mintwelcome should use traditional user interface like mintupgrade [1]

I write about mintwelcome 2.5.9, on Mint 22 Cinnamon.

Does, 'Show this dialogue at startup' refer to (1) the startup of the Welcome application? Or does it refer to (2) the logon of the user?

I had though that the answer was 1 - because, after ticking the box, I loaded the Startup Applications program and mintwelcome showed therein as disabled. Equally, though, whether the box is ticked seems to make no difference to what mintwelcome displays (or does) once it is loaded. I conclude that 2 is meant but that the tick-box is ineffective.

It seems to me two things are needed. First, 'Show this dialogue at startup' should become, 'Show this window at log-on'. Second, ticking the box should undo any disabling (of mintwelcome) worked by Startup Applications.

Hi!

I don't know if I should post this one here or at the linux mint forum.
If such posts don't fit in here, just mention it and I will post this in the linux mint forum.

I am using linux mint for years and learned flutter in the last weeks.
In my opinion currently mintwelcome doesn't take the user too much by the hand.

So I designed a general proposal for a new mintwelcome version.
For that I used flutter, which the new ubuntu installer is also using.

You can try it in the browser here: https://www.server-jean.de/mint-welcome-proposal/
(The linux build is much more performant and looks nicer.)

I hosted the project here: https://github.com/Jean28518/mint-welcome

Concept of mintwelcome

• At first mintwelcome asks you like the current version for the desktop theme.
• After that it could be selected between different browsers, office suite and other software.
• Then it askes, if you want to configure your linux mint manual (like now), or to let it configure automatically with recommended settings (e.g. automatic updates, timeshift setup, etc).
• After that you will be in the "end" screen with links to the software manager, the firewall, the documentation and the contribute site.

(I designed only the frontend, this version is not functional in any way)

Flutter

Flutter does not support any common linux desktop themes. So everything has to be built by hand.
For that I designed a Mint-Y implementation (which obviously is more like an interpretation, not the actual one ;) ).
I built a collection with support for "pages", buttons, text, the mint colors and other widgets.

Currently dark/bright themes and the primary color is supported by my Mint-Y implementation.
Sadly for a switch between the dark and the bright theme a application has to be restarted.

Icon themes are currently not supported by my module. Every icon needs to be loaded in as a specific image. (Maybe a "icon call" package for linux could be built in the future.)

Some impressions about the Mint-Y theme:

Conclusion

In the end for a real flutter implementation some further work has to be done. Especially for the icons.
It depends on, which path you want to go with linux mint in the far future.
Stick to native gtk or use flutter as a frontend with native support for gestures, animations, ..?

Also what do you think about the general concept of mintwelcome itself without the frontend discussion?
I would love to improve the current mintwelcome or to develop my flutter implementation further on.

I especially like the old green mint pastel icons and theme and find that this is also good for the eyes when viewing, especially for the Nemo-Filemanager Layout and so on.

• But please use the following more modern Mint-L Layout from Cinnamon 20.3 than the very old one:
  

• instead of theese old one:
  

I always install a downgrade of the mint-theme to mint-themes_2.0.5_all.deb since Cinnamon 21.0 or. 21.1 to get these more modern mint pastel look.

Hi All,

I've seen a small cosmetic issue with "Show this dialog at startup" text on dark themes. If the theme's background color similar to the text color used for this check-box, then it is hardly readable. To test it:

• install 'Jet-Gray' theme from here http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/489
• set the theme for 'Controls'
• launch the welcome screen, and check the color of the label "Show this dialog at startup"

I'm not sure, but I think the issue is related to the line checkbox.override_color(Gtk.StateType.NORMAL, fgcolor) in mintWelcome.py applied for this checkbox.

Note, at first place I've tought it is a theming issue, but I think it is not.

Cheers.

