Mint Linux Distribution Reference

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Mint Linux is based on Ubuntu- the Long Term Support (LTS) Ubuntu distributions. Therefore, many of the customizations mentioned in Kubuntu and Ubuntu Linux Distribution Reference are applicable to Mint. A distribution based on and compatible with Ubuntu, which is shipped with integrated proprietary or patented media codecs.

Mint is more user friendly, stable, and supports 3D acceleration better than Ubuntu. For frustrated Ubuntu users, Mint just might be the answer.

Reference New Linux Workstation Post Installation Tips for other post installation suggestions that apply to Mint.

To determine what version of Mint that you currently have installed, 

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

The default windows manager / desktop environment is called Cinnamon. Cinnamon is an independent desktop environment that retains many features that users appreciated in GNOME. The toolbar is called the Cinnamon Panel.

web browsers

Uninstall Firefox

Replace with one of the following 2 options (or both)

Install Pale Moon Web Browser

Imagine the classic Firefox before they destroyed it (current Firefox developers are more political than skilled.)

It is recommended that you install Pale Moon and forget Firefox altogether. It works like the classic Firefox and it is efficient, fast, and more stable.

Install Firefox ESR Version

The Firefox Extended Support Release so that you don't get forcefully upgraded to the dreaded Quantum 57.

  1. Open Software Manager
  2. In the search box type "Firefox" and click "remove"
  3. Close Software Manager
  4. Launch Software Sources (Menu button - Administration - Software Sources)
  5. Choose PPAs and +Add a new PPA
  6. enter: ppa:mozillateam/ppa
  7. Click "update the cache" and close Software Sources
  8. Open Software Manager
  9. In the search box type "Firefox-esr" and when located "install"

See also: Firefox , Favorite Firefox Extensions

UI Preferences and Features

launch Welcome Screen

At the console prompt type: 

/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher &

Cinnamon Task Bar Thumbnail Previews

When the mouse cursor is over a running program label and icon in the task bar a preview window opens up to show a mini view of the running program application. Sometimes this is an annoyance when the user inadvertently parks the mouse cursor at the bottom of the screen out of the way while working, causing the preview window to pop up and cover part of the workspace. The preview feature can be disabled, the setting is a little bit buried. To disable (or enable):

  1. click the Menu
  2. Hover the mouse cursor over the Preferences icon under "All Applications"
  3. In the next column over a list selection will appear, scroll up and click on "Applets"
  4. In the Applets dialog under the Installed Applets list scroll down and locate "Window List"
  5. There are two icon symbols on the right side of "Window List," click on the gears (configure)
  6. Under "Display" toggle "Show window thumbnails on hover" on or off

Disable Annoying Sound Menu Integration

Audio/video players like Banshee and VLC integrate themselves into the otherwise small and efficient volume control sound menu making it big and obnoxious, covering up other software interfaces. This is a problem when in a VoIP call and the volume needs adjusted, just as one example. Integration removal instructions.

  • No known resolution - because Mint no longer uses -extension-soundmenu for integration, all known workarounds are currently obsolete.

Disable Annoying Window Snapping

Linux Mint Desktop Snap Mode in Cinnamon behavior is controlled here:

  • System Settings -> Window Tiling

The option is to disable "Enable Window Tiling and Snapping"

When it is enabled it does terrible things while you try to click and drag a software window.

Resource: [Window snaps to full screen], Legacy: cinnamon settings > windows and there untick Enable Edge Tiling ("Aero Snap") or System Settings > Workspace Behavior > Screen Edge, or System Settings > Shortcuts and Gestures > Global Keyboard Shortcuts select KWin in the KDE component selection box and set keyboard shortcuts for the quick tile actions that you do want.

Active Numlock w Notification

As of Linux Mint Sylvia without regards to the numlock state at boot the numlock will be inactive when the desktop is loaded. The numlock default state can be modified only after installing a package. 

sudo apt install numlockx

then adding a line to the file 90-slick-greeter.conf by using the text editor of your choice. In this example we use vim. 

sudo vi /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/90-slick-greeter.conf

then adding the following line of code at the end: 

greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on

save and reboot.

It is also nice to have an indicator on the numlock state as to show status and status change. The following is helpful but not necessary.

  1. Menu -> Settings -> Accessibility -> Keyboard
  2. under "Keyboard Indicators" enable "Use visual indicator on Caps and Num Lock"
  3. also under "Keyboard Indicators" enable "Use audio indicator on Caps and Num Lock"

Useful system tools and software

Secure Shell Support for Remote Login

I don't know why they do not include SSH by default. Allows remote secure terminal shell connection. 

apt install openssh-server openssh-client 
service ssh start

vncserver as a boot service

A VNC server is a program that shares a desktop with other computers over a network. Vino is the default VNC server in Mint Linux. x11vnc is another VNC server that uses tcl/tk based GUI and is not dependent on any one particular graphical environment.

