Monthly News – September 2019

Many thanks to all our donors, our sponsors, our partners and to everyone involved in supporting our project. Before we get started with the news, I’d also like to thank the people who helped us troubleshoot the Update Manager tray icon bug last month. It was an important bug, which we couldn’t easily reproduce, and thanks to you we were finally able to fix it.

Date Format

Last month we announced the Language configuration tool would let people choose the locale for the date format. In their feedback some users indicated this wouldn’t be enough, and they were right.

We looked into this and identified a design flaw in the way the default date format is localized. Although the names of the days and months are localized according to the LC_TIME environment variable, we were fetching the format itself using gettext according to the desktop’s language.

We will get this fixed in Cinnamon and in MATE for 19.3.

XAppStatusIcon

A lot of work went into polishing the XAppStatusIcons which were introduced last month. A new API is available on the desktop side which makes it easy to develop applets.

Applets are currently available for Cinnamon and MATE and we’re working on a panel plugin for Xfce 4.14.

In Linux Mint 19.3, libAppIndicator will also be patched to use XAppStatus as fallback.

System Reports

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to read the blog to find out a new version of Linux Mint was available? How about these language packs you’re missing in your computer? And did you set your root password already?

The System Reports tool is finally becoming the useful tool it was supposed to be. Its purpose is to raise awareness and identify potential issues in your computer.

It was first introduced in Linux Mint 18.3 as an application you could run to browse through information and crash reports.

In Linux Mint 19.2 it became compatible with LMDE and it received a new pane to show and upload system information.

Going forward it will run in the background and let you know when issues require your attention.

This allows us to communicate with you and to help you in a way we couldn’t before. Unlike the documentation and the release notes which are generic and targeted at all users, this tool allows us to show information and solutions which are relevant to you specifically, and if we know how to fix them, to provide you with a button you can click to solve things easily.

So far the tool checks:

If a new version of Linux Mint is available
If your version of Linux Mint is getting close to EOL
If your Timeshift configuration is set up (the Update Manager won’t care about this anymore)
If there are drivers available
If you are missing language packs
If you are missing multimedia codecs

And it raises awareness on the question of root passwords.

Linux Mint Logo

Work continues on the Linux Mint logo. I’d like to thank Sebastien (SebastJava) for identifying and fixing issues and margin inconsistencies in our original logo. We’re going towards an LM shape which looks similar to the original, but without these issues, without the gap between the two letters and without the surrounding leaf.

Reducing the logo to just the L and M letters allows us to produce more modern designs and exploit a wider variety of colors and shapes.

Other News

We received the very first MintBox 3. It looks amazing and its speed is fantastic. We’re troubleshooting an issue around the CPU and working with Compulab to address it.

We’ll have a review and more information about the unit in the next few weeks.

The codename for LMDE 4 is Debbie. It’s cute and it suits the Debian base quite well. There is no ETA for it yet.

Xplayer is a mature project, it’s well translated and it integrates very well within our desktop environments. Its performance in terms of video playback, which relies on the GStreamer backend, is however quite poor compared to other backends such as MPV. It also uses ClutterGst to render subtitles and OSD and that limits it when it comes to hardware accelerated playback. We’re looking at MPV based alternatives at the moment (the MPV player itself, Celluloid which can be made retro-compatible with 18.04, and libmpv1 which we can write a frontend for) and considering replacing Xplayer and not adding VLC automatically when installing the multimedia codecs.

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Platinum Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:
Linux VPS Hosting

Silver Sponsors:

Bronze Sponsors:

Community Sponsors:

