Chapter 1. Meet Linux Mint

Welcome to Linux Mint Essentials; your exciting journey into the world of Linux Mint starts here. There's no better place to start your adventure than Mint. Its user friendly nature along with its scalability caters to both beginners and power users alike; the out-of-the-box Mint includes everything you need to work and play. In this book, you'll discover how to master this amazing distribution from the initial installation all the way to maintaining and troubleshooting it. We'll start with an in-depth look at how to complete the installation, and then we'll proceed through each of Mint's core technologies to help boost your knowledge. Along the way, we'll work on some fun activities to put your new knowledge to use.

Before we get started though, it's very important that you understand the core concepts behind Mint and what makes it so great. In this chapter, we'll explore key concepts such as the Linux kernel, what a distribution is, and some reasons why Linux Mint is so awesome. If you are already aware of these concepts (or you're itching to get your feet wet), skip ahead to Chapter 2, Creating Boot Media and Installing Linux Mint, where we'll set up our very own Linux Mint installation.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

While getting accustomed to Linux, there's most likely a great deal of things that you'll want to learn. Mint comes equipped to help you handle most tasks, such as checking e-mail, working with files, editing documents, and sharing files. We'll tackle most of the common use cases in this book to help you become productive with Mint.

Linux isn't only about getting work done. Whether you enjoy listening to music, watching videos, or just having fun with your leisure time, we'll cover those concepts as well. In fact, Chapter 7, Enjoying Multimedia on Mint is dedicated to consuming multimedia, and I may throw in a Linux game or two for good measure.

As we reach the end of our journey, we'll go over concepts of how to maintain our installation as well as how to troubleshoot it. Most of the troubleshooting and maintenance tasks in Mint aren't distribution specific, so you'll learn some real-world skills that you can take with you to other platforms.