The Linux Mint Blog

We received donations from 730 people in December and 695 in January. I have to tell you it’s a real pleasure to see these numbers, especially after a release. Aside from helping us financially this is a huge motivational boost for everyone involved. I like to imagine 700 people in a room with smiles on their face who came just because they enjoyed what we worked on. We all contributed something in the team, whether it’s a performance improvement in Cinnamon, a new desktop utility tool, a system fix, an idea… we had fun and we made a lot of people happy, and that is a fantastic feeling. Many thanks to you all for your donations and for your support.

As you know Linux Mint 20.3 is out and it was the last 20.x release. The next development cycle comes with a fair share of ideas and exciting new features, but also some really ambitious items when it comes to the foundations and the technology we’re using under the hood. For instance, we’re currently working on rebasing Cinnamon’s window manager and Javascript interpreter on more modern versions of mutter and GJS.

The LMDE project continues. LMDE stands for Linux Mint Debian Edition and consists in making a distribution which is almost identical to Linux Mint but based on Debian instead of Ubuntu. It’s an interesting exercise because it forces us to test the compatibility of our own software stack with Debian and it shows us exactly why and how we rely on Ubuntu and where we find ourselves without it. Ubuntu, as a package base, but also as a set of improvements, additional packages and bug fixes on top of Debian, is a major component of Linux Mint. Although LMDE shows us why Ubuntu is the best alternative for us it also shows us how easy it is to port our work to a different base and how close to Linux Mint that gets us. We work on LMDE primarily for us, to get that information. It is not a priority, certainly not compared to Linux Mint itself, but it is an important project nonetheless.

Work on LMDE 5 started early in January. LMDE 4 was already on par with the Mint, Xapp and Cinnamon stacks featured in 20.2. The patches we apply to Ubuntu were ported over and the stacks were upgraded to what was published in 20.3. The result is a little bit underwhelming because it just looks and feels like Linux Mint 20.3. Under the surface though it features a Debian 11 base which software is more recent than Ubuntu 20.04 and which gives us a preview of some of the challenges we’ll face in Linux Mint 21. It helps us prepare for that next version.

In terms of release we’re close to BETA. All the backports and packages are ready. The LMDE 5 ISO image boots and installs fine. There are no critical issues on the horizon.

We identified a small list of bugs we want to get fixed before it reaches QA. We might postpone a little bit potentially to add more features to the installer, to look at the upgrade mechanism and the GNOME screenshot utility (which regressed significantly upstream between 3.36 and 3.38). Other than that things look pretty good, we’ll definitely have a BETA this month.

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Gold Sponsors: Silver Sponsors:

Bronze Sponsors:

Donations in December:

A total of $21,677 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 730 donors:

