you could recommend to reduce the noise? I like your idea of having the PC in a different room than the actual screen and controls. But that's not really an option if you rent an apartment and c…

This an interesting article about sound proofing your computer. It is written with sound studios in mind:

http://www.quietpcusa.com/how-to-silence-a-computer.aspx

Re: The mintBox, a Linux Mint computer

#49

Post by alexchamberlain »

drostie wrote: post #29
noonespecial wrote: post #27

In the course of my business, I deal with dozens of different embedded PC's. There's one thing I wish players in this space would keep in mind: If you want to take a shot at this window of power and performance (the level at which people start thinking "set-top box") you really have to beat out the $250 netbook I can get at walmart. If my first thought is, "nice form-factor but a netbook/mini-itx/mac-mini solves the…

Yeah, the one big thing that this one has going for it is its noiselessness due to using its case as a heat sink. Torvalds has also talked about how he wants a "whisper-quiet" computing environment; I'm surprised that so few companies treat this as a design target. It's probably more popular among computers designed to be used as thin clients, which it looks like the mintBox is. It's nice to see how much you can comp…

An RPi is fanless, right?
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