From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I loved installing it, trying to fix bugs and errors, deleting it,
and installing it again. After fixing it and getting it running
smoothly, I deleted it and started over.

?Linux has gotten really, really good over the last few years.
After 30 years of playing with Linux, there is nothing left to
fix. You install it, you boot it up, and it just works.

No freezes, no red error lines on startup. Even gaming is finally
perfect.

?I need new missions! Linux Mint on my C64? Has anyone tried that?

I found an old OS/2 Warp CD-ROM and a PS3 I used to run Yellow Dog
Linux on.

I think I'll try to install LMDE on my PS3 and OS/2 in a VM to
keep my old brain busy.

?I wish you all an amazing weekend and summer. Have a great time
and enjoy your life while you still can!

And a massive congrats to all of you for picking the right OS!
--
v.v.v.v.v.v.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:16:56 +0200 (GMT+02:00), Halv Skjaldson wrote:

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I loved installing it, trying to fix bugs and errors, deleting it,
and installing it again. After fixing it and getting it running
smoothly,
I deleted it and started over.

I went through several distros before SuSE.in 2002. It was SUSE 8.0 Professional and came in a shrink wrapped box with 7 CDs and 3 hardcopy manuals. I don't remember having to reinstall it.

I had been using Red Hat Linux but preferred KDE. In theory you could have
KDE on RHL rather than GNOME but it was not an easy transition, building a
lot of stuff from tarballs, after building the prerequisites from
tarballs.

Personally I find a 10 minute no-tears installation followed by installing
the programs I use to be refreshing. Then I can get down to messing with
MCUs. My career started with industrial controls prior to the widespread
use of processors. I like seeing real world actions in response to
software. I spent 25 years developing computer aided dispatch systems. It
was fun, but not the same as blinking lights and spinning servos.

I do enjoy installing on old equipment. My Mint is on a 2011 netbook. The
2007 eeePC came with the long gone Xandros Linux and now runs antiX.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

Le 25/07/2026 |a 12:16, Halv Skjaldson a |-crit-a:

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I loved installing it, trying to fix bugs and errors, deleting it,
and installing it again. After fixing it and getting it running
smoothly, I deleted it and started over.

?Linux has gotten really, really good over the last few years.
After 30 years of playing with Linux, there is nothing left to
fix. You install it, you boot it up, and it just works.

No freezes, no red error lines on startup. Even gaming is finally
perfect.

?I need new missions! Linux Mint on my C64? Has anyone tried that?

I found an old OS/2 Warp CD-ROM and a PS3 I used to run Yellow Dog
Linux on.

I think I'll try to install LMDE on my PS3 and OS/2 in a VM to
keep my old brain busy.

?I wish you all an amazing weekend and summer. Have a great time
and enjoy your life while you still can!

And a massive congrats to all of you for picking the right OS!

i have been a luky guy one time when i installed a 64bits kernel
with a dualcore intel. i don't why th pc say YES ! i'm sade, the
change is strange.
--
Amicalement,

Frenchy Friendly, & French touch !

german
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On 7/25/26 12:16 PM, Halv Skjaldson wrote:

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I loved installing it, trying to fix bugs and errors, deleting it,
and installing it again. After fixing it and getting it running
smoothly, I deleted it and started over.

?Linux has gotten really, really good over the last few years.
After 30 years of playing with Linux, there is nothing left to
fix. You install it, you boot it up, and it just works.

No freezes, no red error lines on startup. Even gaming is finally
perfect.

?I need new missions! Linux Mint on my C64? Has anyone tried that?

I found an old OS/2 Warp CD-ROM and a PS3 I used to run Yellow Dog
Linux on.

I think I'll try to install LMDE on my PS3 and OS/2 in a VM to
keep my old brain busy.

?I wish you all an amazing weekend and summer. Have a great time
and enjoy your life while you still can!

And a massive congrats to all of you for picking the right OS!

Right, how many bugs in Linux Mint you like to fix, let me know and I
hand it to you.
--
Once an organization gains any influence, it will be corrupted from both within and without.

Edmund
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

Halv Skjaldson wrote:

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I started looking at linux while I was using W95. I think the first
distro I acquired might've been on a bunch of floppies was Slackware,
but I don't think I got far w/ that.

I DID already have broadband connectivity that early, having graduated
from both Atari ST and dialup by W95.

Aha; maybe it was NOT Slackware /floppies/ but a Walnut Creek CDROM:

From 1995 onwards, Walnut Creek was also the official publisher of Slackware Linux.

... and lotsa other stuff like Win freeware.
--
Mike Easter
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

Mike Easter wrote & cited:

Aha; maybe it was NOT Slackware /floppies/ but a Walnut Creek CDROM:

From 1995 onwards, Walnut Creek was also the official publisher of
Slackware Linux.

