Review: Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna KDE Community Edition

The last time I investigated Linux Mint I decided that I "didn't get it" and I approached the latest release with that in mind. But it's actually come a long way and while it's not perfect, I now understand.

This release - Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna KDE Community Edition - is quite an ambitious stab at something new and that's not what I was expecting at all.

You see I've always looked upon Mint with confusion; as a derivative of Ubuntu I never quite understood why it existed. Sure there was a time where preloading codecs and software was a desirable thing but now days everyone has tackled that problem in different ways - thus making "out of the box" releases like Mint a little redundant. There are some really interesting things about Mint that deviate from that stereotype massively.

Installation
This release is big. It comes at just under 1gb which means you're in DVD territory and while that's no bad thing these days (as DVD's are no longer expensive) it seems an interesting choice to make. Clearly the judgment was made that 'out of the box' functionality is important and therefore the DVD is to be loaded with goodies, codecs and puppies for the user to toy with.

Installation was undeniably easy; borrowing most of the process from Ubuntu. The LiveCD detected my monitor size to be absolutely mammoth and adjusted the resolution as such. Unfortunately the 24" screen it thought I had was actually just a 17" but changing this was nice and simple (more on that in configuration). No qualms with installation, you've seen it all before. It works, let's move on.

Aesthetics
It's an okay looking release but there are a few rough edges that leap out at me. The icon design doesn't have the same flair that PCLinuxOS Gnome 2.21.2 showed last week and in fact reminds me of PCLinuxOS 0.93 "Big Daddy". Big Daddy was handsome in it's day (I toyed with it in November 2006) but times have moved on and Mint looks rather "ordinary". Although I'm sure some sexier wallpapers would do the trick.



As you can see from the above screenshot, it's not a bad looker when you're using it, it's just not a stunner. Subtle gradients on the highlighted rows would really help. I don't know, it's just the icons and minimal padding around items seem really amateur-ish. Mint looks to be yet another release borrowing the familiar "Vista" style windows too; not that I mind, it's functional and attractive it just feels like the designers lacked inspiration somewhere...



I feel like I've been a bit harsh, it's not *bad* looking it's just nothing to write home about. I can't help but feel that a release that's clearly aiming for mainstream acceptance should be a little more polished in that respect, but that's just my opinion.

Now that I've got my aesthetic gripes out of the way, let's move onto areas where Mint performs really well

Networking
As you would expect with an Ubuntu derivative (it is using the Gutsy Kernel after all) the networking in Mint is solid; my connection was picked up straight away (again, I can't comment on wireless support as this machine uses a wired connection). Once connected to the Internet I was able to access my Samba shares without any problems at all. So I pulled down a few files to test media support.

Media
I don't like Kaffeine (the application, obviously). I never have and I doubt I ever will. I know some people like it but I don't. This comes installed as standard and despite my distaste for the application it played my chosen files fine (episodes of The Simpsons). Clearly Mint comes with codecs preloaded and that's good.



However it wasn't until I opted to install VLC that I found the most interesting aspect of Mint...

Installation, Apt and Usability
Every release I've used in recent history makes use of Synaptic Package Manager; most of them using the very same GUI. I was expecting to have to source VLC from the online category and allow Synaptic to apt-get it for me (this is fine, I consider it "the norm" and fairly usable). The Mint guys have other ideas and have chosen to tackle software installation in a new and interesting way...

In the menu there is an item called "Software Portal" which prompts you to either search for a specific piece of software or browse the catalogue. I expected this to be a similar interface to the "Add/Remove Programs" bit found in Ubuntu. I was wrong. Once I'd submitted my search for "VLC" Firefox opened and I was taken to the Mint website itself where the catalogue was managed. I was presented with the following screen:



Opting to "Install Now" opened a download in Firefox; I downloaded this file and opened it with "mintInstall" (as selected by default). This then hooked up this downloaded file to Synaptic and I was asked whether I wanted to install VLC:



Opting for "Yes" the mintInstall application did an apt-get on VLC and installed it (in a very Synaptic-like manner). Once VLC was installed it was added to the menu as usual and we were done.



While I'm still mildly amazed by Synaptic after all this time I was more interested in the new approach Mint had taken. Instead of prompting me to open Synaptic I was given a local interface to enter my search terms which then queried the online catalogue of software... Instead of interacting with Synaptic directly I was using Firefox to navigate the catalogue and select the application to install.

You know what this felt like? This felt like using Windows.

Using a web-browser to find the software you like? Download it then install it? Hang on doesn't this all sound awfully familiar? Indeed - this is like an abridged Linux/Windows installation procedure. You're still using Synaptic (and indeed apt) but the inclusion of a web-browser into this process makes it more familiar to Windows users.

And that's the clever bit. Usability is key, right? "Software Portal" is a more friendly name than "Synaptic Package Manager". It's less confrontational to new users too (you're not presented with a massive list of modules and packages to cherry-pick through). Sure you can still get them, but the Mint guys have obviously thought about the user experience and that's a good thing. It's not fully polished yet (aesthetically if anything) but it's great to see releases thinking outside the box occasionally.

Configuration
Mint also has a pretty powerful configuration utility with natural language and an easy UI:



However if you know what you're doing you can get a decent level of information (and configuration) out of the utility. It's good. I don't find it as good as the one you find in Mandriva and PCLOS but it's a nice step forward.

Final thoughts
I can't see myself using Mint on a regular basis; for whatever reason it feels a little bloated and underwhelming out of the box. It was only when I dugg a little deeper did I find the installation workflow that captured my imagination. When I said before that I finally "get" Mint I meant it. This release isn't aimed at me. This release is aimed at users who want/need direct out of the box functionality without the desire to trawl through lists of modules to get what they want. This box is aimed at people who just want to be given a DVD and have an operating system - for them it's pretty good. It's just *not* pretty enough in my opinion (but that's quite a shallow standpoint).

I really like the thought that's gone into the installation of software (because it's different) and for all the obvious reasons it's a good release; it just doesn't have that "wow" factor that I feel others seem to have. It's absolutely worth a look if you're the sort of person who finds Ubuntu too lightweight. For me, well I guess I'll stick with PCLOS for now.

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