

Linux Mint Pulls Ahead of Ubuntu - aweber
http://beginlinux.com/blog/2011/11/linux-mint-pulls-ahead-of-ubuntu/

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JonnieCache
_This ranking system is considered to be one of the most reliable around. Even
if it is only a measurement of one website’s traffic._

What? This is even more ridiculous than the TIOBE index.

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bradleyland
"I feel like GNU/Linux needs a stand out distribution that represents how easy
Linux can be for beginners and new users. This used to be Ubuntu but now I
think Linux Mint is in a position to take over."

I think this statement _really_ misses the spirit of what is probably driving
Mint to the top of the charts. "Beginners" and "new users" aren't the ones
flocking to Mint (assuming we believe distrowatch.com is an authority).
Disenfranchised Ubuntu users who are unsatisfied with the changes to their
favored platform are. To the contrary, beginners would more likely favor
Ubuntu's Unity interface because it is undeniably simpler. Beginners don't
have any concept of features customizing panels, so they don't miss them.

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bluedanieru
It's the myth of the novice Linux user. This magical creature is both
sophisticated enough and has the desire to install a new OS on his machine
(perhaps even in a dual-boot configuration!) and learn to use a completely
different computing environment, yet needs to be coddled with an
unconfigurable, brain-dead GUI.

There's also the other myth about how you can have the same interface on a
desktop and on a tablet, but that's so crazy that most people who believe it
are locked up in institutions.

It's great if more people want to use Linux, of course. But it would be better
if in so doing they came to have an appreciation for their device as one of
the most powerful tools ever conceived by the mind of man, rather than another
way to upload photos to Facebook and look at cat videos on Youtube. Those use
cases are more than covered.

At any rate, Linux Mint is switching to Gnome 3 next release, although with
some extensions to remove the suck apparently. So beware.

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constant_change
Thanks for bringing this distribution to my attention. I've been trying to
force myself to adapt to Unity but I'm still not enjoying it. I feared
switching to another distribution because I've grown accustomed to Ubuntu's
ease of package management and hardware support. I don't have the time or
inclination to fiddle with text file configurations any more these days.

Mint appears to address all of my concerns, providing a distro based on Ubuntu
but stressing ease of use in ways Ubuntu was not willing to (including flash,
full multimedia support, Oracle's java, etc in a fresh install). I am excited
to give the live dvd a try!

I am especially encouraged by their plans for reconciling users' workflow
patterns with Ubuntu's switch to Unity and the Gnome's new interface. Very
pragmatic approach in my view.

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suivix
A more realistic comparison is with Google Trends.

[http://www.google.com/trends?q=Linux+mint%2C+mint+Linux%2C+U...](http://www.google.com/trends?q=Linux+mint%2C+mint+Linux%2C+Ubuntu&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0)

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otaku888
How is that more realistic? People using Ubuntu as a search term does not
accurately reflect install base.

