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Cinnamon (desktop environment)

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Cinnamon
Developer(s)Linux Mint team
Initial releaseDecember 20, 2011; 12 years ago (December 20, 2011)
Stable release
6.4.1[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 2 December 2024; 16 days ago (2 December 2024)
Repository
Written inC (GTK), JavaScript, and Python
Operating systemUnix-like
TypeDesktop environment
LicenseGPL-2.0
Websiteprojects.linuxmint.com/cinnamon/

Cinnamon is a free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, which was originally based on GNOME 3, but follows traditional desktop metaphor conventions.

The development of Cinnamon began by the Linux Mint team as the result of the April 2011 release of GNOME 3, in which the conventional desktop metaphor of GNOME 2 was discarded in favor of GNOME Shell. Following several attempts to extend GNOME 3 so that it would suit the Linux Mint design goals through "Mint GNOME Shell Extensions", the Linux Mint team eventually forked several GNOME 3 components to build an independent desktop environment. This separation from GNOME was finished with the release of Cinnamon 2.0.0 on October 9, 2013. Applets, extensions, actions, and desklets made explicitly for Cinnamon are no longer compatible with GNOME Shell.

As the distinctive factor and preeminent desktop environment for Linux Mint, Cinnamon has generally received favorable coverage by the press, in particular for its ease of use and gentle learning curve. In regard to its conservative design model, Cinnamon is similar to the Xfce, MATE, GNOME 2, and GNOME Flashback desktop environments.

History

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As with many other desktop environments based on GNOME, including Canonical's Unity, Cinnamon was the result of disapproval and dissatisfaction of the GNOME team's abandonment of a traditional desktop experience in April 2011. Until then, GNOME 2 had included the traditional desktop metaphor, but in GNOME 3, this was entirely replaced with GNOME Shell, which by default lacked a taskbar-like panel and other basic features of a conventional desktop. The elimination of these basic features was unacceptable to the developers of distributions such as Mint and Ubuntu, which are geared to users who wanted interfaces that are familiar and easy-to-use.[2]

To overcome these differences, the Linux Mint team initially set out to develop extensions for GNOME Shell to replace the abandoned features. The results of this effort were known as the "Mint GNOME Shell Extensions" or MGSE. Meanwhile, the MATE desktop environment had also been forked from GNOME 2. Linux Mint 12, released in November 2011, subsequently included both, thereby giving users a choice of either GNOME 3 with the MGSE or a MATE desktop that closely resembled GNOME 2.[3][4]

However, even with MGSE, GNOME 3 was still largely missing the comforts of GNOME 2 and was not well received by the user community. At the time, some of the missing features could not be replaced by extensions, and it seemed that extensions would not be viable in the long run due to concerns of significant changes upstream from the GNOME team. Moreover, the GNOME developers were not willing to cooperate with the wishes of the Mint developers. To give the Mint developers finer control over the development process, GNOME Shell was forked as "Project Cinnamon" in January 2012.[5]

Gradually, the Mint developers adapted various core applications. Beginning with version 1.2, released in January 2012, the window manager of Cinnamon is called Muffin, which was originally a fork of GNOME 3's Mutter.[6] Similarly, since September 2012 (version 1.6 onwards), Cinnamon includes the Nemo file manager which was forked from Nautilus. Nemo was created in response to disapproval of some upstream changes in Nautilus 3.6 that significantly altered the functionality and user interface of the file manager.[7] Cinnamon-Settings, included since May 2013 (version 1.8 onwards), combines the functionality of GNOME-Control-Center with that of Cinnamon-Settings, and made it possible to manage and update applets, extensions, desklets, actions, and themes through Cinnamon-Settings. Gnome-Screensaver was also forked into what is now called Cinnamon-Screensaver.

Since October 9, 2013 (version 2.0.0 onwards), Cinnamon is no longer a frontend of GNOME like Unity or GNOME Shell, but rather a completely independent desktop environment. Although Cinnamon is still heavily built on GNOME technologies and utilizes GTK, it no longer requires GNOME as a dependency in order to be installed.

Further improvements in later versions include a desktop grid, wildcard support in file searches, multi-process settings daemon, desktop actions in the panel launcher, separate processes for desktop handling and file manager in Nemo; an additional desktop panel layout option that offers a more modern looking theme and grouped windows; improved naming for duplicate applications in the menu (i.e. Flatpak vs. deb packages), pinned files in Nemo, touchpad gestures, bulk file rename of multiple files and folders using bulky, customizable context menu items in Nemo called "Actions", the ability to display user profile pictures on the panel, improved multi-monitor support in regard to open windows, better visual indicators in the system notifications tray for VPN connections, and an emphasis on performance improvements.