$500, Gabriel C.
$300 (6th donation), Mikhail Chabanov
$238 (2nd donation), Dr. Andreas G.
$216 (5th donation), Marcus H.
$216, Johannes J.
$200 (28th donation), Ralph Siegler aka “ziggy“
$200 (2nd donation), William S.
$162, George K.
$129, Mathias H.
$108 (4th donation), Roland L.
$108 (3rd donation), Enric Pastor
$108 (2nd donation), Matthias H.
$108, Edith H.
$108, Matthijs S.
$108, Andreas V.
$108, Heinz S.
$108, Julien C.
$100 (33rd donation), Fast Junkie
$100 (9th donation), Timothy P.
$100 (8th donation), James P. aka “Retired IT”
$100 (6th donation), Jean P. R.
$100 (5th donation), Walter K.
$100 (3rd donation), Konrad W.
$100 (3rd donation), Dan R.
$100 (2nd donation), Harold B.
$100 (2nd donation), Mike H.
$100, HPN
$100, P F H.
$100, David S.
$100, Bill E.
$84, Antonio B.
$54 (14th donation), Heiko P. aka “CyCroN“
$54 (8th donation), Frank M. aka “Bullet64“
$54 (8th donation), Bernard H.
$54 (7th donation), Ian H White.
$54 (7th donation), Ian M.
$54 (5th donation), Volker P.
$54 (4th donation), Bruce J.
$54 (4th donation), Marcin G.
$54 (4th donation), Dan
$54 (2nd donation), Oswald W.
$54 (2nd donation), Kees K.
$54 (2nd donation), Michael K.
$54 (2nd donation), Albert-jozef P.
$54 (2nd donation), Chistoph B.
$54 (2nd donation), Carsten M.
$54 (2nd donation), Joannes G.
$54 (2nd donation), Felix C.
$54 (2nd donation), Benedikt H.
$54 (2nd donation), Sebastien K.
$54 (2nd donation), Isabell C.
$54 (2nd donation), Daniel M.
$54, Pilato R.
$54, Alessandro B.
$54, Luís Tiago F.
$54, Reiner Z.
$54, Herbert H.
$54, Joerg B.
$54, Marco B.
$54, Mark B.
$54, Heide R.
$54, Reinhold S.
$54, Ulrich M.
$54, Walter M.
$54, Andreas W. aka “Andreas811”
$54, Neil B.
$54, Mathieu O.
$54, Peter G.
$50 (56th donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (18th donation), Geoff P
$50 (14th donation), Alfred H. aka “Varmint Al“
$50 (12th donation), Douglas J.
$50 (8th donation), Christophe Caillé aka “KKY”
$50 (7th donation), Michael T.
$50 (6th donation), Ariel Juodziukynas
$50 (5th donation), Enzo P aka “Nonno Enzo”
$50 (5th donation), Nathaniel B.
$50 (4th donation), Kyle S.
$50 (4th donation), Harry M.
$50 (4th donation), Michael C.
$50 (4th donation), Karl B.
$50 (4th donation), Winston M.
$50 (3rd donation), Frank F.
$50 (3rd donation), Sherwood O.
$50 (3rd donation), Andras Papai aka “Bitfarago”
$50 (3rd donation), Scott M.
$50 (3rd donation), Harry Fine Paralegal Services
$50 (3rd donation), Michael S.
$50 (3rd donation), Hanzo21
$50 (3rd donation), Robert D. aka “MacDhai“
$50 (3rd donation), Herman B.
$50 (3rd donation), Adam W.
$50 (3rd donation), William M.
$50 (2nd donation), Linden R.
$50 (2nd donation), Warren A.
$50 (2nd donation), Rajesh K.
$50 (2nd donation), P D.
$50 (2nd donation), John B.
$50 (2nd donation), Christian H.
$50 (2nd donation), Harvey U.
$50, Ian F.
$50, David D.
$50, William B.
$50, Charles C.
$50, Steven P.
$50, Charles W.
$50, Timothy C.
$50, JUSKO HOLDINGS
$50, Robert T.
$50, Wesley L.
$50, Douglas B.
$50, Nick K.
$50, Mark K.
$50, TWEB Inc
$50, Robert S.
$50, Darren S.
$50, William M.
$50, Kerry C.
$50, Wade L.
$50, Martin B.
$50, Tony A.
$50, Leon J E.
$49 (7th donation), Alexey T.
$43 (141th donation), Olli K.
$43 (3rd donation), Olaf K.
$43 (3rd donation), Ulrich W.
$43, shiv
$43, Huiquan Z.
$42, Lawson G.
$40 (15th donation), Vladimir Litvinenko
