In Search of the Perfect KDE4 Distro – 4 Linux Mint 9?

12 August, 2010 at 9:17 pm Quintin 13 comments

Fourth Installment in this series, and today I bring you some thoughts on Linux Mint 9 KDE4.

I have spent more than a week with it, and I am very impressed. This weekend I will switch to my third candidate.

For more on that and other stuff, read on…

Linux Mint 9

I love it. It has got all the goodness of Ubuntu, rolled with the good stuff that KDE4 brings you with an extra helping of Linux Mint special stuff.

It has very little of the bad KDE4 stuff that other distros with KDE4 has, like Plasma Crashes.

Remember that I said openSUSE was rock solid? Well surprise surprise, Linux Mint KDE4 is more so.

I had almost no problems, only twice did Linux Mint refuse to come out of sleep.

I had a sane command-line environment to work with, and every codec that I needed, every package that I wanted and every third party program that I might have needed is available right there in the software manager.

Negatives

For a while I had no sound in my online Flash Content if I booted with Skype on auto Launch, or even sometimes when Skype was started.

I struggled to fix it for a few days, and then one day after an update it all just started working. Now I don’t know if it was the update that fixed it somehow, but I am glad I can now listen to Busta Rhymes while chatting to people on Skype.

Yeah, I listen to Busta from time to time – and I like me some other Hip-Hop too, like DJ Kool.

Will I use it Permanently?

Right now it is a very strong candidate. If it were between openSUSE 11.3 and Linux Mint 9 I would go with Linux Mint 9. I am willing to try a few more candidates before I make my decision though.

Mint 9 is less complicated then openSUSE, almost as powerful, at least as stable and very friendly to my hardware.

Unfortunately Mandriva 2010 Spring does not make the cut in this company.

Which One is Next then?

This weekend I will be downloading and installing my next KDE4 candidate, which one will it be? Well kids, YOU decide!

I have added a nifty poll where you guys can vote and I will choose the distro that has the most votes for my next install.

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Summary

I have reviewed Kubuntu before, but it is included in this poll since I am not averse to giving it another shot. Given my previous experience with it though I doubt that it has what is needed in this company.

Right now though I think Mint9 is the winner, but you never know…

No related posts.

Linux, Software, Tech 7Day KDE, KDE4

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Written by Raoul Snyman about 1 year ago.

I’d be interested to know if one can “upgrade” from Kubuntu to Linux Mint. /me goes off to Google.
Written by Tweets that mention In Search of the Perfect KDE4 Distro – 4 Linux Mint 9? – Tech — Topsy.com about 1 year ago.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sageek Blog, Quintin van Rooyen and andgodsed, Quintin van Rooyen. Quintin van Rooyen said: New post: In Search of the Perfect KDE4 Distro – 4 Linux Mint 9? http://bit.ly/9AKCj5 [...]
Written by Quintin about 1 year ago.

Hey Raoul.

Apparently you can “Mintify” your Ubuntu – the packages are actually available in a repo somewhere… not sure about the Kubuntu – Mint KDE mintification though.
Written by jet about 1 year ago.

like your blog.
if you are Linux guy, Debian is your distro.
Debian is the father of Ubuntu and not only. The distro with the most rich software repos.
They are cooking 6.0 right now with kde4 (Testing is frozen to became stable).
You have a choice – Debian stable – for servers, Debian Testing or unstable for desktop.
You choose stability/cutting edge.
With Testing and Unstable you have “rolling” linux – versionless – new stuff appear gradually
Testing and unstable sound very scary, but Testing especially is more stable than say Kubuntu.
If you are afraid of Debian – try Sidux
Written by mikeplus64 about 1 year ago.

Arch Linux has great vanilla KDE packages that are updated regularily.
Written by deadcats about 1 year ago.

1. Try sidux. Debian Sid at it’s best. Are you?
2. Try PCLinuxOS. It just friggen works. Forget this 64-bit hangup you have. You haven’t earned it.

Instead of being so reactionary–and I’ve read all of your KDE4 articles–please be a little more investigatory.

regards,
-deadcats
Written by lefty.crupps about 1 year ago.

I agree that you should try Debian Testing or Sid with KDE4. It is indeed very nice, but i always add Wicd since it is just too good. Sidux, eh, I’ve not been impressed; their custom kernels specifically don’t function on my machines pst 2.6.32, but even the KDE desktop is nothing special. Debian isn’t special either I guess, but its nice and ver default KDE, and highly malleable.
Written by Quintin about 1 year ago.

Hey Lefty. Yeah I have actually downloaded the whole DVD repo for Debian… Will give it a spin. I have had some suggestions for using Sidux too.
Written by epidenimus about 1 year ago.

I love my Mint, too, in both the Gnome and the KDE flavors. That is what I run on my laptop and what I use to convert friends when the hardware is sufficient.

Sabayon to me is the perfect blend of power, user friendliness, integration, and stability. It maintains all the strength of Gentoo, but exorcises all the masochism in getting it running and maintaining it. It is updates regularly and is a rolling release distro, is cutting edge but doesn’t leave you high and dry, and just looks and feels damn good. It may be more suited to an intermediate level Linux user who is looking for something more than an Ubuntu can offer. It comes in 32bit and 64 bit KDE, Gnome, LXDE, and allows for install on a MCE/HTPC environment. I hope it wins your vote contest, as I am curious to read what you think of it.
Written by Serge about 1 year ago.

Yep, you really should try a rolling, versionless Debian-based KDE distro now, like Sidux.
Clement, the father of the Linux Mint distro is actually right now also considering bringing out a versionless Linux Mint based on the Debian testing packages instead of Ubuntu. See: http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1467
By the way, thanks man for these very nice reviews!
Written by Quintin about 1 year ago.

Hey Serge. I would love to try a rolling distro, especially Sidux. The problem I have though is that they are having some issues with their development that needs to be sorted before I could recommend it.

Epidenimus! Hi there. Yeah I am silently rooting for Sabayon too (I did not vote in the poll) but I see Kubuntu is winning so I am busy getting the ISO.

Fear not though, Sabayon will definitely feature in this series in some form…
Written by Stat1on about 1 year ago.

Although I actually use PCLinuxOS, which I know you tried and didn’t like, I would recommend Pardus. I’ve used an earlier version and was impressed, it’s a beginner friendly Turkish distro. They use a lot of custom tools including the installer and package manager, the only possible downside is the smaller repository, when I used it they had all the applications I wanted, but your needs may differ. I dual boot PCLOS with Mint (Gnome), so can certainly understand the appeal if you do decide to go with Mint KDE.
N.B. in common with previous posts I also enjoy reading your reviews, thanks!
Written by Quintin about 1 year ago.

Hey Stat1on.

I have plans to definitely give Pardus a look. I have been to the site a few times and it seems to be a very cool distro.

Thanks for commenting!

Q