I noticed something neat in Mint...

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KGIII

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I fell asleep with a laptop literally in my lap. I do this sort of thing with some regularity. Man, there are some strange settings that get found when I'm sleeping.

Anyhow, this isn't enough information to make an article or anything - and it's not something obvious.

My application menu was shaped funny. It was out of proportion, longer than it was high. I checked in the preferences and there was nothing amiss. So, I tried dragging it. Sure enough...

Open your menu by clicking on it. In the upper right, your cursor will change when you approach the exact corner. At that point, you can drag the application menu into any size you want.

For example:

Menu_001.png


I figured it's not obvious, so not everyone will know that they can do this.

It's also not long enough for an article. Well, maybe a very short article.
 


My Cinnamon doesn't do that, perhaps is too old
 
Last edited:
Terminal Velocity said:
My Cinnamon doesn't do that, perhaps is too old
Click to expand...

Hmm... You drag from the upper right corner and the cursor will change. So, open the menu and then mouse over the upper right corner and you might see it.

Otherwise, you might be right and it's not a feature for you due to age.

As I just discovered this, I have no idea how long it has been a feature. I've never tried dragging the menu before, but it's the same process as resizing other windows.

On further investigation, I can drag to the right (and left) and straight up. The corner isn't required.

I'm using the most-current version of Linux Mint on this device.

it's a little tiny thing that looks like this:

Menu_002.png
 
My installation is of 2021 and I use the old version of Debian (11) I don't think the desktop environment ever updated during that time, it's a new feature, a nice one
 
Terminal Velocity said:
My installation is of 2021 and I use the old version of Debian (11) I don't think the desktop environment ever updated during that time, it's a new feature, a nice one
Click to expand...

I agree. It's a neat feature. I don't think I've ever tried it on other DEs. I'm not even sure what made me try it on this one. I didn't expect it to work until I saw the cursor change.

Hmm... This might actually be enough for an article, as it seems people use some other method to resize the menu. I looked for that other method and didn't find it so I tried dragging it and it worked. Maybe the old way has been deprecated.

I'm speculating. I have no idea as I have no data.
 
This does not work for the Menu in Mint Cinnamon 21.1 but works for everything else...folders...vlc...documents etc.

In each corner the mouse changes to a black V with a different coloured triangle just behind it for each corner.
m1213.gif
 
bob466 said:
This does not work for the Menu in Mint Cinnamon 21.1 but works for everything else...folders...vlc...documents etc.
Click to expand...

I'm on 21.2.

So far, the very little data suggests that this is something new.
 
I know this is a feature the XFCE "Whisker" menu has had for some time. I remember being able to do this in an install of X-Slacko I was running all the way back in 2015 ( a Slackware-based Puppy - based on 14.0, as I recall - and running the XFCE DE. Some Puppians DO prefer summat other than ROX+JWM...!)

One recent member has even got the Enlightenment desktop running under, what? I think it was BookwormPup.....but don't quote me on that. (I'm a bit of an old "stick-in-the-mud" according to some; I'm a Puppy traditionalist, and prefer the older-style Pups. I only tend to upgrade to newer stuff when I'm forced to; I'm NOT one of these who has to jump on everything new the instant it appears..!)

Stability & familiarity count for a LOT, where I'm concerned.


Mike. :p
 
Works here also even though I use Cinnamenu instead of the default. 21.2, Isn't Mint a great distro :)
 
MikeWalsh said:
I know this is a feature the XFCE "Whisker" menu has had for some time.
Click to expand...

I haven't used XFCE for a while. It's not a terrible DE.

kc1di said:
Isn't Mint a great distro :)
Click to expand...

It is! It's very polished and full of features.

I'm still a diehard Lubuntu user, but Mint is the only other distro I use on a regular basis. I'm not a fan of the folks behind it necessarily, but it's a solid distro.
 
Works on my Gecko Cinnamon with Cinnamon v5.8.4 - I'll have a look around.

BTW there is a limit to how far you can drag the handles, I'll take a screenshot.

I was unaware of this feature too, David, ta.

Wiz
 
wizardfromoz said:
Works on my Gecko Cinnamon with Cinnamon v5.8.4 - I'll have a look around.
Click to expand...

Just took a look, through DistroWatch at the package list for Victoria

cinnamon 5.8.4+victoria

so that accounts for it with my Gecko.

This is also where Rolling Releases come into their own.

I have just checked and I also have the feature on

Manjaro Cinnamon
Arcolinux Cinnamon
Garuda
CLDC23 (Calculate Linux Desktop Cinnamon)

That Manjaro Cinnamon is v17.11 - I have had it 6 years

wizardfromoz said:
I'll take a screenshot.
Click to expand...

Minimum size below

HEHp8wy.png


and the maximum size is

VmNzNS2.png


Cheers

Wizard
 
It's Cinnamon feature, Cinnamon DE is developed by the Folks at Mint. So it a Mint thing to begin with :)
 
Works on LMDE cinnamon [Cinnamon v: 5.8.4]
 
wizardfromoz said:
Just took a look, through DistroWatch at the package list for Victoria

cinnamon 5.8.4+victoria

so that accounts for it with my Gecko.

This is also where Rolling Releases come into their own.

I have just checked and I also have the feature on

Manjaro Cinnamon
Arcolinux Cinnamon
Garuda
CLDC23 (Calculate Linux Desktop Cinnamon)

That Manjaro Cinnamon is v17.11 - I have had it 6 years



Minimum size below

HEHp8wy.png


and the maximum size is

VmNzNS2.png


Cheers

Wizard
Click to expand...
Hello Wiz,
I just spent about 30 minutes to download LM Cinnamon 21.2 from Distrowatch, burn it to a 16 gig flashdisk, and use it in live mode on my ASUS test laptop. It works exactly as your screenies show.
Just like a kid in a candy store - something new to excited about.
I started with Linux Mint and have tried about 20 other distros along the way; but LM is my daily driver.
For the average computer user, I believe LM is the easiest to transition to from Windows. {Don't know about Apple, as I was a Windows guy from 1994 until around 2017 when I got into Linux.}
Many thanks for @KGIII falling asleep!!! Keep up the good work, man. {I mean napping} LOL.
OG
PS Installing the Cinn version on my ASUS lappie just finished. So, the complete process took about 53 minutes.
 
KGIII said:
Open your menu by clicking on it. In the upper right, your cursor will change when you approach the exact corner. At that point, you can drag the application menu into any size you want.
Click to expand...
Nice... thanks! :)

I also only recently learned that Linux Mint Cinnamon has an "automation" option in their Update Manager. I think it came out in the previous Mint, version 20, but I missed it. If I understand correctly, it uses your credentials provided at login to also initiate the update process. Seems like a brilliantly simple idea to help keep people more secure... especially lazy people, like me. Maybe other Linux users have already been doing this with startup scripts, or cron.

And it seems to work pretty well so far. A couple of times I've seen the Update icon appear in the systray and I have clicked it to start updates. But mostly now I just jump to a terminal and check for updates, and I always find it already up to date. Cool. :cool:
 
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