Letter from the Editor

The Hot Seat

Article from Issue 135/2012
Author(s):

What's the top distro on the famous Distrowatch page hit ranking list? Not Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, or Fedora. According the Distrowatch, the hottest Linux is none other than Linux Mint – an Ubuntu-based, community-driven desktop system that is known for ease of use and efficient out-of-the-box multimedia functionality.

What’s the top distro on the famous Distrowatch page hit ranking list? Not Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, or Fedora. According to Distrowatch, the hottest Linux is none other than Linux Mint – an Ubuntu-based, community-driven desktop system that is known for ease of use and efficient out-of-the-box multimedia functionality. Mint has been around since 2006, and many Linux users are familiar with it. We’ve put Mint discs on several issues of this magazine (the latest being the issue that you are holding now). But Mint has found new appreciation recently. Some are calling it the new Ubuntu, which seems a little bit of an overstatement, since Mint is based on Ubuntu (kind of like calling CentOS “the new Red Hat”). Nevertheless, Mint has been on something of a roll recently. Commentators have lauded the simplicity and elegance of the latest release, including Adrian Kingsley-Hughes of ZDNet, who writes, “…after just a few hours of using Mint, I think that I might be a convert.”

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Welcome

    It is 2010, and Ubuntu is riding the crest of a wave. The distro named for a principle of African philosophy that is "too beautiful to even say in English" had legions of loyal users and, perhaps more importantly, legions of enthusiastic volunteers, even though the project was actually backed by a for-profit company called Canonical.

    more »
  • On the DVD: Mint 15 and Debian 7

    The DVD attached to this issue brings you a pair of the world’s most popular Linux distributions. Mint 15 “Olivia” is the latest release from the ever-friendly Linux Mint, a desktop distro based on Debian and Ubuntu that keeps the emphasis on simplicity and ease of use. Mint tops the DistroWatch downloads list and describes itself as: “The 4th most popular home operating system after Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and Canonical’s Ubuntu.”

    more »
  • On the DVD: Gnome Ubuntu Remix 12.10 and Linux Mint 13 KDE

    Canonical’s persistent efforts to perfect the new age Unity desktop for Ubuntu Linux has gotten them in trouble with lots of long-term users, but the Ubuntu project is always quick to point out to the critics: “This is Linux. If you don’t like the desktop, change it!”

    more »
  • Welcome

    As our industry evolves, we evolve to stay with it. The goal, of course, is to keep delivering exciting and thoughtful content to our readership, and we're proud of how we've managed to do that through the years.

    more »
  • New Mint Minted

    Version 16 of the popular Linux desktop reveals new tools, edge-snapping, and performance improvements.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

003-003_Comment_NEW01.pdf (337.10 kB)

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source