The default VNC Server only lets you connect remotely once the user has logged into Cinnamon. This is not useful for a remote headless system. To configure the VNC Server to start with the system and listen before a user is logged in locally the vncserver must be configured to start with the system services. For this it is the most simple to install x11vnc. In this guide we will configure vncserver as a boot service.

If you reboot the system you can still get in as this will allow vnc server to share the login screen. Screen resolution adjustment after login may cause the connection to reset, however, you can reconnect and you're in like Flynn.

Vino is crap, we'll remove it, install x11vnc and set a default password, which is the password client will use to connect. 

sudo apt-get -y remove vino
sudo apt install x11vnc
sudo mkdir /etc/x11vnc
sudo x11vnc --storepasswd /etc/x11vnc/vncpwd

Now to make x11vnc server start as a system service 

sudo vi /lib/systemd/system/x11vnc.service

Now you're in the text editor and you need to add the following lines: 

[Unit]
Description=Start x11vnc at startup.
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/x11vnc -auth guess -forever -noxdamage -repeat -rfbauth /etc/x11vnc/vncpwd -rfbport 5900 -shared

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit vi, go back to command prompt and type: 

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable x11vnc.service
sudo systemctl start x11vnc.service
  • verified: Mint 18.3 Sylvia 2/15/2018, Mint 19.2 Tina 8/30/2019, Mint 21.3, Mint 22.0 10/2024

Troubleshooting:

Check to see if x11vnc.service is running 

sudo systemctl status x11vnc.service

View log when no default path is specified in ExecStart 

cat /var/log/syslog|grep x11vnc

Vinagre Remote Desktop Viewer

The vinagre software allows you to remote connect to another computer via protocols such as vnc and rdp. 

apt install vinagre

Fast Light File Manager

PCMan File Manager (PCManFM) is meant to be a replacement for Nautilus, Konqueror and Thunar. PCManFM is the standard file manager in LXDE. 

apt install pcmanfm

Better alternatives for common tasks

Kate is a better text editor although there is a file open glitch on mint 

sudo apt install kate

Recommended Useful

sudo apt install tmux

Clipboard Manager

  • Parcellite is a lightweight GTK+ based clipboard manager for Linux with a small memory footprint. It is a good choice for Mint since Cinnamon is GTK+. Note that another clipboard manager called ClipIt is forked from Parcellite and may be worth trying. 
sudo apt install parcellite

GUI Search Tool

PCManFM does not have a built in file search tool, although Nautilus does. If you do not wish to drop to console, you can do a search with gnome-search-tool. GNOME Search Tool is a utility for finding files on your system. GNOME Search Tool uses the find, grep, and locate UNIX commands. 

sudo apt install gnome-search-tool

Clock, Timer, Alarm

Debian Alarm Clock is a fully-featured alarm clock which resides in the notification area. It is easy to use yet powerful with support for multiple and repeatable alarms, as well as snoozing and a flexible notification system. Two types of alarms are supported: Alarm Clocks and Timers. Notification is done by either playing a sound or launching an application. 

sudo apt install alarm-clock-applet

Mint comes with a lame vim

Get full vim 

apt install vim

Shell Environment Path

Need to add a directory path to the shell path statement for your own scripts?

  • Per user shell 
vi ~/.provile

Look for the line with a comment about "set PATH so it includes user's private bin directories" and add your custom path in there like this: ( added /myscripts to the path ) 

PATH="$HOME/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:/myscripts:$PATH"

note: In the past we used ~/.bash_profile and had to include "export PATH"

Look at /etc/profile which is used for each new user directory created. It has a script still looking for .bash_profile so it appears that if a .bash_profile is created, the script will identify its existence and use it.

Also note that .bashrc is executed every time a bash shell is opened and .bash_profile only if it's a login shell. Also, it appears that the default profile still looks for

Put important LAN addresses in /etc/hosts

This is primarily for the LAN file server or any machine you wish to access shares on, and only machines that have a static IP address. 

vi /etc/hosts

You'll need this if you put any shares in /etc/fstab ref: New_Linux_Workstation_Post_Installation_Tips#CIFS_Windows_file_share_connectivity

File Managers

Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop includes Nemo File Manager by default. Nemo is fine. Pcmanfm is another good file manager. pcmanfm file manager 

apt install pcmanfm

pcmanfm does some useful things nemo does not do. For example, to backup a file in the directory with pcmanfm simply click the filename, choose "copy" and then choose "paste" from the menubar. pcmanfm will prompt you because the copy has the same filename as the original, and give you the option to rename, in which I simply change the extension to .bak or something like that. This simple task that you can do in Microsoft Windows and in Linux using pcmanfm cannot be done with nemo!

