Monthly News – March 2021

Many thanks to all our donors, sponsors and partners and all the people who are involved in helping our project and our community.

UsrMerge

Last month we announced problems were found in relation to UsrMerge. In particular, packages built in merged systems were not always fully compatible with non-merged systems. A complete scan was done in Linux Mint to identify any other similar issue and a tool was developed to automate this process. In addition, a system report will be backported to recommend a merge to Mint 20 and 20.1 users whose system is not merged yet.

Updates notifications

Statistics recently showed us that many users did not update their computer. The way other operating systems handle updates is either by forcing their users to do so, or by frustrating them and annoying them until they do.

We spent time looking into this and talking to casual users to understand why they weren’t applying updates. We found many of them were sensitive to the importance of applying updates but didn’t do so simply because they were never really told to. When asked why and when they updated their phone they recognized that the phone update notifications were annoying but that they were successful in making them apply the updates.

Some users expressed a feeling of relief after applying phone updates, both because they felt like they were doing “the right thing” and because they knew the notification wouldn’t come back “for a while”. To us this looks like a partial delegation of responsibility. The user is aware of the importance of the issue and happy to be reminded of it to some extent as long as it doesn’t happen too often. Although the user does not review updates and is likely to apply all of them, he/she is not fully onboard with automation, appreciates being asked consent and decides on the timing of the updates.

Statistics showed us we needed to do something. Feedback showed us people hated to be annoyed, taken hostage or forced to do something they didn’t want (this is a major source of frustration for Mac and Windows users apparently). We also had key principles to respect. This is your computer not ours. You’re also all very different and you use the software we make in very different ways, so we needed to keep that in mind and let you configure and tune the software so it remains flexible and useful no matter how you like to use it.

So with all that said here’s what we did. We designed a notification system which acts as a gentle and welcome reminder and took great care not to turn it into an annoyance.

For the notification to be welcomed and welcomed again it needs to happen for a reason, to be easy to dismiss if the user is busy, to not come back constantly and to not come back at all for a long while after the user applies the updates. When a notification is dismissed it is snoozed for 2 days. When updates are applied it goes away for a long time. The conditions for the notification to be shown in the first place are configurable.

When it comes to default settings we have casual users in mind, and in particular users who are the least likely to modify the settings. We want the OS the work as best as possible out of the box for them, and be flexible enough to be configured and tuned by more experienced users.

When set to 90 these settings basically mean no notification would be shown for more than 3 months of the computer being outdated. If the goal is to never apply any updates (and there are valid reasons for that in some cases and some environments, test VMs for instance), the solution is simply to disable automatic checks or to even disable the Update Manager itself. If for some reason the use case was to be able to see available updates for more than 3 months but never to apply any of them, then in this case we’d recommend the use of a gsettings key we added for that specific purpose: com.linuxmint.updates tracker-disable-notifications.

We hope the default settings will work well for most people and these notifications will be a useful positive experience. The configuration made available is very flexible and should be able to please everybody.

Sponsorships:

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Donations in February:

A total of $14,397 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 519 donors:

$150, Robert P.
$129, Richard S.
$122 (4th donation), Alain C. aka “Alecalin”
$116, Bernhard E. aka “Manjushri”
$108 (5th donation), Michael J.
$108 (2nd donation), Christoph
$108, BNC
$108, Christoph F.
$108, Julius May aka “Julius Max”
$108, Johannes J.
$108, Peter B.
$108, Samuel N.
$108, Zöbelein Sossna GbR
$100 (6th donation), Sean O.
$100 (4th donation), Jean P. R.
$100 (4th donation), Scott G.
$100 (2nd donation), Alan H.
$100 (2nd donation), Andrew W.
$100 (2nd donation), Tom D.
$100, Robert F.
$100, Larry B.
$100, Truman C.
$100, Scott M.
$100, Paul S.
$100, David W.
$100, Lawrence E.
$100, Curtis N.
$86, Peter F.
$80, Alan M.
$75 (2nd donation), Janet J.
$54 (10th donation), Naoise G.
$54 (5th donation), Marco G.
$54 (5th donation), Peter W.
$54 (3rd donation), Ioannis P.
$54 (2nd donation), Willem H.
$54 (2nd donation), Jose M. T. A.
$54 (2nd donation), Wolfgang K.
$54 (2nd donation), Christian P.
$54 (2nd donation), Marc C.
$54, Frans D.
$54, Gunnars P.
$54, Stephan Tietz
$54, Dirk H.
$54, Christoph A.
$54, Axel H.
$54, Michael H.
$54, Luciano M.
$54, Tobias E.
$54, Tomáš R.
$54, Terje L.
$54, Sebastien K.
$54, Jay F. S.
$54, Josef H.
$54, Lydia V.
$54, info.rueducoq.fr
$54, Lars B.
$50 (46th donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (7th donation), Leopoldo G.
$50 (5th donation), John M.
$50 (4th donation), Kenneth R.
$50 (3rd donation), Anthony G.
$50 (3rd donation), Jay S.
$50 (3rd donation), Ariel Juodziukynas
$50 (2nd donation), Nicolas S.
$50 (2nd donation), Simple ASIC, LLC
$50 (2nd donation), Wonelle
$50 (2nd donation), R. C. F.
$50 (2nd donation), Frank F.
$50, Jack K.
$50, Andre L.
$50, Melvin M.
$50, Joe A.
$50, Kenneth W.
$50, Nagaraju N.
$50, Richard B.
$50, John O.
$50, Michael M.
$50, King Robert Distribution
$50, Hanzo21
$50, Richard J.
$50, Ron S.
$50, Vanessa R.
$50, Werner K.
$50, Joe G.
$43 (131th donation), Olli K.
$43, Holger F.
$42, D P.
$38, Dorian O.
$35 (10th donation), Ted S.
$35 (3rd donation), Jeffrey C.
$35 (2nd donation), Anonymous
$32 (11th donation), Peter E.
$32 (8th donation), Lars-gunnar S.
$32, Geoffrey R.
$30 (9th donation), B. H. .
$30 (5th donation), Victor W.
$30 (2nd donation), R.garry D.
$30, Brian M. aka “Booman”
$28, Peter J, aka “Dr Peter”
$27, particular
$26 (11th donation), Tsatsorin E. aka “Eugene713”
$26, Amber T.
$25 (6th donation), Marc B.
$25 (5th donation), Roland H. aka “rol4dawgs”
$25 (5th donation), Brian M.
$25 (2nd donation), Durwood A.
$25, Michael B.
$25, Wally B.
$22 (24th donation), Doriano G. M.
$22 (8th donation), H ScottB
$22 (6th donation), Dominik Ch.
$22 (5th donation), Laurent G.
$22 (4th donation), Ian M.
$22 (4th donation), Bogusz S. aka “PIMPEX”
$22 (3rd donation), Jeff D.
$22 (3rd donation), Björn H.
$22 (2nd donation), Thomas M.
$22 (2nd donation), Andrej S.
$22 (2nd donation), Dirk S.
$22 (2nd donation), John H.
$22 (2nd donation), Lars P.
$22 (2nd donation), Roman D.
$22 (2nd donation), Thomas K.
$22 (2nd donation), Giovanni R.
$22 (2nd donation), Matthew S.
$22, Friedel S.
$22, Jacques D.
$22, Praktijkspeuren Noord Nederland
$22, Patrick Fonfroide
$22, Talal T.
$22, Cyril H.
$22, Raúl aka “raulete”
$22, J-luc C.
$22, Lars R.
$22, Ties Klaas V.
$22, Manuel M.
$22, Dirk G.
$22, Peter M.
$22, Zsolt T.
$22, Ettore G. aka “Hanamigi”
$22, Christophe A.
$22, René F.
$22, Schröder D.
$22, Felix A.
$22, Sinan B.