$40 (8th donation), Robert T.
$40 (4th donation), Andrew W.
$36 (19th donation), Ted S.
$36 (17th donation), Tsatsorin E. aka “Eugene713“
$36 (3rd donation), Vasiliy B.
$35 (13th donation), Real F.
$35 (5th donation), Silvio H.
$34, Lapointe A.
$32 (9th donation), Lars-gunnar S.
$32 (6th donation), Andrew L.
$32 (5th donation), Harry F.
$32 (5th donation), Francesc M. C.
$32 (3rd donation), Gerardo A. M.
$32 (3rd donation), erwn16 aka “erwn”
$32 (3rd donation), Bernard R. aka “Beer4661”
$32 (3rd donation), Jürgen H.
$32 (2nd donation), Günther H.
$32, Mihai G.
$32, Nello G.
$32, Andreas M.
$30 (19th donation), Kevin S.
$30 (4th donation), Andrew C.
$30 (4th donation), Larry B.
$30 (4th donation), Ken S. aka “knucklehead”
$30 (3rd donation), Al B.
$30 (2nd donation), Moses R.
$30 (2nd donation), Leslie R.
$30 (2nd donation), Jay H.
$30 (2nd donation), Erik
$30, Glenn M.
$30, Harry S.
$27 (19th donation), Joachim M.
$27 (17th donation), John K.
$27 (4th donation), John B.
$27 (4th donation), Olaf Bousche aka “Bushman”
$27 (3rd donation), Ralf S.
$27, Simon L.
$27, Luis R.
$27, Trevor C.
$27, Richard T.
$25 (15th donation), Antoine T.
$25 (11th donation), Linux Mint Sverige
$25 (7th donation), Richard N.
$25 (6th donation), John T.
$25 (5th donation), Derek B.
$25 (4th donation), Peter T.
$25 (3rd donation), Steven V.
$25 (2nd donation), Kevin D.
$25 (2nd donation), Benoit F.
$25 (2nd donation), Donald L.
$25 (2nd donation), Matthew T.
$25, Pradeep Sreedharan
$25, Claudio Kuenzler
$25, Paul S.
$25, Tim S.
$25, Anon
$24 (5th donation), Richard L. F.
$23 (65th donation), Johann J.
$22 (20th donation), Peter E.
$22 (17th donation), Per J.
$22 (13th donation), Teobaldo D.
$22 (12th donation), Janne S.
$22 (10th donation), Brandon W.
$22 (10th donation), Bjarne K.
$22 (9th donation), Florent G.
$22 (8th donation), Gabriele Bandini aka “GiBi Gab“
$22 (8th donation), Dirk M.
$22 (7th donation), Florin aka “~FLOW~”
$22 (6th donation), Jose A. V.
$22 (6th donation), David M. D.
$22 (6th donation), Ciaran M.
$22 (6th donation), Jürgen F.
$22 (6th donation), Laurent G.
$22 (5th donation), Marco P.
$22 (5th donation), Vytautas M.
$22 (5th donation), Stefan Becker aka “Appeltaler”
$22 (5th donation), Tom S.
$22 (5th donation), Holger B.
$22 (4th donation), Bruce I.
$22 (4th donation), Valentin F.
$22 (4th donation), Divoto
$22 (4th donation), Stefan P.
$22 (4th donation), Jürgen B.
$22 (3rd donation), K. S. .
$22 (3rd donation), David M.
$22 (3rd donation), Giovanni D. S. aka “ChibiOS“
$22 (3rd donation), Michal Bořek aka “mibo”
$22 (3rd donation), Klaus B.
$22 (3rd donation), Jonathan P.
$22 (3rd donation), Wouter W.
$22 (3rd donation), Peter L. aka “Pedro“
$22 (3rd donation), Daniel H.
$22 (2nd donation), Mischa L.
$22 (2nd donation), Mike A. aka “peppermint86”
$22 (2nd donation), Nuno G.
$22 (2nd donation), Mario K.
$22 (2nd donation), David P.
$22 (2nd donation), John R.
$22 (2nd donation), Norbert M.
$22 (2nd donation), Antonio D.
$22 (2nd donation), Edelbert L.
$22 (2nd donation), Mark A.
$22 (2nd donation), Florian B.
$22 (2nd donation), Ugo J.
$22 (2nd donation), John L.
$22 (2nd donation), John Baines
$22, Roman P.
$22, Heike K.
$22, Daniel L.
$22, Uwe P.
$22, Pascal L.
$22, Jarosz
$22, Hervé R.
$22, Carsten D.
$22, Horst Pentke
$22, Carlos A.
$22, Luka G.
$22, Andreas M. aka “AnMe2k22”
$22, Vasil B.