• Mint has a wonderful kernel management in the update management -> View -> Kernel, including the waiting queue (de)-installation. But Mint users don't notice when the newer HWE kernels (coming from Ubuntu) appear there well before the official Mint Edge release, meanwhile kernel 5.19 and 6.2.
• This should be pointed out in the welcome dialog, as this would allow Mint to be used on more current hardware and would significantly increase the distribution of Mint.
• I have kernel 5.19 and then 6.2 running fine on a Core i5-6300U and Core i3-4170 with integrated graphics card.

I set the dark mode, but opening the Welcome Screen and checking the First Steps tab, the slider is set to light despite being dark.

Those icons seems to being hardcoded:

https://github.com/linuxmint/mintwelcome/blob/master/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py#L166
https://github.com/linuxmint/mintwelcome/blob/master/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py#L167

numixproject/numix-core#3601

In the interest of user choice I believe there should be an option to disable the snapd pin from the welcome screen.

I understand (and agree with) the issues of snaps being embedded into apt packages but if the user wants to use snaps then we should respect it and provide an easy option.

With that said, there's nothing to prevent us from displaying some kind of disclaimer, e.g.
"Enabling this option may also mean snap packages can be installed when using the normal package manager. These apps may start slower than native packages and will update automatically without your consent."

linuxmint/cinnamon#10950

This issue was reported in one of the MATE repos, but I believe it belongs here. I've included the link to the original issue report below. I also could not confirm this on Mint 13 MATE (mintwelcome 1.4.6) or LMDE (mintwelcome 1.4.4 and tracking testing).

mate-desktop/mate-desktop#21

Thanks.

I have noticed that the ~/.linuxmint path is hardcoded, I'd be nice if we could have a minimal compliance with the XDG base spec to free up a few rows when running ls -al ~/.

I've made a little patch to provide this functionality. EDIT: forgot how to python3.

From f9e926629d615c09c7a4f8b861a0d70361c38d2b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nao Pross <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2020 14:29:26 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Add support for XDG base spec

---
 usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher                 | 11 +++++++++--
 usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py |  8 +++++++-
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher b/usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher
index 5e2071f..6e9188e 100755
--- a/usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher
+++ b/usr/bin/mintwelcome-launcher
@@ -3,7 +3,14 @@
 import os
 import xapp.os
 
-flag_path = os.path.expanduser("~/.linuxmint/mintwelcome/norun.flag")
+NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("~/.linuxmint/mintwelcome/norun.flag")
 
-if (not os.path.exists(flag_path)) and (not xapp.os.is_live_session()) and (not xapp.os.is_guest_session()):
+# XDG Base spec compliance, if available
+if os.environ.get("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"):
+    NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("%s/mintwelcome/norun.flag" % os.environ.get("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"))
+elif os.path.exists(os.path.expanduser("~/.config")):
+    NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("~/.config/linuxmint/mintwelcome/norun.flag")
+
+
+if (not os.path.exists(NORUN_FLAG)) and (not xapp.os.is_live_session()) and (not xapp.os.is_guest_session()):
     os.system("mintwelcome")
diff --git a/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py b/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py
index 9aa9fe9..e968c1e 100755
--- a/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py
+++ b/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ from gi.repository import Gtk, Gio, Gdk, GdkPixbuf
 
 NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("~/.linuxmint/mintwelcome/norun.flag")
 
+# XDG Base spec compliance, if available
+if os.environ.get("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"):
+    NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("%s/mintwelcome/norun.flag" % os.environ.get("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"))
+elif os.path.exists(os.path.expanduser("~/.config")):
+    NORUN_FLAG = os.path.expanduser("~/.config/linuxmint/mintwelcome/norun.flag")
+
 # i18n
 gettext.install("mintwelcome", "/usr/share/linuxmint/locale")
 from locale import gettext as _
@@ -184,7 +190,7 @@ class MintWelcome():
             if os.path.exists(NORUN_FLAG):
                 os.system("rm -rf %s" % NORUN_FLAG)
         else:
-            os.system("mkdir -p ~/.linuxmint/mintwelcome")
+            os.system("mkdir -p %s" % os.path.dirname(NORUN_FLAG))
             os.system("touch %s" % NORUN_FLAG)
 
     def on_dark_mode_changed(self, button, state):
-- 
2.17.1

The LM desktop interface is traditional [very similar to Windows], perhaps it would be useful to have a simple and quick way to configure the desktop with other layouts. This could facilitate usability for users coming from Mac or other GNU/Linux desktop environments.

