Monthly News – November 2017

Many thanks for your donations. Your help and support is greatly appreciated. It empowers us of course but it’s also a huge boost in confidence and motivation. Many thanks to all of you who help our project.

Linux Mint 18.3 BETA

The BETA for the Cinnamon and the MATE editions will be released this week.

We hope you’ll enjoy them and we look forward to receiving your feedback. We’ll announce their official release in a couple of days.

Last minute changes

Some improvements got into Linux Mint 18.3 at the last minute. These include:

• Better out of the box support for spell-checking and synonyms in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Russian.
• Easy installation of Skype, Google Earth and WhatsApp in the Software Manager
• In MATE’s mintmenu: Recently used apps

There are also a couple of changes in Xfce and KDE, but it’s a bit too early to report on them (we’ll release these editions after Cinnamon and MATE).

Read the Docs

We’re happy to announce we’ll be porting our documentation to a promising service called “Read the Docs“.

Our Linux Mint User Guide helped us for years. It was updated continuously and translated in more than 20 languages. It’s been a great resources for new users. Although the LibreOffice format in which it was written made it easy for anyone to review it or translate it, it’s also become an issue which made its maintenance and development harder than it should have been. Changes are hard to keep track of and the various documents available in each different language are becoming more and more different.

If we were to rewrite a paragraph, that effort would only benefit one language in the short term, and likely only a select few long term.

The structure of the user guide is also problematic. It’s a big document which covers many different aspects. It tries to do to much, and doesn’t necessarily do it very well. It goes too much in the details for some of the topics but also lacks important information on others.

During the Linux Mint 19 development cycle we’ll write small guides, each dedicated to their own topic. In particular, we’ll write:

• An installation guide
• A developer guide
• A troubleshooting/bug-reporting guide
• A getting-started guide with an overview of the Mint project and its community

Read the Docs was chosen primarily because it separates content and layout and because it allows us to simply write content and have it automatically translated, built and hosted into documentation you can read online (in HTML) or offline (in PDF/ePUB).

The documentation will be written in reStructuredText (RST) and version-controlled on Github. We’ll be using Gettext to generate translations templates which will be imported into Launchpad. In other words, we’ll have the documentation written and translated the same way we already write and translate our software projects. Read the Docs will then continuously update the hosted documentation. Whenever it changes, it will automatically be rebuilt.

Note: Flatpak is already using Read the Docs. Don’t hesitate to visit http://flatpak.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ to see how it looks. Their documentation is available in English, French and Spanish. We’ll need some time to write our guides, but from experience and knowing how amazing the translation teams are on Launchpad (the pace at which they translate our code is quite humbling… in a matter of days we’re usually ready to ship any new features, translated in all major languages), we’re quite confident we’ll have documentation in more than 20 languages pretty fast.

 

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Donations in October:

A total of $8,998 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 483 donors:

$200, Luc S.
$131, Mark W.
$109 (5th donation), Sten L.
$109 (3rd donation), Frank B.
$109 (2nd donation), Jean-yves B.
$109, Detlef S.
$109, Tom S.
$100 (4th donation), Markus S.
$100 (3rd donation), Steve D. aka “taosld”
$100 (3rd donation), Gary M.
$100, Flemming M.
$100, Steven J.
$100, Per H. L.
$100, Andrew S.
$100, Dindar N.
$65 (3rd donation), Ion L. I.
$60 (3rd donation), Martin R.
$60, Wayne R.
$54 (8th donation), Claude M.
$54 (7th donation), Volker P.
$54 (2nd donation), Christian T.
$54, Barretteau M.
$54, Kevin D.
$54, Hans J. L.
$54, Rafael S. A.
$54, Krol S.
$54, Andreas A.
$54, Philipp R.
$54, Jacek S.
$54, Frederick K.
$50 (21st donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (5th donation), Thomas T. aka “FullTimer1489”
$50 (4th donation), Kenneth P.
$50 (4th donation), Douglas J.
$50 (4th donation), Cody W. H.
$50 (4th donation), JimM
$50 (3rd donation), Michael S.
$50 (2nd donation), Zhatkin A.
$50 (2nd donation), Fred W.
$50, Mark T.
$50, John C.
$50, Michael P.
$50, Odd I.
$50, K-Fi D Marketing Communications
$50, Mark H.
$50, Brian R.
$50, Graeme L.
$50, Henry S.
$50, Richard O.
$50, Michael C.
$49 (34th donation), Mark W.
$44, Jakob V.
$44, Olivier H. W. aka “Kuripot”
$40, John B.
$40, John W.
$40, Lance W. G.
$40, Josip B.
$40, Erik C.
$38 (2nd donation), Wolfgang CP Gensch
$36, JBHoren
$35 (5th donation), Jeff S.
$35, Charles A.
$35, Jeffrey K.
$33 (92th donation), Olli K.
$33 (8th donation), Julian M.
$33 (4th donation), John H.
$33, Jean-pierre J.
$33, Carl A.
$30, Rex H.
$30, Mickael D.
$27 (13th donation), Ky LMDE
$27 (6th donation), Jon Marks aka “ESL Materials Writer”
$27 (4th donation), Jan B.
$27 (3rd donation), Martin W.
$27, Antonio aka “pengu73”
$27, Bernd J.
$27, David W.
$27, Brian L.
$27, Günter S.
$25 (75th donation), Ronald W.
$25 (31st donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan ”
$25 (6th donation), Eric W. aka “powerwagon75”
$25 (6th donation), Michael Welch aka “Dr. Mike”
$25 (5th donation), Bill R.
$25 (3rd donation), James M.
$25 (3rd donation), Dennis B.
$25 (3rd donation), J. C. .
$25 (3rd donation), Roberto O. L.
$25 (2nd donation), Gary B.
$25, Joe K.
$25, Earl P.
$25, Ted S.
$25, Robert F.
$25, Tatesawa O.
$25, Bruce R.
$25, Jim H.
$25, Marco C.
$25, Rogulin P.
$25, Andrew S.
$25, Nathaniel V.
$25, Stephen P.
$25, PCSW Inc
$25, Morten K.
$22 (10th donation), Ross M aka “ro55mo”
$22 (9th donation), Johann J.
$22 (4th donation), Malte J.
$22 (3rd donation), nobody
$22 (3rd donation), Andreas R.
$22 (3rd donation), CySoTec
$22 (3rd donation), nobody
$22 (3rd donation), Tom B.
$22 (2nd donation), Thomas L.
$22 (2nd donation), Florent G.
$22 (2nd donation), Michael T.
$22 (2nd donation), Wolfgang B. aka “Bösi”
$22 (2nd donation), Jean-philippe P.
$22 (2nd donation), jacobsen.biz
$22 (2nd donation), Eric V. C.
$22, Der S.
$22, Jean R.
$22, Baptiste Z.
$22, Peter P.
$22, Wim W.
$22, Hannu K.
$22, Jean-pierre G.
$22, Ciprian T.
$22, Pavel K.
$22, nordtapete
$22, Olivier R.
$22, Gabriel G.
$22, Francis N.
$22, Ronald M.
$22, Lars H.
$22, Christophe B.
$22, Siegmar H.
$22, Linda R.
$22, Derek R.
$21 (5th donation), T. P. .
$20 (31st donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan ”
$20 (13th donation), Jeffery J.
$20 (6th donation), Hubert Banas
$20 (5th donation), Samarth M.
$20 (5th donation), Arrowhead Computer Consulting, LLC aka “Jim (JR)”
$20 (5th donation), Lars Händler
$20 (2nd donation), Duncan M.
$20 (2nd donation), Peter G.
$20 (2nd donation), Vitali V.
$20 (2nd donation), Miguel G.
$20 (2nd donation), Kleiner Funk-Electronic
