#LOGGING GNOME DESKLETS UPDATE#
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As such, Cinnamon ( Figure 1) features all the familiar components, like a system panel, system tray, and a main menu ( Figure 2). Instead of introducing a whole new graphical environment paradigm, Cinnamon focuses on refining and optimizing the existing desktop metaphor.

Any discussion of these two leading desktop environments inevitably leads to the question: Are they really so different? If so, which one should you choose? Read on to find out. The Cinnamon and Mate desktops are out in the world now, available to nearly all Linux users. Cinnamon has also gained popularity with other distributions, and Cinnamon packages are now available for Fedora, Ubuntu, and many other Linux alternatives. Other distros that prefer the Gnome 2 look-and-feel have adopted Mate (including the DMDc Linux, which is described in another article in this issue).

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The Gnome project eventually discontinued its work on Gnome 2, which means that Mate is now the lead branch carrying on the Gnome 2 code base. Mint is thus developed around two capable desktops: Cinnamon (based on Gnome 3) and Mate (based around Gnome 2). Mint developers adopted Mate as an alternative desktop, adapting it for the Mint environment and adding new features to make it ready for production environments.

#LOGGING GNOME DESKLETS SOFTWARE#

The Mate desktop was a community Free Software project that had already begun as a fork of Gnome 2. With all the controversy swirling around Gnome 3, the Mint team wanted an alternative for users who simply weren't interested in the Gnome 3 innovations. The Mint Gnome Shell Extensions (MGSE) eventually took on enough momentum that the Mint project eventually just forked the Gnome 3 Shell and launched the Cinnamon project. The Mint team started working on a set of extensions that would adapt the Gnome 3 shell to fit their own goals. Linux Mint developers were also skeptical about the new Gnome 3 desktop, but they also appreciated the benefits of the Gnome Shell and other innovations. (Linus has since tempered his opinion of Gnome 3, but he had very strong feelings on the matter back in 2011.) Many Linux users reacted strongly to this change, including Linux creator Linus Torvalds, who stated 'The developers have apparently decided that it's 'too complicated' to actually do real work on your desktop and have decided to make it really annoying to do.' Torvalds and many others declared that they were going to keep using Gnome 2 and were not interested in upgrading to the newer version. Some of the changes were based on the desire to make an interface that adapted more readily to mobile devices, but the Gnome developers also took some bold steps to reinvent the conventional desktop metaphor in favor of a new vision that they thought would ultimately be more intuitive and convenient.

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The major update from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3 brought in many fundamental changes to the Gnome desktop. The story of Cinnamon and Mate starts with the story of Gnome – the great GNU desktop used in Linux systems around the world. Linux Mint has established a reputation as a versatile and user-friendly distro, and these additional desktop options distance Mint even further from Ubuntu. Forming the Mint distro around Cinnamon and Mate, rather than settling for the classic KDE and Gnome desktop options, was a risky move, but it looks like it's paid off. Several factors contribute to the success of Linux Mint: a predictable release schedule, attention to detail, unique and genuinely helpful tools and utilities, and support for proprietary codecs.Īnother big contributor to the latest surge in Linux Mint's popularity is the new in-house Cinnamon desktop environment and the decision to include the Mate (pronounced maté) desktop as an alternative. Mint has been steadily moving up the distro popularity charts, closing up on its progenitor. Born in the quest for a better and more polished alternative to Ubuntu, Linux Mint has become a distribution to reckon with.

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