Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia: a great point release.

I've  Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia for a couple of weeks now, and coming coming from 21.2 Victoria it has been quite a nice upgrade. While it isn't a groundbreaking upgrade, the OS feels great.

Personally, the one of the best things that came with the upgrade is being able to verify the ISO image with a right click. Which is important for me, since I like to make a live USB of the newest release of Linux Mint to make a clean install when needed, or just install Linux Mint on a new Laptop when I upgrade my system.

Another thing I like, is that testing to move to Wayland started with this Linux Mint release. While Wayland isn't expected to come at least until 2025, the fact that testing has begun is a good thing.

To be honest, with each new release Linux Mint cements itself as my go to Linux distro. It has the right balance of offering access to the modern software without braking things by being on the bleeding edge. As such, it just works and it gives me what I need to being productive at work and access I need to relax on my free time.

I'm looking forward to Linux Mint 22 later this year, while I expect it to come with a bigger set of changes it all points that it will be just another great release by the Linux Mint team.

Linux Mint: just keeps getting better.

I've been using Linux since about 2008, when I decided to use Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on my laptop because Windows Vista kept crashing on me multiple times a day. And since then I've using a Linux distro on my personal laptop, and since 2020 on I also started using it for work.

Since 2019, I decided to move from Ubuntu to Linux Mint full time. What motivated the move was that Ubuntu stopped using Unity, and started to use GNOME. And to be honest, I simply don't like GNOME 3 and Linux Mint's Cinnamon is a far better option for my use case. The only thing holding me to using Ubuntu was that I liked Unity and that I was used to how Ubuntu works.

Yet, ever since I made the jump to Linux Mint I can say that it has become my favorite OS. It just works, and it does it in a way that makes my life easier. And since it's based on Ubuntu, I can do all what I'm used to do when I used Ubuntu as my go to OS.

The best thing about Linux Mint, is that with each release it focuses on improvements that feel like an evolution of the OS, rather than trying to change things just to be on bleeding edge of Linux development. That means that things just work and changes tend not to break things.

I just like that Linux Mint feels like an elegant OS, that can be used by users that just want a OS that enables each user to do her or his thing, without getting in the way. The most important thing, is that you don't need to be an expert to use it.

And even if you are a computer expert, Linux Mint is a great option for those who just want an OS that is a great platform to use if you just want an OS that doesn't get in your way after you set it up to your liking, and you don't need to be on the bleeding edge of Linux.

Unless your user case means that you need to use Windows, or macOS, Linux Mint is a great option.

NothingOS 2.5 is a great upgrade.

When the public beta for NothingOS 2.5, which is based on Android 14, for Nothing Phone 1 came out I decided to give it a try. So far, it is a solid upgrade for the device. For my use case, there hasn't been any issue and to be honest the battery life has seen an improvement.

The changes, and tweaks, made to the user interface have for the better. Even though I already preferred Android for use in my smartphones, NothingOS proves that Android is a solid base. So much so, Google Pixels are the main competition to Nothing Phones so far. I would consider the Motorola Razr as a possible option, mainly because I'm interested in flip phones and I like Motorola, but the price makes me doubt about making the jump.

Later this year, or early next year, I might choose to upgrade my smartphone. So far, all points out that Nothing will continue to be my smartphone of choice.

Android.

The more I use Android smartphones, the harder I find it to move the iPhone. The question is more about which Android smartphone OEM I'll choose at the time come for me to replace my current device.

Although I consider the iPhone to be great, it simply doesn't give me what I want the user experience I want on my smartphone. Meanwhile, I can get Android devices to fit my needs like a glove. Not only that, smartwatches using Wear OS also are a better fit for me.

Android devices give me what I want on my smartphones, while Wear OS smartwatches make for quite a great side kick.

I'm planning on changing my current smartphone, which is a Nothing Phone (1), by the end of 2024. So far, the main contender is the Nothing Phone or the Google Pixel released in 2024. And the best thing about Android, is that there will be more options to consider by the time I come to a final decision.

For example, I might end up choosing the Samsung Galaxy S that comes out for 2024.

At the end, it all will come down to what Android OEM gives me the best value for my money. And that's what I love about Android smartphones, there is a wide selection of devices.

Firefox: my favorite web browser.