A 2002 interview w/ Patrick Volkerding about the Slackware early days:

https://www.theage.com.au/technology/the-linux-distribution-thats-always-in-the-black-20021004-gdfp05.html

The Linux distribution that's always in the black
Oct 3, 2002

(You can defeat that subscribe wall) Or not.
--
Mike Easter
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:47:33 -0700, Mike Easter wrote:

I started looking at linux while I was using W95. I think the first
distro I acquired might've been on a bunch of floppies was Slackware,
but I don't think I got far w/ that.

Downloading and installing from floppies took a certain dedication.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:02:32 -0700, Mike Easter wrote:

Mike Easter wrote & cited:

Aha; maybe it was NOT Slackware /floppies/ but a Walnut Creek CDROM:

From 1995 onwards, Walnut Creek was also the official publisher of
Slackware Linux.

A 2002 interview w/ Patrick Volkerding about the Slackware early days:

https://www.theage.com.au/technology/the-linux-distribution-thats-

always-in-the-black-20021004-gdfp05.html

The Linux distribution that's always in the black Oct 3, 2002

(You can defeat that subscribe wall) Or not.

interesting. I don't think there was a CD option when I installed it, only
the endless downloads from the ftp server. The first distro I installed
that was polished and came in a box was Mandrake. They weren't mailing out free CDs but it was the Ubuntu of its time.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

rbowman wrote:

The first distro I installed that was polished and came in a box was Mandrake. They weren't mailing out free CDs but it was the Ubuntu of
its time.

Nice '02 review of Mandrake 9.

https://www.extremetech.com/archive/52240-review-mandrake-linux-90

Mandrake Linux 9.0 from MandrakeSoft has established a reputation
for being one of the easiest to install and user-friendly Linux
distribution (often called a distro) on the market. That reputation
is well deserved, and the latest release continues to improve on
what has been previously offered. Like SuSE 8.1, Mandrake 9.0 has
excellent documentation, designed with the beginner in mind.
allowing the inexperienced or potential Linux user to easily install
a system.

This wp diagram shows the tree from Mandrake to Mageia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva_Linux#Forks
--
Mike Easter
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:11:08 -0700, Mike Easter wrote:

Nice '02 review of Mandrake 9.

https://www.extremetech.com/archive/52240-review-mandrake-linux-90

I was a Macintosh man for a long time. Then finally, after doing a
bunch of work on Linux machines for clients, I decided to get one of
my own: a little bare-bones Shuttle box, which I got the local
computer store to put together for me (just the hardware, no OS). This
was in 2004.

In the box with the base machine was a 2-CD set of Mandrake 9.1
rCLDiscovery EditionrCY, which I proceeded to install. I soon discovered
that rCLDiscovery EditionrCY meant it was missing the third CD containing
GCC and all the developer tools. So one of my first adventures in
Linux hacking was figuring out how to download and install the missing
RPMs from the Mandrake site.

I didnrCOt stay with Mandrake for long: one client had friends who were
fond of SuSE, and I was persuaded to install the same distro for my
own machine.

There were one or two other distros after that ...
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:11:08 -0700, Mike Easter wrote:

rbowman wrote:

The first distro I installed that was polished and came in a box was
Mandrake. They weren't mailing out free CDs but it was the Ubuntu of
its time.

Nice '02 review of Mandrake 9.

https://www.extremetech.com/archive/52240-review-mandrake-linux-90

I believe I had 8.0 but it could have been 7. This describes 7.

https://drew1440.com/2021/02/09/trying-to-install-linux-mandrake-7/


https://www.ebay.com/itm/326537232667

I remember the penguin with the top hat and magic wand. They might have
gotten away with Mandrake but the artwork was sailing very close to the
wind and resulted in the copyright suit.

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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:37:42 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence DrCOOliveiro wrote:

In the box with the base machine was a 2-CD set of Mandrake 9.1
rCLDiscovery EditionrCY, which I proceeded to install. I soon discovered
that rCLDiscovery EditionrCY meant it was missing the third CD containing
GCC and all the developer tools. So one of my first adventures in Linux hacking was figuring out how to download and install the missing RPMs
from the Mandrake site.

Even with the Slackware from diskette install gcc, buildtools, and so
forth were an extra set of diskettes. iirc several distros did not include them by default and some current ones may still omit them. Perhaps not a
big deal today but in the early days you built a lot of stuff from
tarballs.

Today I'm still annoyed when I find the libfoobar is in the default
install but you need to go back for libfoobar-dev if you expect to build anything using it.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:16:56 +0200 (GMT+02:00), Halv Skjaldson wrote:

?I need new missions!

I have a mission for you. Make the set as wallpaper function of XnView MP
work properly with Linux Mint Cinnamon.

