Grins. This is what I am posting from

http://postmyimage.com/img2/498_scree.jpg


Came out of the trash also.

No one?

Steam?

Geany: http://www.geany.org/

thx dude and Ngib!

Could you clarify, I read INCREASE of 200-400MB (meaning, what it used before, PLUS now using 200/400MB MORE), or did you mean USING 200MB and 400MB respectively? I know what it says, but I just want to make sure.

I had been wondering what the minimum system requirements of Pinguy are. By their description, it looks very much like a Mint, with even more stuff piled into to, so I doubt it would need only 200MB. According to their website, minimum system requirements seem to be a trade secret, because they are nowhere to be found. (pinguyos.com)

Obviously. But for most people it is the case. They like their new computer, the way it works, how all the controls (brightness etc) integrate well with their hardware, and how everything runs fast and smooth without a glitch. The average Joe doesn't set out to install Linux on a new box in that state. It's just a reality.
For example, myself: I need a machine to run AutoCAD, inventor, fusion360, and MetaTrader, and that won't happen on Linux or Mac. I bought a Win8 laptop and, after using it for a bit, returned it for a Win7 laptop. Linux sits only on my other devices that don't need to run those software programs. But when that machine gets outdated and can no longer perform it's function well, I will get something to replace it, with Windoze also, and the machine being replaced will get Linux. That is the computer's circle of life for many.

I do believe that they define Linux - at least, Linux on the desktop, and they do it quite well, or they wouldn't be the two most used distributions. (OK, Android blows everything out of the water in sheer numbers of users, obviously, as an ideal Linux for appliances like phones and tablets.) And they got there for a reason: they improved it until the masses were satisfied with it. (...but according to some posts I'm reading, Mint has suffered a setback in stability lately, is that correct?)

For reviving old machine: try puppy wary. Or if not THAT old you could try some other puppy variant.
I run Lucid Puppy for some years, and quite liked it, but there were stuff that I couldn't get in it, and so I changed when my old MoBo went "boom".

About the use as appliance: a lot of people want to use computer for e-mails, social media, TV, radio, photos, streaming video and as a CD/DVD-player plus as a game console. And not much else.

I noticed some other issue. While i'm a big fan of the Cinnamon desktop environment, i noticed with Mint 17 that my system turns really slow with Cinnamon. No problems with Mate regarding to (system) speed and reaction. Another point is that Cinnamon is really memory consuming. After installing a fresh/clean copy of Mint+Cinnamon i started to notice that the memory consumption of Cinnamon started to grow. At initial installation it was below 200mb, after 24-hours up and running the memory consumption grew over 700-800 mb! This was noticeable, system respond time was low, opening menu was slow, couldn't run several programs at the same time, system freezes. With Mint17+MATE i don't have these kind of issues. Up till Mint 16 my system could handle Cinnamon, now it looks like it going the same way as KDE. Cinnamon for high-end systems only... Too bad, Cinnamon is really great as a desktop environment....

With free software, the community has a responsibility as much as the developers:
this is not normal.

Please file a bug report, to help them work on that and improve Mint.

Puppy is just too weird and quirky! I tried all those. That is so 1990s.

Wattos is Ubuntu based is designed for old kit
http://www.planetwatt.com/

I reported it a few times. Nothing happened with it.... it was even recognized as a bug!

a few? do you mean in several places, or in the proper place?
they have a bug tracker system, right? (like ubuntu has)