A2 Hosting
Alan
Alan B.
Alan McMahon
AllBestVPN
Amritpal G.
Anagram Solver
Bernhard Johannessen
Brian
Bryan
Carlos Soutullo
Charles B.
Chris Mospaw
Christopher Todd
Clare Florist
Colin F.
Colin W.
ConsciousEd
Cristian S.
dailyhosting.net
Dave L.
David C.
Directory
Divorce Attorney Charles M. Green
DivorceLawyersLosAngeles.com
Dylan Grafmyre
Ehline Law Firm PC – Long Beach
Falcon I.T. Services
Findhorn Foundation
Gao Fengyu
GeriTrust
GIGAcalculator
Harry L.
Hosting Comparison
i migliori casino aams
Jeff de Bruin
Jeff Taffuri aka JayBird707
Jens Wedel
Joe Hodges
John D S.
John M.
John W.
Juan Luis Cano Rodríguez
Karl G
Kenneth Brobst
KoDDoS
Lawrence H. H.
Lewis B.
Load Testing
Low APR Finder
Mark Fletcher
MARK WALTON
Matt H.
Micro Data Systems Ltd
Mikkel Pedersen
Murat Demir
MyBestWebsiteBuilder
MySEO.bg
Naperville IL Snow Removal
Nicholas Londey
Nono W.
Olaf Baeyens
Onecklace – Personalized Jewelry
Organic Media Group
Overland Park Cyber Defense Attorneys
OxRun LLC
Pics n Places Travel Photography
Plaquette Vidéo MaVideoBox.fr
Plaxen & Adler, P.A.
Pokies Portal
RemyH
Robert D.
Ruben P. P.
Ryan N.
Samuel S.
Sascha Reinsch
SEOCentro
Silver City Jewelers – Ocala Jewelry
Solo Entertainment e.K.
Steven B.
TD Yates
Tero Pohjasniemi
Tomas
Tomer Margalit
Unauthed 401
Uwe Klosa
VPN University
Wayne Chapeskie
What Is SEO?
Wong S.
Yang, C.-C.

Donations in August:

A total of $10830 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 592 donors:

$500, The Reeves Law Group
$200 (2nd donation), Philip C.
$163, Mark L.
$162, Albéric Trancart
$109 (7th donation), Heiko P. aka “CyCroN“
$109 (3rd donation), Torsten P.
$109 (3rd donation), Duncan G. aka “catraeus“
$109, Bernhard B.
$100 (4th donation), Anon.
$100 (3rd donation), Dale H.
$100 (3rd donation), Michael D.
$100 (3rd donation), Guy R.
$100 (2nd donation), Reynaldo H.
$100 (2nd donation), Michael P.
$100 (2nd donation), Rent A Handyman aka “Cardoso”
$100 (2nd donation), Cory T.
$100, Personal Computer Services
$100, Leon K.
$100, Del C.
$100, Reto K.
$100, BubbaX
$100, JTnz
$100, Brian S.
$100, Kirk H. ~ School Computer Resource Manager aka “Captain Kirk“
$98 (4th donation), Kaspars S.
$80, Timothy T.
$76, Bill Harpley aka “quantum-billy”
$75 (3rd donation), James L.
$70 (4th donation), Gerald H.
$54 (2nd donation), Andreas Z.
$54 (2nd donation), Thomas G.
$54 (2nd donation), Walter K.
$54 (2nd donation), Henning K.
$54 (2nd donation), Pascal B.
$54, Le P. N.
$54, Simon H.
$54, Michael C.
$54, Vitaly S.
$54, Richard Z.
$54, Gonzalo I. C.
$54, Bernd V. D.
$54, Maximilian H.
$50 (35th donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (12th donation), Hans J.
$50 (8th donation), Carl G.
$50 (7th donation), Bruno Weber
$50 (5th donation), An L.
$50 (3rd donation), Manfred K.
$50 (2nd donation), Tom T.
$50 (2nd donation), Bruno K.
$50 (2nd donation), Donor
$50 (2nd donation), Michael P.
$50, Mr A. H.
$50, Alan R.
$50, Marc
$50, David B.
$50, Steve F.
$50, Janus D. C.
$50, Eric P.
$50, M P. D. P.
$50, Mo B.
$50, John E.
$50, Bob H.
$50, John C.
$50, Ronald W.
$50, Mark M.
$50, Karl J.
$50, Peter H.
$44 (2nd donation), Martin M.
$44 (2nd donation), Thor S
$44, Eduard P. H.
$43, Jean K.
$40 (9th donation), Adam H.
$40 (5th donation), William E.
$40, David P.
$40, Robert D.
$36 (2nd donation), Keith M.
$35 (4th donation), Daniel M.
$35 (2nd donation), Andrew J. M. G.
$33 (5th donation), Jean-claude M.
$33, Jacques S.
$33, Kevin B.
$32, Kenneth F.
$30 (14th donation), Kevin S.
$30 (11th donation), Kevin Safford
$30 (8th donation), Murray C.
$30 (4th donation), Frederic R.
$30 (3rd donation), Benny H. aka “kalleurban”
$30 (3rd donation), Mark DR
$30 (2nd donation), Anna W.
$30, Edward H.
$30, Christine E.
$30, Stephen W.
$27 (12th donation), John K.
$27 (9th donation), Roger D. P. aka “Linux Users Group Monitor Niel“
$27 (5th donation), Harm R.
$27 (5th donation), Andrew C.
$27 (3rd donation), Hubertus B.
$27 (2nd donation), Vittorio B.
$27 (2nd donation), Stefan E.
$27, Sven B.
$27, Alistair W.
$27, Markus K.
$27, Roland W.
$27, Dominique M. O.
$27, motiontrends aka “Bechara“
$27, Georg S.
$25 (96th donation), Ronald W.
$25 (48th donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan “
$25 (7th donation), Donna B.
$25 (4th donation), Donald F.
$25 (4th donation), Dana S.
$25 (4th donation), Dhruv S.
$25 (3rd donation), Jake Phillips
$25 (3rd donation), Jordon B.
$25 (3rd donation), Keith M.
$25 (3rd donation), Douglas S.
$25 (2nd donation), Andre D.
$25 (2nd donation), Ralph D.
$25, John Bekas Jr
$25, Donald S.
$25, Robert G.
$25, Samu A.
$25, Karl K.
$25, Darlene H.
$25, Ken W.
$25, Cheryl Meril, Notary Public
$25, Thomas H.
$25, Ian M.
$25, Harold B.
$25, Gordon E.
$25, Scott N.
$25, ABN
$25, Kristopher D.
$25, John V.
$25, R B. T.
$25, Paul M.
$25, Runganathan P.
$25, David P.
$25, IBS Corporation
$24 (3rd donation), Keith M.
$22 (12th donation), Per J.
$22 (9th donation), Dick B. aka “Dick”
$22 (8th donation), Michael S.
$22 (7th donation), Derek T.
$22 (6th donation), D. B. .
$22 (6th donation), Gerhard E.
$22 (5th donation), Ralf O.
$22 (5th donation), Krister R.
$22 (4th donation), Frank J.
$22 (3rd donation), Thierry G.
$22 (3rd donation), Paul H.
$22 (3rd donation), Peter V.
$22 (2nd donation), Mr. Bee
$22 (2nd donation), Holger R.
$22 (2nd donation), Pierre Collette
$22 (2nd donation), Joaquim Barreto
$22 (2nd donation), Ulrich W.