Java

OpenJDK Java Runtime 

sudo apt install openjdk-8-jre

Wine

The Windows emulator, I mean, Wine Is Not an Emulator...

To use a current version of wine we do not want to go though the Software Manager in Mint. A current version of wine is available from the wine repository.

  1. open the "Software Sources" control panel and click "Authentication Keys"
  2. At the bottom click "Download a key" and enter: https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/Release.key (** If this fails, see "add key via console below") JUST USE CONSOLE
  3. Click "Additional repositories" choose "+Add a new repository" and enter: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ xenial main SEE NOTE BELOW FOR VERSIONS
  4. Click the "Update cache" button
  5. From console type: sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable -y
  6. Configure: winecfg

note 1 ***: Add key via console, goto terminal and enter (instructions for step 2) 

sudo wget https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/Release.key
sudo apt-key add Release.key

or try the legacy method 

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 76F1A20FF987672F


WINE REPOSITORY VERSIONS

  • Mint 18.3 deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ xenial main
  • Mint 19.x deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ bionic main
  • Mint 21.x deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ jammy main

see also: Wine as a resource to using wine and installing windows software.

Chrome rather than Chromium

Google Chrome is not FOSS. But it does stuff Chromium does not do. Lets install Google Chrome not because we love it, but because we might need it. This cannot be done with the Mint Software manager. Instead we shall go to console and install it.

  • Create a text file in the path /etc/apt/sources.list.d 
cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d
vi chrome.list
  • Add the following text to the newly created chrome.list file 
deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  • Download the current signed key 
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -
apt-get update
  • Install Google Chrome from the new repository 
apt install google-chrome-stable

This procedure was verified in 2017 on Mint 18.3 Sylvia installed Google Chrome Version 63.0.3239.108 (Official Build) (64-bit)

***note:Although Ubuntu requires the repository be added manually as shown above, it is probably not necessary with Mint as this distribution allows non-FOSS. Try installing w/o adding the repo first.

Mint changes computer clock on reboot

This is only noticed on a dual boot machine when the other OS is Microsoft Windows. On a dual boot system, or comparing bios time to the time in Mint- Windows tries to keep HW clock at the local time. Linux tries to keep them at the UTC.

The fix for Mint 18 or newer is to execute this: 

sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc 1

Related Issue on Ubuntu (for reference): Ubuntu_Troubleshooting#Ubuntu_changes_computer_clock_on_reboot

The folks over at Mint don't want you to use local time. Here's the warning: 

Warning: The system is configured to read the RTC time in the local time zone.
         This mode can not be fully supported. It will create various problems
         with time zone changes and daylight saving time adjustments. The RTC
         time is never updated, it relies on external facilities to maintain it.
         If at all possible, use RTC in UTC by calling
         'timedatectl set-local-rtc 0'.

Image Viewer

Xviewer is the default image viewer installed in Mint 18. You may find that Xviewer is lacking some useful features in an image viewer. Gimp is also included in Mint however Gimp is quite a bit more than an image viewer, and most people are looking for something lightweight in an image viewer. Here are some alternatives:

Geeqie

Perhaps the most useful image viewer and also in the Mint repository. Highly recommended. 

sudo apt install geeqie

When you zoom in on an image the window does not automatically enlarge, however, it will zoom an image automatically to fit the window. It has many image zoom options and zoom memory. You can also hide any part of the interface such as the files view on the left. This is a better image viewer than the classic ACDSee 2.21 (not a linux software but runs well under wine.) Geeqie is a 5 star image viewer as of version 1.2.2

viewnoir

Has some good features such as the ability to control the action of the mouse wheel (scroll though images in a directory or zoom level). However, it is not in the default repository. Use this if you don't care for Geeqie, however, I still prefer Geeqie. 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:skellat/flow1
sudo apt-get update
apt-get install viewnior

Missing feature: when you zoom in on an image the window does not automatically enlarge.

viewnoir can edit and save which I don't need in an "image viewer."

You can remove the repository without uninstalling viewnoir (I don't necessarily want other software from skellat, but if you do, then leave it. 

add-apt-repository --remove ppa:skellat/flow1

If you want to delete a PPA repository as well as all packages installed/upgraded from the PPA, you can use "ppa-purge" command, simultaneously this downgrading installed packages to the version from official mint base. But to keep viewnoir after removing the repository do not "ppa-purge."