For example, Zorin allows you to choose between many layouts. I mean something simpler for Cinnamon.

Another example is Nobara linux

Old Linux Mint logo is still shown on Welcome page in Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, though other System "elements" redesigned and feature new logo (Boot menu, Plymouth splash screen, Menu).

Would be good to have the new Linux Mint logo on Welcome page as well in order to have consistent look of the System.

LMDE(2) does not display the Driver-Manager-Entry in the welcome screen (but shows up a Release Note which is missing in the Ubuntu-Version). The root-chause for that seems the missing a Driver-Manager-Feature with the LMDE(2)-version (which - I guess - led to some reasonable replacement for the "hole" - the release-note link to linuxmint.com) on the welcome-screen.

What's more irritating - installing Mint18.2 (*bit, all Display-Manager-flavours - if I do remember right) in a qemu/kvm vm using a i7-host and (Hypervisor-default)-client offers a intel-microcode-driver update with the Driver-Manager on the welcome-screen which is not offered by the Software-Manager (even at update level 5 - risky / for both LMDE(2) and the 18.2-flavours).

If the driver (update) is important for users to be placed at this prominent location and
should be installed urgently (what I guess should be the case as microcode-updates contain important processor-bugfixes) => this update should be available at the Update Manager too.

Note: Both flavours LMDE(2) - Mint 18.2 offer the "intel-microcode" package through synaptic.

Either the LMDE(2)-version should have the Driver Manager too - as the Driver-Manager is a nice tool giving the user the comfort to see all his installed drivers in one place (without the other update noise) in the preferences (hardware section).

or

it could be a better solution to have a drivers-section in the ?Update?-Manager ((?Software Manager?) (with lmde(2/3) and Mint 18.3) thus not splitting installation-relevant information into different pieces/locations.

cheers orcus

Hello!

I've been using Linux Mint for 7~ish months now and it has been a great experience. I've been wanting to help contribute so here is my first attempt!

When I made the switch to Linux, the welcome menu was a great introduction for setting things up. One thing I never used however was the web forums or IRC chat room, they were new to me and I mostly ignored it. Any help that I needed was found either through Reddit or Discord. So my suggestion is that they are listed in the help section.

I did some playing around myself and managed to add this functionality for fun, here is what it looks like.

Now I do understand why this may not be a desired feature, reasons maybe being:

• They are community based and not entirely within the teams control
• Its not just a place for asking questions, but also to socialize with the bonus of offering help.
• Adding on, they aren't great for finding previously asked questions like the forums.

Some reasons for going through with it could be:

• More options for users to find a place they already know & are comfortable with
• Possibly get more involved with the community directly

This is just my insight and I wanted to share with others, i'd be interested to see what others think. Thank you for reading & let me know if there is anything I did wrong or could do better :)

When you hover over the mouse pointer on link-icon (New features, Documentations, Apps, etc.) the tooltip appears which is too far from the mouse pointer and selected icon.

1. start mintwelcome
2. on "first steps" tab switch to dark mode
3. close mintwelcome
4. start mintwelcome
5. on "first steps" tab is now again in "light mode" position but the system is in dark mode
6. in order to switch back to light mode you need to turn switch to dark mode and then back to light mode
7. This process also destroys your icon colors, if you have chosen anything but default green, switching dark/light mode resets icon colors back to default green.