$22 (2nd donation), Pascal G.
$22 (2nd donation), Ulrich H.
$22, Gregory B. aka “dest”
$22, aka “Jhemp”
$22, Michael S.
$22, Patrick B.
$22, Juan F. J. L.
$22, Martin K.
$22, Reinhold K.
$22, Edelbert L.
$22, Thorolf W.
$22, aka “Ralle”
$22, mojo design GmbH
$22, Aurélien P.
$22, Tom S.
$22, Luigi T.
$22, Peter K.
$22, Colin Maudry
$20 (21st donation), Peter D.
$20 (12th donation), John D.
$20 (12th donation), Bryan F.
$20 (8th donation), Curtis M.
$20 (8th donation), Alain P.
$20 (2nd donation), Luke P.
$20 (2nd donation), Lucas M.
$20 (2nd donation), John L.
$20 (2nd donation), Henrik Hemrin
$20 (2nd donation), Robert N.
$20, Michael H.
$20, Michael M.
$20, Stephan O.
$20, David B.
$20, Timon C.
$20, Gunnar H.
$20, Peter S.
$20, Chris B.
$20, Chris P.
$20, Geoffrey R.
$20, Flex Courses
$20, Krystian P.
$20, Jon H.
$19.2 (11th donation), François P.
$19.2 (8th donation), Malte J.
$18 (32nd donation), Johann J.
$16 (5th donation), Kārlis M. aka “BismarX“
$16 (3rd donation), Kaspars S.
$16 (3rd donation), Yvan R.
$16 (2nd donation), Rudi K.
$16, Bruno P.
$16, Roman H.
$16, Robin C.
$16, Bertrand N.
$16, A S.
$15 (28th donation), Jim A.
$15 (13th donation), AJ Gringo
$15 (12th donation), AJ Gringo
$15 (3rd donation), David K.
$15 (2nd donation), Jim K.
$15 (2nd donation), Precision P.
$15, Blake C.
$15, Mari C.
$13 (17th donation), Ky LMDE
$13 (2nd donation), Bert D. B.
$12 (101th donation), Tony C. aka “S. LaRocca”
$12 (41th donation), JobsHiringNearMe
$12, Randal R.
$11 (33rd donation), Paul O.
$11 (14th donation), Eskild T
$11 (13th donation), Gerard C.
$11 (10th donation), Michael P. aka “www.perron.de“
$11 (9th donation), Annette T.
$11 (9th donation), Vittorio F.
$11 (7th donation), Alan B.
$11 (7th donation), Michael R.
$11 (6th donation), Cătălin Toader aka “tacaota”
$11 (6th donation), Christian K.
$11 (6th donation), Yves R.
$11 (6th donation), Laurent M aka “lolomeis”
$11 (5th donation), Piotr L aka “xpil“
$11 (4th donation), M. H. .
$11 (4th donation), Jean C. A.
$11 (4th donation), Caspar F.
$11 (3rd donation), Pedro Cunha
$11 (3rd donation), Tim H.
$11 (2nd donation), Davide M.
$11 (2nd donation), Serhii B. aka “sinpavla“
$11 (2nd donation), Edmund L.
$11 (2nd donation), Leon T.
$11 (2nd donation), HM Magnusson
$11, Derek B.
$11, Ronny L.
$11, Jean-Jacques J.
$11, Vincent D.
$11, Gerardo A. M.
$11, Rafael aka “EA7IVE”
$11, Tim M.
$11, Gerald H.
$11, Giordano Alborghetti aka “giordi63”
$11, Thomas M.
$11, Carl M.
$11, Bert R.
$11, Dennis H.
$11, Martin Kamp Jensen
$11, Jens K.
$11, Armin
$11, Steven J. L.
$11, Christian S.
$11, Roland L.
$11, Fabian V.
$10 (36th donation), Frank K.
$10 (16th donation), Laura NL aka “lauranl“
$10 (14th donation), Wilson G.
$10 (12th donation), Antoine T.
$10 (12th donation), Masaomi Yoshida
$10 (7th donation), Martín P. D. L. G.
$10 (4th donation), Joao Kodama
$10 (4th donation), C S.
$10 (3rd donation), Janne M.
$10 (3rd donation), Anton D.
$10 (3rd donation), Zile
$10 (3rd donation), Michael M.
$10 (3rd donation), Greg R.
$10 (3rd donation), Les E.
$10 (2nd donation), Michael W.
$10 (2nd donation), Wilfried E.
$10 (2nd donation), Michael F.
$10 (2nd donation), Wong C. C.
$10 (2nd donation), Michael M.
$10 (2nd donation), Howard P.
$10 (2nd donation), Fábio N.
$10 (2nd donation), Teresa V.
$10 (2nd donation), Paul G.
$10, Christian K.
$10, Ruben L.
$10, Andres S.
$10, Aravind K.
$10, Bobby M.
$10, Mic h
$10, Ivan B.
$10, Frank C.
$10, Gary D.
$10, Robert H.
$10, Чесноков Э.
$10, Вержиковский А.
$10, Kenton B.
$10, Мельников А.
$10, Harriet F.
$10, Gustavo G.
$10, Thomas H.
$10, Julie S.
$10, Литвинов Д.
$10, Derek C.
$10, Lawrence M.
$7 (10th donation), Mutsuhide.G aka “Joji.G”
$7 (8th donation), Klaus Heckenbach
$7 (3rd donation), Fernando C. C. B.
$6 (4th donation), gmq
$5 (39th donation), Eugene T.
$5 (34th donation), Jt Spratley
$5 (30th donation), Bhavinder Jassar
$5 (21st donation), Dmitry P.