$22, Tim B.
$22, Markus L.
$22, Eric M.
$22, Charles K.
$22, Henrik V.
$22, The Forsyths
$22, Gianni C.
$22, Holger B.
$22, Stephanie M.
$20 (34th donation), Jim A.
$20 (32nd donation), Stefan M. H.
$20 (31st donation), Bryan F.
$20 (27th donation), Mike W aka “bajan52”
$20 (16th donation), Mike M. aka “GrouchyM”
$20 (12th donation), Bill S.
$20 (10th donation), SEO Danmark aka “SEO Danmark”
$20 (9th donation), Jon G.
$20 (9th donation), Mr. Bee
$20 (7th donation), Peter R.
$20 (6th donation), Daniel M.
$20 (4th donation), Mark F.
$20 (4th donation), Harrie K.
$20 (4th donation), Marek M.
$20 (3rd donation), Robert H.
$20 (3rd donation), Stephane L.
$20 (3rd donation), Michael M.
$20 (3rd donation), Dennis J.
$20 (2nd donation), Michael M.
$20 (2nd donation), Vincent L.
$20 (2nd donation), Matthew C.
$20 (2nd donation), Dimitrios G.
$20 (2nd donation), Stage Right Transmissions LLC
$20 (2nd donation), Alan W.
$20, Victor B.
$20, David W.
$20, George B.
$20, Randolph M.
$20, Patrick K.
$20, James M.
$20, Douglas W.
$20, Vaclav J. aka “Lora”
$20, Stephen K.
$20, Kenneth H.
$20, Maria S.
$20, Andrey Khokhlov aka “ligain”
$20, Griffin Hayes LLC aka “PW”
$20, Mihael R.
$20, Stacey U.
$20, Robert G.
$20, HomePrograms
$20, Lesleigh M.
$20, Phillip S.
$20, Carlos M.
$20, Rowland A.
$20, John W.
$20, Robert C.
$20, Claude L.
$20, Mikaël P.
$20, I S.
$20, Bruce B.
$20, Dennis Östergren aka “SweD”
$20, George S.
$20, Pascal Fluck Computing
$20, Philip Y.
$20, Wayne K.
$20, Jose G.
$20, Paul D.
$20, James H.
$20, Michael M.
$20, Vincent A.
$20, Jeff M.
$19 (6th donation), Luk
$16 (49th donation), Andreas S.
$16, Markus K.
$16, Kaya G.
$15 (31st donation), ajgringo619
$15 (11th donation), Edward A.
$15 (6th donation), Ian C.
$13, James C.
$13, Conor McGirr
$13, James C.
$12 (18th donation), Lance A.
$11 (21st donation), Jens-uwe R.
$11 (16th donation), Piotr L aka “xpil”
$11 (11th donation), Antonio aka “pengu73”
$11 (10th donation), José G. aka “picaso”
$11 (8th donation), Alexander P.
$11 (8th donation), Wolfgang G.
$11 (7th donation), Vjeran B.
$11 (6th donation), Frank H.
$11 (4th donation), Henric N.
$11 (4th donation), Evzen M.
$11 (4th donation), Gabriele I.
$11 (3rd donation), Thies H.
$11 (3rd donation), John Marakis
$11 (3rd donation), Ernest T.
$11 (2nd donation), Antonio L.
$11 (2nd donation), Vorobyov V.
$11 (2nd donation), Andreas K.
$11 (2nd donation), Erik M.
$11 (2nd donation), Michael W.
$11 (2nd donation), K. K. .
$11 (2nd donation), Manuel S.
$11 (2nd donation), Luca V.
$11 (2nd donation), Michael S.
$11 (2nd donation), Michael B.
$11 (2nd donation), Christoph B.
$11 (2nd donation), Massimo R.
$11, Ulrike D.
$11, Jan M.
$11, Autumn J.
$11, Alexis G.
$11, Henk H.
$11, Uwe W.
$11, Ivo Hop
$11, Patrick V.
$11, Slawo W.
$11, Angus G.
$11, Karl H.
$11, Andreas T.
$11, Ralf W.
$11, potototillo more
$11, Alberts S.
$11, Emanuele N.
$11, Oscar Angel R.
$11, Miroslav R.
$11, Velimir G.
$11, Joshua S.
$11, Hanspeter R.
$11, Madeleine J.
$11, Thomas R.
$11, Stefano L.
$11, Andreas L.
$11, Erasmo B.
$11, Benjamin L. aka “indivisual”
$11, Pim S.
$11, Eugenio R.
$11, Sebastian R.
$11, Thomas B.
$11, Felix H.
$11, Alberto P.
$11, aka “billia”
$10 (82th donation), Tree Service Kansas City
$10 (76th donation), Tree Removal Raleigh NC
$10 (60th donation), Thomas C.
$10 (54th donation), Fence Baton Rouge
