Linux Mint 19

[BobHelm]

Good news for anyone looking for an alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows is that the new Long Term Support version of Linux Mint (19 - Tara) has just been released.
It will be supported for updates until 2023.

It is based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, released earlier this year, & comes in 3 desktop versions. Cinnamon, Xfce & MATE.
It can be downloaded for free from their website
https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3597
Either as a 64 bit or 32 bit ISO file.

In a while a new LMDE 3 aka “Cindy” version will also be released.
The difference here is that it is based on Debian 9 - Stretch rather than Ubuntu. The logic behind this is that while Ubuntu is currently freely available, Canonical, who develop Ubuntu, are a commercial company & may make different decisions tomorrow. Ubuntu itself is already based on Debian.

The ISO file is also a live disk. Meaning that you do not need to physically load anything onto your computer but can try it out in complete safety directly from the DVD.
Just a couple of points if you do decide to try the live version.
1. It will be slower to use than an installed version due to the slowness of DVD drives.
2. Any changes you make to Mint will not be saved but lost when you turn off the computer.

Installation is started by clicking on the installation icon on the live version desktop.
It is a very simple & fairly swift process with the user just needing to answer a few simple questions about their preferences. If another operating system is already on the computer then Mint will automatically detect it & ask if you wish to install Mint along side it. Otherwise you have the choice of completely wiping your hard disk & installing Mint as your sole operating system.

Once installed & restarted Mint opens up with a new Welcome screen.

Probably the most important part of this screen is the second tab - First Steps

This easily walks you through one of the best new features of Mint 19 - System Snapshots.
The concept of Mint 19 is that you can easily automatically create copies of your working system. Then if anything ever goes wrong you can instantly go back in time to the last good version & continue to work from there.

The system allows you to select drives other than your main drive to save the snapshots. This would be an advantage in the case of a hard disk failure, when you would still have access to them.

Then you just select how often you wish to run the snapshots & if you want email confirmation of its successful run.

As always with the Cinnamon desktop, clicking on the Mint icon next to Menu in the bottom left hand corner of the screen brings up the list of available programs & actions.

Although it has only just been released it does look a major step forward from Mint 18 & a great deal of effort seems to have been made towards making anything as easy as possible for the end user..

[Stantheman]

Bob,
Does Linux keep certain keyboard functions I have with windows such as cntrl alt del to see task master etc.

[BobHelm]

Yes Stan, but I think that they are dependant on the Desktop you use.
I am a Cinnamon fan - being an ex-Windows user - because everything seems in the 'right' place for me there.
Here is a list of the Cinnamon shortcut keys. It is the Mint 18 list as I haven't seen a 19 one yet - but I suspect it will not differ much.
https://www.lifewire.com/complete-list- ... nt-4064592

However one of the main 'selling points' of Linux is that it is highly customisable for exactly what a particular user wants. So it is with the shortcut keys. If you don't like what you are given, or want something different, then just change it..
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-change- ... ts-4064754

[BobHelm]

In Mint System Monitor is just about the equivalent of Windows task master.

There are various ways that you can create shortcuts to items like this that you may want to get at often & quickly.
Personally I just add it to the bottom left hand panel, as below & then a quick mouse click shows..

mint 7.png (8.42 KiB) Viewed 1511 times

[DoctorFix]

I hear a lot of complaining over systemd and it's tentacles getting into everything and have read where Debian doesn't use it or at least offers the choice of which init to use on install.

[BobHelm]

Sadly (or maybe happily ) the Linux brotherhood has a vast range of users & creators who vary from the very liberal in what is 'proper' Linux Distribution to highly conservative about only using completely open source components.
The number of current live Distributions quoted by Distrowatch as being 310 is proof of that,

I think that the anti systemd movement falls very much into that category, some developers are happy to use it, some hate it with a religious zeal..

Ubuntu uses systemd so it is only to be expected that Mint 19 based on that will do so as well.
I understand that it is possible to 'back out' systemd from Debian Stretch & replace it with sysvinit but while it is not hugely complicated it isn't just saying Yes or No to a prompt.
Also, of course sysvinit is, itself, a system that has a great many detractors & critics as well as supporters.

Will Mint LDME 3 (based on Debian) offer the choice of a non systemd system?? I really have not read anything to suggest that it does..

Personally I am more concerned about all the black box stuff both Intel & AMD are now placing around the chips running the whole show because over that there is no alternative or choice..