Cinnamon Desktop: Is it Good?

[@TheLinuxCast]

This video was released a day early for Tier 2 and above Patrons, patreon.com/thelinuxcast

[@vladimir_fomin90]

cinnamon the best for me!

[@sudoshindo]

I started on Mint and I currently use Fedora Cinnamon. For someone like me who just wants the traditional Windows 7/10 layout it's great. KDE is the other obvious choice, but I don't really need the crazy amount of settings that it provides, I'm content with how much simpler Cinnamon is.

[@sudoshindo]

I do want to point out a negative about Cinnamon. The default icon pack they ship is kind of ugly. The folder icons look fine but everything else looks dated. I always install the Papirus Icons and use those instead.

[@gewdvibes]

I couldn’t figure out how to use the dfdragora software center thing, it looked so clunky and terrible compared to standard fedora gnome or kde discover. Weird because mint has a perfectly functional software center

[@sudoshindo]

@@gewdvibes I agree, dnf dragora is terrible. My assumption is that it's probably difficult to port over Mint's software store to Fedora because it was specifically designed with apt in mind.

[@Skibbehify]

​@@gewdvibes if I install cinnamon on any other distro install the gnome software store which works well.

[@dermond]

I found GNOME and KDE as my favorite desktops, but I can't use one without wanting to use the other, and that's why I use Cinnamon, it's like a middle ground between those

[@InsaneentertainmentNet]

Simply the best DE.... for me. Any distro, it gets Cinnamon regardless.

[@mhardy1906]

Agreed.

[@markhigginson9897]

Brilliant video about Cinnamon. I used to do a lot of Distro hopping, but I always come back to Linux Mint Cinnamon. I am currently using version 21.1 Beta 'Vera', and it is great. However, your take on the theming of the desktop is a little out of date as a whole new set has been added. The one you are using is now termed 'legacy'. As to being for new users, I agree with you that it is for anyone. As an OS in it's own right, I would recommend it to anyone.

[@cluesagi]

I think more distros should consider using Cinnamon as the default DE. It seems like it would be a much better fit than GNOME for a distro like Debian, for example, which is still shipping GNOME 3.38 by default

[@salatwurzel-4388]

Yeah. Cinnamon is a way better first experience to the Linux world than Gnome imho. Personally i love Gnome and the workflow way more than Cinnamon, but I'm not an "average user". For anyone who wants to try Linux, I always recommend Linux Mint, Ubuntu Cinnamon etc. Dont know why so many Distros who are saying "we are noob friendly" decided to go with Gnome instead of Cinnamon, It's a little weird.

[@folksurvival]

Cinnamon, MATE and Budgie are all much better choices than GNOME.

[@PersonalComputer-kx3kj]

Gnome is the basic Desktop PC environment for operating systems. Most the applications and software work best with Gnome and KDE. Cinnamon is good being designed for home use.

[@SpyderGamer]

Mint devs really did a great job in this. They will always continue to impress me :)

[@DistrosProjects]

I like Cinnamon a lot. It's complete (as in it has graphical menus for nearly everything, a grouped application menu etc), lightweight, stays out of your face, and has a consistent look and feel. Nothing I've seen on the major desktop experience feels like an "afterthought" either.

[@JayCeeCreates]

I've been DE-hopping for the past couple of months (GNOME, XFCE, KDE, Cinnamon) just to get the mmph that I need. Once I really built my own desktop look and feel upon Cinnamon, I might never leave it ever again.

[@xylogram4168]

What about now? Are you still using Cinnamon? I'm kinda thinking on going Tumbleweed and slap Cinnamon on it. Have been super pleased with EndeavorOS + Cinnamon. It's lightweight, it's simple, and it looks good (and you can make it look good without tinkering much).

[@OrbitalMartian]

Awesome stuff, I'm going to try Cinnamon now :) Also FYI: KDE Connect was a few months back released stabley for iOS too, so can connect to iOS phones as well as Android now.

[@cheebadigga4092]

I know there's WM nuts, just like vim nuts, who will disagree. But to me, the Windows shell layout is still the one I'm most productive with. It's also the most functional. Windows 7 nailed it imho. Which is why I'm never switching from Cinnamon. I tried i3, sway, Gnome, KDE, etc., but there's always more than 1 thing I'm missing that Cinnamon provides in a user friendly way. Disclaimer: I use vim, but not in "that" way. I use LInux at home and for work. I develop embedded Linux systems. So I have my fair share of multiple years Linux experience.