On November 30, 2023, version 6.0.0 of the Cinnamon desktop was released. This is the first release of Cinnamon to include an experimental Wayland session implementation, along with fractional scaling and AVIF background image support, among other improvements.[8] On June 16, 2024, version 6.2.0 of Cinnamon was released. This release introduced the ability to add the user profile picture to the panel, along with other improvements.[9] On November 28, 2024, version 6.4.0 of Cinnamon was released. This release introduced redesigned dialog prompts using the Clutter toolkit rather than GTK. In addition, A "Night Light" blue light filter was introduced to potentially reduce eye strain and improve sleep quality when an end user is using Cinnamon during night time[10].

Software components

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See also: List of GTK applications
Nemo file manager is based on GNOME Files

X-Apps

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Xed v1.2.2

In 2016,[11] Cinnamon started to use X-Apps,[12] which are a collection of applications developed by the Linux Mint team as an alternative to GNOME Core Applications but intended to work across different GTK-based desktop environments such as but not limited to Cinnamon, Budgie, Pantheon, Unity, MATE, and XFCE; most of these applications have a traditional user interface (UI), for example, using a menu bar instead of a header-bar.[13][14] The Linux Mint team is currently in the process of transitioning development for X-Apps applications from being part of the Linux Mint development process to being a completely independent project.[15] Most of them are forks of GNOME Core Applications:

Features

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Features provided by Cinnamon include[6]

  • Desktop effects, including animations, transition effects and transparency using composition;
  • Panels equipped with a main menu, launchers, a window list and the system tray can be adjusted on left, right, upper or lower edge of the screen
  • Various extensions;
  • Applets that appear on the panel
  • Overview with functions similar to that in GNOME Shell; and
  • Settings editor for easy customization. It can customize:
    • The panel
    • The calendar
    • Themes
    • Desktop effects
    • Applets
    • Actions
    • Extensions
  • Volume and brightness adjustment using scroll wheel while pointing at the respective taskbar icon.
  • Hot corners on the screen

As of 4 December 2024, there is no official documentation for Cinnamon itself.[17] The 2016 documentation for the Cinnamon edition of Linux Mint does have a small chapter on the Cinnamon desktop.[18]

Extensibility

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Screenshot of a customized Cinnamon desktop

Cinnamon can be modified by themes, applets, desklets, actions, and extensions. Themes can customize the look of aspects of Cinnamon, including but not limited to the menu, panel, calendar and run dialog. Applets are icons or texts that appear on the panel. Five applets are shipped by default, and developers are free to create their own. A tutorial for creating simple applets is available.[19] Desklets are miniature applications that one can place and run on the desktop, providing quick access to information and functionality. Actions are tasks that can be executed from the context menu of the Nemo file manager. Extensions can modify the functionalities of Cinnamon, such as providing an alternative menu to launch applications or altering the look of the Alt+Tab ↹ window switcher.

Users can find themes, applets, desklets, actions, and extensions from Cinnamon Spices,[20] the official repository where developers can share their creations for users to download and rate.[21]

Overview mode

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New overview modes have been added to Cinnamon 1.4. These two modes are "Expo" and "Scale", which can be configured in Cinnamon Settings.[22]

Adoption

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Distribution Since version Since date Officially supported Notes
Arch Linux[23] 2013-01-31 Yes Also available for EndeavourOS, which uses Arch repositories.
Artix 2019-08-16 Yes
Rocky Linux 8.3 2015-05-01 Yes
Debian 7 2012-07-04 Yes
Fedora Linux 18 2012-07-20 Yes Cinnamon is available as a spin or is available in the Fedora repositories.[24]
FreeBSD[25] 10.2 2014-11-19 Yes
Gentoo Linux 2012-01-10 Yes
Linux Mint

13 (Ubuntu-based release)[5]
1 (LMDE)[26]

2011-12-20 Yes The Cinnamon desktop environment has been included and available in Linux Mint since version 13 in May 2012.
Mageia[27] 4 2012-11-23 Yes
Manjaro Linux 18.0 2018-06-06 Yes

Manjaro now officially supports Cinnamon besides Xfce, KDE Plasma 5, and GNOME.

Manjaro Community Editions are maintained by members of the Manjaro community, they offer additional user interfaces over the official releases, including Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin,[28] i3, MATE, and Sway.[29]

OpenMandriva 2013.0 2013-01-07 Yes
openSUSE[30] 12.3 2012-09-07 Yes
Pardus 2013 2012-07-04 Yes
Ubuntu[31]

19.10 (Ubuntu Cinnamon)
23.04 (Ubuntu Cinnamon as an official flavor)[32]

2019-12-04 (Ubuntu Cinnamon) Yes Ubuntu Cinnamon is an official Ubuntu derivative that utilizes the Cinnamon desktop environment.[33][32]
Void Linux 2012-08-09 Yes

Reception

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In their review of Linux Mint 17, Ars Technica described Cinnamon 2.2 as "being perhaps the most user-friendly and all-around useful desktop available on any platform."[34]