$5 (14th donation), Blazej P. aka “bleyzer”
$5 (13th donation), Guillaume G. aka “Tidusrose”
$5 (9th donation), William Menezes
$5 (8th donation), M. P. V.
$5 (7th donation), Konstantin S.
$5 (7th donation), Stefan B.
$5 (6th donation), Kenichi M.
$5 (5th donation), Milan H.
$5 (5th donation), Madeline G.
$5 (5th donation), Yano Y.
$5 (4th donation), Michele F.
$5 (4th donation), Zbyszek S.
$5 (4th donation), Nenad G.
$5 (3rd donation), Sandra D.
$5 (3rd donation), Nick T. aka “NickTux”
$5 (3rd donation), Ryan G.
$5 (3rd donation), Fabio Baratti
$5 (3rd donation), Eric H.
$5 (3rd donation), Aprilanne C.
$5 (3rd donation), Алексей
$5 (2nd donation), Sebastian K.
$5 (2nd donation), Stephan B.
$5 (2nd donation), Vanessa & Markus
$5 (2nd donation), A. H. .
$5 (2nd donation), Elpidio F. P.
$5 (2nd donation), Sandra D.
$5 (2nd donation), Oraida M.
$5 (2nd donation), Oliver S.
$5 (2nd donation), Chris P.
$5 (2nd donation), Hugo T. P. aka “Hugo”
$5 (2nd donation), Andrejas H.
$5 (2nd donation), Guy B.
$5 (2nd donation), Maria L. G. N.
$5, Ivaylo M.
$5, www.MKRD.info
$5, Albert P.
$5, Marcelo F. N.
$5, Anthony L.
$5, Azahar aka “Az”
$5, Sevil A.
$5, Sterzelmaier, F.
$5, Ruan Azevedo aka “Ruanitow”
$5, Joseph J.
$5, Babak D.
$5, Glenn’s A.
$5, Josivan I. C.
$5, George A. aka “Tascoded”
$5, Gabriele I.
$5, Juan C. S. C.
$5, David T. P.
$5, Alvin S.
$5, Phagento aka “Joe“
$5, Thomas S.
$5, anonymous
$5, Armin M.
$5, Robert C.
$5, Giuseppe I.
$5, Cesar N.
$5, Serhii P.
$5, Miroslav T.
$5, Alberto P. D.
$5, German R. Q.
$5, Andrea P.
$4 (5th donation), Aprilanne C.
$4 (4th donation), Madeline G.
$4 (3rd donation), Larie W.
$4 (3rd donation), Michele F.
$4 (2nd donation), Sasha S.
$4 (2nd donation), Dashamir S.
$4 (2nd donation), Michele R.
$4, Steven B.
$4, Faras A.
$4, Daniel D.
$4, San Deigo
$4, David O.
$4, Rebecca F.
$4, Patrick R.
$4, Barbara B.
$4, Gary Z.
$4, Cheryl G.
$4, Philip S.
$4, Stephanie L.
$4, Daniel F.
$4, Stephen F.
$4, Jeffrey T.
$3 (4th donation), Larie W.
$3 (4th donation), Vinay Bhinde
$3 (3rd donation), Oraida M.
$3 (3rd donation), Andrey E.
$3 (3rd donation), Madeline G.
$3 (3rd donation), Mikayla S.
$3 (3rd donation), Mintnix
$3 (2nd donation), Roberto S.
$3 (2nd donation), Mitch R.
$3 (2nd donation), Kelly M.
$3 (2nd donation), Madeline G.
$3 (2nd donation), Ryan G.
$3 (2nd donation), Eric H.
$3 (2nd donation), Felicia G.
$3 (2nd donation), Diana R.
$3 (2nd donation), Mikayla S.
$3 (2nd donation), Michele F.
$3 (2nd donation), Kalamazoo Deck Builders
$3 (2nd donation), Cassidy P.
$3 (2nd donation), Elena L.
$3 (2nd donation), Sanmay P.
$3 (2nd donation), Larie W.
$3 (2nd donation), Heidi P.
$3, Mauricio E.
$3, Balázs P.
$3, Taylor S.
$3, Aleksander K.
$3, Joseph S.
$3, Amizawa T.
$3, Kay J.
$2 (8th donation), Michael aka “MechType“
$2 (6th donation), Life coaching Vancouver aka “Life coach“
$2 (5th donation), Pawel K.
$2 (5th donation), Life coaching Vancouver aka “Life coach“
$2 (4th donation), Ryan G.
$2 (3rd donation), Pedro Graça aka “Alcobia”
$2 (3rd donation), Douglas B.
$2 (3rd donation), Christian R.
$2 (2nd donation), Martin C.
$2 (2nd donation), Pierre W.
$2 (2nd donation), Beverly H.
$2 (2nd donation), Jonas C.
$2 (2nd donation), Roger S.
$2 (2nd donation), Christos S.
$2 (2nd donation), Robert T.
$2 (2nd donation), Arachna Solutions LLC
$2 (2nd donation), Ken K.
$2 (2nd donation), Al C.
$2 (2nd donation), Filip N.
$2 (2nd donation), Joel A.
$2 (2nd donation), Robin O. aka “golden07”
$2 (2nd donation), Siew Thim L.
$2 (2nd donation), Todd R.
$2 (2nd donation), Chrisentiae S.
$2, Kimberly D. S.
$2, Brandon P.
$2, Karsten K.
$2, Ira R.
$2, Alexander F.
$2, K B. K. S.
$2, Jennifer F.
$2, Donald R.
$2, Patrick H.
$2, Jeffrey D.
$2, Trevor H.
$2, Lynda D.
$2, Wanja Enterpises
$2, William A.
$2, Kerry S.
$2, Gabriele G.
$2, Aliaksandr L.
$2, Kathleen S.
$2, Tim E.
$2, Matthew P.
$2, Wendy P.
$2, Rick M.
$112 from 112 smaller donations