On Mint 21 it works out of the box (using RLT-SDR). A very nice and intuitive program even laypersons can use.
The software is OK and has all functions for a basic SDR Receiver. As there are not many alternatives in the Mint repositories, it is OK to use. Installing GQRX on Linux Mint 17.1 is a pain, if you use a USB TV dongle with RTL 2838U. Software will only start after blacklisting a kernel module.