We could say that MiNT is "official" YesCREW's OS :)) 6 out of 8 YesCREW's members use MiNT as main OS!! MiNT has got its bad reputation in its early days when it was quite unstable and AES was slow and bugy. Now MiNT evolves in UNIX like envoirment, with all UNIX benefits like, virtual consoles, UNIX like filesystem and AES at the same time! And, YES, it support PPP! :) There is a lot of newer UNIX applications ported to MiNT as well. All that power also have cost, so more than 4Mb RAM is recommended (especially if u want to run AES together with CLI virtual consoles) and at least 50mb (I reccomend u 100+) partition. I know 30mb is enough, but i strongly recommend that u install FULL setup except X-11 (X-windows). Maybe u think that GCC and MAN pages are un-necessary but believe me, u wont get far without them... And u will want to add some additional UNIX applications to your MiNT setup as well! MiNT may be tricky to install and use for people who aren't used to UNIX, so i decided to write a few hints:
First, u must get MiNT .)) The best MiNT distribution is still KGMD. U may get it here. KGMD is rather old distribution but with few updates its OK! Next i warmly recommend u KEMD, which is just KGMD docs and install program translated in English. KEMD also explain u some of MiNT/UNIX stuff. KEMD Rev.2 was translated and compiled by Kellis and u may get it here. All u must be carefull with installation is, that u copy ALL files including install program in ONE directory which MUSTN'T BE ON DRIVE designated for MiNT! It seems lame, but ppl actually do that, mainly because of install docs (German). As soon u install KGMD check the /usr/docs/mint/ folder... There are MiNT docs, then mint.cnf help etc..... And please READ all KGMD or KEMD docs FIRST... I know they are pain in the ass, but that will save u lotsa nerves, believe me, i'we been there ;)). After succesfull KGMD installation u should install MiNTNet 1.03 package as well. That is lates version of MiNT Net and its much better than KGMD's one.. U may get it here.
But now there is NEW distribution on the way.. It is RPM based, what means easy installing and uninstalling of distribution or software packages! It is still not finished, some important parts are missing, like gcc, perl, init suite.. but don't worrym ppl behind are serious :) (Frank Naumann and Guido Flohr). U may check SpareMiNT HERE!
Here u may get latest revision of MiNT docs in PAP (Papyrus) format... Docs were revised by Draco. (U may get Papyrus demo HERE.)
Because KGMD is outdated and new MiNT users are not used to fiddle with UNIX filesystem structure, and tar and gzip archivers etc.... i decided to compile some of "most wanted" programs and make "easy to install" package...I named them YesTOOLS. But i only gather them and make them easier to install, i didn't wrote them. they were written and ported to MiNT by other enthusiasts! OK, u must be logged as root (root is kinda "god" in UNIX systems, do all of your system mainentance as root, and work as "normal" user) and copy YesTOOLS.tar in your home dir. Unpack it with "tar xvf YesTOOLS.tar" (note: if u will copy YesTOOLS.tar from TOS partition, name will be lowercase!) and read docs! After that just add /usr/local/bin to your PATH variable... And use /usr/local/ directory for all apps u will add to your MiNT setup.
I hope that will help u with decision to install MiNT and with installation itself! For any question or if u have suggestions which apps we should port to MiNT, u may search me (SWE) on IRC #atariscne or email me. Don't hesitate we will help if we will be able to!
To make installation of additional applications as easy as possible, espacialy for begginers, we put together:
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