What can I say............

[ubuntulove]

Hi Everyone,

I am a new Mint user. First of all I must admit I have really liked the Linux Mint. I installed Linux Mint 9. First unlike Windows it is free. Second it is easy to install and takes much lesser time in compare to Windows for installation. Third it takes much lesser disk space than Windows. Fourth it comes with almost all the necessary softwares and codes that a general user like me needs. Fifth it offers a great way to install new softwares through the software manager. Sixth unlike many other Linux distros it is quite easy to use. Seventh unlike Windows it got very little chance to get affected by a virus. Last but not the least it is quite fast. Linux Mint is really good. But it is not great. Why? I am giving the reasons below.

Although I liked Linux Mint very much but I must also add here I have a disappointing journey with Mint. I have a NVIDIA Graphics Card (GeForce 7025). I have installed the proprietory driver offered by Mint. But after I used the Update Manager to update Mint the driver stops working and the system went to low graphics. And I have tried to make it work again seeking helps of many advanced Linux users, but I failed. Finally all I was left to do was uninstall the driver and I did so. But the result was poor graphics though the system got back to high resolution.

I have a AMD Athlon 2.6 GHz Dual Core Processor. But Mint was showing only 1GHz as CPU Speed. I again seeked the help of the advanced users and I got to know that it was a Power Saving Mode like something. I need to disable "Cool & Quiet" function in BIOS to get the maximum CPU Speed. I am a person who don't like to play with BIOS very much. So at that point I decided I could not use Linux Mint as my only OS. And hence I got back to the good old Windows.

So with a heavy heart I must say Linux Mint is good but not a great distro. Yes, one can say you can sort things out if you can apply a few tweaks here and there. But as a newbie I think there will be many like me who will not be able to do things that an advanced Linux user can do to sort things out. A huge number of users don't like to tweak with the system and need an OS which is easy to install and use and will run without doing any additional tweaks and tricks. So unless Mint do so people will stick with OS like Windows.

I am an Indian. In India with very few exceptions people mainly use Windows. Linux Mint has lots of potential and it has "the thing" in it to be "the OS". It has the potential to capture the Indian market. But to compete with Windows it needs to be an OS which can run smoothly without needing the user to play the tweaks and tricks. I really hope one day Mint can do that. I am keeping my fingers crossed for that day.

Thanks

[frogimus]

It's been my experience that every distro has its weaknesses. Most people won't notice them, and they are glaringly obvious to others. That's what makes different distro's work for different people.

Sorry to hear that Mint didn't work for you.

BTW...

And I have tried to make it work again seeking helps of many advanced Linux users,

you show 1 post, did you try asking the Mint users about your problems? From what I've seen, this is one of the most helpful forums you could ask for.

[jlr1701]

Linux is not Windows, and that's a very good thing!

Windows is not even close to being Perfect, and it too often needs tweaks either in the OS or the BIOS to make it work correctly or at its best.

I've seen Linux distros come out of India, so I know there are Linux folks there just as pretty much everywhere else. The whole world mostly uses Windows, followed by Mac, and then Linux. Linux rules in the Internet server world, but it is catching on in the "average user" Desktop world too. The Linux market share may be on the low side now, but that will only improve with time. Linux is MORE than ready for the Desktop, and more and more people will become aware of this awesome OS in the future...

Linux Mint ROCKS!!!

[vincent]

I know this isn't going to help, but if you have hardware problems or incompatibilities, blame your hardware's manufacturer/vendor, not Linux.

[ubuntulove]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your replies.

For once I am not blaming anyone. Why should I blame Mint when I am admitting myself that Mint is a real good distro. And the fact that it is free is really a great thing. I have also admitted that Mint has potential to compete with Windows. And to be very true I would love to move from Windows to Mint and keep it as my only OS in my desktop.

But as one of you says every distro comes with some strengths and some weaknesses. I am just pointing out the areas where Mint can improve and by doing so can really become competitive.

Most average users can not play tweaks and tricks with system, be it a DOS or a BIOS. Hell, most of the average Indian users don't know what the hell is BIOS. If someone think an average Indian user will be able to tweak his system with all the helps he needs from the advanced Linux users, then he should forget it straight away. Same goes with many other average people from different nations around the world. Here I must say we should not phrase them as Indians or Americans or British, but we can phrase them as average Windows users.

The fact is 90% users around the world use Windows. It may have its weaknesses and there are many, but still people prefer it over Linux or Mac. Why? Because it is very easy to use and it is supports almost all the hardware devices irrespective of the brands. You do not have to worry about your graphics card or processor speed or dvd-writer after a complete and successful installation of Windows. What you need is the extra softwares, and that too can be easily installed in the system.
So why an average Windows user will want to give up these facilities and move to Linux Mint? The answer is simple. Linux Mint is free, whereas you need to pay for Windows. There is another hidden reason. Mint is almost virus-free since viruses are mainly written for Windows, which makes Windows vulnerable. You can say Mac is also almost virus-free and you can use Mac then, but like Windows, Mac is non-free and also does not come cheap. So, better Mint than Mac.

