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.

Turn a Windows User Into a Linux User

I had a friend complaining to me about BSOD's. Well I gave my usual speech about what they are and such and offered to analyze them. I pointed him in the path of a utility from Nirsoft, BlueScreenView and he sent me the results. I let him know that most likely it was a driver issue and maybe he could update. I also had given him a USB flash drive with Linux Mint Katya on it and low and behold I received an email that night that he had wiped Windows 7 away and was enjoying Linux.

He had one real issue and that was finding the right wireless driver. Once he connected wired, the driver was downloaded and installed along with other updates and all was well.

Tux clipart
from Clker.com

Chalk another one up for the penguins.

History Is Made By Rejecting Windows

Graeme Cobbett was finally paid $115 from Dell for rejecting Windows Vista and the free upgrade to Windows 7. He purchased a Dell Studio 1555 from Dell and when he started the computer for the first time was greetd by Microsoft's EULA agreement or End User License Agreement. In the agreement is a paragraph that allows for the refund of the cost of Windows if the user doesn't agree with the EULA. Here is the now famous clause:

"By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund or credit. If you cannot obtain a refund there, contact Microsoft or the Microsoft affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft's refund policies."

Most of use never read the EULA. I have read one or two way back when but I must admit I really don't read them. I do use a utility called EULA Analyzer. This tool will look for possible misleading or unusual wording.

It turns out that Graeme had to be a bit persistent and kept after his refund for two months before Dell finally came through. Instead of Windows he installed Linux Mint. Chalk one up on the Linux scoreboard. Head over to the Linux Mint Blog to read Graeme's story.

The mint leaf I created shows the $112 dollars he was refunded. Graeme then turned the money over to the Linux Mint Project. That is the coolest part of the whole story. Something I plan on doing if and when I buy a new computer.