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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Wed, 7/29/2026 11:16 PM, CtrlAltDel wrote:

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:16:56 +0200 (GMT+02:00), Halv Skjaldson wrote:

?I need new missions!

I have a mission for you. Make the set as wallpaper function of XnView MP work properly with Linux Mint Cinnamon.

You can even do these on your own computer, but it's a bit slower.

[Picture] LLM-AI at work...

https://i.postimg.cc/qqXCTQ7V/LMStudio-memory-usage.gif
( https://postimg.cc/tnJgd3P2 )

https://imgur.com/a/1s2JZcv

*************** CoPilot Question ***************

In the XnView MP application, installed on Linux Mint, there
is supposed to be a Set As Wallpaper function, for making an image
viewed in the program, to become the desktop wallpaper. This
function does not seem to be working. Is this failure a function
of the Linux DE (Cinnamon), or is the function simply not working ?

*************** CoPilot Answer ******************

**Short answer:**
The failure is **not CinnamonrCOs fault** - XnView MP simply does **not implement**
a working rCLSet As WallpaperrCY backend for the Cinnamon desktop environment. This is a known, confirmed limitation of XnView MP on Linux Mint Cinnamon. [Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=467725)
[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=472169)

---

## WhatrCOs actually going on
### 1. **XnView MP does not support CinnamonrCOs wallpaper API**
Multiple Linux Mint forum reports confirm that:

- The **.deb version**, **Flatpak**, and **AppImage** all fail to set wallpaper in Cinnamon.
- The feature *does* work in GNOME, XFCE, KDE, and FVWM.
- The developer has not added Cinnamon-specific wallpaper handling.

[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=467725)

### 2. **Cinnamon *does* support programmatic wallpaper changes**
Cinnamon exposes a simple gsettings interface:

gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.background picture-uri "file:///path/to/image.jpg"

Users on the Mint forum note that XnView MP could theoretically call this, but it currently does not.
[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=467725)

### 3. **This is a known, longstanding issue**
Another thread confirms that the rCLSet As WallpaperrCY button and context menu in
XnView MP are present but **nonrCafunctional** under Cinnamon. Users have tried scripts,
.ini edits, toolbar buttons, and context menu hacks - none succeed because XnView MP
never triggers the correct Cinnamon command.
[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=472169)

---

## So is the DE (Cinnamon) at fault?
**No.** CinnamonrCOs wallpaper system works fine:

- Nemo can set wallpapers.
- Pix and Xviewer can set wallpapers.
- gsettings works.

The only thing that doesnrCOt work is XnView MPrCOs internal wallpaper function.

---

## Practical workaround options
If they *must* set wallpaper from XnView MP:

### Option A rCo Add a custom "Open With" script
Create a small script that calls CinnamonrCOs wallpaper command:

#!/bin/bash
img="$1"
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.background picture-uri "file://$img"

Then add it to XnView MPrCOs "Open With" menu.

### Option B rCo Use Nemo instead
RightrCaclick the image in Nemo raA **Set as Wallpaper**
This works reliably.
[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=467725)

### Option C rCo Report it upstream
The Mint forum suggests reporting the bug on XnViewrCOs official forum,
since it affects all Cinnamon users.
[Linux Mint Forums](https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=467725)

---

## Bottom line
**The feature is broken in XnView MP itself. Cinnamon is not the cause.** Without Cinnamon-specific support in XnView MP, rCLSet As WallpaperrCY will continue to do nothing.

*************** End: CoPilot Answer ******************

Paul
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 02:00:08 -0400, Paul wrote:

## Bottom line **The feature is broken in XnView MP itself. Cinnamon is
not the cause.**
Without Cinnamon-specific support in XnView MP, rCLSet As WallpaperrCY will continue to do nothing.

*************** End: CoPilot Answer ******************

Please now ask CoPilot to make it work with Cinnamon.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Thu, 7/30/2026 3:30 AM, CtrlAltDel wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 02:00:08 -0400, Paul wrote:

## Bottom line **The feature is broken in XnView MP itself. Cinnamon is
not the cause.**
Without Cinnamon-specific support in XnView MP, rCLSet As WallpaperrCY will >> continue to do nothing.

*************** End: CoPilot Answer ******************

Please now ask CoPilot to make it work with Cinnamon.

There was a workaround in the answer, which amounts to adding
an item to the interface with a script.

The developer probably expects these functions to be in
some lower layer, like a GTK or something.

In X11, you could assign a wallpaper with xsetroot (according to this).
I likely was doing that at some point, but maybe that was back
in the TWM days or so.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/59653/change-desktop-wallpaper-from-terminal

And you can see there, that the older commands kinda "fight" with the
DE stack. Which is why some of the answers in there, put more
weight on "gsettings".