Hard to to believe that Firefox became my go to web browser all they way back in 2008, with Firefox 3.0. Before that, I sued NeoPlanet, and Opera. I stopped using NeoPlanet when it was discontinued, and Opera never really felt all that good as my daily driver.

Though I've tries Google's Chrome over the the years, it just doesn't work as well for me as as Firefox does. Chrome is my second place web browser, but it is far behind Firefox.

Microsoft Edge is the only other web browser I use regularly, solely for work. Basically because I wanted to try a web browser than Chrome, and the other options available just aren't available on Linux Mint, or just didn't worked for me.

So far, Edge is working well enough that it can over take Chrome but not well enough to displace Firefox as my favorite web browser.

I might give Opera a chance in the near future, since some of the people I trust have recommended it saying that the new released have improved a lot. So, it might be a good time to give it another chance.

I'm an Android fan.

Since I got an Nothing Phone (1), a year ago now, the more I've become convinced that Android is quite the best mobile OS for me. NothingOS has only improved with each upgrade, that I've seen 3 in a space of a year.

Currently I'm on NothingOS 2.0.4, which is based on Android 13, and as whole the user experience I've had so far has been quite a good one for middle range Android smartphone. So much so, that feels a bit better than I expected it to be. It not perfect, but it's more than good enough.

So much so, that so far I'd only outside the latest Nothing Phone, I'd only consider replacing it with the Google Pixel Phone,  Samsung Galaxy S, or a Motorola razr device. While I consider the iPhone to be a great option, Android smartphones just work better for me.

With each new version of Android, the more I like it. Specially with smartphones that have the specs that best suit my needs. And what I like the most about the Android ecosystem, is that it gives me a wider selection of devices to choose from.

To be honest, I'm not against moving to the iPhone. It's more that I don't see the benefit of doing so, since most of the people I interact with professionally and in a personal level don't use an iPhone. Actually, the ones who use an iPhone are the odd ones.

Not only that, most of what the iPhone offers is not really relevant for me or Android offers an equal or better option for my needs.

For now, I'm just waiting for Nothing to release the NothingOS based on Android 14.

Linux Mint: my go to Linux distro and the one I recommend to most people.

I've been using Linux Mint continuously since 2017 not, and it has proven itself to be the best operating system for my needs. To be honest, I've being jumping between Linux Mint and Ubuntu since 2012, but since Ubuntu replaced Unity with the GNOME Shell with Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) update Linux Mint became my go to Linux distro.

The Cinnamon, Linux Mint's desktop environment, had all the bugs that irked me ironed out at the time. As such, making the jump was only natural since I don't really like the GNOME Shell. And since the version that came with Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia, it only has gotten better.

And with each update, Linux Mint has proven to be the best choice for me. Besides, that Linux Mint is based on the LTS version of Ubuntu is something I've come to appreciate. It has made Linux Mint just an stable operating system, that just works for me. It might not ship with the bleeding edge of most software, but it supports the latest versions of the software I use on the regular basis like Firefox, Thunderbird, and Spotify.

Most importantly, it fully supports the hardware of the laptop I use as my daily driver for personal and professional use. And I've used 2 different laptops since 2017, and both worked like a charm with Linux Mint. So much so, that I've made the move to using Bluetooth headphones since they work for me and they just work.

And since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and Debian, all the software that works made for them can be used on Linux Mint. Even software served as Flatpak works well, giving users even more options.

Linux Mint is a distro that just works for casual users, and for users just want a Linux distro that works and who don't want spend time under the hood to make it work for them.

Nice addition to Spotify on Linux Mint with the last update.

Spotify just added the capability of being able to run on the background on Linux Mint at the last update, and with that it got the 100 score for me as a music streaming service. To be honest, I might be nip picking about it, but being able to close my music player, and it being able to stay open on the background while playing music, is something I expect.

I use Rhythmbox to play my music local music library, and it has continually supported playing music on the background when I closed the window, so Spotify not supporting the same behavior kind of baffle me for a while. But, now that the capability has being added to Linux Mint, it has improved my perception of it.

While not being able to do so wasn't a deal killer for me, since it is something nice to have but not vital for the user experience, being able to do so now is one of those thing that it's really nice to have.