Troubleshooting and Annoyances

Cinnamon Window List Applet Aligning Right

Why this starts to happen out of the blue after being fine prior makes no sense to me, however, it seems to happen. Here's the fix:

1. Install dconf Editor 

sudo apt install deconf-tools

2. Open dconf Editor from the Cinnamon Menu 

MENU -> Administration -> deconf Editor

3. There's a settings Tree on the left pane of deconf Editor. You'll have to click on the following branches to the sub branch: 

org -> cinnamon

4. Within the "org, cinnamon" branch look in the right pane and scroll down to find the bold face item "enable-applets" 

 enable-applets

5. Once you click on "enabled-applets" a sub-pane will appear below on the right. It will have labels like: Schema, Summary, Description, Type, and Default. Under "Default" find something that looks like: 

'panel1:center:11:window-list@cinnamon.org',

To modify it you have to click on the label "enabled-applets" on the top part of the right pane, because the bottom part is read-only. As you make an edit on the top part, right of the label, where it is displayed as a single line, you will see the changes on the bottom read-only display panel. Funky (or POS) design right? I agree. Your best bet is to copy the entire key, paste it into a text editor like Kate, make the edit, then copy and paste it back into where the key was copied from. So, make the following change... 

'panel1:left:11:window-list@cinnamon.org',

Step 5 may have some variations. Those will be mentioned here when available. You'll have to experiment. Information source: linuxmint.com forum topic Cinnamon 1.3 released...

Problem observed with Cinnamon 3.6.6, above suggested resolution inapplicable as alignment already defined "left."

Here's an example of default in Cinnamon 3.6.6 while alignment issue observed, Linux mint 18.3, and it still wrongly aligns right... 

['panel1:right:0:systray@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:left:0:menu@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:left:1:show-desktop@cinnamon.org', 
'panel1:left:2:panel-launchers@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:left:3:window-list@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:1:keyboard@cinnamon.org', 
'panel1:right:2:notifications@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:3:removable-drives@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:4:user@cinnamon.org', 
'panel1:right:5:network@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:6:bluetooth@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:7:power@cinnamon.org', 
'panel1:right:8:calendar@cinnamon.org', 'panel1:right:9:sound@cinnamon.org']

Reset / Restart Cinnamon w/o closing all other programs

Enter ALT + F2 to go into "run command" then type the letter "r" and press enter - this will restart cinnamon, however, your cinnamon preferences will also be reset.

From console 

pkill -HUP -f "cinnamon --replace"

Edit the "Open with" right click menu

Edit the mimeinfo.cache file 

vi /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache

Furthermore, the file -> click "Properties" -> click "Open with" is based on a list of .desktop files in /usr/share/applications

And there is also a tool called "alacarte" and using it to move or create an application a new .desktop file gets placed inside ~/.local/share/applications

If you want to delete applications from this list you have to edit the following file from command line

  • /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache

If you added item by yourself, or you want to add new item you need to edit the following file from command line

  • ~/.local/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache

deafault actions you need to edit the following file from command line

  • ~/.local/share/applications/defaults.list

Font anti-aliasing

This one is not for everybody. Desktop fonts, text fonts in the web browser, and in many areas of the mint desktop environment are made to look soft and smooth, this is purely an aesthetics quality that offers no functionality. It looks pretty. It also gives some people a headache trying to read text on a web page or on the desktop that is fuzzy. If you disable what is called HINTING and ANTIALIASING then, with a good LCD monitor, your fonts will be sharp and crisp, but will also take you back in time to the 1990's in that they will appear jagged. So, therefore, this modification is a personal preference. I will trade the clean refinement of soft text in an effort to relieve my headache and eye strain.

To enable old fashioned jagged nasty looking (but sharp and easy on eye strain) fonts I have found this 1 - 2 punch combination to work.

1. drop to terminal shell and execute the following commands: 

sudo mv /etc/fonts/conf.d/10-antialias.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/.disable.10-antialias.conf
sudo mv /etc/fonts/conf.avail/10-antialias.conf /etc/fonts/conf.avail/.disable.10-antialias.conf

2. In Mint Cinnamon desktop goto MENU -> Preferences -> Fonts and in the "Font Settings" area change HINTING to "slight" and Antialiasing to "None"

In the case of Firefox I did not notice a difference right away. It seems like the system had to flush some visual cache but once that happened I got those good old fashioned jagged sharp text back. This impacts desktop icons, menu text, browser text, but some things are not impacted such as Konsole (the KDE terminal uses different font properties) and similar software.

The changes are easy to undo. Simply reverse the process above.

THERE ARE PROBABLY BETTER WAYS TO IMPROVE FONTS to find a happy middle ground between modern anti-aliasing and not having fuzzy headache inducing text. Some examples are making use of resources such as installing "Typecatcher Fonts" 

sudo apt-get install typecatcher

Another option people recommend is installing something called "Droid and Noto fonts" 

sudo apt-get install fonts-droid fonts-noto

And finally, going back to MENU -> Preferences -> Fonts you can configure the environment to use one of the new fonts you just installed.

Related

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