I have been using Ubuntu (and Fedora at some point) since 2007 or ’08, but the recent forced change to Unity threw me off. It seemed that Linux Mint provided a good user-friendly alternative for Ubuntu, so I switched to Linux Mint 11. Recently Mint 12 was released, with a GNOME 3 interface that is based upon the looks and functionality of GNOME 2. I did have some doubts whether the desktop environments installed in the first Mint 12 releases where to my liking, but with the latest addition of Cinnamon I feel at home.
I made a fresh install of Linux Mint 12 and added and tweaked it to my liking.
Linux Mint 12 – Wallpaper by Svenne1985
Here is what I did and installed to get Mint 12 Cinnamon as I want it:
Tweaked Firefox
- Add-ons and search engines.
- Used Firefox Sync, which had my bookmarks and preferences saved.
- Installed the research organizer and collector Zotero and Zotero Word Processor plug in. My Zotero account came in very handy to reinstall data.
- Installed Scribefire 4, the blogging tool.
Screenshot of the whole screen with Firefox open.
- Installed Dropbox (synchronisation) again and feeling blessed to have so much online – it contains a lot of important files, like backups and databases.
- Downloaded the launcher Kupfer. IMO it beats Unity, and is therefore the main reason for switching away from Ubuntu. (Gnome-Do is a good alternative).
Kupfer
- Changed the power- and screensaversettings
- Went through the programs that start automatically at every boot of Linux. Disabled those not needed. (As explained in this blogpost)
- Downloaded Chromium to install the Tweetdeck app. – Even though it was a sort of downgraded after Twitter took over, it still works.
- Installed the password manager KeepassX and thank Dropbox for keeping my Keepass database available. So no passwords were lost this way.
- Downloaded Skype – Eventhough it is not the full version that is available for Linux, it comes in handy for long distance calls to those without internet.
- Tweaked Thunderbird. I choose IMAP again in stead of POP-mail.
- Installed for fun Add-on Display Contact Photo.
- I found my mails from MInt 11 in the .thunderbird map in the backup on my external harddisk.
- Installed the e-mail notifier Mail Notification.
- Installed the gworldclock app.
- Downloaded RSSOwl and imported my exported feedlist. It is a fast rss-reader with lots of options to play around with.
RSSOwl
- Downloaded Abiword. I want that fast and lean word processor at hand.
- Installed Textroom. The full-screen text processor to grab those fleeing thoughts that can’t stand distraction.
- Installed Rednotebook, a calendar based notebook that I use as a logbook.
- Installed FileZilla, for FTP (transferring files to a server for example).
- and Scid. Has all you need to study and play chess.
I couldn’t resist installing
- 0AD again. The real-time open-source strategy game with the truly stunning graphics. The game-play is not quite finished yet, but starting it up feels like going on a holiday to the Mediterranean.