[@heroe1486]

Well more productive for you but objectively generally false. It's objectively less productive than a tiling windows manager like i3 + extra tools like rofi, you mostly don't have to touch your mouse, you arrange windows as you want, you seemlesly play with workspaces, you can fix most things from your config file, you know what's happening, things don't get in your way. "I don't want to spend a weekend on my config file and want the bells and whistles of a DE like auto screen locking, auto disk mounting, nice control center etc" Then just use i3 as your windows manager inside xfce or Mate and nitpick what you want them to handle and what you want your i3 config file to handle. If you take the time and can adapt to a tiling wm workflow then it's more productive than anything, those are just facts, if you don't/can't then yes productivity depends on what you like.

[@cheebadigga4092]

@@heroe1486 I'm faster with both mouse and keyboard cause I don't wanna have to remember a million shortcuts. Plus if I don't have to miss a single feature which makes me 100% productive, while Cinnamon does provide it, how can I be less productive with Cinnamon? You can't be "objectively productive". Productivity is subjective period.

[@markruss5276]

Great video. I use Mint daily and learned a few things!

[@toranshaw4029]

Cinnamon is the first DE I really liked, when I started using Linux (currently using GNOME and Unity on my main machines). This reminds me that I really need to check in with Ubuntu Cinnamon, to see how that project's going! Yeah, I know of a few experienced Linux folk that use Cinnamon, Switched to Linux immediately springs to mind!

[@ArniesTech]

Cinnamon is like the sweet spot between GNOME and XFCE 💪😁

[@Tekay37]

I would describe Cinnamon as a desktop that just has enough customization options to allow to get very close to the setup you are looking for. E.g. I don't need to choose between the colors F00, F30, F03, E00, E30, E03, ... Red is fine for me if I like red - and if I feel blue on a day, I can just switch to blue. Same with the taskbar: I can move it where I want it and I can choose which information is where. I don't need to blance something exactly at the golden ratio or so. Left, center, and right is fine. Cinnanmon is like a good referee in any sports game. It's there when you need it, but it stays out of your way when you want to do your actual work. I think that's exactly what a desktop environment should aim for.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE and Budgie are my options for desktop environments.

[@daviddavies3942]

I took a look at latest Mint Beta the other day. I was very impressed! It felt very very well polished and just works, is simple and attractive. I would totally recommend this to someone. Doesn't need tweaking to make it work, but can be if you like to. It's almost boring, but in a good way, like a Toyota Corolla. Not sure how the experience differs with Cinnamon on other distros, if at all. I would love to see Timeshift support ZFS snapshots as it does BTRFS snapshots

[@Rbourk252]

Suits me, not confusing and excessive, and not rigid with hoop jumping. I have to skip between (sadly) Windows and Linux so it feels less of a jump between the two. You can add more desktops, add something like copyq clipboard manager very easily which can copy and paste from and to the command line. Throw in some keybindings and some aliases and it just flows nicely. I tried Gnome, it weighty and it can be a bit laggy on devices that do not have an advanced gpu which my mini box pc’s don’t have. I’m so familiar with cinnamon that after install I get it set up quick n running smooth. I’m a fan.

[@gregcampwriter]

I started my most recent experiment with Linux a year and a half ago on Cinnamon Mint, and I'm still using it. It lets me work without requiring me to spend a lot of time arguing with it.

[@keylowmike85]

I've been meaning to try out Cinnamon. Looks like I'm going to have download it. Great work, Matt!

[@DrawAndErase]

I used cinnamon for ages I used system76s brown pop os adapta theme and some really nice icons with sanfrancisco fonts it was an absolute dream, beautiful theme but it just gets out of the way, its traditional and was almost invisible yet it looked really slick at the same time. I don't use anything atm but I'm looking at KDE just to shake it up when I return.

[@damolin77]

Love these types of videos and seeing others insight on different distros.

[@emiliokennkierza260]

I don't know why, I never like cinnamon desktop on other linux distros but Mint. Somehow I feel very at home with Cinnamon on Mint because of it's 'minty' tools such as it's backup manager, update manager, and timeshift (lol). I hope one day it's software manager will look like deepin's or elementary's app store.

