Linux Mint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|
 Linux Mint “Bianca” beta running GNOME. |
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| Website: | http://www.linuxmint.com/ |
| Company/ developer: |
Linux Mint Contributors |
| OS family: | GNU/Linux |
| Source model: | Free and Open Source Software |
| Latest stable release: | 2.2 / February 20, 2007 |
| Latest unstable release: | 2.2 beta / February 1, 2007 |
| Available language(s): | multilingual |
|---|---|
| Update method: | APT |
| Package manager: | dpkg |
| Supported platforms: | i386 |
| Kernel type: | Monolithic kernel |
| Default user interface: | GNOME |
| License: | GPL, with proprietary software included. |
| Working state: | Current |
Linux Mint is a distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system based on the Ubuntu system by Canonical Ltd., though it is not a fully self-contained system—its relationship with Ubuntu is closer than the relationship between Ubuntu and Debian, who use different repositories from each other. The purpose of Linux Mint is “to produce an elegant, up to date and comfortable GNU/Linux desktop based on Ubuntu.”[1]
The Linux Mint distribution is essentially Ubuntu with some customizations and additional sofware to easily tweak the system. For example, the current release “Bianca” contains:
- mintMenu, a replacement for the Gnome menu which is inspired by SUSE’s Slab and based on USP.
- mintConfig, a Control Center application which is inspired by SUSE’s configuration tool and based on UCP.
- mintDisk, a program which automatically mounts FAT32 and NTFS (Read/Write) partitions (which are not defined in fstab) and places a shortcut on the desktop.
- mintDesktop, for selecting what icons appear on the desktop with a graphical configuration frontend and automatically “mounts” Windows network neighborhoods.
- mintWifi, which includes the ndiswrapper files and ndis-gtk that is used to “wrap” around drivers of Wireless cards that are actually meant for Microsoft Windows.[2]
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[edit] Comparison with Ubuntu
The Linux Mint system uses the software repositories which are used by the Ubuntu distributions of GNU/Linux. Release 2.2 (“Bianca”) is based on the “Edgy Eft” (6.10) release of the Ubuntu system.
But notably some elements of the release named Bianca, like mintMenu and mintConfig were inspired by SUSE Linux.
[edit] Current release
Linux Mint 2.2, named “Bianca”, is the current stable release of Linux Mint. The next testing version will be 3.0, named "Cassandra".[3]
The main changes present in the new beta release are[2]:
- Two new, green themes
- Additional “home made” software
- mintDisk
- mintDesktop
- mintConfig
- A new menu design
[edit] References
- ^ The About Linux Mint Web Page (Viewed December 28, 2006)
- ^ a b Bianca Release Notes (Viewed March 8, 2007)
- ^ Linux Mint Newsletter (Viewed March 6, 2007)
[edit] Reviews
Bianca
- KnoLinux (in English + interview)
- linux.com (in English)
- techbycolin.com (in English)
- TalkBMC (in English)
- linuxos.sk (in Slovak)
Bea
- Of Geeks and Men (in English)
- ltjmax (in French)
- OsWeekly (in English)
- GnuMan (in English)
Barbara
- Of Geeks and Men (in English)
- TalkBMC (in English)
- TalkBMC (in English)
[edit] External link
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