To be honest, I was weary of media streaming services when they first came out. But, Spotify won me over when I tried it about it ten years ago. While it doesn't completely substitutes having my favorite music on my laptop, it's a great complement and my go to music and podcast platform on my smartphone. Specially since Movistar adds Spotify as one of the apps on which they give me unlimited usage with my GigaMove 6GB plan.

Spotify has become my go to music streaming and podcast platform, and now being able it can keep playing on the background, it has made it even better for me.

Bluetooth headphones have become affordable.

A few years ago, when Bluetooth headphones where starting to be pushed to consumers on smartphones was starting to be pushed on consumers by omitting the 3.5mm jack connector on some models, my problem was pricing.

At time, finding a decent pair of Bluetooth headphone under $25 USD was almost impossible. Now, you can find some well under that price point easily, since the tech has become common place not only in smartphones, but also in other consumer electronic devices like smart TVs, most smartphones, and laptops. That has helped to bring down prices of devices with Bluetooth connection, and the price point of a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones will only come down with time.

While the audio quality of most Bluetooth headphones will not be what an audiophile wants, it will be more than good enough for casual use. I use wireless headphones on the go with my smartphone, and at work with my laptop when I need to focus, and they work quite nicely. So much so, that I won't go back to wired headphones on my smartphone, and have headphones that use the 3.5mm jack just in case the battery dies on my headphones.

As time goes by, and Bluetooth become more ubiquitous I only expect the tech to become more affordable and better for audio.

Its quite amazing that in my lifetime Bluetooth headphone have become something that only businessman would have, with a bad audio quality reputation, to something with a decent audio quality that more people could afford.

Missing remote work, since in made me better at my job.

After a few months of coming back to the office, after more than a year of working remotely, I've come to affirm how important is for me to be able to work remotely.

Working remotely make work a lot less stressful, cut down on transit time, and makes me a lot more effective. It also helps me to focus more on being more productive, since I don't face most of the interruptions I face on the office, like coworkers coming to ask about unrelated stuff of having to fix printer jams when they occur. Not only that, not having to face the transit times, means that I can use more of my time to actually focus on my job and not worrying if I'd be able to make on time to the office, or if I'd be able to do personal stuff when I go out.

Working remotely also saves me money, since I don't have to pay for transportation or meals if I can't prepare food at home. Most importantly, since I can better manage my work and personal time, I stress less about it making me more productive and focused on my job when I'm on the clock.

It also helps me to make less mistakes at work, since not being interrupted constantly, or have to worry about things outside work, helps me focus on the task at hand. Being able to completely focus on what I've to do at the moment, knowing I won't be interrupted, means less stress and feeling more satisfied about my work, and allows me to be able to see if there is anything wrong with what I've to do in order to correct any prior mistake, or propose improvements to the process if needed.

Most importantly, it made my more satisfied with my job. Since I had a better time management ability, I could focus better on my job, and, most importantly, stress levels were far more manageable. I wish to be able to go back to work remotely, and at least go to a hybrid work model.

Remmina: a great option for Windows remote desktops on Linux.

For about 4 years now, I've relied on a remote Windows desktop for work. At first I used a desktop using Windows 7 provided by employer, and it did a great job. To be honest, Windows 7 and Windows XP are the two best OSes released by Microsoft, but I prefer using Linux Mint as much as possible.

Then, the pandemic hit and forced us into home office to keep going. To be honest, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to work from home since at home I used Linux Mint on my laptop, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to connect remotely to the work server in order to keep my job.

After a few hours of research, I found Remmina. Since I know my way around computers, yet I'm my technical skills are no really all that advanced, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to configure it correctly. Yet, it was easy to set up the remote desktop quickly.

So far, I still use my laptop even after we have come back to the office. I prefer to use it, because since we use WhatsApp and our email isn't run on the remote desktop, having 2 monitors really helps me to keep on top of what I've to do at work.

Not only that, I've been somewhat of a beta user at work in order to make a case to make the jump to Linux Mint on the end user computers, while only using Windows on the server used for the main software at work. There are some kinks to work out, like being able to use the network printer, but so far the user case looks really good.

For me Linux Mint, is an Linux distro that stands true to its slogan: From freedom came elegance. And it has become my go to OS for my personal and professional computing needs.