Mint 12 to drop GNOME 2.x

General Discussion
1

Well … Linux Mint, after suggestiing for quite some time that they would stick with GNOME 2.x, seem to have gone back on that commitment.

According to this blog posting:
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1851

It seems that they will be going with GNOME 3 after all, but with something they call MGSE (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions) on top … MGSE is supposed to make the GNOME 3 experience more like the GNOME 2.x one.

But from the blog description, I’m at a loss to see much of a difference between MGSE and just selecting the “Gnome (Classic)” interface (from the cog on the login screen) in Ubuntu 11.10 after installing gnome-shell :wink:

That will make GNOME 3 look/feel like GNOME 2.x too … eg. menu’s at the top left, 2 panels, windows listed on bottom panel, system tray in the panel, etc.

As I said before …

http://linuxforums.org.uk/index.php?topic=9662.msg68919#msg68919
Ahh, sweet vindication :wink:

I couldn’t see how Mint could stick with GNOME 2.x and stay downstream of Ubuntu :slight_smile:

Seems to me they just kept it secret long enough to poach a lot of Ubuntu users with a promise they couldn’t (or had no intention to) fulfill … I’m sorry, but this smacks of Mint backing out of their suggested commitment to continue to use GNOME 2.x, and claiming something that already exists (all be it un-mint-ified) as their justification.

I must add, that at this point I’m going by the blog description, and have no personal experience of the Mint Gnome Shell Extension … so watch this space :slight_smile:

2

This was inevitable. I easily saw this coming, as Mint had no choice if I’m honest. The only ways they could’ve gone would’ve been to either:

Take on the Gnome 2.x development themselves and make newer programs which are configured for GTK3 and Gnome-Shell to GTK2 and Gnome 2. But this would’ve ment that they would fall behind Ubuntu, and Mint being based on Ubuntu, I couldn’t see it happening. The other way (which they took) is to go with Gnome-Shell. I think the MGSE will just be, Gnome 2 visuals, with the backend of Gnome-shell. This is what the Gnome-shell devs did for some of the programs to work with Gnome 3, but obviously retain their original appearance.

3

There is a fork of GNOME 2.x called MATE, and according to that blog posting they are trying to include it in Mint 12, but they also suggest it isn’t ready, and that it conflicts with GNOME 3 applications.

So Mint 12 will be GNOME 3 … effectively with a slightly Mintified version of gnome-session-fallback which is already part of the gnome-shell and allready does the things they mention … eg. menu’s at the top left, 2 panels, windows listed on bottom panel, system tray in the panel, etc. … so they can’t really claim MGSE as original.

Don’t get me wrong, I used to like Mint and the fact that it came with things like flashplayer and mp3 support “out of the box” … but Ubuntu now either installs most of these things, or gives them as an option at install, so where’s the difference now ? … Mint can also create difficulties in using PPA’s, and its update mechanism is/was dumbed-down, something people accuse Ubuntu of.

Seems to me that after all their bluster about “giving people what they want”, and sticking with GNOME 2.x … all they’ve ended up with is a Green version of Ubuntu … AGAIN … and if anything the slight differences between Mint and Ubuntu are growing smaller, not larger.

Take Ubuntu 11.10, run:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

then login to “Gnome (Classic)” or “Gnome”

Now tell me what Mint 12 does that’s different … except that it (probably) won’t give you the Unity option :wink:

Here’s a pic of Ubuntu 11.10 with the Gnome 3 shell (gnome-shell) installed, but running in
“Gnome (Classic)” mode.

http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1508

So what’s different in Mint 12 ? … other than ALSO having a menu bottom left.

4

If I’m honest, never really liked Mint. I really want to try Gnome-shell, but Virtualbox doesn’t let me boot into Oneiric, it goes straight to the liveCD, even when I’ve already installed it. Dunno what’s going on there, maybe VB needs updated because it didn’t do it with XP when I installed it. o.O

5

I could have swore I’d already told you this, but…

Yes it DID do it with XP, but the XP CD image requiers a key press to cause it to boot from the CD, if a key isn’t pressed in 5 seconds it boots from the hard drive instead…

The LiveCD is STILL in the virtual CD drive, and the CD drive has a higher boot priority … eject it, or change the boot order in the VM settings.

In Virtualbox, rightclick the Oneiric VM and select Settings, then go to Storage, then click (under storage tree) the Oneiric CD, then (under Attributes) look for a little CD icon, click it and select “Remove disk from virtual drive” … click OK, now start the VM.

Another way would be to change the VM’s boot order … Oneiric VM > Settings > System now highlight the CD/DVD-ROM drive, and click the little down arrow button till it is below the Hard Disk

6

EDIT: Never mind. :slight_smile:

7

Currently in Gnome 3 fallback, and I have to say, I really wouldnt be able to tell the difference from Gnome 2.x apart from the top panel. Top panel is a little thicker, but otherwise I really cant see what is actually different from Gnome 2. The only thing it lacks is the system tab, but even at that I dont think users would mind.

Oh btw, Iḿ sending this from the 11.10 VM.

8

Will it let you run Gnome in the VM ? … I’s sure I read it would if you enable 3D acceleration in the VM settings, but I never trued it.

http://lassekongo83.tumblr.com/post/5599412945/how-to-install-gnome-shell-in-ubuntu-on-virtualbox