Any fellow Linux users on here?

[Judge]

Doing a clean install is a habit that was forced on me back in the days when I used to use Windows. They always seemed to alternate between a good version and a piece of junk.

LOL....you may still be right in principle. Particularly after I examined a web page provided by Linux Mint outlining certain issues which may or may not occur when updating to this later version. Especially regarding Nvidia drivers.

Linux Mint 22.1 Release Notes - Linux Mint

Luckily for me, I continue to run two separate SSDs with the same operating system to use the smaller drive as a "guinea pig" of sorts when making such changes. Though as I mentioned before, generally Mint updates within the same version tend not to be so problematic for me. At least in the past.

However at a point with version 21.3 and onward, problems between kernel updates and Nvidia drivers seemed to have really come out of the woodwork. Making me not only frustrated, but very wary of any changes at all.

Pssst: Just to run this update seems to mean not running it with blacklisting the Nouveau driver. And that it's possible this problem has already been addressed. Presently with this SSD, I haven't been running the script that blacklists that driver in etc/modprobe_d. And it hasn't frozen since using it. I suspect it was a badly needed kernel update that may have finally addressed this awful issue.

Though IMO, I give myself a 50-50 chance of real problems in updating it. At least I have one guinea pig drive to try. So it won't impact my 1TB drive I depend on with Mint 22.0.

 

[Judge]

More fun with Linux Mint. With so many issues with Nvidia drivers, I somehow managed to corrupt something that evoked a message about needing to "clear orphaned inodes" after rebooting when the system locked up.

Figured it out by using my ISO flash drive to unmount my second partition (sda2) which involves this (and the Nvidia software) and then using the terminal, typed:

sudo e2fsck -f /dev/sda2

and rebooted. I'll think about upgrading to version 22.1 later.

 

[Judge]

If anyone is interested, Wine 10.0 is now out. Ready for download at least through Linux Mint.

After installing the update, when I accessed Photoshop it prompted me to reinstall the "wine mono installer", which went quite smoothly. Then I could access Photoshop and all seems well.

I did just access "winecfg" through the terminal to check up on stuff. Defaulting my Windows programs using the Windows XP setting did seem to prompt an error message in the terminal. So I changed the default setting to Windows 98 and no more error message in the terminal. No harm, no foul considering the Windows program I run is 27 years old.

Maybe this is just a glitch to be fixed. Hard to say...though I think it's always a calculated risk updating Wine in general. Though in most cases it has been a positive experience for me. Likely a bigger concern to me than the update to Mint version 22.1.

Wondering at some point if support for such old programs could come to an abrupt end. So those of you relying on the idea "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" may want to ignore such updates. It's your call.

 

[Judge]

I decided to take a spare SSD and install Linux Mint 22.1 from scratch, just out of curiosity alone. Nothing really eventful about the installation. It all went well , though I personally found the aesthetic change towards a slightly darker interface a bit darker than I wanted. Though I did like the increased selection of Ubuntu style fonts.

One thing I really appreciate with the "22" version of Mint is they continue to pare down the number fonts most users do not require. Always welcome, as I am ruthless about searching out and purging so many numbers of typefaces I don't want or need. Makes using programs like Libre Write and Gimp 2.10 much easier when needing a specific font.

The one odd thing I discovered was that the terminal has been pared down a bit. Instead of the usual overhead context menu, you just right-click a rather austere looking Terminal. Then you can choose preferences if you have any. LOL...at first I thought this was the result of me routinely purging the OS of as many unwanted fonts as I can find and safely delete. But having typically looked the issue up in a search engine, I found that Mint 22.1 intended it to appear as such. Made me think for a moment that I finally deleted a font with an important dependency. But I didn't.

Worth mentioning to newer users of Linux to be very careful about purging fonts, hidden or otherwise. With other distributions like Pop!OS22.04, I can't be so cavalier (or OCD) about purging fonts as much.

I know there were various improvements to Linux Mint 22.1, but most seem to be "under the hood", and not easily apparent. It's all good....but I just didn't want various dialog boxes darker than in version 22.0.

One thing that continues to impress me is how the scripts for properly installing the latest version of Wine continue to be more streamlined. Though now in the latest Mint repository you can download and install Wine 10.0. Whether it works properly or not I really can't say. I just continue to do it the old-fashioned way just to be sure.

This script has worked every time for me in both Mint 22.0 and 22.1:

Linux Mint 22 – How to Install Wine on Linux Mint 22

 

[Outdated]

This script has worked every time for me in both Mint 22.0 and 22.1:

I haven't mucked around installing it myself for many years now, whatever the repository serves up to me always seems to work best. You still have to run winecfg before you can use it though.

 

[Judge]

I haven't mucked around installing it myself for many years now, whatever the repository serves up to me always seems to work best. You still have to run winecfg before you can use it though.

I did try it not too many months ago....and don't recall any issues. The really good news is that Mint finally began offering the latest version of Wine rather than just version 6.0. But past problems with Photoshop spooked me, opting to do it the more conventional way through the terminal. And yes, it's possible to make all sorts of mistakes if you don't adhere to such instructions to the letter.

In that respect, for a new user it may well be best to use the repository and let your OS configure Wine. Might save some users a lot of grief. Especially considering there are Wine instructions online which aren't always entirely correct, leading to some messy problems.

Only recently over two years have I come to understand my difficulties in making Photoshop work in Wine was in fact an issue between how I do a custom installation of Photoshop, and how I configure the color in Linux Mint, relative to my monitor. That the optimal thing to do is to first download free ICC profiles for Linux, and choose the one that is compatible with Adobe RGB (1998). This way when you first bring up Photoshop and configure the color management, it won't spit out errors preventing a user from establishing the right color profile so the image you create matches the appearance you expect.

