Mint 12?

[#1]

I believe Ubuntu have completed the rubbishing of their distro recently.
Since I'm still stuck on 10.10 (no 11.04 or 11.10 for me), I'd quite like to investigate Mint.
However, Google doesn't seem to know of any web site and there doesn't appear to be any beta downloads out there.
Does Mint not do any testing before suddenly appearing "fully formed" on a unannounced date?
I know that Mint 11 is stable, but I don't mind waiting a few weeks so I can see what direction Mint is heading.

[#2]

I agree with you completely, Ubuntu 10.10 is still on both my desktop and laptop, and I have waited to see whether 11.10 addresses the mess of 11.04 - but no.
I have been championing Ubuntu for years to friends and family as the easy to use alternative to Windows, only for Mark Shuttleworth to ruin it.
The interface is now just too difficult for the casual non-technical computer user to grasp, with things changing size or becoming hidden, etc.
In addition, I have got used to the predictability and virtually crash proof nature of 10.10, but now 11.04 is constantly doing unwanted and unexpected things, hanging, or getting the window focus lost.  Aggghhhh !!!!  
To answer the question of Mint betas, it looks like Mint don't do them, as this link for Mint 11 beta suggests - http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=151&t=71455

[#3]

Quote from: A

[...]I don't mind waiting a few weeks so I can see what direction Mint is heading.

From the Mint blog

Quote

Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” will be released in November this year with continued support for Gnome 2 but also with the introduction of Gnome 3. The radical changes introduced by the Gnome project split the community. At the time of releasing Linux Mint 11 we decided it was too early to adopt Gnome 3. This time around, the decision isn’t as simple. Gnome 3.2 is more mature and we can see the potential of this new desktop and use it to implement something that can look and behave better than anything based on Gnome 2. Of course, we’re starting from scratch and this process will take time and span across multiple releases. Until then, it’s important we continue to support the traditional Gnome 2 desktop. We’re likely to release two separate editions, one for Gnome 2.32 and one for Gnome 3.2. We’re also working in cooperation with the MATE project (which is a fork of Gnome 2) at the moment to see if we can make both desktops compatible in an effort to let you run both Gnome 2 (or MATE) and Gnome 3 on the same system, either in Linux Mint 12, or for the future.

[#4]

Mint don't do beta's. There will be a RC released at the start of Nov then the full ver mid/late Nov.
Mint's web site is on my sig.

[#5]

Thanks.
At present I'm looking at ways of preserving customisations etc across a replacement release (which I don't generally need to do).

[#6]

What I do is this:
backup my /etc folder in to one called backup (original eh?) in my home folder
make a note of all my extra ppa's I have installed (in /etc/apt/sources.d) and a list of my "usual" programs.
If I want to try a new system then I install it to an empty partition (usually about 10Gb) and point it at my /home drive
Install as normal but give either the new install a different user name or rename my home folder before install (from the live cd, dependant on whether I think I will be switching). This way you can boot back to your original system if the new one proves troublesome.
Then if I like it I can just rename my user and copy stuff back over from the old home folder config folders etc. Then install the usual programs copying back the configs I have in my backup/etc folder if needed.
It seems a bit of a faff but this way you are testing the distro as is without your customisations loaded, which can be applied as required later.
I did this recently with LMDE switching back to LM 11 Xfce version on my eee. Too much was broken in the Debian version - trying to get ffmpeg installed was ridiculous. The repo's were/are still in a state of flux and it wasn't ready for "normal" use.
I even tried Archlinux this way but compiling everything before you install is a painful (and long) way to install a system.

[#7]

Excellent idea!!!
I would add that copying /var/log too would be a good idea.
Of course, you still have to know what you've changed/added in /etc ; for example I've put some extra files in /etc/cron.daily/
and amended /etc/cron.daily/dpkg

[#8]

Quote from: Hairy

It seems a bit of a faff but this way you are testing the distro as is without your customisations loaded, which can be applied as required later. I did this recently with LMDE switching back to LM 11 Xfce version on my eee. Too much was broken in the Debian version - trying to get ffmpeg installed was ridiculous. The repo's were/are still in a state of flux and it wasn't ready for "normal" use.

