Basically Mint Gnome Shell extensions is GNOME 3 which also maintains the functionality of older GNOME 2.32 .
Mint 11 saw a drastic jump in users .
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Gnome 3 and MGSE
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Gnome 3 is shiny, elegant and modern looking. It’s a sleek desktop but it comes with a few problems:
It changes the way people use their computer
It’s application-centric, not task-centric (you switch between applications, not windows)
It doesn’t do multi-tasking well (you can’t see opened windows, system tray icons, etc..)
We’ve been using application menus, window lists and other traditional desktop features for as far as I can remember. It looked different in KDE, Xfce, or even Windows and Mac OS, but it was similar. Gnome 3 is changing all that and is developing a better way for us to interact with our computer. From our point of view here at Linux Mint, we’re not sure they’re right, and we’re not sure they’re wrong either. What we’re sure of, is that if people aren’t given the choice they will be frustrated and our vision of an Operating System is that your computer should work for you and make you feel comfortable. So with this in mind, Gnome 3 in Linux Mint 12 needs to let you interact with your computer in two different ways: the traditional way, and the new way, and it’s up to you to decide which way you want to use.
For this, we developed “MGSE” (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions), which is a desktop layer on top of Gnome 3 that makes it possible for you to use Gnome 3 in a traditional way. You can disable all components within MGSE to get a pure Gnome 3 experience, or you can enable all of them to get a Gnome 3 desktop that is similar to what you’ve been using before. Of course you can also pick and only enable the components you like to design your own desktop.
Features of MGSE
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The main features in MGSE are:
The bottom panel
The application menu
The window list
A task-centric desktop (i.e. you switch between windows, not applications)
Visible system tray icons
MGSE also includes additional extensions such as a media player indicator, and multiple enhancements to Gnome 3.
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As you can see it’s a mix of old and new. It’s a brand new desktop but with traditional components. We’re excited about the new technology but it’s important everyone feels at home. So a Mint desktop looks and behaves like a Mint desktop and this one feels both like Gnome 3 and the traditional Linux Mint desktops that preceded it. You can launch applications from the top left, easily switch between applications and workspaces using the window list or keyboard shortcuts, keep an eye on your notifications at the top and access Gnome 3 features like “activities” from the top-left corner.
The Fallback Mode
Gnome 3 requires video acceleration and that is something most systems have. In Linux Mint 12 we also made sure you could run Gnome 3 within Virtualbox, so if you enable 3D acceleration within your virtual machine, you should be able to enjoy Gnome 3 and MGSE without any additional drivers.
If you’re unlucky though, you’ll land into the “Fallback Mode”.
Do not be mistaken about the “Fallback Mode”, despite its looks, it has nothing to do with Gnome 2! It’s a Gnome 3 component and it’s completely incompatible with technologies such as Bonobo panel applets. It’s named appropriately as the “Fallback Mode” and it’s set to disappear eventually as Gnome 3 will gain more and more hardware compatibility.
MATE
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MATE
MATE is a fork of Gnome 2.32, it looks and behaves exactly as Gnome 2.
The problem with Gnome 2.32 is that it conflicts with Gnome 3. It creates a lot of problems within the repositories and it would not be possible for users to run both Gnome 2 and Gnome 3. MATE on the other hand is supposed to be compatible with it. So you could have both MATE and Gnome 3 installed on your computer and be able to switch between desktops from the login screen.
In practice, MATE is a brand new project and it does conflict with Gnome 3 in many areas. We’re currently working hard in collaboration with the MATE developers to identify and fix these conflicts so that we can have both Gnome 3 and MATE installed by default on the DVD edition of Linux Mint 12.
Another issue with MATE is that, to be compatible with Gnome (3), it had to rename most of itself, and as a consequence, applications and themes that were developed for Gnome 2 need to be migrated towards MATE to become compatible with it.
Conflicts with Gnome and the migrations of applications and themes are easy to fix. So if MATE makes it to our liveDVD, it’s likely to come with some rough edges but with your feedback we’ll be able to solve most problems very quickly.
Cool. Good for them, one of my favorite linux distros. I like the hassle free nature of LM. Not having to deal with mp3/restricted extras (though, now you can do that during install), compiz always works out of the box (though, not well on my netbook )
Cool cool cool. I'm excited for this release.