When TWM was the window manager, nobody cared about the root surface,
as xsetroot would be considered the solution. But as the DE became more sophisticated, so did the resources it grabbed. Newer DE come with
vast armies of pictures that the authors think the users go crazy for
(um, no). If some rules were followed (which they probably are),
you can have two agents that set wallpaper... as long as there is
no "refresh" calculation going on, where one method pisses on the
other method and disturbs the wallpaper. Like if both wallpaper agents
are static, and load only one image, there's no conflict. If one does animations every five minutes and the user sets a static picture with
the other, the animation will overwrite it. So an animated one has
to be put out of animation mode, in order for two static ones to coexist.

https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/gsettings.1.html

And that's why you would be doing it via something like gsettings,
in the hope of having one agent, and a little more control of the
behavior.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 02:00:08 -0400, Paul wrote:

### Option A rCo Add a custom "Open With" script Create a small script
that calls CinnamonrCOs wallpaper command:

#!/bin/bash img="$1"
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.background picture-uri "file://$img"

Then add it to XnView MPrCOs "Open With" menu.

Paul, the script above did not work but, you set me on the right path and
I found this:

#!/bin/bash
gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.background picture-uri "file://$1"

which worked great by adding to the Open With menu.

Thanks a lot.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:16:56 +0200 (GMT+02:00)
Halv Skjaldson <halv@o2online.de> wrote:

My first Linux was S.u.S.E. around 1995, and I never used it
seriously for work?just for tinkering.

I loved installing it, trying to fix bugs and errors, deleting it,
and installing it again. After fixing it and getting it running
smoothly, I deleted it and started over.

?Linux has gotten really, really good over the last few years.
After 30 years of playing with Linux, there is nothing left to
fix. You install it, you boot it up, and it just works.

No freezes, no red error lines on startup. Even gaming is finally
perfect.

?I need new missions! Linux Mint on my C64? Has anyone tried that?

I found an old OS/2 Warp CD-ROM and a PS3 I used to run Yellow Dog
Linux on.

I think I'll try to install LMDE on my PS3 and OS/2 in a VM to
keep my old brain busy.

?I wish you all an amazing weekend and summer. Have a great time
and enjoy your life while you still can!

And a massive congrats to all of you for picking the right OS!
--
v.v.v.v.v.v.

I must admit, Linux Mint now does pretty well everything that i want.
I am getting on a bit now, so that I no longer have an almost instant understanding of what I can do to overcome issues with version udates.

For example:

1) personalised stuff like the contents of ~~/.thunderbird
get wiped out so I have to back them up for safekeeping before
returning them.
2) Printers' ppd files
3) etc

Icons and fonts.
I have a set of icons accumulated from the days when I first moved my
business over from Windows to to Linux.

These get sent to: /usr/share/icons/default before I painstakingly
change the defaults via Configure/menu/menu editor

Yes I know I am getting lazy.
I used to configure samba as well but that no longer works for me so I
use VirtualBox's Shared Folders which is simpler.

The second biggest pain of all is as a user of MythTV I have to
recompile the driver for my TV cards every time there is a kernel
update. Very often it doesn't work because of some change or other and
takes ages to resolve. The AI's speed this up quite a bit though.

Thec biggest pain is when rsyncing from sources to targets where one or
both are NVmes. The device names are ridiculously long. I realise this
is not specifically a Mint thing but it really is stone-age.

All in all though I think Mint is terrific.

Regards, Alan
--
Linux Mint 22.1 kernel version 6.8.0-84-generic Cinnamon 6.4.8
AMD Ryzen 7 7700, Radeon RX 6600, 32GB DDR5, 2TB SSD, 2TB Barracuda
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:25:30 +0100, pinnerite wrote:

Thec biggest pain is when rsyncing from sources to targets where one
or both are NVmes. The device names are ridiculously long. I realise
this is not specifically a Mint thing but it really is stone-age.

Remember, you donrCOt access mounted filesystems by device names, but by
names of the mount points, which are just directories.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On 7/30/26 5:16 AM, CtrlAltDel wrote:

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:16:56 +0200 (GMT+02:00), Halv Skjaldson wrote:

?I need new missions!

I have a mission for you. Make the set as wallpaper function of XnView MP work properly with Linux Mint Cinnamon.

He already disappeared after I called his bluff
--
Once an organization gains any influence, it will be corrupted from both within and without.

Edmund
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.mint

On Thu, 13 Aug 2026 07:42:26 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence DrCOOliveiro wrote:

Remember, you donrCOt access mounted filesystems by device names, but by names of the mount points, which are just directories.

The first time around /dev/nvme0n1p1 and /dev/nvme0n1p2 threw me to say nothing of /dev/nvme0n1p2: UUID="95869a4c-f203-4826-8515-6cb21ce646fc". So
far I haven't had to mess with fstab.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2