Linux Mint, not Ubuntu, is the most popular Linux distribution?

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The Best Linux Distribution?

One always wonders which Linux distribution is best. Answer to this question is really very different as it depends upon the likes of person. Some people like core Linux which is more command line oriented while some want Linux to be usable by humans :)

Ubuntu and Linux Mint fall in the category of easy to use and ideal for beginners to learn Linux. Since these are preferred by beginner level user, these are very popular. But who is popular them all? Well, till now Ubuntu used to be the most popular Linux distribution but it seems that Linux Mint have taken the top position from Ubuntu.

Who decides the most popular Linux distribution?

According to distrowatch.com (a website keeping a tab on different Linux distribution) Linux Mint took the first position this week. The data are calculated by page visit of the related distribution website which (some reader) might not take for granted as the measure of popularity but one should remember that distrowatch.com is a respected website and is considered as a reliable source on the distribution measurement.

Here is what was shown on the distrowatch.com

It would be interesting to see that how long Mint stays at the top position.

What could be the reason for the downfall of Ubuntu?

It is not a secret that Ubuntu’s decision to stick with Unity has irked its loyal user and Unity, not being the typical desktop environment, has also scared off the new Linux users. Now when Ubuntu has added the option of Gnome shell, in my opinion, it should get back its lost glory.

Which Linux distribution in your opinion is the best?

Make Windows default OS in dual boot with Ubuntu: The easy Way

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When you install Ubuntu (or any other Linux OS), it makes Ubuntu the default operating system. So if you want to use Windows, you have to select it manually within 10 sec otherwise it boots into Ubuntu directly.

But what if you are not a regular Ubuntu user (Why so?) and use Windows most of the time? It irritates you that you have to wait at each boot to select Windows. If you are facing such problems then you might want to make Windows your default operating system so that it boots into Windows by default. [Read more…]

How to know which sound card I have on my PC?

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To know the manufacturer of the sound card in your computer in Linux, try the following command in terminal (Shortcut to open terminal: Ctrl+Alt+T) :

aplay -l | grep card

The output of the command for my laptop is following:

card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC269VB Analog [ALC269VB Analog]
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]

As it clearly says my sound card manufacturer is HDA Intel. What is yours? You can find that easily from the output.

Feedback/suggestions/questions are always welcomed. If you like the post then do let me know by liking/voting the post. Enjoy :)

How to access Linux files from Windows

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Its really easy to access Windows files from inside Linux but its not the other way round. Windows does not provide support for native Linux file systems like ext2 or ext4. A very useful utility to access Linux files or partition from Windows is Ext2explore. Though it does not actually mount the partition inside Windows like Linux does but it does provide a way to access the Linux files, in separate explorer.

  • All you have to do is download Ext2explore from here.
  • Unzip the file.
  • Run the executable as Administrator.
  • Here you can see your Linux partition :)

Here are few screen shots:

Linux Windows            Linux Windows            Linux Windows

Related articles

How to know if I’m running 32 bit or 64 bit Ubuntu?

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There are several ways to know the architecture of the Ubuntu you are using. I prefer “uname” command to find it out.

Type in the terminal: uname -a

Output: Linux desktop-name 2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 11 03:31:24 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Conclusion: x86_64 (or i686) denotes 64 bit and x86 (or i386) represents 32 bit.

Extra: To know the processor: “uname -p”

To know the hardware platform: “uname -i”

To know machine hardware name: “uname -m”

In all the above cases: x86_64 (or i686) denotes 64 bit and x86 (or i386) represents 32 bit.