Though, I am much more excited for SKYRIM!
Last edited by 9to5cynic; November 9th, 2011 at 03:43 PM.
Reason: hide.
I used Mint from 9 to 11, 11 was on a desktop I had at the time. However, using Ubuntu 11.10 right now as its the only distro that works without any wireless issues. I rather like Unity too.
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Is it me or does it look like OSX? I don't get why it's so awesome, the "dock" at the bottom reminds me of Win XP and is way too crowded for my taste. I use Windows 7 daily, but I might start using Linux since I think Windows 8 is terrible (I dual-boot Windows 7 and 8). Or I might just stick to seven just like many people did with XP (which I didn't understand TBH).
EDIT: I didn't think about it, but I booted from an Android disc on my laptop quite a while ago. It's not exactly a viable solution though.
Last edited by DaSchmarotzer; November 11th, 2011 at 12:17 AM.
I still have XP, installed it on a vista laptop because it is less resource hungry (and MS keeps bugging me about my 7 activation.... blah, it's legit, but I'm not calling in to tech support at 3am when I'm installing OSs...).
That being said, I'm going to be trying out LFS pretty soon, I have the files, but with Skyrim coming out tomorrow (2hours), I'll be busy this weekend
I haven't dabbled with Ubuntu or Mint. My "nix dabblings have been primarily Free BSD and CentOS. I've played with CentOS most recently as it's very close to RHEL and that's what a lot of companies are using these days for their non windows production environments. I think I have enough hardware floating about to scrounge together a system with one of the last gen single core AMD64's and 2GB of RAM. I have to look at Mint when I do.
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I don't like Unity. I managed to get the plain desktop back on 11.04. I couldn't resize those stupid icons or delete the ones I didn't want nevermind putting them in an order I wanted. I don't give a damn if the desktop can do 3D or whistle Dixie. I want plain gray and menus where I can get what I want. The applications get priority so why waste resources for a desktop?
Windows has never used fancy backgrounds and I toss all the sounds. I hate the damn computer making noises at me.
And who decided that Ubuntu had to look like a Mac? Why not Android?
@zuben el genub have you looked at a windows manager like fluxbox? I'm not sure if the project is still being developed but it was a very light weight windows manager that pretty minimal and built a lot of it's application launching around a right click to activate menu system. I used it a good bit when I was using a graphical interface for Unix and Linux. Might be worth looking into.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 9to5cynic
I still have XP, installed it on a vista laptop because it is less resource hungry (and MS keeps bugging me about my 7 activation.... blah, it's legit, but I'm not calling in to tech support at 3am when I'm installing OSs...).
That being said, I'm going to be trying out LFS pretty soon, I have the files, but with Skyrim coming out tomorrow (2hours), I'll be busy this weekend
U can easily customize LINUX to look however you want it to...plenty of options out there so u dont have to know LINUX at all.
As for Ms have you right clicked on computer, properties,activate?
As for mint overtaking ubuntu, ya unity has annoyed alot of people
U can easily customize LINUX to look however you want it to...plenty of options out there so u dont have to know LINUX at all. Yep, linux is very customizable. However, I wouldn't go fiddling around with all the system options without knowing what you are doing. That is a good way to break things.
As for Ms have you right clicked on computer, properties,activate? Yes, my 7 serial was a re-install. They wanted me to place a call to activate, so I decided to just use a spare xp serial.
As for mint overtaking ubuntu, ya unity has annoyed alot of people
LINUX has a hugecommunity that has software thatis simply awsome without needing to mess around with core systems.
If you are legit with win then it doesent matter. Call them.takes 3 minutes to get it over with
True, there is a lot of software easily available, but for inexperienced users, it is very easy to create problems. Of course, solving those problems is a fast track to understanding your operating system.
Yeah, it might be a phone call away, but my xp disk was a foot away. And with my old system, the lower resource requirement fits better.
Ironically I know some folks who like Linux more than Windows .They aren't tech savvy but they find KDE (OpenSuse) lot lot better than windows . It's just a matter of habit and laziness I think .
