Cinnamon: What is it and how does it install on DEBIAN 10 and MX-Linux 19?

Cinnamon it is a beautiful and functional Desktop Environment, about which we do not publish very often, being our last post specifies about it, more than 3 years ago.

This is surely due to the fact that in general, it is spoken of only when it is spoken of Linux Mint, since said Desktop Environment was born with this GNU / Linux distribution. Therefore, in this publication we will focus especially on What is it? y How do you install?. Emphasizing, of course, the current DEBIAN GNU / Linux meta-distribution, in its most recent version, number 10, code name Buster. Which is also currently the basis for the Distro MX-Linux 19 (Ugly Duckling).

Its creator (Linux Mint) claims that Cinnamon is:

"A Linux desktop with a traditional design, built with modern technology and introducing new innovative features. Cinnamon is a Linux desktop that provides advanced innovative features and a traditional user experience. The desktop layout is similar to Gnome 2 with the underlying Gnome Shell technology forked. Cinnamon makes users feel at home with an easy-to-use and comfortable desktop experience. Cinnamon section of the Linux Mint site on GitHub

All about Cinnamon

Description

Among the most important that can be highlighted from this Desktop Environment we can mention the following points:

• The project on Cinnamon was released on the date December 20th 2011 but it was publicly announced on 2 January 2012 in the blog of Linux Mint. His first version was about Linux Mint 12 "Lisa".
• From the version 2.0, Cinnamon is a Full Desktop Environment, and not just a frontend for GNOME like GNOME Shell and Unity.
• Provides a basic user interface with panels, hot corners, menus, among other essentials. Which is also written in JavaScript, while its core libraries are written in "C".
• Currently going for the stable version 4.4.2

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

• An excellent endorsement of the great Linux Mint Distro.
• It is focused on improve productivity user about the operating system.
• Offers a excellent balance between speed, stability and usability.
• Is starting to be included in the repositories of many Distros.
• Very customizable and lightweight, especially at the Panel and Desktop level through advanced settings and their increasing themes, applets, desklets and extensions.
• Native compatibility with GNOME3 applications because they both use GTK +.
• It is ideal for people who are beginning to migrate from Windows to GNU / Linux, since its interface offers them a somewhat familiar atmosphere and really easy to use.

Disadvantages

• Usually consume a considerable amount of resources (RAM and CPU), similar to desktop environments like KDE Plasma and GNOME.
  
• Optimized to work through hardware acceleration, so it works best with a good graphics card and a good computer. However, it does have an alternative software acceleration boot mode.
• And for the same reason hardware acceleration operation it usually presents incompatibility with the use of Virtual Machines, such as VirtualBox.
  

To learn more you can visit its official website and that of its creator Distro:

1. Official website of the Cinnamon Project
2. Distro Linux Mint Official Website

Where you can find information and / or download Themes, Applets, Desklets and Extensions about Cinnamon, or see informative previews, download the Distro, view projects and associated teams, among many other things. The following links are also available to supplement the information on Cinnamon:

1. Linux Mint blog
2. Linux Mint Forum
3. Linux Mint Community
4. Linux Mint projects
5. Space about Cinnamon on GitHub
6. Arch Wiki on Cinnamon

Installation

In case one currently has a GNU / Linux DEBIAN 10 distribution (Buster) or others based on it, such as MX-Linux 19 (Ugly Duckling), the most recommended installation options are:

Using the Tasksel command via Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• Run a Console or Terminal from the Desktop Environment
• Run the command orders next:

apt update
apt install tasksel
tasksel install cinnamon-desktop --new-install

• Continue until the end on Tasksel Guided Procedure (Task Selector).

Using the Tasksel command via the Command Line Interface (CLI)

• Run a Console or Terminal using the Ctrl + F1 keys and start a super user root session.
• Run the command orders next:

apt update
apt install tasksel
tasksel

• Select the Cinnamon Desktop Environment and any other utility or set of additional packages.
• Continue until the end on guided procedure de Tasks (Task Selector).

Installing the minimum necessary packages directly via CLI

• Run a Console or Terminal from the Desktop Environment or using the Ctrl + F1 keys and start a super user session root.
  
• Run the command orders next:

apt update
apt install cinnamon

• Continue until the end on procedure guided by Apt Package Installer.

Note: You can also install a Desktop Environment based on Cinnamon simpler or complete by replacing the package cinnamon by cinnamon-core o cinnamon-desktop-environment.

Extra or complementary actions

• Execute actions of optimization and maintenance of the Operating System running the command orders following:

apt update; apt full-upgrade; apt install -f; dpkg --configure -a; apt-get autoremove; apt --fix-broken install; update-apt-xapian-index

localepurge; update-grub; update-grub2; aptitude clean; aptitude autoclean; apt-get autoremove; apt autoremove; apt purge; apt remove; apt --fix-broken install

• Restart and login by selecting the Desktop Environment Cinnamon, in case of having more than one Desktop Environment installed and not having selected the Cinnamon-session Login Manager.

For more additional information visit the official pages of DEBIAN y MX-Linux, or the DEBIAN Administrator's Manual online in its stable version.

And remember, this is the fourth post of a series about GNU / Linux Desktop Environments. The first was about GNOME, after KDE Plasma y XFCE. While the next ones will be about MATE, LXDE and lastly LXQT.

Conclusion

We hope this "useful little post" about him «Entorno de Escritorio» known by the name of «Cinnamon», which is among the many existing, it is one of the most elegant and fluid currently in the world of «Distribuciones GNU/Linux», is of great interest and utility, for the entire «Comunidad de Software Libre y Código Abierto» and of great contribution to the diffusion of the wonderful, gigantic and growing ecosystem of applications of «GNU/Linux».

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