[@catoflado4977]

Cinnamon is the best thing Linux Mint ever did. They should be very proud of it! It is helping tons of people like me to get into linux

[@RakibHasan-hs1me]

Cinnamon is DE for confused people. Like people who doesn't know if they like Gnome better or xfce, so they use stick with cinnamon for time being. I am using btw 😂 cinnamon BTW

[@edjett2631]

Cinnamon is the desktop I prefer.

[@yash1152]

i am using windows. i just tried live booting linux ubuntu for the very first time several days ago; and * i really liked the top status bar, the right side actions panel (android styled) - the screenshots button, volume/brightness slider etc * none of the videos showcasing cinnamon focus on how its action panel look like. * i _don't_ really want the windows taskbar style and its super constrained actions panel; i _need_ the interactivity in actions panel and some minimal way to see the time. what de/distro will be good for me? * i am feeling that i want to go with the looks of gnome, but not sure what i might need tomorrow.

[@SprunkCovers]

Cinnamon and GNOME are my two favourite DEs, I daily drive Mint and I never had any problems, plus it is very customizable and you can make it look more modern while still remaining funtional and stable My ONLY problem with Cinnamon is the lack of Wayland support so far, I do think that Wayland is the future and so far Mint is the only major distro that doesn't offer Wayland support in any capacity

[@TheSeriousDog]

I first tried it today. It literally comes with the configuration I try to get on other desktop envrironments out of the box. This desktop is so underated.

[@topherfungus8424]

The only advantage to Cinnamon over XFCE is that it looks a little nicer out of the box. Of course you can set XFCE up to look amazing, but you might have to spend half and hour doing so. But, I think the XFCE panel, especially the workspace switcher, are just superior to the Cinnamon counterpart... and you can add as many panels as you want and put them wherever you want. Also you can swap out your WM for a tiling WM very easily, instead of using a plugin. Ive used both Cinnamon and XFCE on Linux Mint, and I don't think most people would be able to tell them apart at first. So, I appreciate Cinnamon, but I just don't see the use case for those of us who do not like either KDE or Gnome.

[@fredmckinney8933]

Same. Xfce guy here. Cinnamon's pretty good, and MATE I really like, too, but I can't stand GNOME AT ALL. KDE I find overwhelming, although I could get used to it if I had to.

[@Doonutzs]

@@fredmckinney8933 I've been running away from Gnome for a while already, what kind of experiences did you have with it that made you not tolerate it?

[@fredmckinney8933]

@@Doonutzs The attitudes of its developers. Plus, in version 3, the way each upgrade, every 6 months, kept breaking themes. I may have forgiven but I sure haven't forgotten.

[@smolbirb4]

I enjoy seeing your discussion on things you typically go further and more in depth than other people, I also like your opinions on distro reviews, though I do think you should re-review Gentoo

[@jamesnoel2666]

I've been using linux for 22 years and find Cinnamon an ideal fit.

[@tylerboothman4496]

The terminal in the file manager is what sold me

[@IamJustAlper]

I have an old computer with 3gb ram. If I install endeavourOS Cinnamon DE on it will it run fast?

[@heroe1486]

Hey video idea for you : i3 or any tiling windows manager as a windows manager inside of XFCE/Mate/Plasma (I've got problems with KDE personally) to get top notch tiling windows management and DEs' ootb goodnesses. It could be interesting to investigate how well this integrations work.

[@vscythe_]

I did use Plasma + i3wm with pijulius/picom and an autotiling script for a dwindle layout and it was very very very solid, but later on I discovered Hyprland, haven't moved from it since :)

[@bohemiantech9110]

Sorry to be a bit off topic, but where did you get that background/wallpaper? It's gorgeous.

[@huljaxful]

I love cinnamon a lot. For me, it's either linux mint with it or pop!_os with cosmic DE and tiling...

[@tonystorcke]

Cinnamon has always had a warm spot in my heart. It doesn't have the complexity of KDE.

[@Zer0sVoid]

I've been meaning to try Cinnamon again. I have been curious because a friend of mine daily drives it. Btw Matt, I think something may by going on with your audio. It's sounds a bit distorted. Perhaps too aggressive of noise reduction?

