Comments on: Linux Mint: With Freedom Came Elegance, and Some Pain

By: pkurup

pkurup — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:14:41 +0000

Thanks for visiting. I have been using Linuxmint for sometime now and like it. The most annoying thing is that audio does not work once to return from suspend mode. So far I haven’t come across an easy fix. If you are using it as a file server I guess this won’t really bother you.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:06:03 +0000

I’m just setting up Linux Mint as a home file server so any article like this that bridges the gap between what I know (windows) and Linux is a real help. – Cheers

By: Linuxworld 2008: Where are the crowds?

Linuxworld 2008: Where are the crowds? — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:59:51 +0000

[...] I have nothing against Linux. In fact, I have recently become a regular active user of Linux Mint. This post is an attempt to capture my impressions of [...]

By: Zwii

Zwii — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:42:28 +0000

google:
linux mint user guide

Much information to be had.

Enjoy.

By: pkurup

pkurup — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:57:33 +0000

Clem, thanks for visiting.

I am using Mint on a daily basis on one of my PCs. So I am happy and not complaining! In fact, I used Skype yesterday on Mint for the first time and it worked just fine. The audio not working when I return from suspend mode is my pet peeve right now.

Btw, here is a simple UI suggestion. I clicked on the date/time on the bottom right of the screen. A nice calendar pops up. The “x -” to minimize the calendar is missing. I clicked on Locations (accidentally) and a map appears with the Edit link. This is definitely not intuitive and inconsistent with everything else where you have the “x -” on pretty much any window. In Filter when I enter Calendar it gives my the empty Tracker Search tool window. This is by no means a show stopper but indicative of an overall scope for UI improvement (even without being windows-like).

Btw, I have managed to do more techie stuff like setup a webserver, mysql etc with a plan to run some apps locally. I still have some stuff to do before I can get there. None of these would have been possible for me to do single handedly had I not installed Mint.

If time permits I will put together a list of suggestions as and when I come across them.

By: Clem

Clem — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:44:18 +0000

Hi,

Thanks for the review. Although I disagree on a lot of things it does help in understanding how Mint can be perceived from a Windows user point of view. Mint is designed with the novice experience taken into consideration and I truly believe it’s actually an easier system to learn and to use than Windows. Having said that, it is indeed hard for already accustomed Windows users to migrate and you illustrated that very well.

I’ll make sure to go through the points you’ve risen in details and we’ll hopefully learn from them and from your review to improve future Mint releases.

Many thanks,
Clem.

By: Acid_1

Acid_1 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:31:31 +0000

I understand man, it’s cool. Some people are too sensitive, and need to get over it. If you come on over to the forums, most people there are really cool and really nice, so feel free to drop by, we’d like that.

By: pkurup

pkurup — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:46:36 +0000

Regarding your first paragraph — I think you missed the part where I have clearly stated that I am confident that one can do whatever is needed on Linux and there is plenty of help available.

Regarding your comment on GIMP. I never compared GIMP to Photoshop — I am no photoshop fan.

The Printscreen button — I learned something from your comment. Thanks. I didn’t know this. And I had a hard time finding the help files as I mentioned and taking screenshots from GIMP.

In general, I think you are being too sensitive because you are deeply loyal to Linux, which is understandable. You might have missed my disclaimer at the end of the article.

My post was not meant to be a criticism of any sort, it was just an honest description of my personal experience of having gone though the process of test driving Linux.

By: cathbard

cathbard — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:27:17 +0000

Linux is not windows
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
There are thousands of people that use linux daily. It is not difficult, it’s just different. This is not proprietary software, you have to approach it differently. If you need support you ask the community via the forum or via the irc channel. Had you simply done that then ALL your questions regarding installation would have been answered.
For example, screenshots? You just hit the print screen key on your keyboard. Gimp is hard to use? Do you remember how hard photoshop was the first time you used it? That aside, how much did gimp cost you? It’s not windows, you don’t hand over your credit card and your first born son when you want something, you get it for free thanks to the efforts of the thousands of people out there that contribute daily. Where else would you get thousands of applications that were installable for free at the click of a button? You simply have to let go of your old thinking – gnu/linux is not just different software, it’s a totally different philosophy.
Most of your complaints could have been simply resolved by (dare I say it?) – rtfm.
You simply haven’t grasped the concepts even at a basic level. A days reading and a few discussions in the irc channel would have solved all of that. It isn’t that gnu/linux isn’t ready for you; you aren’t ready for gnu/linux. Linux is not supposed to be a clone of windows, it’s a replacement. It’s different and that is it’s beauty.

By: Acid_1

Acid_1 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:53:05 +0000

Well, I must say, I think that it’s a good thing. It’s nice to know what a first time user trying to use Linux is going through when they first install, and then fix the difficult parts (not even make it more Windows-like, but just easier). Anyhow, good luck with Mint, and feel free to drop by the forums. There is always someone willing to help.

http://www.linuxmint.com/forum