In the past few months I've found that I really like Cinnamon Desktops. Back in the beginning of Linux Mint, I never really felt the love when I tried LM, to me it lacked the ability to customize the way that I could on XFCE. Starting in June of 2019 I finally got of Ubuntu and installed Manjaro XFCE and never looked back. I've tried lots of different desktop environments and window managers and I discovered two things. If I had the know how to better understand a window manager then I would install the Awesome WM. But for me even when I use a pre-designed WM it seems to be more work for the way I like my desktop to flow.
So to start over, I've really been living in two desktops since February. Debian Cinnamon and Ubuntu Mate. I did give KDE a go but I found I just liked these two the best. Now I'm on Linux Mint 20 Ulyana Cinnamon Edition. It's not perfect but then a gain there is no such thing as a perfect desktop. So first, here's my negatives.
First it's the community. LM's Forum is outdated. When you compare the Linux Mint Forum to Ubuntu Mate's Community page you see how outdated the LM's Forum page is. It's easy to sit back and complain but compare the two and LM's forum is not for beginners. LM's forum is huge, with over 16 million posts. I doubt that Ubuntu Mate's community has 10 thousand posts, so this might be the reason why UM's community site seems better. I had a problem and made a post and within a day the Linux Mint's Forum swallowed it up and digested it, probably never to be heard from again. I don't blame Linux Mint for this or the users, it's just so big it's probably impossible for every user to get help.
Other than that I do have one big problem (for me) and one not as big. The biggest is that when I start or restart my computer is my screens don't mirror. I use a laptop that is always closed and a TV/Monitor. On my monitor I get the top panel, which works and a black screen, I have to open the laptop and then close it and then I get my desktop. Call it laziness but I've never had to do that on any other DE. My other problem is the video is not as clear as it was on Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix. Not bad but not as good.
My Independence Day Desktop, Linux Mint 20 Ulyana Cinnamon Edition
Now my likes. I really like the LM desktop. I don't have to go out of my way to customize it and it looks good. I like the way Warpinator works, or at least I like the final outcome. Unless there is a way to set permissions you have to okay the send and okay the receipt of the files. Maybe I should learn how to remote into another desktop through the terminal and then I would be happy. but until then Warpinator is pretty good.
My Desktop today, Linux Mint 20 Ulyana Cinnamon Edition
This is also the first time I've had a printer in a long time. Linux Mint set it up okay but thankfully Epson had the drivers for the Epson Expression Home XP4100 printer and scanner online and the are just easy to install. The printer driver is a deb file you just click and install and the scanner file is just a tar.gz file you extract and right click on the folder background and open in terminal (or you can CD to where the file is unzipped) and run sudo ./install.sh then enter your password and the driver will install. After setting up the printer's wifi it was easy to set it up as a wifi printer and no wires.
Rofi installed on Linux Mint 20 Ulyana Cinnamon Edition
I did install Rofi as a launcher instead of Plank and I'm giving that a try. The jury is still out on the launcher part of it but I don't like Rofi as a replacement for ALT-TAB window switcher. To me it has an extra step by having to arrow down to select which window you want switch to.
I've been on Linux Mint for about a week and there is nothing that wouldn't keep me from leaving it, other than my own fickleness. So until the next Big Daddy Linux comes with something I want to try then I staying here.
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