Ubuntu versus Mint "Cinnamon"

[Brutus Blutoski]

I am new to this and I don't have a clue as to what I am doing.......

what is the difference between ubuntu 12.10 and say linux mint 13 "Cinnamon"

I installed Ubuntu 12.10 as my only operation system - why would I want or not want this linux 13 Cinnamon....is there an advantage one over the other.......

is Cinnamon an operating system

[nothingspecial]

Linux is built upwards.

You start with a base and put other stuff on top of it.

A distribution is a collection of built up stuff that some people think other people might like as a starting point.

People tweak certain stuff also, although the nature of linux means that you have to make it available to everyone after you've tweaked it.

In the end though, it's all the same.

Sort of......

[Brutus Blutoski]

thanks - got it ......makes sense now

[tartalo]

Cinnamon is a Desktop environment.

A desktop environment affects greatly the user experience. It could be described as the interface you use to interact with the computer, and also as a selection of basic software put together coherently, like file manager, windows manager, etc...

Ubuntu uses Unity by default, it's based on Gnome 3, but although under the hood they share common pieces, they offer different experiences to the user and follow different design principles.

Both Gnome 3 and Unity are trying to redefine the classic desktop experience.

Cinnamon is also based on Gnome 3, but it was developed by people working on Mint to give a more classic desktop experience, meaning a menu to open the programs, a bar where you can see the open programs... like in Windows XP and 7 for example, and is popular among users that were happy with Gnome 2.

Other popular desktop environments that offer a more classic experience than Gnome 3 and Unity are KDE, which is very configurable or XFCE and LXDE which are preferred by those who want lighter options.

You can try KDE, XFCE or LXDE with a Kubuntu, Xubuntu or Lubuntu Live CD.

[grahammechanical]

.is there an advantage one over the other..

That is a matter of opinion and often depends on a person's tastes or personal likes and dislikes. And some people can be impolite in discussions of that sort.

Enjoy whatever distribution of Linux and whatever User Interface that you choose to use.

Regards.

[karrank%]

And some people can be impolite in discussions of that sort.

Ain't that the truth.

[MadmanRB]

This is something kind of common to newcomers to linux.
In any case as mentioned about Cinnamon is just another UI for linux.
There are quite a many of them too, and actually you can install cinnamon in ubuntu if you wish to try it out without switching.
But I would do that a little while after getting used to how linux in general feels compared to Windows.
There is a learning curve and my personal policy is to never offer command line solutions.

[MoebusNet]

I am new to this and I don't have a clue as to what I am doing.......

what is the difference between ubuntu 12.10 and say linux mint 13 "Cinnamon"

I installed Ubuntu 12.10 as my only operation system - why would I want or not want this linux 13 Cinnamon....is there an advantage one over the other.......

is Cinnamon an operating system

Linux, Windows, Mac OS X are considered operating systems. Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Slackware, etc. are considered distributions or 'distros' of Linux. Ubuntu & Mint both use Debian as a base distibution. Mint uses a lot of Ubuntu's code, but makes changes to give the user an experience different than Ubuntu; it is considered a derivative of Ubuntu.

The Cinnamon desktop environment can be used with Debian or Mint or Ubuntu or even other Linux distros. You can install Cinnamon from Ubuntu Software Center; at login time you can choose which of several (Unity 3D, Unity 2D, Gnome, etc) desktop environments you want to use for that session. You can always logout then login to a different desktop environment for a new session.

I hope that clarifies things a little.