Mint has trounced Ubu in the 12 month ranking now !!!! turns out Mint has currently 3 time hpd than Ubuntu !!Could it be Ubuntu will be displaced after 6 years ?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 9to5cynic
True, there is a lot of software easily available, but for inexperienced users, it is very easy to create problems. Of course, solving those problems is a fast track to understanding your operating system.
Yeah, it might be a phone call away, but my xp disk was a foot away. And with my old system, the lower resource requirement fits better.
Ill leave it at a definite maybe on the linux part but the same can be said for anything.
As for XP ya that was wins big issue with their assuming guilt. Like I said call get it over with but youare far from being special in that regard. Cheers
@karandpr:
Nice, I believe it could easily happen. Unity seemed very off putting to me (especially with the original release). I know a lot of people who were upset by it, and I can see why - it is a fundamental change from what they know.
As much as I try to like KDE, I just can't. Especially on laptops. I'll have to try it again sometime soon. I like linux more than windows, but linux doesn't really care too much for most dial up modems... (especially mine).
@rich:
That's true, but most inexperienced users really don't dabble too much with system configurations that much anyway.
(and I don't know where the topic of customizing the GUI came from..?)
Last edited by 9to5cynic; November 27th, 2011 at 09:41 PM.
@9to5cynic
probably from zuben's reply on why unity is more like mac and not android (android ?? )
Unity looks more like a launcher actually .Androidish enough .
@9to5cynic
probably from zuben's reply on why unity is more like mac and not android (android ?? )
Unity looks more like a launcher actually .Androidish enough .
Ahh yep. That's probably it.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it myself, though, I think that the old gnome 2 theme towards the end of ubuntu using it (somewhere around 10.4 maybe) was very OSX-ish to me. The rounded corners, control buttons on the left of the windows, etc..
And I'm still looking into LFS, but I'm thinking I'll go with Arch first. Unfortunately, I had an issue with my VM and it didn't quite work out. Though, I'll probably just remove fedora and put on this new LM...
Yeah, I forget the exact version I installed, but it was one with Gnome3, something that I thought looked slick, and would work great on a tablet, but it ate up too much of my precious screen space (netbook). I didn't have any real issues with it besides that, I don't think it came with gcc though, and I prefer apt to yum (but that's just preference).
---
So here's my plan, backup all my junk to a HD, then format everything. Partition up for two OS (arch and LM) and one for home. I'm really excited to see what's new with LM12 (not sure if I should get the classic one or debian based..?). And arch will probably kick my ass but it'll be fun.
@9to5cynic
There was no Ubuntu with GNOME 3!!!! .It's unity only .Ubuntu 10.10 (I remember it since it was the last version of shipit. ) had GNOME 2.32 and Ubuntu Netbook had unity .
The control buttons on left was on 10.04
The first GNOME 3 nix were either Fedora 15 or Opensuse (cant remember but I had alpha/broken versions of both !!!! )
LM12 is heavily modified GNOME 3 .You can enjoy stock GNOME 3 or MGSE on top of GNOME 3 for the earlier functionality .
@9to5cynic
There was no Ubuntu with GNOME 3!!!! .It's unity only .Ubuntu 10.10 (I remember it since it was the last version of shipit. ) had GNOME 2.32 and Ubuntu Netbook had unity .
The control buttons on left was on 10.04
The first GNOME 3 nix were either Fedora 15 or Opensuse (cant remember but I had alpha/broken versions of both !!!! )
LM12 is heavily modified GNOME 3 .You can enjoy stock GNOME 3 or MGSE on top of GNOME 3 for the earlier functionality .
Yeah, we were talking about fedora (in regards to gnome3).
So LM12 has gnome 3? Hmm... not sure how I feel about that. Maybe a live session before I jump in with the install...?
Or, I suppose, I could just replace gnome3 with gnome 2..? Hmm so many options.
@9to5cynic
GNOME 2.32 and GNOME 3 have compatibility issues .
Mint also uses MATE which is a fork of 2.32 . Mint Replaces Ubuntu as Top OS in distrowatch If you havent read it already
Unity doesn't look like my SGS4G. It does have a bar at the top that STAYS there and permanent icons on the bottom.
