Linux Mint 12 Release Candidate

[proxima_centauri]

Advanced Settings (gnome-tweak-tool)
Go to Shell Extensions category.

[charliemoss]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

[z06gal]

Advanced Settings (gnome-tweak-tool)
Go to Shell Extensions category.

Got it proxima. Thanks. I rebooted and it showed up after that.

[JordanV0712]

Also, why does my laptop keep losing battery power. Apparently fully charged on here is 90%, i unplug the charger, then fully charge to 89, and so on.... WHY!?!?!

[KBD47]

Logging into a MATE session is now working on the 32 bit after today's update. Now that I've tried it I can see where it might equal Gnome 2 in a couple of years, but for now it is lacking a huge number of Gnome 2 features. The Classic Desktop option (fallback) is actually closer to the the way Gnome 2 works, and looks and acts waaaay better than MATE. I'm going to stick with it instead of MATE. I know the fallback mode is supposed to go away, but who knows for sure? It may end up being retained as an alternative desktop to Gnome-Shell. Even if it isn't, it will be around for the next 1 to 5 years as it is supported in the current Ubuntu 11.10, and looks like it will also be in the 12.04 LTS, which means it should be in Mint 13 LTS also.

So my current opinion of Mint 12 Lisa is that it is a great accomplishment by Clem and his team in making the generic Gnome-shell into a usable and good looking desktop. IMO the MATE desktop is a good idea, but severely lacking in execution (not Clem's fault). While I will never be in love with Gnome Shell, for the time being the Classic Desktop works nearly identical to the way I was using Gnome 2, so in conclusion I am one happy camper.

I've come to pretty much the same conclusions. Perhaps the greatest thing about Mint 12 is the number of desktop choices it offers. I posted some thoughts about the Mint desktop choices on my blog:
http://kbd-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.com ... ughts.html
KBD47

[rprego]

I downloaded the RC today, and I absolutely love MGSE and MATE - I haven't decided which I like better yet.

Does anyone know how to get the User Switcher Applet on the panel in MATE? In GNOME I'm used to right-clicking the panel and clicking "Add to Panel..." then selecting User Switcher, but it is not in the list in MATE

I've searched Google and the forums but haven't found anything yet. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[KBD47]

I just saw this top panel auto hide extension on web upd8 but I cannot get it to accept the ppa. Has anyone tried it yet?


http://www.webupd8.org/2011/11/autohide ... nally.html

How did you add the PPA, with the terminal command apt-add repository?

Check software sources, it may have added "lisa" instead of "oneiric" for the distribution. I had to manually edit the repo in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

Ahh, is this why Pithos won't work for me in Mint 12? There is a ppa problem with Pithos, the problem notification in Update says it can't locate the ppa, and it has "Lisa" in the address, how can I fix this?
Thanks!
KBD47

[NicolasRobidoux]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

So, somebody else noticed the new car smell.

[proxima_centauri]

Ahh, is this why Pithos won't work for me in Mint 12? There is a ppa problem with Pithos, the problem notification in Update says it can't locate the ppa, and it has "Lisa" in the address, how can I fix this?

Locate the file for the Pithos PPA in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Manually change "lisa" to "oneiric"

[z06gal]

I ran powertop as I have noticed my fan seems to be running alot more and this is what it revealed:



Bad Autosuspend for unknown USB device 2-1.5 (8086:0189)
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device nVidia Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 555M]
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1030
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
Bad Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
Good Wireless Power Saving for interface wlan0
Good Enable SATA link power management for /dev/sda
Good Enable Audio codec power management
Good Bluetooth device interface status
Good Autosuspend for USB device Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_2HDM (CN07CN2C7866413S0C6AA00)
Good Autosuspend for unknown USB device 1-1 (8087:0024)
Good Autosuspend for unknown USB device 2-1 (8087:0024)
Good Autosuspend for USB device xHCI Host Controller [usb3]
Good Autosuspend for USB device xHCI Host Controller [usb4]
Good Autosuspend for USB device EHCI Host Controller [usb1]
Good Autosuspend for USB device EHCI Host Controller [usb2]
Good Wake-on-lan status for device eth0
Good Wake-on-lan status for device wlan0
Good Using 'ondemand' cpufreq governor


How do I fix the "bad?"

[Wamukota]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

I too am looking for the added value of this new hybrid Mint/Gnome3 interface.

[crispata]

One question -- I like the menu from the bottom panel -- can this be added/preserved in AWN or Cairo-Dock -- not sure how it's implemented currently, I haven't dug too deep yet.

Not sure if its possible, but I do have a standard gnome menu when you click on the mint icon in the dock thanks to alacarte. But its not the fancy mint menu. As far as the process, I end up adding another session that only has the dock. You can choose it or another option like the shell or the fallback mode.

Thanks for the info -- I now think I'm going to wait awhile before I start trying to customize too much. I lost the menu extension from the bottom panel today, for no reason I can think of, and can't seem to get it to turn on again. (I flick the switch in the tweak tool, and it goes to "on", but even when I restart shell it doesn't actually reappear. Then when I look at the tweak tool again it's gone to "off".

I think I'll wait until this is updated through final before I start doing too much to it -- just to be sure that any further breakages aren't likely to have been caused by me.

[crispata]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

I too am looking for the added value of this new hybrid Mint/Gnome3 interface.

I don't want to put words into the design team's mouth, but if I had to guess it goes something like this --

Gnome 2 (the old interface) is a lame duck.

Mate is new (despite being a Gnome 2 fork) and may not succeed.

