Was 9 worth the trouble?

[sammm]

I've got to say, Mint 9 was not all what it made out to be. I tried it, and got right back to 8.
Why? In all honesty, 9 should still be in beta. It's more than extremely buggy (32 bit, 4GB ram w/ upgraded processor) and I was really disappointed.

Not that this is a bug reporting post, however I encountered the following:

1. Couldn't add new panels without restarting.
2. Screen would randomly flash black on the bottom half.
3. Videos where choppy.
4. Firefox would alert "The URL is invalid and cannot be loaded." every time I tried to scroll.

In my opinion, the only "upgrade" was the Software Manager and the Backup Tool.
From one linux user to another, I was overall disappointed with LM9.

Hopefully throughout the 6 months before the next release, bugs are fixed, because I would love to enjoy the benefits of 9, but the constant bugs doesn't allow me to do so.

[gogogadget]

I agree with above poster however other reasons:

why I can't use Mint 9:
1) boot logo problem after video driver install (I know there is a fix, but couldn't you fix it prior to release?)
2) gnome brightness applet not working after video driver install kills battery life for about -300% (from 3 hours to 1 hour)
3) menus are really slow and lag despite successful video driver install
++umts E220 works, scanner works
btw. this Bootmenu style (coming from Mint8) which has this Textfield instead of the single boot parameter line does not seem to save or accept my input. I'd rather have the clean bootparameter single line back, which every other Linux has.

why I can't go back to Mint 8:
1) umts E220 doesn't work
2) scanner does not work
++brightness works, bootlogo works

why I can't go back to Mint 7:
1) skype is bugged
2) scanner does not work
++brightness works, bootlogo works, umts E220 works

From these 3 versions Mint 7 is still the best (even if it does not look like it at first view). I know that mostly Ubuntu was the reason of the failure, because it was THEM, who didn't include the patches prior to their releases. Still it is annoying that suddenly things don't work anymore which worked on previous versions!!!! Actually I also don't care about modified menus or modified software package lists. I think this extra-work by the Mint Team is not necessary. The default Gnome Menu is clean enough. What people want is a Ubuntu based CD which has all Multimedia Codecs included, most other things are obsolete. I would rather suggest to put more effort in preventing the obvious bugs caused by the ubuntu team instead of adding gimmicks.

[jlr1701]

Heck yeah it was!

So far, no major problems here. Everything works great and I'm a very happy camper.

The Mint menu is far better than the default Gnome menu, IMHO. But I agree that Ubuntu bugs should be squashed as rapidly as possible. Mint should actually be based on Debian instead of Ubuntu. I've seen a topic around here about Ubuntu being a poor standard-bearer for Linux, and I wholeheartedly agree. It was once a great distro, but not so much anymore. Linux newbies could get a far better intro to the Linux world than Ubuntu, and I say that speaking as an "advanced" Linux noob.

Anyway... just thought I'd put in my positive 2 cents for Mint 9.

[motomartin]

i think 8 was slow and 9 was buggy - i've gone back to 7

[vrkalak]

Mint-9 was 'no trouble' at all.

But, As a Rule ... after a new release comes to fruition.
I still like to give it a month or two, and wait for the Devs to work out all the bugs and kinks. This plan works very well with Ubuntu.

And seeing how Mint-9 is a LTS (long-term support) I have some time, to wait. No problem.

Not like, I don't already have other versions of 'stable' Mint, I could be using.

[gogogadget]

I would like to know if there is a Mint 9.1 release coming, since a Ubuntu 10.04.1 is coming in July (which is supposed to have fixed major bugs)?
(preferably as a new .iso I hope)

[CDS]

As soon as Mint 9 came out, I downloaded DVD version and installed it. Done, smooth installation. Pain started with software updated. Nothing moves. Reinstalled second time from the same DVD, and this time no problem with update. Feeling better than Mint8. Linux seems very unpredictable, but I enjoy playing around with Linux.

[FedoraRefugee]

Heh, lol! Poster number 2 is truly screwed!

Guys, why not try and figure out what the problem is?

[gogogadget]

Guys, why not try and figure out what the problem is?

Because it is annoying that a new critical bug appears, each time a new ubuntu version is released?
Because this critical bug is a bug which wasn't there on the previous versions - which makes it even more ridiculous?

And Mint suffers these exact same issues 1:1. Yeah, why don't we figure out what has been broken by the developers and which worked on previous version? You get it - because it is a hunt for the next bug only in steps of 6 months. Btw. the Bugs have been posted and confirmed already in launchpad a month ago before Ubuntu 10.04 was released, which makes it triple-ridiculous that there was no fix until release.

[monkeyboy]

If there is a problem the Mint folks can handle they do a fairly good job of addressing it, however many of the OS component problems are beyond the resources of the team to deal with. For example the video drivers (pet peeve) which cause so much hell for folks have little do with the Mint team. The Mint folks didn't plan or code the individual drivers and I expect they don't have enough time or expertise to solve the issues. So my howling like a dog in heat about the drivers here is pointless, better to go to the driver source and deal with those who can actually do something about their work.

[FedoraRefugee]

Guys, why not try and figure out what the problem is?

