A nice review of mint and the top linux distros!

[Kynan]

I found this review between the top linux distros just today and awesomely mint comes in very nicely, take a look for yourself. You all deserve a pat on the back
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20071203#review

[molom]

Give me a break, how could mints installation be any easier than what it is? What does PCLOS have in their installation that makes it easier to install than Mint? Well I guess nothings perfect .

[Kynan]

actually yea i didnt notice that pclinuxos scored better in that regard i wonder how? from memory of installing pclinuxos it had alot more setting up to do before you could use it, which i thought was a pain... and the installer for mint and ubuntu is much simpler and easier to use in my opinion... ohwell...

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I also found another review just on mint 4 from my fav site Softpedia for anyone interested http://news.softpedia.com/news/Living-W ... 2641.shtml

a few things i took note of were:

"Talking about Amarok, Linux Mint should have Exaile installed instead of it, because it is a GNOME software. Installing Amarok in GNOME and any other KDE application that requires the KDE libraries may lead to some crashes of Knotify. Therefore, if you use Amarok, don't be astonished when you'll see a warning window about a Knotify crash, when you’ll try to minimize it in the tray area."

(i also feel exaile should be the default app for handling audio.)

"To access Software Portal, I had to click the "Software Portal" link situated in the "System" area of the Main Menu. A window pops-up, offering you the possibility to search for software directly from your desktop, and a button that takes you to the Software Portal. I don't like the fact that the Software Portal window I've talked about earlier remains active and it doesn't close, after you click the "Go to the Software Portal" button. In my opinion, as a normal user, this window should close immediately after I click that button."

(small thing but i agree non the less)

"I wanted to watch some movies today. There are two video players installed in Linux Mint 4.0: Totem and MPlayer. I've tested a DVD-Video disc and also MP4 and XviD video files. The DVD-Video disc worked very well on Totem, but it failed to work on MPlayer. As for the MP4 and XviD video files, they worked nicely in both players. I doubt you can find a video file that these players can't play, as Linux Mint contains a lot of today's frequently used codecs."

(i often wonder why we bother with 2 media players? i actually don't use either of them i use VLC but hey thats me.)

[kanishka]

(i also feel exaile should be the default app for handling audio.)
(i often wonder why we bother with 2 media players? i actually don't use either of them i use VLC but hey thats me.)

I completely agree, I use them both and they are all I need! Exaile is especially impressive for its speed, IMHO

[lynx2cross]

Linux mint is top dog. I tried PClinux and was not impressed. In fact it gave me trouble with my sound card.

[molom]

Linux Mint should have Exaile installed instead of it, because it is a GNOME software.

I thought Exaile was e17 native software because it started with an 'E'. (I should do more research before I assume )

[Noob Saibot]

"I wanted to watch some movies today. There are two video players installed in Linux Mint 4.0: Totem and MPlayer. I've tested a DVD-Video disc and also MP4 and XviD video files. The DVD-Video disc worked very well on Totem, but it failed to work on MPlayer. As for the MP4 and XviD video files, they worked nicely in both players. I doubt you can find a video file that these players can't play, as Linux Mint contains a lot of today's frequently used codecs."

(i often wonder why we bother with 2 media players? i actually don't use either of them i use VLC but hey thats me.)

I have wondered this myself as well...I dont like to have 2 programs on my system that do the same thing so I also use VLC. It works flawlessly, and in the past I have had errors with totem and/or Mplayer. The only downside to VLC I can think of is that it doesnt show my video icons as thumbnails from the file, but instead as the multimedia icon, but I am sure someone with more knowledge than me has a fix.

[saltyp]

Can VLC be included in a distro without cost or breach of licenses? I use it also. In open SuSe 10.2 and as a work around in a confined government Windows XP environ. The bloody thing plays anything you can throw at it.

To be able to ship VLC as the default media player would certainly be a plus. Sticking with the philosophy of a CD sized distro, and supporting open source. VLC would reduce the space required on the media with no loss of functionality.

[Kynan]

Can VLC be included in a distro without cost or breach of licenses? I use it also. In open SuSe 10.2 and as a work around in a confined government Windows XP environ. The bloody thing plays anything you can throw at it.

To be able to ship VLC as the default media player would certainly be a plus. Sticking with the philosophy of a CD sized distro, and supporting open source. VLC would reduce the space required on the media with no loss of functionality.

I totally agree, id like to hear from the developers if they would consider this or not.

also http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue ... commentary
very nice to read about what they say on linux mint both in its growth and the enthusiasm of the community.

[jbaerbock]

PCLOS really gave me more problems when testing it than any Mint or Ubuntu ever have. So don't know what they were smoking. Maybe I am one of the few but the look of the beast is ugly too.

[jbaerbock]

Haha Mint wins . So why is it people love to comment that Mint "is" Ubuntu with a few tweaks but they fail to point out PCLOS is really Mandriva with a few Tweaks? At least Mint has created its own tools whereas most of PCLOS's were tools from Mandriva with a new skin? Sorry just kinda annoys me.