zaterdag 22 september 2012

Cinnamon 1.6 in Romeo

Introduction
Cinnamon 1.6 (along with Muffin 1.1.0 and Nemo 1.0.1) was released yesterday. You can read the release announcement and an overview of the new features at: http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=207

These technologies are brand new and we do not recommend you upgrade to them. They were however added to the Romeo section of the LMDE and Linux Mint 13 repositories for Cinnamon enthusiasts to get an early taste of what is coming next. As we receive more feedback and bug reports, the Cinnamon 1.6 branch will mature, with a series of small point releases (1.6.1, 1.6.2 etc..) and will eventually replace Cinnamon 1.4.
Warnings
Be aware that Cinnamon 1.6.0 and Nemo 1.0.1 are brand new:
  • Translations in 1.6.0 are only complete for French, German and Dutch (click here for the dev. status on translations)
  • Cinnamon 1.6 introduces many new features and 1.6.0 is the first public release, so we’re expecting bugs :)
  • Most themes aren’t compatible with Cinnamon 1.6 yet. If you upgrade to Cinnamon 1.6, we recommend you use the default “cinnamon” theme.
  • Nemo 1.0.1 is stable but it comes without support for most popular extensions (dropbox, extract-here..etc..)
  • Nemo 1.0.1 isn’t supported by most themes out there and doesn’t support Nautilus themes, so it won’t integrate with your theme as nicely as Nautilus does.
How to enable Romeo
To enable Romeo, click on Menu->Preferences->Software Sources. Then tick the “Unstable packages (Romeo)” checkbox.

Note: Make sure to disable Romeo after you upgraded Cinnamon. We use Romeo internally to test packages before they reach the repositories so pointing to it is usually a bad idea.
How to upgrade to Cinnamon 1.6
Once you’ve enabled Romeo, launch the Update Manager and click on “Refresh”.

Select the Muffin and Cinnamon packages as illustrated above and click the “Install Updates” button.
When you’re finished, disable Romeo in the Software Sources, terminate your session and log in Cinnamon again.
You can run “cinnamon –version” in a terminal to make sure you’re using 1.6.0.
Nemo 1.0.1
Using Romeo you can also install the “nemo” package.
Nemo will replace Nautilus in Cinnamon and Linux Mint going forward. This project was announced at http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=198
Note: Although Nemo is Cinnamon’s official file browser, Cinnamon does not depend on it, so you can continue to use Cinnamon with Nautilus, Marlin or any other file browser.

maandag 17 september 2012

LMDE Update Pack 5

Current Status

  • It is not safe to upgrade any package unless your mirror points to UP5
    • Here is the current status of the LMDE mirrors:
      • debian.linuxmint.com (USA): UP5
      • http://debian.lth.se (Sweden): UP5
      • http://mirror.rts-informatique.fr (France): UP5
    • To change which mirror you’re pointing to:
      • make sure “mint-debian-mirrors” is installed
      • open a terminal and run the following command: mint-choose-debian-mirror
  • Make sure to read http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/update-pack.html
  • If you experience issues or if you’re going through the update at the moment, don’t hesitate to connect to the IRC chatroom (irc.spotchat.org, #linuxmint-debian)

Introduction

Update Pack 5 was released as the “latest” update pack today. If you’re not using Linux Mint Debian, please ignore this post.

Using the Update Manager

… to update itself

The Update Manager always updates itself before other packages. If you see an update for “mintupdate-debian“, accept it and wait for the Update Manager to restart itself.

… to check your APT sources

  1. Click on the “Update Pack Info” button
  2. Make sure “Your system configuration” shows up as green and doesn’t show any warnings or errors
  3. If you see a warning or an error, follow the instructions given and repeat the process until they’re gone.

… to know more about Update Pack 5

In the “Update Pack Info” window, make sure to read all the information related to Update Pack 5. Some of it might be irrelevant to you, but it will only take you a minute and it might you save you hours.

… to upgrade to Update Pack 5

When you’re ready and you know all that there is to know, press the “Install Updates” button.
During the update you’ll be asked a few things. One is quite important.. the new kernel will ask you where to install Grub. Answer with the location of your current Grub menu (which on most systems is “/dev/sda“).

FAQ

Will LMDE get new ISO images with Update Pack 5?
Yes, in the coming weeks/months, the following editions will be released either with Update Pack 5 or Update Pack 6 (depending on whether UP6 is a quick/short follow-up update-pack or not):
  • Cinnamon
  • MATE
  • Xfce

dinsdag 4 september 2012

Nemo, Cinnamon 1.6 and MATE 1.4


I’m taking this opportunity to relay two pieces of Cinnamon news to the Linux Mint community.
Cinnamon 1.6 preview
The upcoming Cinnamon 1.6 was given a quick preview at http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=195

Nemo
Nemo was announced as the new file browser for Cinnamon: http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=198

MATE 1.4
There was also news coming from MATE. In case you missed their announcement during the holidays. MATE 1.4 was released: http://mate-desktop.org/2012/07/30/mate-1-4-released/