And of course, you can apply those same ICC profiles to programs like Gimp 2.10 as well.

How To Install icc-profiles-free on Ubuntu 20.04

I often wonder how many computer users out there have no understanding of color calibration for their monitor. That without it, the images they see and create may never look quite the same to other users viewing them.

 

[tkcartoonist]

I'm really starting to hate snaps, if I didn't before. I've been getting this message a lot when I try to refresh Firefox:

error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Run post-refresh hook of "firefox" snap if present (run hook "post-refresh":
-----
rm: missing operand
Try 'rm --help' for more information.
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/var/snap/firefox/common/snap-hunspell/et_EE.dic' -> '': No such file or directory
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/var/snap/firefox/common/snap-hunspell/et_EE.aff' -> '': No such file or directory
-----)

Would anyone be willing to offer some advice to knock this off?

 

[Judge]

I'm really starting to hate snaps, if I didn't before. I've been getting this message a lot when I try to refresh Firefox:

error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Run post-refresh hook of "firefox" snap if present (run hook "post-refresh":
-----
rm: missing operand
Try 'rm --help' for more information.
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/var/snap/firefox/common/snap-hunspell/et_EE.dic' -> '': No such file or directory
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/var/snap/firefox/common/snap-hunspell/et_EE.aff' -> '': No such file or directory
-----)

Would anyone be willing to offer some advice to knock this off?

Without knowing what distro you're using, have you attempted something like this?

"Refreshing the snap version did not work. Reverting it did not work either. However, a simple reboot seemed to solve the issue."

Firefox Snap Segmentation Fault Kubuntu 22.04

Another reason I like Linux Mint. They avoid snaps like the plague. You might also consider using the synaptic package manager to purge Firefox, and then attempt to find a repository that allows you to download a different version.

 

[tkcartoonist]

It's Ubuntu Studio 24.04, which is based on Kubuntu. I'm thinking of ditching this version of Firefox and see if another version would work (flatpak, apt, anything else). I really don't like snaps.

 

[Outdated]

I haven't had any major issues but I'm getting fed up with snaps too. Just lots of little things that annoy me. Time to go back to Fedora again for a while I think.

 

[vergil96]

Snap packages cause a lot of problems

 

[Outdated]

Snap packages cause a lot of problems

I've always preferred the RPM based systems and I'm leaning more and more towards going back to Fedora. Probably would have done it already but I'm lazy. But Ubuntu is very convenient and easy with a long term service version.

 

[vergil96]

I'm thinking of changing my Arch to Fedora. I'm growing tired of the rolling release. I like Fedora best for home/desktop use.

 

[Outdated]

The only thing I don't like about Fedora is it's short support life, only around 18 months.

If you're not familiar with Fedora you need to know this. Due to licensing restrictions placed on them in the US they're not allowed to supply a lot of software that we're all used to using. To get around these restrictions you need to load a third party repository. Once you've added this repository then you've got access to everything.

Configuration - RPM Fusion

Fedora does come with a variety of different desktop environments already set up as well which is handy, especially if you hate Gnome.

Fedora Spins | The Fedora Project

 

[Judge]

I'm thinking of changing my Arch to Fedora. I'm growing tired of the rolling release. I like Fedora best for home/desktop use.

I've heard such sentiments a few times. These days it seems Fedora is often ranked at the top along with Mint.

I'm still a bit miffed that I couldn't even get Arch or Manjaro to even install properly on my older (3rd gen Intel CPU) computer.

 

[Judge]

I've always preferred the RPM based systems and I'm leaning more and more towards going back to Fedora. Probably would have done it already but I'm lazy. But Ubuntu is very convenient and easy with a long term service version.

Have you ruled out trying Ubuntu 24.04? I know Mint 22.1 is based on it. Seems to run fine on my end, though I'm not a fan of some of their minor color changes....going from dark to darker.

Since both versions of Mint 22.0 and 22.1 are LTS to 2029, I think I'll keep my 1TB drive using Mint 22.0 for now. I love the "breathing space" that these long term service versions provide.

 

[Judge]

With regards to troublesome versions of Firefox, I do recall a few times using the Synaptic Package Manager to completely purge Firefox, then to use the repository to find another different version to circumvent such issues. With Mint I had no issues running a non-Mint version of Firefox in the past.

At times it does perplex me why Ubuntu (Canonical) sticks with using snaps. But I still enjoy the variety of Linux distributions with so many options as opposed to the monopoly of Microsoft.

 

[Judge]

One other thing to add along these lines. I will say this, that in Linux Mint you have to be careful at times in given the choice of either selecting a "system package" or "Flatpak" version of an application available in the Mint Repository.

Sometimes those Flatpaks can offer more versatility as a latest version, but be more problematic as well. Where you just have to take your chances to find out.

Makes me think of apps like Gimp 2.10, Krita, Shortwave, Goodvibes, Inkscape, VLC and Maps. All with different outcomes depending on which version you download.

 

[Outdated]

Have you ruled out trying Ubuntu 24.04?

No, when it comes to installing a new system again it really will be Fedora this time around. By rights I should have already done it. It's the snaps system that I hate.

 

[Judge]

No, when it comes to installing a new system again it really will be Fedora this time around. By rights I should have already done it. It's the snaps system that I hate.

Yep, have to agree that snaps are simply something to avoid altogether. Consistently problematic at least was my experience. Just not worth the trouble. Though I also am aware of how Mint is starting to become picky about Flatpaks as well. To a point of not necessarily banning them, but advising users that select Flatpaks might be a security problem.