Because it is annoying that a new critical bug appears, each time a new ubuntu version is released?
Because this critical bug is a bug which wasn't there on the previous versions - which makes it even more ridiculous?

And Mint suffers these exact same issues 1:1. Yeah, why don't we figure out what has been broken by the developers and which worked on previous version? You get it - because it is a hunt for the next bug only in steps of 6 months. Btw. the Bugs have been posted and confirmed already in launchpad a month ago before Ubuntu 10.04 was released, which makes it triple-ridiculous that there was no fix until release.

So use another distro!!! I am happy with Mint and I will fix whatever bug pops up. Or go to something that works for me.

[Biker]

Because it is annoying that a new critical bug appears, each time a new ubuntu version is released?
Because this critical bug is a bug which wasn't there on the previous versions - which makes it even more ridiculous?

Please show me an operating system that doesn't have any bugs upon release.

[KiSM]

Please show me an operating system that doesn't have any bugs upon release.

The first edition of windows 98, i totally didn't have to reinstall it twice then give up until second edition...

[FedoraRefugee]

Please show me an operating system that doesn't have any bugs upon release.

The first edition of windows 98, i totally didn't have to reinstall it twice then give up until second edition...

So was Windows 98 totally bug free or is that just for you? Heck, by that criteria a lot of operating systems have been bug free for me. Just because I never encountered the bugs that were there.

[ibm450]

theres afew people in these forums that speak of having compiled a debian based mint. could some one point us to that direction to trial it out ourselves, or the exact steps required to upgrade a debian OS that we can include the nice features of mint into it i.e. the mint menu, the wifi automator etc etc.

i cant remember where i read in these forums that a OP stated that we should concentrte more on pre-installed multimedia codecs other then including obsolite software and upgrading to pointless extra gimmicks to the desktop. why not include other useful app other then, for example, F-Spot thats in the DVD release of mint, my god, confused is the purpose of that app? gThumb is far superior and alot user friendly and produtive then that F-Spot?

how about including gThumb by default and the nautilus-resizer script into the right click menu, what a handy app these are and be more attractive to the new linux user.

and also by adding the auto mounter by default

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install ntfs-config

from what ive read on the net, the next release of GNOME 3 is going to be of something that jut simply dosnt need to be introdced as its slow and not stable as the poor support on the linux nvidia and ati drives are having a real struggle to display the full potential of gnome 3. i mean whats wrong with compuz?

sorry for the rant, as there seems to be more people speaking out how ubuntu is becomming bloated, buggy and bugs are not resolved in a timely manner and or fixed into the fresh new release ISO's.

im no developer and wish i could contrubute to bug fixes but im definately a user that need things done and that im quiet frankly saddened getting tired of seeing Mint team spending so much time and effort onto a Ubuntu bloatware base OS.

im sorry but MintOS or linux must become as easy to use like windows for more people to take interest into it or else it will remain in the dark as w7 for example and leopard OS are a screamer of OS and bloody awesome to use...come mint lets do it better

[KiSM]

So was Windows 98 totally bug free or is that just for you? Heck, by that criteria a lot of operating systems have been bug free for me. Just because I never encountered the bugs that were there.

oh sorry i forgot sarcasm doesn't work on forums, then again my comment really could work for both situations, and yea win98 first edition was the most painful os that i had ever tried to run (except when i tried to compile gentoo...)

[DrHu]

What people want is a Ubuntu based CD which has all Multimedia Codecs included, most other things are obsolete.

I don't know that the people do want a Ubuntu base, it is simply that they have a fast development cycle and are the most well known, by the public..

If that is what people do want, this will be a problem for any Linux distribution trying to be different: wouldn't they all just go the same way and either include the multimedia and codecs if they are available to them or simply provide a location and a method whereby they could be downloaded and installed

--the method Ubuntu uses..

As to versions available, I will always hold off, if I see significant amount of problems with the Ubuntu parent release, that takes time to fix/not fix ?

[vrkalak]

Please show me an operating system that doesn't have any bugs upon release.

Debian 'stable' ... when it is finally released as 'stable' ... it is rock solid stable ... always.

[mzsade]

Mint 9 is no good for viewing media, with every new edition it is hoped that Firefox/Flash/Java integration (i don't actually know what i am talking about), would have improved, not gone from good in Mint 7, to bad in Mint 8 and worse in Mint 9. I for one, am disappointed, nowadays log into the Mint partition only for printing.

[ibm450]

so any links to make your own debian based mint then?

oh come on! some ones must have already compiled 1 thats ready to download and tryout or what are the bloody steps needed to make your own, simple steps only please as now its become evident that people are trying to try out linux but in the simpler form, i dont think that the MAJORITY of the public is interested in the complex command prompt ways. debs / installers are the way to go these days, thats what people want. any links would be much appreciated

edit: our office pc's have been upgraded to w7, and in the last few days of using it full time, ive started to actually really enjoy using it, no un-necessary compuz or wobby effects, no un necessary cube desktops to fiddle with and feels real stable and a joy to use and mind you it actually performs really well and very snappy on the same low spec pc as mine compared to the lagging buggy feel to ubuntu based system.....come on mint, find a better base of linux or else linux is still going to be behind 3 generations of good practical desktop use compared to windows....