LINUX MINT
About:
Linux Mint is one of the fastest growing Linux distros. Linux Mint has established itself as a perfect replacement for the Windows operating system with its nearly-perfect desktop experience. Another reason why I’m calling it the best Linux distro for a new user is its ability to provide an out-of-the-box experience to the user. It means that you don’t need to spend tons of time installing the distro and packages before you can get some real work done. It doesn’t have a heavier footprint, which is another added point.
Why Linux Mint is best for beginners?
- Easy-to-use Cinnamon desktop
- Large, supportive community
- Out-of-the-box experience
- Access to Ubuntu software repository
Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.
It is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.
Some of the reasons for the success of Linux Mint are:
- It works out of the box, with full multimedia support and is extremely easy to use.
- It's both free of cost and open source.
- It's community-driven. Users are encouraged to send feedback to the project so that their ideas can be used to improve Linux Mint.
- Based on Debian and Ubuntu, it provides about 30,000 packages and one of the best software managers.
- It's safe and reliable. Thanks to a conservative approach to software updates, a unique Update Manager and the robustness of its Linux architecture, Linux Mint requires very little maintenance (no regressions, no antivirus, no anti-spyware...etc).
Features:
Linux Mint primarily uses free and open-source software, making exceptions for some proprietary software, such as plug-ins and codecs that provide Adobe Flash, MP3, and DVD playback. Linux Mint's inclusion of proprietary software is unusual; many Linux distributions do not include proprietary software by default, as a common goal for some Linux distributions is to adhere to the model of free and open-source software.
Linux Mint comes with a wide range of software installed that includes LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, HexChat, Pidgin, Transmission, VLC media player and GIMP. Additional software that is not installed by default can be downloaded using the package manager. Linux Mint allows networking ports to be closed using its firewall, with the customized port selection available. The default Linux Mint desktop environments, Cinnamon and MATE, support many languages. Linux Mint can also run many programs designed for Microsoft Windows (such as Microsoft Office), using the Wine Windows compatibility layer software for Linux, or virtualization software, including VMware Workstation and VirtualBox, or KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine, built into the Linux kernel) hypervisor using Virtual Machine Manager.
Linux Mint is available with a number of desktop environments to choose from, including the default Cinnamon desktop, MATE, KDE, and Xfce. Other desktop environments can be installed via APT, Synaptic, or via the custom Mint Software Manager.
Linux Mint actively develops software for its operating system. Most of the development is done in Python and the source code is available on GitHub.
Linux MintTools:
Software Manager:
Designed to install software from the Ubuntu and Linux Mint software repositories, as well as Launchpad PPA. Since Linux Mint 18.3, the Software Manager has also been able to install software from Flatpak remotes and is configured with Flathub by default. It features an interface heavily inspired by GNOME Software and is built upon GTK3.
Update Manager:
Designed to prevent inexperienced users from installing updates that are unnecessary or require a certain level of knowledge to configure properly. It assigns updates a safety level (from 1 to 5), based on the stability and necessity of the update. Updates can be set to notify users (as is normal), be listed but not notify, or be hidden by default. In addition to including updates specifically for the Linux Mint distribution, the development team tests all package-wide updates.
Main Menu:
Created for the MATE desktop environment. It is a menu of options including filtering, installation, and removal of software, system and places links, favorites, session management, editable items, custom places, and many configuration options.
Backup tool:
Enables the user to back up and restore data. Data can be backed up before a fresh install of a newer release, then restored.
Upload Manager:
Defines upload services for FTP, SFTP and SCP servers. Services are then available in the system tray and provide zones where they may be automatically uploaded to their corresponding destinations. As of Linux Mint 18.3, this software is no longer installed by default but is still available in the Linux Mint software repositories.
Domain Blocker:
A basic domain blocking parental control tool introduced with v6. Enables the user to manually add domains to be blocked system-wide. As of Linux Mint 18.3, this software is no longer installed by default but is still available in the Linux Mint software repositories.
Desktop Settings:
A tool for configuration of the desktop.
Welcome screen:
Introduced in Linux Mint 7, an application that starts on the first login of any new account. It provides links to the Linux Mint website, user guide and community website.
USB Image Writer/USB Stick Formatter:
A tool for writing an image onto a USB drive or formatting a USB stick.
System Reports:
Introduced in Linux Mint 18.3, the purpose of System Reports is to allow the user to view and manage automatically generated application crash reports.