Are you new to open source? Do you want to learn more about it and its significance for you? If so, some sources of information are available, all just a click away: here, here, here, here, and here. Additionally, by clicking on my user name, you can find many more diaries written on Linux, FreeBSD, and open source.
First of all, my apologies for posting so late; I normally try to post in the dead of night (US time) so as to draw less attention and avoid spoiling anyone's breakfast. No such luck today, so if you just had your Wheaties, best to click on by.
Today, we'll be looking at the third beta release of LinuxMint, though with a twist; this version of LinuxMint uses the Xfce desktop environment, a much faster and lighter alternative to the heavyweight KDE and GNOME environments.
LinuxMint, if you haven't heard the name before, is a Linux distribution (commonly referred to as a distro) that is known for its ease of setup, simplicity, and having all of the things you commonly need to surf the internet ready out of the box, i.e., as soon as you install it.
It's based on Ubuntu, which means that when you want to update the software, you use the same sources to do so; those sources are referred to as repositories, and Ubuntu itself uses one of the Debian sources of repositories to update its software.
Debian is one of the original branches of Linux, and one of the most stable (i.e., unlikely to have broken or non-working packages, or applications); LinuxMint (and Ubuntu) uses one of the more cutting edge repository sources of Debian, so while Ubuntu and LinuxMint have more recent releases of software, the likelihood of having something going wrong, while less common than in Windows, is higher than in a Debian Linux operating system. More cutting edge means more risk coupled with more fun. And sometimes, at least for a Linux distribution, a bit more bloat.
Why, you may ask, don't all Linux distributions (operating systems or distros) have everything ready to play mp3s, watch videos in various proprietary (i.e., protected by software patents, closed source) formats, and use the Flash software necessary, for example, to watch youtube videos?
The simple reason for not being ready out of the box (meaning on initial installation) to play all those formats is that they are closed source, and Linux is open source, which means that all code should be freely available for everyone to examine, modify, share, and do whatever they like with it, all without the fear of violating some other companies software patents and being liable to legal action; additionally, open source is 'libre' or free, because of the four freedoms, as set out by Richard M. Stallman, one of the founding fathers of the open source movement and the Free Software Foundation. This movement led to the creation of the General Public License, now at version three.
Linux has garnered more attention in recent months largely due to the efforts of Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, LinuxMint, DreamLinux, as well as a host of others, to make it very easy to get your Linux operating system to be able to do what a Windows or Mac OS X operating system can do, though at a much reduced price, and with a great deal more security and stability than, for example, a typical Windows XP (or now Vista) installation.
Computer users want to be able all the things they love to do on the internet without a lot of hassle, and in a user-friendly graphical user interface environment; most typical users feel threatened and or confused when faced with a command line interface, which is not graphical in nature, but simply a box where you type in various commands, somewhat similar to what users of MS-DOS had to face. The above listed Linux distros provide that, and the easiest to use distros are the most popular to those new to the open source scene.
Another consideration when thinking about using open source or closed source is that closed source systems use a system of Digital Restrictions Management, which limit what you can do with your files; the big computer makers and software vendors in the proprietary world now want to extend these software limitations to the hardware, so that they can control what you watch, listen to, download, share, and generally how you use your hardware.
If you want to perform certain actions, you first have to get their permission, which is being seen as increasingly unacceptable to computer users worldwide. The ones who benefit from this closed source system is limited to handful of large monopolies and cartels: Microsoft, The RIAA and The MPAA, and AT&T are a few names that come to mind.
LinuxMint avoids all that mess while delivering a fully functional operating system to your computer, either by installing it to your hard drive, installing it to a USB key, or using it as a liveCD, which is a CD that contains the operating system, but can be used without installing it anywhere: as soon as you are finished using it, you can restart your computer, and you are back in your familiar closed source operating system.
This third beta release of LinuxMint uses the Xfce desktop environment, and since this is much lighter weight and less resource (ram) hungry desktop environment, is very useful for older computers with limited ram; all of the pleasures of using a computer at a significant reduction in price, while enjoying all the security and stability of a Linux operating system.
This version of LinuxMint includes many fine applications for everyday use, including the Open Office Suite (similar to Microsoft Office, and capable of saving files in all the Microsoft proprietary formats), which is made up of equivalents of Excel, Powerpoint, Word, as well as a Drawing program; the Amarok music player, an alternative to iTunes or WinAmp/Windows Media Player that will play most any format of music, is able to fetch the cover art for the CDs, download the song lyrics, and link to the Wikipedia entry for that group or singer; Mplayer, for playing DVDs, and most every format of video; GIMP, an open source alternative to Photoshop; Firefox for browsing the web and Thunderbird for using email; Pidgin for instant messaging; as well as several games, and a number of other useful programs to cover whatever your general computing needs are.
Additionally, LinuxMint with Xfce includes the Beryl Window Manager (for getting the wild 3D spinning cube action going), Envy to download and install the proprietary Nvidia and ATI graphics cards drivers with the single click of a mouse, the Synaptic Package Manager (as in Ubuntu) to download new software, and keep your system up to date, all in a friendly and intuitive graphical interface.
I was able to run and test nearly every aspect of this release of LinuxMint, with the exception of the 3D desktop; I conducted this test using the virtualization software called vmware-server that allows you to create a virtual environment on your closed source desktop to try the features of another operating system out--the current state of virtualization is insufficiently advanced to directly access the 3D abilities of my computers graphics card, so I simply could not do it, nor could I play any graphics intensive computer games in the virtual environment. Perhaps one day soon.
At any rate, all of the aspects that I did try were quite excellent and ready for a typical user, someone who is not overly familiar with Linux or open source software would feel completely comfortable using LinuxMint, as everything is set up for them as soon as the desktop appears, and any changes to the operating system are done through a graphical user interface, without the need to type any commands into a terminal.
The fact that LinuxMint is based on Ubuntu means that the software upgrade and update process is very, very fast; Debian and Ubuntu have the greatest number of software repositories of any distribution, so that even very large software updates are done in a jiffy. And unlike the closed source systems, there is no need to restart your machine; only in the case of a kernel update is it required, and even then it is at your convenience--besides which kernel updates are very rare occurrences indeed.
Light, very attractive, fully functional upon installation or through the liveCD/liveUSB, suitable for older and slower computers with limited ram, stable, secure, and able to perform in any way you deem fit, this is an excellent Linux distribution, and only builds on the absolutely wonderful reputation that LinuxMint already enjoys. Highly recommended.