Also you can just reinstall Ubuntu if you mess up. There is no one telling you you don't have a legitimate copy or playing "mother may I" with MS.
@9to5cynic
GNOME 2.32 and GNOME 3 have compatibility issues .
Mint also uses MATE which is a fork of 2.32 . Mint Replaces Ubuntu as Top OS in distrowatch If you havent read it already
Cool, I downloaded the LM12 and the LMdebian (latest) today. Though I don't think the debian one was for '12 yet...
I hope to be trying them out soon (feeling a bit ill today so not tonight).
@richphitzwell
Well Ubuntu has GNOME desktop environment but not GNOME shell .
Technically all Ubuntu's have fallback mode which reverts to good ol GNOME .
Unity is just a shell on top of GNOME
Unity is like Windows blinds .Another interface
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K firstoff thanks good info but you are missing my point slightly. We can modify anydistro however wewant but I have to deal with clients that dont know jack and Ubuntu was the one we could fall back on. In win we could simply move the taskbar to any side of the screen we wanted towithno issue or code but with unity its fixed to the left whichcovers the minmax qnd closebuttons. Withmaking it permanently placedon theleft Ubuntu has made it difficult to change noobsover
@richphitzwell
well rich we are way off the topic arent we .
The reason Ubuntu has been displaced is Linux Mint is doing what Ubuntu should have .Offering options to those who dont want to modify easily .I would suggest giving mint a spin .
Well the Debian based Rolling Linux Mint still has the older GNOME
and Mint 12 is looking to make GNOME 3 workable enough
Try this method
dont install mint
boot in live session of mint
install kpartx
Code:
sudo apt-get install kpartx
now install mint and try again
From what i read gparted cant recognize RAID .
so the fix .
I will also suggest creating a separate boot partition for grub2 installation to avoid any bootloader errors
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I could never get into Mint for one reason or another. I honestly don't see how it's prettier or easier than Ubuntu.
And I still HATE gnome3. Though I am excited about Mate. I hope it takes off and gets better.
In the meantime I'm quite happy with Unity. It's not perfect, but I still find it miles ahead of gnome3. Unity can use Compiz, it's smoother and more consistent graphically, and BEST OF ALL it doesn't look like the setup menu on a playstation video game. No matter what theme I use gnome3 looks cartoonish and fugly. Unity (with Ubuntu) at least keeps that nice slick gnome2 aesthetic.
Also I always have repo/update issues with every version of Mint I use.
Personally I think that PinguyOS is a much better alternative to Ubuntu. PinguyOS is to Mint as Mint is to Ubuntu.
I could never get into Mint for one reason or another. I honestly don't see how it's prettier or easier than Ubuntu.
And I still HATE gnome3. Though I am excited about Mate. I hope it takes off and gets better.
In the meantime I'm quite happy with Unity. It's not perfect, but I still find it miles ahead of gnome3. Unity can use Compiz, it's smoother and more consistent graphically, and BEST OF ALL it doesn't look like the setup menu on a playstation video game. No matter what theme I use gnome3 looks cartoonish and fugly. Unity (with Ubuntu) at least keeps that nice slick gnome2 aesthetic.
Also I always have repo/update issues with every version of Mint I use.
Personally I think that PinguyOS is a much better alternative to Ubuntu. PinguyOS is to Mint as Mint is to Ubuntu.
I still use unity too. I have it set up with the compiz desktop cube. I do use gnome tweak tool to switch between gtk themes. There aren't many though. Im using "atolm" with the ambiance window theme (cant beat ambiance window theme IMHO)
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Originally Posted by SUroot
I still use unity too. I have it set up with the compiz desktop cube. I do use gnome tweak tool to switch between gtk themes. There aren't many though. Im using "atolm" with the ambiance window theme (cant beat ambiance window theme IMHO)
Yeah ambiance is the best. An they have it now for gnome3 but it still doesn't look right. Something about how it's rendered... or something. It just looks cartoonish on gnome3.
Yeah ambiance is the best. An they have it now for gnome3 but it still doesn't look right. Something about how it's rendered... or something. It just looks cartoonish on gnome3.
Yep. It's subjective for sure, but this is beautiful..
Mint Replaces Ubuntu as Top OS in distrowatch
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