$20 (2nd donation), Bezantnet, L.
$20 (2nd donation), Daniel H.
$20, Eleanor L.
$20, Renan D.
$20, David S.
$20, Dominic P.
$20, David P.
$20, Yamamoto T.
$20, Vincenzo S.
$20, Edward H.
$20, Thomas J. M.
$20, Adam C.
$20, Stephen S.
$20, Ireneusz D.
$20, Alain S.
$20, John S.
$20, John M.
$20, Leopold D.
$20, Luiz N.
$20, Hallvard P.
$20, Dani Metzger
$20, Maurice S.
$20, Griffin C.
$20, Patrick K.
$18 (13th donation), Dominik K. aka “doko”
$16 (11th donation), Ib O. J.
$16 (7th donation), Peter B.
$16 (3rd donation), Marc S.
$16 (2nd donation), Stefan P.
$16 (2nd donation), Sebastian B.
$16 (2nd donation), Francesca S. S.
$16 (2nd donation), Vadim G.
$16, Juan P. M. C.
$16, Laurent D.
$16, Gal J.
$16, Montefusco E.
$16, Bruno S.
$16, Marcin S. aka “senkal”
$16, Oliver S.
$15 (8th donation), Lance M.
$15 (4th donation), Robert D. aka “Wilbobob”
$15 (2nd donation), Benjamin P.
$15 (2nd donation), Susanne E. W.
$15, Kenneth W.
$15, Keven W.
$15, Mark W.
$15, PagesAtHome
$15, Constantin M.
$15, Greg S.
$15, Philip K.
$15, David K.
$13 (18th donation), Anonymous
$13, John B.
$12 (79th donation), Tony C. aka “S. LaRocca”
$12 (25th donation), JobsHiringnearMe
$12, Liu Y.
$12, Stonecot
$12, Тягливый А.
$11 (6th donation), Tom M.
$11 (5th donation), Michal W.
$11 (5th donation), Francois B. aka “Makoto”
$11 (4th donation), Florian U.
$11 (4th donation), Andrew V.
$11 (4th donation), François L.
$11 (4th donation), Jacques S.
$11 (4th donation), Sachindra Prosad Saha aka “Love you grand dad”
$11 (4th donation), Joss S.
$11 (3rd donation), Rick H aka “tinyworlds”
$11 (3rd donation), Emanuele Proietti aka “Manuermejo”
$11 (3rd donation), Birger T.
$11 (2nd donation), Finn H.
$11 (2nd donation), Giorgio O.
$11 (2nd donation), Martin H.
$11 (2nd donation), Łukasz S.
$11 (2nd donation), Eskild T.
$11 (2nd donation), Hans-detlef D.
$11 (2nd donation), Philipp H.
$11 (2nd donation), Christian F.
$11 (2nd donation), C. F. .
$11, Grzegorz K.
$11, Jochen S.
$11, Hans-werner H.
$11, Arturo S.
$11, Theodoros K.
$11, Richard S.
$11, Matthias O.
$11, Gunars A.
$11, PROBETECH
$11, Hubert R.
$11, Ingo B.
$11, Gerhard H.
$11, Martin W.
$11, Irk D. F.
$11, Matthias G.
$11, Thomas P.
$11, Alfred S. aka “Fredo”
$11, Enrico B.
$11, Roland H.
$11, Miroslav Š.
$11, Massimo T.
$11, Thibaut M.
$11, Pavel Hrnčíř aka “Milhouse”
$11, Mark Stuart aka “codeasone”
$11, Clive D.
$11, Gabor P.
$11, Spiridon T.
$11, viktor
$11, Gary W.
$11, Alexis M.
$11, Kevin C.
$11, Maciej T.
$11, Lorenz S.
$11, Zoran G.
$11, Herberth M.
$11, Frank G.
$11, Gilles D.
$11, Michael L.
$11, Dias J.
$10 (23rd donation), Thomas C.
$10 (15th donation), Julie H. aka “Kjokkenutstyr”
$10 (14th donation), Frank K.
$10 (14th donation), Paul O.
$10 (10th donation), Dinu P.
$10 (9th donation), 杉林晃治
$10 (9th donation), Dinu P.
$10 (8th donation), Masaomi Yoshida
$10 (6th donation), Agenor Marrero
$10 (6th donation), Kristian O.
$10 (6th donation), Andreas S.
$10 (4th donation), Ray M.
$10 (3rd donation), David W.
$10 (3rd donation), Michael P. K.
$10 (3rd donation), Andy McBride
$10 (2nd donation), Sourav B. aka “rmad17”
$10 (2nd donation), Daniel G. Marconi aka “DarkSatan”
$10 (2nd donation), Sebastian D. L. aka “Sebadamus”
$10 (2nd donation), Waybackdownloader
$10 (2nd donation), Jordon B.
$10 (2nd donation), CW P.
$10 (2nd donation), Ian C.
$10 (2nd donation), Clint M.
$10 (2nd donation), Jayadevan C. R.
$10 (2nd donation), George C.
$10, Demetrios C. A.
$10, shuhari aka “shuhari”
$10, Mark H.
$10, Jose Luis Gonzalez Becerril aka “Mint Friend Forever”
$10, Justin M.
