Article Linux Mint the New Ubuntu

[samriggs]

I was doing some surfing tonight and found this nice article about linux mint being the new ubuntu.
As some of you know now, linux mint overtook ubuntu in distro-watch to be the number one linux distro in the world, making it the third top OS on the planet.
Quite a feat for Clem and the team.
Congradulations folks, well done.
And with Lisa coming out (linux mint 12) using gnome 3 but having extensions to give those who hate gnome 3 feel, these gives it the look and pretty much the use of gnome 2 (through extensions) and the old mint way, it should satisfy everyone. (hopefully but I know that is an impossibility )but as close as you can get.
Something no other distro has done yet.
You can see the article HERE

Again congradulations to Clem and the team, much appreciated.
Sam
It should actually say Linux Mint way better than Ubuntu but that's my personal opinion.

[KBD47]

Nice.
I noticed today that both Fedora and Opensuse were also ahead of Ubuntu on distrowatch for the past 7 days result. Ubuntu has bombed with Unity, and it really didn't have to. If they had made Unity easy to move from the left side of the desktop to the right or bottom, and allowed a sane applications menu instead of that maze, the Unity desktop could have been usable. But they blew it. Also they could have simply done like Clem and invested their time spent on Unity instead on fixing gnome 3 to make it usable.
KBD47

[Fandangio]

I think Gnome 3 will become a success. As this is supported by an ever increasing number of Distro's there is a large pool of talent working to make this better for all. Unity on the other hand is only being developed by Canoical so will not advance at such a pace.

This unilateral approach is hurting Ubuntu whilst Mint is taking a very good position (though I'd drop Mate).

Whilst the No1 spot on Distrowatch is pretty much useless in gauging existing adoption of an OS it will inevitably lead to an increase in people trying Mint. I hope that the Mint team are ready for this increase, there could be a huge demand for Mint 12 and for services such as the forums

[KBD47]

I agree that gnome 3 could become very good, and I did not think I'd ever say that, because gnome 3 in Fedora was every bit as bad as Unity. But over the past month the way I've seen users on the forums making gnome 3 usable, and now seeing the MGSE desktop coming for Mint--I'm much encouraged about it.
Regarding MATE, I would not be quick to dismiss it, particularly regarding users with older hardware that can't run gnome 3 shell, MATE could be very important for many users.
KBD47

[Fandangio]

I didn't realise there was such a disparity in HW requirement.
If that's the case then there is a place for mate.

edit: now that 3D acceleration is not required.

[antikythera]

Mr Shuttleworth only has himself to blame for the shift in user base. Unity has got to be the worst move outside of a netbook environment for which it actually works well. Anything else it just becomes a pain in the backside to use on. To my mind forcing it on everyone is removing the freedom of choice that ubuntu was created for in the first instance. Rant over.

It is nice to see Mint coming out on top. Well earned for what is to my mind the most user friendly OS. The support forum goes a long way to back this up too. I have always found people on here to be polite and courteous when giving advice. Some other distro communities have participants that expect everyone to be on the same level of knowledge as them and are just plain rude if you aren't.

[linuxviolin]

gnome 3 in Fedora was every bit as bad as Unity.

GNOME 3 in Fedora is the real one, if you see what I mean. So...

As this is supported by an ever increasing number of Distro's

Well, they have the choice? GNOME 2 is dead...

About Unity and although I don't like it, it is perhaps better, perhaps a little more usable, than GNOME 3.

[samriggs]

I have to agree with linuxviolin about Fedora, it was about the best use of gnome 3 I seen yet, but now others are catching up, now the best use of gnome 3 I see is what Clem is doing with it, trying to appease both sides and working with what he has to work with and doing a good job with it, I was waiting to what Clem would do with this and I have to say so far I am pleased with the results.
I know a lot of folks love gnome 2 and the way it is laid out, personally I do also but I'm more pliable and can used to other things easily.
I am also glad to see Clem jumping on the MATE bandwagon and seeing what can be done with this. If successful I have one install on someone's computer, maybe two, I'll be using it on, mainly because that person prefers the old way over gnome 3, it's something they got used to and change is too hard as the person is not that computer illiterate and can work what is in front of her better then clicking too many places plus she's elderly, so I'll be keeping my eyes open for this one. Better to have this than xfce although that will be the second choice.
The main thing is allowing shortcuts on the desktop. That is one thing that is needed, although it has taught me to be organized
Unity well theres parts of it I can't stand at all but that's just my personal preference, I know a lot folks like that, I'm just not one of them.
What would be excellent is if someone could come up with the best of all distros and incorporate it into a new distro.
Like in Fedora when you go to website that needs plugins it searches right away and allows you to install them right then and there, so much easier then trying to figure out what you need and go hunting for them, mostly I like debian better but there are good parts to all systems, but with this all said, I have to say mint is doing the most I've seen so far to try and keep everyone happy. It's good to see this happen.
Sam

[carranty]

I was doing some surfing tonight and found this nice article about linux mint being the new ubuntu.

Is this really a good thing though. Personally I love Mint, I emigrated to Mint after Ubuntu 11.04 and haven't looked back but every time I read an article about Mint it points out it is based on Ubuntu. If Ubuntu was no longer around, would Mint still exist?

[samriggs]

I think the only reason for that was because it was comparing numbers.
Ubuntu has been number one on distro watch for who knows how long, and now mint has beaten and surpassed the number one spot ubuntu held, I don't think it was for any other reason then this.
As far as comparing it to ubuntu goes, the main one is based on ubuntu but with changes, unless Clem wiped it out entirely in mint 12 and went for gnome 3 or MATE only with absolutely no unity and based strictly on debian with minimum parts from ubuntu which too are probably changed, how much is actually taken from ubuntu now, I don't really know anymore, I know it was based on it at one time, either way Clem has made so many changes he made it his own anyhow.
But yes comparing it to ubuntu all the time as far as another take off of it is pretty much done I think, the changes made are so different now theres not much of a comparison anymore from what I can see unless I'm wrong of course.
Gnome 3 isn't unity at all (looks a bit similar) but two different things, as is MATE from both of them.
I'm still waiting to see what happens with MATE when it matures and gets compatible totally, I'll probably switch back over to it (gnome 2 fork) instead of gnome 3, although gnome 3 was fun to play with and theme for I still prefer the old way for a working system to do all my work on, as does most folks I take it from what I read, but gnome 3 is good for plain internet use, I know I can get rotten tomatoes tossed my way for this but that's just a personal preference, I tried to use it as a working system to do my work on, but it was not as good as the old way for me, some others will disagree and the cool, it was just my preference.
I have two people using gnome 3 right now and love it more then gnome 2, I have my elderly mother using xfce and loves it the best, I switched over to xfce until MATE gets mature for my workstation now as it makes more sense for me to do so, one thing I like is the loading time, it takes seconds to load whereas gnome 3 I had to wait for the shell to load.
I do enjoy the speed