Cinnamon on LMDE

Recently the Linux Mint team released 1199 updates for LMDE. Well one of these updates was the upstream release of Gnome 3.2. I really did not care for it at all and I can see why a lot of users don't. If it were a tablet only desktop I might have a different opinion.

So at the first chance, like less than two minutes, the command line was opened and sudo apt-get install cinnamon was entered. A minute or so later I logged out and logged in and the Cinnamon desktop was available.

It really wasn't what I expected but it was better than the one inch icons of Gnome 3.2 default. On my hardware I had to turn off some of the Compiz effects but to me that is a non-issue. Call me old-fashioned but I hardly ever see the desktop anyway and clear window headers are just harder on my eyes. But that is always the beauty of Linux is we have choices. Give it a try you may just like it and it is available for other Mint versions too.

Malware Discovered In Screensaver For Ubuntu And Gnome

We all thought it was perfectly safe to run Linux but this story on Linux Magazine proves otherwise. While it is true this particular Malware wasn't targeting the end user, it does demonstrate how easy it is to get unwanted applications and scripts installed. I heartily agree with the article's author, Kristian Kissling, to either check the source code fully or stick to the approved repositories for software. This easily could have been much worse than a script attacking a server. Linux by default is pretty secure but when the user gives the okay to install, all bets are off. This particular malware was hidden in a screensaver, a method of deploying rogue software that has been very popular and I assume effective for a long time. This should serve as a warning to fellow Linux users to be careful and never think your system is 100% safe. If you have been victimized by this waterfall screensaver from Gnome-Look.Org, they have removed the screensaver, the article linked above has the removal command and here is a link to the Ubuntu forums currently discussing this exploit.

Speed Up Gnome In Most Distros

I have an older system and I am always on the lookot for little tweaks to gain some more performance out of my system. If you have a dual or quad core, these tips might not be of interest except to pass on to your friends with lesser CPU power.

• Use wireframe instead of rendering windows

When moving windows the system has to render the contents before moving it. If this is sluggish on your system open a terminal and type: (all one line)
gconftool -2 --type bool --set /apps/metacity/general/reduced_resources true
This command will not work if you are using Compize but if you are you most likely don't need it.

• Force menus to open faster

This command will remove the small delay the system uses to draw the icons in the menus. It will require you to re-start the xserver.
 gtk-menu-popup-delay=0
Don't forget to reinitialize xserver by using Ctrl+Alt+Backspace. Your menus will pop open a bit faster with this tip.

This isn't a complete list by any means. If you have a great tip please share it in the comments.

Karmic Koala Installed

Well I had to download the ISO again and re-burn it to disc. But after doing this I was able to install Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 just fine. As it turned out I could not install from the Live CD while in the OS but I could from the boot option menu. Here is a screenshot of how I have separated partitions pre-install of Karmic Koala.


I did stay with the default filesystem ext4 for the root partition but opted for ext2 for the home partition. I chose the ext2 filesystem based on an article on the HowtoForge site that talks about accessing Linux files from Windows and gives three examples. The third example, The Ext2 Installable File System For Windows, allows read and write ability and is the one I am going to try out. More on that later.
At first try this version seems quite responsive. But like I stated before, I am quite disappointed they didn't put Firefox 3.5 in this release but opted for 3.0.11 instead. Perhaps this will change as the release gets closer production stages.

I did like the responsive boot and the log in dialog box has changed similar to that in Fedora 11. So far so good. I have no complaints yet other than Firefox. Running the newer kernel 2.6.31-4-generic and using GNOME 2.27.4 is rather smooth. I do believe the wireless implementation of the Atheros chipset has improved too. All I had to do for connectivity was input the WPA key and I was connected. And even without testing I can tell the Internet page views are faster without the long delays I had with 9.04. For all the Ubuntu fans this may very well be the best release yet and there is still about 3 months to go before the final release.