distribution release , the second update of the Linux Mint 19.x branch based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and supported until 2023. The distribution is fully compatible with Ubuntu, but differs significantly in the approach to organizing the user interface and the selection of applications used by default. Linux Mint developers provide a desktop environment that follows the classic canons of desktop organization, which is more familiar to users who do not accept the new methods of building the interface of Unity and GNOME 3. DVD builds based on shells are available for download (), () and Xfce 4.12 ().
What's New in Linux Mint 19.2 (, , ):
- Includes versions of desktop environments ΠΈ , the design and organization of work in which the development of the ideas of GNOME 2 continues - the user is offered a desktop and a panel with a menu, a quick launch area, a list of open windows and a system tray with running applets. Cinnamon is based on GTK3+ and GNOME 3 technologies. The project evolves the GNOME Shell and the Mutter window manager to provide a GNOME 2-style environment with a more modern look and feel, using GNOME Shell elements to complement the classic desktop experience. MATE continues the development of the GNOME 2.32 codebase and is completely free from crossovers with GNOME 3, allowing you to use the traditional GNOME 2 desktop side by side with the GNOME 3 desktop.
- Cinnamon has noticeably reduced memory consumption, for example, version 4.2 consumes approximately 67MB of RAM, while version 4.0 consumes 95MB. Added applet for managing print output. By default, the display of recently opened documents is enabled. The session manager has been ported to gdbus.
Added new widgets for creating configurators, making it easier to write configuration dialogs and making them more consistent and consistent with the Cinnamon interface. Added settings for the appearance and thickness of scrollbars to the configurator.
- In MintMenu, the search bar has been moved to the top. In the plugin for showing recently opened files, documents are now shown first. Significantly improved the performance of the MintMenu component, which now starts twice as fast. The menu customization interface has been completely rewritten, which has been translated to the python-xapp API. When installing several programs of the same type, the menu now additionally displays the name of each program. Similar indication added for duplicate apps installed via Flatpak;
- Added the ability to pin favorite directories and files to the top of the list in the Nemo file manager.
Simplifies the process of sharing directories with Samba. Through the nemo-share plugin, if necessary, installation of packages with
samba, placing the user in the sambashare group, and checking/changing permissions on the shared directory, without having to manually perform these operations from the command line. The new release additionally adds the setting of firewall rules, checking access rights not only to the directory itself, but also to its contents, and handling situations with storing the home directory on an encrypted partition (requests adding the βforce userβ option). - Extended features of the update manager. In the list of Linux kernels available for installation, the support time of each kernel is shown. You can now select multiple cores for installation at once. A special button has been added to remove obsolete kernels, and the ability to automatically remove kernels that are no longer needed is also provided.
Simplified and translated to the new set of widgets Xapp Gsettings settings section in the update manager. Added the ability to blacklist certain versions of packages. Implemented a restart/shutdown blocking during the automatic update installation process. Added /var/log/mintupdate.log log. The list is automatically updated when the APT cache changes. Added warnings about the need to reboot after kernel updates and about the imminent (starting to appear in 90 days) end of support for the release of Linux Mint. A separate page has been prepared with information about the availability of a new version of the update manager;
- In the application installation center (Software Manager), an indication of updating the cache and the ability to determine manually installed programs have been added. The interface is optimized for use on low resolution screens. Buttons have been added to the Software Sources utility to search for missing keys for PPA repositories and remove duplicate repository definitions;
- The interface of the System Reports utility has been changed. Added a separate page with information about the system. Ported to systemd-coredump and stopped using Ubuntu apport, which allowed for compatibility with LMDE and other distributions;
- We continued to improve applications developed as part of the X-Apps initiative, aimed at unifying the software environment in editions of Linux Mint based on different desktops. X-Apps uses modern technologies (GTK3 for HiDPI support, gsettings, etc.) but retains traditional interface elements such as toolbars and menus. These applications include: Xed text editor, Pix photo manager, Xplayer media player, Xreader document viewer, Xviewer image viewer;
- Added support for Ctrl+Q and Ctrl+W keyboard shortcuts to Photo Manager, Text Editor, Document Viewer, Video Player and Image Viewer;
- Added the ability to set and unpair paired devices with a single mouse click to the Blueberry system tray menu;
- Added the ability to turn lines into comments in the Xed text editor (a fork of Pluma/Gedit) (you can select a block of code and press "Ctrl+/" to turn it into a comment and vice versa);
- The Xreader Document Viewer panel (an offshoot of Atril/Evince) now has screen and zoom buttons;
- The Boot-Repair utility has been added to the installation image, which allows you to solve most typical problems with boot setup.
- The Mint-Y theme has been upgraded. The Ubuntu font set is enabled by default (previously Noto fonts were shipped).
Source: opennet.ru