Using Mint-Y-Dark:

That theme should be Mint-Y-Dark, so the app should use GTK-theme, not the hardcoded Mint-X theme.

https://github.com/linuxmint/mintwelcome/blob/master/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintwelcome/mintwelcome.py#L187

Affects Mint 18.2

For every log in into the guest account the welcome screen gets displayed. Most functions there do make no sense, as they are not usable (by design) for the guest, this applies especially all package management related functions. Also the option for not showing again makes no sense, as by design all settings get reverted to default.

I suggest to not show the welcome screen for the guest account.

The welcome screen's "Chat room" button, by default, goes to irc://irc.spotchat.org/linuxmint-help. I have set up HexChat to use SASL to connect to the SpotChat network with my NickServ password. However, HexChat appears to use the hostname and port number to identify the network, because when I connect via that URL, HexChat does not use SASL and does not send my NickServ password.

Looking into it, I found that there is no entry in the .config/hexchat/servlist.conf for plain "irc.spotchat.org" without any port number. If I edit the "Linux Mint" server configutation at the top of the servlist.conf file and add a S=irc.spotchat.org line, then HexChat will use my SASL configuration and send my password.

Two possible solutions to this mismatch:

1. Edit the Welcome screen IRC URL to include the port number, e.g. irc://irc.spotchat.org:6667/linuxmint-help. In theory this should work -- but in practice, I've tried this and it doesn't seem to make HexChat recognize that I've configured that network to use SASL.

2. Add the line S=irc.spotchat.org to the Linux Mint network configuration at the top of /etc/skel/.config/hexchat/servlist.conf. I've tried this and it DOES work: when I have that line in my /home/rmunn/.config/hexchat/servlist.conf file, HexChat figures out that irc://irc.spotchat.org/linuxmint-help is trying to open the server that I have configured a password for, and identifies me via SASL when I connect to the server.

Solution 1 would involve a change to mintwelcome.py. Solution 2 would involve a change to /etc/skel/.config/hexchat/servlist.conf. I know that that file is part of the mint-common-artwork Debian package, but I've been unable (so far) to find which Git repository tracks the contents of mint-common-artwork. So even though this repo isn't quite the right place to report this bug, I'm reporting it here since it's the most relevant repo I've found.

I hope this bug report is clear; I've tried to make it concise. If I made it too concise, let me know and I'll expand on anything that needs further explanation.

The Welcome Screen for 18.3 does not abide by the user preferences for single or double clicks on icons.

Some people love keyboard shortcuts, as you are improving the Welcome Screen (Mint's blog post), consider this:

• Create a button, "Keyboard Shortcuts"
• List all the shortcuts(or the main ones) followed by a very short description of what each one does

Start: Grey mode.
From Welcome-Screen|First steps: Switch to Dark mode works perfectly. Switch back does not work because Cinnamon task bar and Cinnamenu remain in dark mode.
Behaviour could be repeated.

System: LM 20.3 upgraded from 20.2, Cinnamon. Task bar is on the right side of the desktop. System is up to date.

.

The first time it asks for a password, then launches Synaptic to update the cache.
Then it shows the dialog asking whether I really want to install mint-meta-codecs, and when I answer "Yes", it asks for a password again, then launches Synaptic to finally install the package.

Is your feature request related to a problem?

Yes, when you pick the dark theme from the welcome screen for cinnamon, Libreofice doesn't show its icons correctly.

Describe the solution you'd like

To change the icons to appear correctly in Libreoffice when using dark theme.

Describe alternatives you've considered

To install an extension of the Yaru icons in order to appear correctly.

Additional context

Checklist

• Would it be useful for most people?
• Would it be easy to use?
• Is it necesarry?

If not, then it should be a spice.

Using beta, the fully localized Hungarian version's MintWelcome is partially Hungarian.

If find the old one easer to use and for beginners it is difficult to change and configure the needed applets for the taskbar.