14 DAY TRIAL // The Linux Mint team has just announced that the OEM images for Linux Mint 17.3 “Rosa” Cinnamon and MATE have been released and are now available for download.
Linux Mint is one of the few distributions that have both regular and OEM images, which can be a little bit confusing for users. These images are not aimed at ordinary people, who need to stick with the normal channels.
The OEM version of Linux Mint is for computer vendors and manufacturers. This Linux distribution is implemented by default in some computers, and you can actually buy a PC with Linux Mint pre-installed. This opens up a problem because the person who installed the OS in not the same person who is going to use it. Linux users value their privacy and security, so the developers need to make some adjustments.
Linux Mint 17.3 “Rosa” for OEM is out
Besides the OEM images that have a tool that allows users to choose the user's name and the password for their account, the team also provides special images that don’t have any kind of codecs installed and that are for magazines and distributors.
“OEM images are for computer vendors and manufacturers. They allow Linux Mint to be 'pre-installed' on a machine that is then used by another person than the one who performed the installation. After an OEM installation, the computer is set in such a way that the next reboot features a small setup screen where the new user/customer has the ability to choose his/her username, password, keyboard layout and locale,” Clem Lefebvre, the leader of the Linux Mint project, writes on the official blog.
Even if the OEM images are built for a specific purpose, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use them. For example, you can use these images to install the distribution on a computer for a friend if you want to make sure that they can also choose their own password and username.
You can download the OEM editions of Linux Mint 17.3 “Rosa” from Softpedia.