$10 (21st donation), Francois-R L.
$10 (20th donation), Hemant Patel
$10 (19th donation), Serhii B. aka “sinpavla”
$10 (14th donation), Scaffolding in Kent
$10 (12th donation), Pawel M.
$10 (12th donation), Tree Service Windsor Ontario
$10 (11th donation), Preciocpa.es
$10 (10th donation), Kelowna Tree Service
$10 (9th donation), Actuz.net
$10 (8th donation), Philip E.
$10 (8th donation), Appliance Repair Regina
$10 (7th donation), Fence Company Raleigh
$10 (7th donation), Philip Woodward
$10 (6th donation), José Clóvis A.
$10 (5th donation), Kenton B.
$10 (5th donation), Owen D.
$10 (4th donation), Tree Service Charlottesville
$10 (4th donation), Concrete Contractors Raleigh
$10 (4th donation), Optimizare SEO
$10 (4th donation), William M.
$10 (3rd donation), Daniel P.
$10 (3rd donation), Arlen A.
$10 (3rd donation), Miodrag R.
$10 (3rd donation), Paul D.
$10 (3rd donation), Joe V.
$10 (3rd donation), Lyle D.
$10 (3rd donation), HVAC Spokane
$10 (3rd donation), Hubert C.
$10 (3rd donation), Diego O.
$10 (2nd donation), www.luxprivatejetcharter.com
$10 (2nd donation), Vlad S.
$10 (2nd donation), Stephen P. C.
$10 (2nd donation), Michaela B.
$10 (2nd donation), generators
$10 (2nd donation), Xin Z.
$10 (2nd donation), James N.
$10 (2nd donation), Danila Ganchar
$10 (2nd donation), Affiliate Marketing
$10 (2nd donation), J E.
$10, Keshav B.
$10, Sandis S.
$10, voosign.com
$10, No Wake Zone
$10, Joe J.
$10, Jerry B.
$10, Robert R.
$10, Umesh A.
$10, David H.
$10, Ahmed Samiel A.
$10, Steven S.
$10, Jennifer J.
$10, Minneapolis Commercial Cleaners
$10, Steve C.
$10, Cesar T.
$10, Michael T.
$10, John W.
$10, Zhenya J.
$10, Gavan R.
$10, Kevin U.
$10, zzzzzzzz .
$10, Nicolas
$10, zzzzzz .
$10, Samuel F.
$10, Vinae B.
$10, David aka “smalldogclub”
$10, David B.
$10, Mark S.
$10, Entreprenad
$10, Charles Davis D.
$9 (22nd donation), Tomasz K.
$8 (3rd donation), Curtis M.
$7 (3rd donation), Marius @ Awesome AF Tech
$6 (2nd donation), Harold R.
$6, Lorenzo U.
$5 (58th donation), Eugene T.
$5 (48th donation), Bhavinder Jassar
$5 (35th donation), Dmitry P.
$5 (28th donation), William Menezes
$5 (16th donation), Thomas R.
$5 (13th donation), Kirill
$5 (10th donation), Antonio Carlos L. Sampaio aka “tnsampa”
$5 (9th donation), Pierre G.
$5 (9th donation), A. Ruzhnikov aka “aruzhnikov”
$5 (9th donation), Jaime aka “El oso y el madroño”
$5 (8th donation), Jürgen K.
$5 (8th donation), Štefan V. aka “Thinker8”
$5 (7th donation), Dominik E.
$5 (7th donation), Willem V. U.
$5 (5th donation), Clinton Aarts
$5 (4th donation), Axel R.
$5 (3rd donation), Keith W.
$5 (2nd donation), Marc S. P.
$5 (2nd donation), Alrik S.
$5 (2nd donation), Joseph J.
$5 (2nd donation), Michael P.
$5 (2nd donation), Elia P.
$5 (2nd donation), Régis P.
$5 (2nd donation), Andrzej R.
$5 (2nd donation), W. M. A. J. .
$5 (2nd donation), Christoph C.
$5, Massimo M.
$5, Hugo G.
$5, 2br-2b
$5, Altamura G.
$5, Jose Maria
$5, Olivier F.
$5, Nico S.
$5, Bogumiz N.
$5, Wissam Z. aka “gyms”
$5, Oleksandr Z.
$5, Ross aka “VK2HEY”
$5, L Martin M.
$5, Robert M.
$5, Ferdinand A.
$5, Matthew R.
$5, Valentin D.
$5, Gabriel M.
$5, David B.
$5, Craig S.
$4 (4th donation), Josef H. R. H.
$3 (6th donation), Szilard S.
$3 (2nd donation), Stefan E.
$3 (2nd donation), Roberto L.
$3 (2nd donation), Justin G.
$28 from 20 smaller donations

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