[@bmmartin1684]

I use xfce but i must install nemo so as to feel safe... Nemo is cool

[@melaniezette886]

I agree it's a pleasant everyday simple desktop.

[@Fearless_DoGooder]

Where can I get that wallpaper that you had?

[@tadpole256]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. I've been using Linux for decades, and Cinnamon is my current Desktop Environment of choice.

[@Ralphunreal]

Cinnamon is the best DE ever.

[@catwong9827]

sound 150% in cinnamon applet can solve the volume step adjustment problem in cinnamon desktop but sorry to xfce.

[@FaizaanDatoo]

I have the same desktop background, I'm not as original as I thought.

[@Fearless_DoGooder]

That was really good. Because of this I'm going to try Linux Mint Debian Edition with Cinnamon.

[@josgraha]

you're awesome Matt :) thanks

[@colbybraden]

ohhh you should really do some "history of" videos. Showcasing the history of different Linux and FOSS stuff.

[@TheLinuxCast]

That sounds like a fantastic idea.

[@jimiarisandi]

cinnamon good ,plasma good, and thats hard to choose. if both good its wrong, if both bad its also wrong, dang we never satisfy. clearly i have to stay with plasma coz my first desktop. and stay away for windows and mac coz you never feel free and not felt free.

[@wyfyj]

Thanks for the vid Matt

[@zorin1us]

Where can I get your background picture?

[@TheLinuxCast]

To tell you the truth, I have no clue. I just googled cool nature wallpaper.

[@zorin1us]

@@TheLinuxCast I found it, thanks.

[@MattMcCullough]

Prefer Cinnamon over the complexity of KDE

[@perdomot]

I was using it on Mint until recently and it was very good, but there was an issue of problems when cold booting, restarting and shutting down where the system would just hang. Using suspend worked fine for dealing with it but when you had an update that needed a restart, it was hit or miss whether the system would hang.

[@FrankEmil007]

There is a new kid on the block.. say hello to Zorin OS!! A damn nice OS!!

[@folksurvival]

Not new and not using Cinnamon.

[@choppergirl]

Cinnamon is awful. I think I'm switching to XFCE or going back to Windows. You can't change the Panel's application icons to stack vertically when more than one application is open, you know, like Windows XP. It took me 2 hours to find out where to turn off the Desktop Background. It's under a drop down menu called Picture Aspect Ratio (default 1.2) I can increase the Title Bar Font Size on my windows, but not resize the tiny close box X icon buttons. It's all very frustrating and it's like they did no user testing before they rolled it out.

[@ethanrivers4057]

You have a weird glitch on your sound today. Great video tho.

[@TheLinuxCast]

Yeah, I Know. I have no clue what's going on with that. Nothing changed from my last video.

[@leblancbot3682]

I find the lack of emacs... disturbing

[@rahuldsouza1985]

I prefer lxqt

[@thepenguinthatwalks]

I sm using debain cimomon . I been thikkng of going back to mint. But i do not supprt the Dev team . Clem is an jerk

[@bobpeters61]

I love it.

[@OcteractSG]

Pair the Cinnamon Desktop Oatmeal Window Manager for a yummy Linux experience.

[@yomboprime]

👏👏👏👏

[@nevoyu]

Metro is the best DE ever, you literally can't change anything about it unless you spend $100 and you can't modify any keybindings! Also Adwaitia is a core component of gtk to the point that theme's technically dont exist (even for icons). They're all Adwaita

[@PersonalComputer-kx3kj]

Manjaro Cinnamon is good Desktop PC operating system.

[@johnterpack3940]

The FOSS community likes to bash Windows, justifiably. But Windows does UI better than anyone else. So duplicating it isn't the worst idea. I could see using Cinnamon to get my wife into Linux. It would definitely make a smooth transition. But I'd put it on top of Void, just for giggles.

[@bertnijhof5413]

Cinnamon the ideal desktop for all Linux users, that are still living in the Windows 95/98 area :)

[@somegeezer4058]

Or those that don't necessarily feel like desktop interfaces have improved since then.

[@folksurvival]

XFCE is more like the Win9x era. Cinnamon is more like WinXP or 7.

[@needlesandsonics5819]

And KDE Plasma is like Windows 11. Oh wait….. where did Microsoft get that design from? 🤔

[@thomasbeaver6931]

did bro just say ganome? lmao