Linux Mint 9

Official
User Guide

Linux Mint 9 “Isadora”
Main Edition

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION TO LINUX MINT........3
HISTORY.......................................................... 3
PURPOSE.......................................................... 3
VERSION NUMBERS AND CODENAMES ...................4
EDITIONS.......................................................... 5WHERE TO FIND HELP........................................5
INSTALLATION OF LINUX MINT.........6
DOWNLOAD THE ISO........................................6
VIA TORRENT.................................................... 6
Install a Torrent client.................................... 7
Download the Torrent file.............................. 7
VIA A DOWNLOADMIRROR...................................7
READ THE RELEASE NOTES................................7
CHECK THE MD5.............................................8
BURN THE ISO TO CD..................................... 9
BOOT THE LIVECD........................................ 10
INSTALL LINUX MINT ON YOUR HARD DRIVE....10
THE BOOT SEQUENCE...................................... 19
INTRODUCTION TO THE LINUX MINTDESKTOP.................................................. 21
THE GNOME DESKTOP.................................... 21
DESKTOP SETTINGS.........................................21
THE MENU..................................................... 22
GETTING TO KNOW THE MENU.............................22
The “Places” menu....................................... 22
The “System” menu.....................................24
The “Applications” menu.............................28

The “Search” field........................................30
DEFINE YOUR FAVORITE APPLICATIONS..................31
MAKE YOUR OWN SHORTCUTS.............................31
LAUNCH APPLICATIONS AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU
LOG IN............................................................ 31
CHANGE THE APPEARANCE OF THE MENU..............32ACTIVATE THE RECENT PLUG-IN..........................32
RESTORE THE DEFAULT SETTINGS.........................33
REPLACE THE MENU WITH THE DEFAULT GNOME
MENU.............................................................. 33
SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT................34
PACKAGE MANAGEMENT IN LINUX MINT..........34
THE SOFTWARE MANAGER................................ 39
THEMENU...................................................... 39
SYNAPTIC & APT...........................................39
REMOVE APPLICATIONS.................................... 40
FROM THE MENU............................................. 41
USING APT.................................................... 41
SYNAPTIC........................................................ 41
UPDATE YOUR SYSTEM AND YOUR APPLICATIONS..42USING THE UPDATE MANAGER...........................42
TIPS AND TRICKS...................................46
COPY AND PASTE WITH THE MOUSE....................46
TAKES NOTES WITH TOMBOY............................47
ARCHIVE EMAILS AND WEBSITES AS PDF...........48
CONCLUSION...........................................50

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Introduction to Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a computeroperating system designed to work on most modern systems,
including typical x86 and x64 PCs.
Linux Mint can be thought of as filling the same role as Microsoft's Windows, Apple's
Mac OS, and the free BSD OS. Linux Mint is also designed to work in conjunction with
other operating systems (including those listed above), and can automatically set up a
“dual boot” or “multi-boot” environment (wherethe user is prompted as to which
operating system to start at each boot-up) during its installation.
Linux Mint is a great operating system for individuals and for companies.

History
Linux Mint is a very modern operating system; Its development started in 2006. It is,
however, built upon very mature and proven software layers, including the Linux kernel,
the GNU tools and the Gnome...