Now, for Mint to compete with Windows, it needs to provide all the facilities provided by Windows. Means, it must support all the hardware devices irrespective of the brands, 'cause you can't expect someone to change his hardware just for the heck of using a particular OS. After a successful installation all the devices must work 100% without needing to do any tweaks and tricks. This is the most important and primary criteria for Mint or for any other Linux distro to become a good and standard OS who wish to be a successful desktop OS like Windows. All the other things come next. Infact, in case of Mint, the other things don't come at all. Because apart from the hardware issue, Mint is almost perfect. The software repository provided by Mint, or should I say Ubuntu in this case, 'cause Mint is based on Ubuntu, is great. Here you can find almost all the softwares you need and the installation process is also very easy. One can say Mint does not come with Games. But I don't think it's an issue, although this is solely my personal opinion and it may vary person to person. For those who loves to play games in their PC, you can easily download and install the games you want through Software Manager and that too with a single click. And yes, there are a large number of games available. Another thing I must add here, the Mint forum and also the Ubuntu forum is of great help. I don't think there is no other place in the world which gives so much support to it's users like the Mint & Ubuntu forums, though this too is my personal opinion. Hats off to them. Guys, you are doing great job. Thank you very much. For you only, one must try Mint atleast once. But I don't think any user after trying Mint would stop continuing with it, unless he has some hardware issue like me.

Anyways, the post is getting too big and one will feel bore reading it. So, the final words. All I want and I think there will be plenty of examples like me, is Mint to work for all of us, irrespective of nations, cultures, languages, hardware configurations, user type etc. 'Cause Mint is a blessing and all of us should be blessed.

Thanks

[shinder]

The Linux is created by an open source Community of developers. I have always wanted to use the Linux because it is always advancing and you can advance with it.
I personally don't mind having problems as that is what makes computers interesting is the journey of learning.
I had problems with my nvidia geforce6200 graphics card too but after a few days the driver was updated automatically.
This is the place to start if you want to learn how other operating systems work. But you need patience and a desire to learn and experiment. The bios is the main small program in the computer at start up. you go into that by pressing f2 or del as soon as you switch on the computer.

[vincent]

I agree, hardware issues are tough to overcome for new Linux users. Unfortunately, until hardware vendors decide to seriously support Linux, instead of solely Windows, that's just the way it'll be. The Linux kernel is very much different from that of WIndows; these are two operating systems with a totally different background and a totally different architecture, so not all hardware devices that work on Windows will work on Linux, simply because manufacturers may or may not give a crap about Linux. In that case, there's really nothing we can do about it, unless you want somebody to reverse engineer every single hardware device in the world in order to make Linux-friendly drivers, which is pretty much impossible.

What I'm trying to say is that, to expect Linux to support every single piece of existing hardware is simply unrealistic. It's not up to Linux to provide compatibility for existing hardware, it's up to manufacturers to make Linux-compatible hardware.

[MALsPa]

There is not a Linux distro out there that will work perfectly "out-of-the-box" on every computer. But most of the time, with a little tweaking you can get any distro to work on any computer. Not all of the time, but most of the time. Which is pretty good considering that Linux is free.

[jlr1701]

there's really nothing we can do about it, unless you want somebody to reverse engineer every single hardware device in the world in order to make Linux-friendly drivers

I not only expect that to be done, I DEMAND IT!!!!

[ubuntulove]

First of all, a sincere apology to the Mint developers, Mint users and the whole Mint community.
The words I have spoken about Linux or in this case, Mint, I found today is quite unjustified. I have done a lots of studying about Linux and Mint in past couple of days. And I found the things I have said are simply not quite acceptable. I have been a Windows user for the last 10 years and I have said all my viewpoints keeping Windows in mind, where I went entirely wrong. I came to know Linux is an entirely different OS and it's mode of operations is distinctly different from that of Windows. So, if a Windows user want Linux to be an OS which is like Windows but which doesn't have it's faults (which are many), then it's not just acceptable and justified. Because Linux is a very different OS and doesn't need to be like Windows or Mac or any other OS. Linux is Linux and people should be happy with it as what it is and like me should not complain what they need it to be. Linux is still here and is gaining popularity day-by-day because it has maintained its genuineness.

Now, I have complained about my AMD Athlon Processor not performing upto it's max. capacity in Linux. I have also said it can do so with a little tweak with the BIOS, but I am reluctant to change any setting in my BIOS. Here, I must mention that the under-performance is really a good thing if it can be judged minutely. How? Well, actually the processor is not under-performing always, it's only doing so when it is not required to perform at the max. speed (Example - the pc is running, but the user is not doing anything on the pc and sitting idle) and thereby reducing power consumption. It's a feature of many AMD64 processors and Linux supports it. Hence, no question of under-performance.

Coming to the NVidia Graphics card issue. This is a real pain-in-neck. But the thing is to use NVidia Graphics card one needs to install proprietary drivers and as Linux is an open source free OS there is a compatible issue. The issue won't be solved completely until NVidia starts to support Linux in a big way. Until then one must look upon our good hearted Linux advanced users and experts in Mint forums to solve such issues and must appreciate and acknowledge their kindness.

Lastly before signing off, I must apologize once again for my previous posts. Sorry guys, I have been such a fool. So, really sorry. You people are doing great and as long as you are there novices like us need not to worry. So thank you very much, thanks from the bottom of my heart. You guys rock. Mint rocks.

[vincent]

True, if you want your Nvidia/ATI graphics card to perform with their best performance, you'll need those proprietary drivers, and they can really mess up your Linux system depending on a variety of factors. Unfortunately, nothing much can be done about it...on the bright side, the open-source Nvidia drivers (called "nouveau") is being developped at a very fast pace and has made quite a few strides recently.