$10, Eugene C.
$10, Nikolas K.
$10, Jack H.
$10, mvpngn.com
$10, Sergey Z.
$10, P R.
$10, Sahil Ahuja aka “GMETRI”
$10, Øyvind K.
$10, Robert H.
$10, merimaat
$10, Ruston R.
$10, George C.
$10, Aaron S.
$10, Arthur L.
$10, Gordon E.
$10, Daniel-Teodor S.
$10, Abdulaziz A.
$10, Derek H.
$10, Hamilton Southern Holdings LLC
$10, Dario C.
$10, Andrew J.
$10, Anand S.
$10, Ricky G.
$10, Jairo C.
$10, Greg R.
$10, Divya S.
$10, Jan G.
$10, Abdul K.
$10, Jerry P.
$10, How W.
$10, Humberto A. S.
$10, Stephen W.
$10, Jonathan M.
$10, Kit S. H.
$10, Andrew M.
$10, Dusan T.
$10, Colin H.
$10, Alexander H.
$10, Chris K.
$10, William B. aka “TheMesquito”
$8.44, Rare Earth Computing
$8 (2nd donation), Josef H. R. H.
$8, Wilfred F.
$8, Yannick S.
$7 (15th donation), CV Smith
$7 (2nd donation), Erwin B. S. M. aka “The Teacher”
$6 (4th donation), aka “AsciiWolf”
$6 (2nd donation), Krzysztof D.
$5 (17th donation), Eugene T.
$5 (14th donation), Todd A aka “thobin”
$5 (13th donation), Kjell O. B. aka “kob”
$5 (11th donation), Jim A.
$5 (9th donation), Bhavinder Jassar
$5 (6th donation), Blazej P. aka “bleyzer”
$5 (6th donation), J. S. .
$5 (6th donation), Vyacheslav K. aka “veZuk”
$5 (5th donation), NAGY Attila aka “GuBo”
$5 (4th donation), GaryD
$5 (4th donation), Jonathan Gaddi Giomini aka “JonnyBarbun87”
$5 (4th donation), Clinton Aarts
$5 (4th donation), John M.
$5 (3rd donation), Arkadiusz T.
$5 (3rd donation), Jeroen V. D. B.
$5 (3rd donation), John M.
$5 (3rd donation), Ellert H.
$5 (2nd donation), Piotr S.
$5 (2nd donation), Ovidiu I. D.
$5 (2nd donation), Patrick M.
$5 (2nd donation), Adrian N.
$5 (2nd donation), Laura NL aka “lauranl”
$5 (2nd donation), Andre B.
$5 (2nd donation), Athol P.
$5 (2nd donation), Ondrej D. B.
$5 (2nd donation), Alexey K.
$5 (2nd donation), rptev
$5, Doug K.
$5, hostflash.de
$5, Dino Brugnolaro aka “brgdni”
$5, Paweł B.
$5, Robert G.
$5, Simon S.
$5, Liu J.
$5, Arkādijs S.
$5, James B.
$5, Murray Y.
$5, Mark H.
$5, Samuel G.
$5, Ivan H.
$5, Conrad T.
$5, Udo W.
$5, Mario Filho
$5, David B.
$5, Nicholas J.
$5, David M.
$5, Susanne K.
$5, Robert W.
$5, Nikolay aka “niketechno”
$5, Alessandro M.
$5, Simo P.
$5, Jochen W.
$5, Коробейников А.
$5, Binyamin B. E.
$5, Christian U. aka “Jowe1999”
$5, Tree Service Kansas City
$5, Giorgi M.
$5, Benjamin S.
$5, Robert T.
$5, PDFsam
$5, Eigenhaushalt.de
$5, Marco S.
$5, Union Hills Software
$5, Pan W. aka “Clay”
$5, Peter R.
$5, Adam B.
$5, Agri Shop 2000
$5, Pierre E.
$5, Žarko J.
$5, Daniel K.
$5, Matthias K.
$5, Brent F.
$5, Иван Ложкин aka “Berry”
$5, Michael D.
$5, Rodney F.
$5, Iliyan P.
$5, Pierre B.
$5, Iacopo B.
$4 (9th donation), Alessandro S.
$4, Harm R.
$4, Marcelo T.
$4, Ljubiša P.
$3.43, Ethan L.
$3 (4th donation), Micoworker – Diseño de Páginas Web
$3 (3rd donation), Karl H.
$3 (3rd donation), Nuno F.
$3 (3rd donation), cheval a vendre
$3 (3rd donation), Cassio Raposa aka “Zadig”
$3 (2nd donation), 정우 이
$3 (2nd donation), Octavain B.
$3 (2nd donation), Erich G.
$3 (2nd donation), Matteo P.
$3 (2nd donation), Adrien L.
$3, Flavio L. Cavalcante
$3, Yassin A.
$3, Ariel R.
$3, Wellness Geeky
$3, Timo P.
$3, Mateus M.
$2 (13th donation), Terry Poe aka “Exclusive”
$2 (6th donation), Илья Кругликов aka “Ilis”
$2 (4th donation), Maxime H.
$2 (4th donation), Alfred Tan aka “pinuno”
$2 (2nd donation), Marco B.
$2 (2nd donation), Denis C.
$2 (2nd donation), Star Tipster
$2 (2nd donation), 정우 이
$2, Ernesto N. A. G.
$2, Stefano B. aka “StefanoB26”
$2, Ryszard J.
$2, Cuauhtemoc U. aka “regicide”
$2, 合同会社hartanah
$26.75 from 26 smaller donations