Mint Update: was Why Mint? Was [Leaplist] backup application

[Steve Litt]

On Friday 03 July 2009 04:40:19 pm tom foster wrote:
> On Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:52:01 -0400
>
> Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:
> > On Monday 01 June 2009 12:55:19 am David Simmons wrote:
> > > let us know when that happens.....I've got a bet of about 2 weeks
> > > until it's on your main machine (or you're really wanting it on
> > > your main machine).....I gotta get back to my bookie to let him
> > > know when you make the switch....it's like the movie, 'Rat Race'...
> > >
> > > -dave
> >
> > Dave, your bookie's gonna want his money -- you lost your bet. But
> > for a bizarre reason...
> >
> > I tried Mint on a laptop. Loved it. Then on an experimental machine.
> > Loved it. Then on 2 of my kids' computers. Loved it. Then on my
> > wife's. Loved it. I was making plans to put Mint on my main machine
> > when I heard about THE PROBLEM.
> >
> > THE PROBLEM:
> >
> > On May 2 or 3, 2009, Mint founder Clem LeFebvre wrote on the official
> > Mint blog asking his community to take sides in one of these
> > Hatfield-McCoy international disputes. More accurately, he said that
> > supporters of one side need not contribute code or money to Mint.
> >
> > After weeks of people writing Clem that his request had no business
> > in free software, ON HIS PERSONAL BLOG he modified his position to
> > say he felt sorry for the innocents on both sides and that everyone
> > was welcome in the Mint community. But 2 months later, nothing's
> > posted on the MINT website saying that people of all political
> > persuasions are welcome. The last position taken on the OFFICIAL MINT
> > WEBSITE is that they don't accept supporters of a certain side in a
> > certain international dispute.
> >
> > MY REACTION
> >
> > Suddenly my lovely Mint had a big, ugly, bleeding infectious wart on
> > its cheek. This community wants me to take a political litmus test to
> > participate. I'm sorry, but that's too high of a price to pay. I
> > couldn't look at myself in the mirror if I joined such a community,
> > and we all know you can't get full power of software unless you join
> > the community, at least on a mailing list level.
> >
> > MY PLAN
> >
> > For practical reasons I can't immediately wipe Mint from my wife and
> > kids' computers. Instead, over the long term, I'm going to provide a
> > Mint substitute, with its benefits but without the political baggage.
> > This will be done using a 3 step plan:
> >
> > 1) Use and study Mint to find the features that make it good
> > 2) Create scripts, install scripts and apps giving Ubuntu the Mint
> > advantages. 3) Look for a distro that out of the box gives the Mint
> > advantages without the political baggage.
> >
> > PROGRESS
> >
> > We discussed this plan at the latest GoLUG meeting. People knowing a
> > heck of a lot more about Ubuntu than I convinced me that Mintizing
> > Ubuntu is primarily installing some non-free programs and codecs from
> > Ubuntu repositories, and maybe changing the user interface a little
> > bit. They convinced me it's not going to be as difficult as I'd
> > thought. I downloaded Ubuntu last night and will soon start
> > experimenting.
> >
> > HELP
> >
> > If anyone would like to help with this, I'd appreciate it. Mint's
> > advantages are:
> >
> > 1) Installs on almost anything.
> > 2) Easy and quick install.
> > 3) Works out of the box
> > 	A) Including non free things
> > 		i) Codecs
> > 		ii) NDISwrapper
> > 		iii) Other common programs
> > 4) More intuitive and navigable user interface
> >
> > The preceding is of benefit mainly to non-tech people who would
> > otherwise demand Windows. If you're stuck maintaining Windows people
> > and would like to switch them to a Linux distro enabling them to
> > error-free do minor maintenance, and if you don't want to be required
> > to take sides in an international dispute, then by all means help me
> > in this project.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > SteveT
>
> I don't suppose you've ever given pclinuxos a serious go, have you?  I
> think it has all the codecs and junk out of the box too.  A while back
> I gave my nephew a laptop with Mint on it.  it was irritating to use,
> so I tried fedora.  Irritating to use too. So I tried pclinuxos on it
> and six monthes later it's still going.

The last time I tried pclinuxos, it was extremely picky about what hardware it 
installed on. I'll try it again.

Thanks

SteveT

Steve Litt
Recession Relief Package
http://www.recession-relief.US
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt


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