I guess that's why Mint has its (optional) latest repos for LMDE; updates are released on a monthly (?) basis in the form of Update Packs once new packages have been tested.
I have ffmpeg installed on LMDE - can't remember if it was installed with the mint-meta-codecs package or not - but it wasn't difficult to install.

Quote

I even tried Archlinux this way but compiling everything before you install is a painful (and long) way to install a system.

Aye, even installing from a LiveCD, Arch isn't the quickest way to a working desktop environment.

[#9]

I am using v10.04 LTS on my main laptop and experimenting with my secondary laptop, trying various distro's. V11.10 seems a bit better but I do have one problem which doesn't seem to have an answer.
My wifi on the secondary laptop is a Broadcom (B43) set-up. I tried to find B43-fwcutter software and couldn't. It is not in Ubuntu Software Centre and the Synaptic facility has been discontinued. However if you search in the "Dash Home" then in "More Apps", Synaptic is there to download (stupid arrangement). However, I was not able to get B43-fwcutter working.
I think my next move is to install Fedora 15 and see how we go from there, I know that the Broadcom works with that.

[#10]

oh, that is nice to see...... someone with some "experience" of Linux , complaining (?) of how difficult it is, to get it working " out of the box".... especially the wireless bit, and the secretive way of hiding the broadcom FW Cutter software....
How stupid is that? Really, by now, you would think this sort of childish approach would have grown up with MINT,
after all, it is in version 11, going on 12... isn`t that the age of secondary school kids ?
To a newbie, like me,. that would have been impossible  to find,......

[#11]

@Ellis :
In many laptops the wireless network adapter is a simple plug-in card that can be accessed by unscrewing a panel on the bottom of the machine.
Have you considered the possibility of finding an alternative WiFi card which has better Linux support, and then simply swapping it for the one that you have trouble finding drivers for ?
You can often get NEW WiFi cards on eBay for as little as £5 to £10,  and you will then have a permanent solution where you can try any current Linux distro knowing that networking will no longer be a problem.
If you do go down this route, usually the digital connections are standardized, but sometimes the connectors for the antenna wires are in different positions.  You will need to look at how much slack there is in those wires, as to whether they will reach the connectors on the replacement card - but usually it is not a problem but just one more thing to consider.

[#12]

Quote from: shutter

and the secretive way of hiding the broadcom FW Cutter software.... -cut- To a newbie, like me,. that would have been impossible  to find,......

But he wasn't talking about Mint but about Ubuntu 
@Waldo, when I tested it (about a month + ago) the LATEST repo was the one I was using, I then tried the incoming, but couldn't get ffmpeg to install. It wanted a newer version of a file that wasn't there. I just gave up as I wanted a working system that I could leave alone, it only does get-iplayer & new groups, so went back to LXDE. Only issue I have with that is the difficulty of getting vncserver started. I can't get it to autostart at the mo, so have a shell script I can run when I log in.

[#13]

HB.... you must have misread my comment...

Quote

oh, that is nice to see...... someone with some "experience" of Linux , complaining (?) of how difficult it is, to get it working " out of the box"

[#14]

True but since this thread is about Mint 
But again it is no use complaining about f/w that the compilers/producers have no control over (the Broadcom propriety f/w). If they (the manufacturer) produce drivers that doesn't work for their older chipset is that a fault of the Linux distro compiler?
The fact that the latest driver is included and should work on most (recent?) machines is hardly a fault of the distro is it? Maybe the issue is that is is hidden in the Ubuntu menu? Then complain to Ubuntu about it.
Personally my "issues" with wireless are minimal, my Acer l/t wireless doesn't work, but a 3com pcima card plugged in does, so I just use that  My eee works OOB, but the wireless is so SLOW I just leave it wired (I have a "g" network and am not "upgrading" since I really only use it to listen to music  :D)

[#15]

I've gone back to using Ubuntu v10.04 LTS on both machines now. I've tried various distro's but most of them seem to have some problems for me. Some have wifi for Broadcom B43 and some don't, some allow Ubuntu one to sync, others don't. I have my address books and calendars synch'd on my web host, again some will allow Firefox to work with it but Fedora won't.
I think I shall have to stay with v10.04 LTS until it gives problems then probably go back to Windoze if there's nothing better.