In their review of Linux Mint 18, ZDNet said "You can turn the Linux Mint Cinnamon desktop into the desktop of your dreams."[35]

In their review of Linux Mint 22, It's FOSS praised Cinnamon 6.0 by stating "Linux Mint complements its name as a refreshing offering in the world of Linux distributions. It does not fail to provide useful features while trying to add modern components to the desktop experience."[36]

[edit]
  • Cinnamon 4.0 Menu showing on Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa.
    Cinnamon 4.0 Menu showing on Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa.
  • Cinnamon 1.6 showing an Alt-Tab thumbnails and window previews.
    Cinnamon 1.6 showing an Alt-Tab thumbnails and window previews.
  • Cinnamon 1.6 showing a Notification Applet.
    Cinnamon 1.6 showing a Notification Applet.
  • Cinnamon 1.6 showing a Workspace OSD.
    Cinnamon 1.6 showing a Workspace OSD.
  • Cinnamon Control Center in Cinnamon 4.0.10
    Cinnamon Control Center in Cinnamon 4.0.10
  • Demonstration of Cinnamon running on LMDE 6

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "6.4.1". 2 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  2. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (26 December 2011). "Linux Mint's Cinnamon: A GNOME 3.x shell fork". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014.
  3. ^ Lefebvre, Clement (25 March 2012). "LMDE Update Pack 4 and alternatives to Gnome 2". The Linux Mint Blog. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012.
  4. ^ Noyes, Katherine (1 February 2012). "Meet Linux Mint 12 'Lisa': A Tour in Pictures". PCWorld. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b Lefebvre, Clement (2 January 2012). "Introducing Cinnamon". The Linux Mint Blog. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012.
  6. ^ a b Lefebvre, Clement (23 January 2012). "Cinnamon 1.2 released". cinnamon.linuxmint.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Linux Mint team forks Nautilus - The H Open: News and Features". www.h-online.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  8. ^ Rudra, Sourav (30 November 2023). "Cinnamon 6.0 Release Debuts Experimental Wayland Support!". ItsFoss. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.
  9. ^ Nestor, Marius (16 June 2024). "Cinnamon 6.2 Desktop Environment Released, Here's What's New". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  10. ^ "6.4.0 · linuxmint/cinnamon@d14b2f2". GitHub. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Linux Mint XApps: Present and Future". www.linkedin.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  12. ^ "New features in Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon". Linux Mint. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  13. ^ Stahie, Silviu (28 January 2016). "Linux Mint Is Getting Its Own Apps Starting with the 18.x Branch". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  14. ^ Nestor, Marius (3 February 2016). "Linux Mint Devs Showcase the First Two X-Apps for Linux Mint 18 "Sarah"". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  15. ^ "Linux Mint XApps: Present and Future". www.linkedin.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  16. ^ linuxmint/timeshift, Linux Mint, 25 January 2024, archived from the original on 25 January 2024, retrieved 25 January 2024
  17. ^ "Cinnamon 1.4 (GNOME Shell Fork)". medvim.com. 13 March 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016.
  18. ^ "User guides for Linux Mint, Cinnamon edition, many languages and versions". linuxmint.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  19. ^ Lefebvre, Clement (31 January 2012). "How to make a Cinnamon applet (Force Quit applet tutorial)". cinnamon.linuxmint.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  20. ^ "Cinnamon Spices". Cinnamon Spices. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  21. ^ Lefebvre, Clement (28 January 2012). "New sections for themes, applets and extensions: Cinnamon". cinnamon.linuxmint.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012.
  22. ^ Schürmann, Tim; Kißling, Kristian. "Cinnamon 1.4". Linux Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Cinnamon". ArchWiki. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  24. ^ "Fedora 18 Features Updated User Interfaces and Desktop Environments". Red Hat. 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014.
  25. ^ "The FreeBSD GNOME Project". Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  26. ^ Lefebvre, Clement (5 April 2012). "Update Pack 4 is out!". The Linux Mint Blog. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015.
  27. ^ "Mageia App Db Groups (Graphical desktop)". mageia.madb.org. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  28. ^ Nestor, Marius (28 September 2020). "First Look at Manjaro Deepin Edition: Deepin Beauty Powered by Arch Linux". 9to5Linux. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  29. ^ "Manjaro - Downloads". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  30. ^ "Portal:Cinnamon". openSUSE.org. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  31. ^ "How to install Cinnamon desktop on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux". LinuxConfig.org. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  32. ^ a b "Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" Released!". Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix. 20 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  33. ^ "Meet The New Linux Desktop That Offers A Unique Twist On Ubuntu 19.10". forbes.org. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  34. ^ Gilbertson, Scott (24 June 2014). "Mint 17 is the perfect place for Linux-ers to wait out Ubuntu uncertainty". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  35. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (27 July 2016). "Linux Mint 18: The best desktop -- period". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  36. ^ "Linux Mint 22 Review: Subtle And Impactful Upgrade". It's FOSS. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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