Gnome 3, while young, is the future of Gnome.

In addition, they are trying to give folks as much choice as possible.

So by packaging it this way, they provide a shot at a long term future for Gnome 2 (Mate), a full Gnome 3 default environment (by turning off MGSE extensions), a Gnome 3 environment tweaked as much as is reasonably possible to appease folks like me who would like to ease the transition while Gnome 3 matures (MGSE), and (for now) the "Fallback" mode which also resembles Gnome 2, and is already preferred by some.

IMO there is no future for Gnome 2, no matter how much we may all have loved it. Mate needs to succeed and/or Gnome 3 needs to mature. There is no distro that lets you ride out this reality as comfortably as Mint does right now. Your other options are Unity and default Gnome3 as available via other distros. (Unless you fully switch to XFCE, KDE4, etc..)

[KBD47]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

My wife is using Ubuntu 11.04 with Classic Gnome (Gnome 2) and I'm not upgrading her computer until after the LTS releases arrive next Spring, and then it will likely be with Mint 13 LTS with Classic Gnome logged in. Same with our desktop computer which is currently running Mint 11. Unless you like to tinker and mess with new software there probably is no reason to Upgrade to 12 yet IMO. But when support ends next year you will need to make a choice if you want supported software.
KBD47

[Wamukota]

I can see the idea behind the migration to G3, but why remove so many functionalities that we are used to, like icons on the desktop, screensavers, a fully fledged mint=menu,, fully customizable panels, panel applets, ...

[KBD47]

Ahh, is this why Pithos won't work for me in Mint 12? There is a ppa problem with Pithos, the problem notification in Update says it can't locate the ppa, and it has "Lisa" in the address, how can I fix this?

Locate the file for the Pithos PPA in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Manually change "lisa" to "oneiric"

That did it. Thank you very much! Nice to have Pithos back, it's one of the best things about Linux

[charliemoss]

Maybe I'm blind to the positive but can someone explain why one should upgrading from 11 to 12. The sleek, easy to use, intuitive interface has been replace by two of limited functionality. I simply don't see the benefits that, even in the final release, this version can bring to my computing experience. I'm not being rude, I would simply like to know what is so great about Gnome 3 or do people upgrade because they want to use "the latest stuff.

I too am looking for the added value of this new hybrid Mint/Gnome3 interface.

I don't want to put words into the design team's mouth, but if I had to guess it goes something like this --

Gnome 2 (the old interface) is a lame duck.

Mate is new (despite being a Gnome 2 fork) and may not succeed.

Gnome 3, while young, is the future of Gnome.

In addition, they are trying to give folks as much choice as possible.

So by packaging it this way, they provide a shot at a long term future for Gnome 2 (Mate), a full Gnome 3 default environment (by turning off MGSE extensions), a Gnome 3 environment tweaked as much as is reasonably possible to appease folks like me who would like to ease the transition while Gnome 3 matures (MGSE), and (for now) the "Fallback" mode which also resembles Gnome 2, and is already preferred by some.

IMO there is no future for Gnome 2, no matter how much we may all have loved it. Mate needs to succeed and/or Gnome 3 needs to mature. There is no distro that lets you ride out this reality as comfortably as Mint does right now. Your other options are Unity and default Gnome3 as available via other distros. (Unless you fully switch to XFCE, KDE4, etc..)

Thanks for your replies, however I still do not understand the benefits of this change. The improvements in GTK must be very special for the LM team to abandon a product that has taken them past Ubuntu in the Distrowatch chart. But what are these benefits other than Multi Arch. LM 11 was excellent, it had a few issues, but with those fixes and improvements and further usability extras it would have reigned Supremo. The future of input doesn't lie in sliding and poking plastic (mice & keyboards), it lies in voice and gesture control. My mouse, during the two weeks of testing Ubuntu 11:10 & LM 12 RC has cover more mileage than all the rest of the year put together on LM 11. I feel like someone is trying to replace my 6 month old Mercedes with a new Volkeswagon. I agree with KBD47, it's something for the tinkers to pay with so I'll wait for the next LTE version. However, I still would like to know what is so good about the new GTK?

[crispata]

Thanks for your replies, however I still do not understand the benefits of this change.

I guess what I was trying to say in my longwinded way was that whatever benefits there are to this change have been determined and justified within the Gnome dev team. Unless LM was going to continue releasing based on a dead branch or decide that KDE (or etc) would become the primary DE, they have made the best possible (IMO) decisions based on the current situation.

The things listed in the earlier post as missing are things that are missing from Gnome3, not things that the LM team "took away".

Is there a compelling reason to upgrade now? Maybe not if you don't need the newer kernel and etc - but IMO since I don't plan on using Gnome2.32 5 years from now, this is good enough for me to jump on and see where the ride goes.

[kc1di]

installed and seems to be working quite well here. But will play with it for a few days.
Thanks to all the devs that worked on this it's the best Gnome 3 release I've seen so far.
Like the look and the menu options.
My hats off to you all.

Dave

[tdockery97]

I've come to pretty much the same conclusions. Perhaps the greatest thing about Mint 12 is the number of desktop choices it offers. I posted some thoughts about the Mint desktop choices on my blog:
http://kbd-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.com ... ughts.html
KBD47

Sounds like something I would have written if I had a blog. Good work KBD47. I'm going to place my bet on the Gnome devs deciding to keep the fallback mode around just to quiet down to "revolt" against Gnome-Shell. They can always rename it Classic Gnome instead of fallback mode, and then claim that "they" decided it would be a good idea to keep it just in case a few users want to use it.