Anthony's Linux Mint 13 Xfce post-installation guide

Updated on February 25, 2023

Since my Xubuntu 12.04 post-installation guide has proven popular (it’s the most-visited post on the blog), I thought I’d give writing a similar guide for Linux Mint 13 Xfce a go. Of course, this one will be much shorter (since a lot of Mint’s advantages is coming with pre-installed stuff), but I figure summarizing what I’ve done with Mint so far might help. (That, and serve as my own reference guide next time I upgrade Mint!)

And yes, some of this is copied-and-pasted from the Xubuntu guide…

Disclaimers: Not responsible if any of these tips wreak havoc on your computer. Backup all relevant hard drive information before proceeding with upgrades. My setup is Mint 13 Xfce on a brand-new HP m6-1045dx laptop. These instructions assume one’s installing the 64-bit version of Mint 13.

About Linux Mint

Mint was initially based on Ubuntu, but now comes with Ubuntu-free, Debian-based versions. The Debian-based versions offer a choice of Xfce, MATE, or Cinnamon (the latter two are forks of GNOME 2 and GNOME 3 respectively). The Ubuntu-based versions offer the choices of GNOME 3, KDE, LXDE, Xfce (which is what I use), or MATE.

The Ubuntu-based versions of Mint are updated about a month or so after a new Ubuntu release. The Debian-based versions of Mint, however, offer “rolling” updates, which means there’s no new “version” of the operating system to every worry about upgrading. Instead, new versions of software (or new components of the operating system itself) are simply offered as upgrades when available.

For more information on Mint, see their website: http://www.linuxmint.com/

Installation is similar to that for the Ubuntu family of distros. Since Mint pre-installs media codec support, etc., there’s less initial setup needed for Mint compared to Ubuntu/Xubuntu, aside from customizing the wallpaper, desktop icons, etc. to one’s taste.

Installing Mint Menu

I didn’t find the Mint Menu to my taste (I prefer sticking with the default Xfce-style applications menu), but if you want Mint Menu installed:

Right-click on the panel and select Panel > Add New Items.
Scroll down the list of options to the bottom, and select “XfApplet.” The new menu will appear in the panel.
Mint Menu will likely be the default already installed as an XfApplet option, in which case, there’s no more configuration needed; Mint Menu should automatically work.
To delete the old default menu, right-click on the menu, select Panel > Panel Preferences, and select the “Items” tab. From there, delete the unwanted menu by clicking on it and selecting the red “X.” To move the placement of the new menu around in the panel as needed, select the “up” or “down” arrows, then close the preferences window.

Favorite Programs

While Mint comes with most of my own favorite programs preinstalled (such as LibreOffice and XChat), there’s still a few extra programs that I like to install. Some of my favorites are listed below.

Productivity

GCStar: A well done database program for hobbyists who wish to track their collections.
Calibre: an ebook management program.
GnuCash: Similar to Quicken, this program handles general financial bookkeeping duties (balancing checkbooks, tracking payments, etc.).

Internet

Liferea: A well done newsfeed program, and what I use to keep up on various RSS feeds.
KeePassX: An excellent password management program, with cross-platform support.

System

Back In Time: A user-friendly backup program with some similarities to OS X’s “Time Machine.”
ClamTK: A GUI version of the command-line program clamav, this is a popular (and free) antivirus program. While viruses aren’t as big a concern for Linux users, it still doesn’t hurt to have it installed.

Media

Comix: A reader for CBR or CBZ formatted comics.
Audacity: An audio editing program.
Sound Converter: A program to convert sounds from one format to another.
Handbrake: An easy-to-use DVD (and a few other video formats) conversion program. Handbrake isn’t included in the repositories; it may be installed by visiting its website, handbrake.fr.
dvd::rip: A DVD ripping program, though not as easy to use as Handbrake for transcoding ripped DVDs into videos. I mostly use it on occasions I just want the VOB files from the DVD.
Shotwell: Photo management software. While gThumb comes preinstalled with Mint, I prefer using Shotwell.
Avidemux (GTK+): a video editing/conversion program.
WinFF: another video conversion program.
uShare: a command-line program that offers a media server solution, allowing one to stream files (videos, music, photos) from their computer to a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) compatible device. I use uShare to stream files from my laptop to my Xbox 360.

Games

Frozen Bubble: A popular (and addictive) game.

Personal Preferences

There’s a few personal preferences I like to set:

Set Banshee to rip CDs as FLAC files: I prefer to rip my CDs as lossless FLAC files for future-proofing purposes. It also helps that Banshee will automatically convert FLAC files to MP3s when transferring songs to my Android smartphone. To set FLAC as the default, open Banshee (Applications Menu > Multimedia > Banshee). Once open, go to Edit > Preferences > Source Specific tab, then select “Audio CD.” From here, you can choose which format Banshee should use to import audio CDs; besides FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, and MP3 are also available.

Microsoft Fonts

You’ll likely want to install the popular package of Microsoft fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, etc.). To install the fonts, open the terminal (Applications Menu > Terminal Emulator). Enter the following text, then hit “Enter”:

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

If prompted, enter your system password, then hit “Enter” again. The fonts should be installed automatically.

Hard Freezes on New Hardware

After installing Mint 13 on my brand-new HP laptop, I experienced a series of random hard freezes. After much searching, I ended up solving this problem by manually upgrading the kernel version. See my related post on how I did this.

Conclusion

That should do it. While I’m still fairly new to Mint myself, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.