$22, Nard J.
$22, Max Eitel R.
$22, Joerg S.
$22, Matic M.
$22, Scott D.
$22, Laurence N.
$22, Birger S.
$22, Malcolm C.
$22, Carsten T.
$22, Alfred M.
$22, Trajche M.
$22, Grzegorz W.
$22, Antje W.
$22, Steven H.
$22, Timon K.
$22, Stefan M.
$22, Adalbert K.
$22, Claudio B.
$22, Ralf S.
$22, Andrew B.
$22, Steffen J.
$22, Daniel K.
$22, Ezequiel O.
$22, Axel B.
$22, Norbert U.
$22, Ettore G. aka “Hanamigi”
$22, Antonio P.
$22, zzzzzzzzz .
$22, Jean-paul D.
$22, E B
$22, Matthew J.
$22, Noel L.
$22, Ivan D.
$22, Frank B.
$22,
$22, Alexander P.
$22, Brian D.
$22, Simon O.
$22, Stanislav B.
$20 (59th donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan “
$20 (41th donation), Bryan F.
$20 (37th donation), Stefan M. H.
$20 (18th donation), Ke C.
$20 (16th donation), Nigel B.
$20 (16th donation), François P.
$20 (14th donation), George R. aka “Az4x4”
$20 (13th donation), Dylan B.
$20 (11th donation), Jon G.
$20 (9th donation), Joao Kodama
$20 (7th donation), Richard L.
$20 (7th donation), Bruce N.
$20 (6th donation), Don S.
$20 (6th donation), Henrik Hemrin
$20 (6th donation), Pablo L. aka “LAFO”
$20 (5th donation), Marek M.
$20 (5th donation), Robert J.
$20 (5th donation), Lupe A.
$20 (5th donation), Edward F.
$20 (5th donation), Lennart J.
$20 (4th donation), J M. H. C.
$20 (4th donation), Michael A C.
$20 (4th donation), Richard H.
$20 (4th donation), Stacey B.
$20 (4th donation), Lynn H.
$20 (3rd donation), Kurt K.
$20 (3rd donation), William B.
$20 (3rd donation), Bruce C.
$20 (3rd donation), Quietguy B.
$20 (3rd donation), Stelian S.
$20 (3rd donation), Brian H.
$20 (3rd donation), Wladyslaw T.
$20 (3rd donation), Eric M.
$20 (3rd donation), Oscar B.
$20 (3rd donation), Alfredo O.
$20 (3rd donation), J. S. .
$20 (2nd donation), Chris P.
$20 (2nd donation), Dismas S. aka “Dismas”
$20 (2nd donation), Greg M.
$20 (2nd donation), Daniel C.
$20 (2nd donation), Sylvain M.
$20 (2nd donation), Nicholas M.
$20 (2nd donation), Peter D.
$20 (2nd donation), Royle J.
$20 (2nd donation), Jeremy S.
$20 (2nd donation), Daniel C. aka “comcroa”
$20 (2nd donation), Terrence F.
$20 (2nd donation), Mark R.
$20 (2nd donation), Donald O.
$20 (2nd donation), Rodney Mc B.
$20 (2nd donation), Byron D.
$20 (2nd donation), Steven M.
$20 (2nd donation), Thank you Linux Mint
$20 (2nd donation), Roger H.
$20 (2nd donation), Peter B.
$20, Wyman B.
$20, Zac C.
$20, Ruari O.
$20, Lance B
$20, David N.
$20, Darryl S.
$20, Geoff A.
$20, David B.
$20, Dr W Andrew C S.
$20, PAA aka “PaulAndrewAnderson.org“
$20, Ihor P.
$20, Sharlene T.
$20, Halcan Inc
$20, Keith A.
$20, Jose Luis I.
$20, Micheal M.
$20, Peter S.
$20, Lawrence K.
$20, John N.
$20, Jorj S.
$20, Mike R.
$20, Aleksander P.
$20, Victor E.
$20, Neil Reymond G.
$16 (59th donation), Andreas S.
$16 (4th donation), Christian F.
$16 (4th donation), Sebastian M.
$16 (3rd donation), Reidar S.
$16 (3rd donation), Yann D.
$16 (2nd donation), Samuel B.
$15 (14th donation), Constantin M.
$15 (11th donation), A. Ruzhnikov aka “aruzhnikov”
$15 (4th donation), Luc C.
$15, Michael C.
$15, Ted A.
$15, Bernard S E.
$15, Alain V.
$14 (7th donation), Mirko A.
$14 (2nd donation), zzzzzzzzzz .
$14, Leopold S.
$14, Arthur H.
$13 (5th donation), Brian H.
$13 (5th donation), Thorsten K.
$12 (2nd donation), Oliver E.
$12 (2nd donation), John W.
$11 (17th donation), Raymond M. (retired)
$11 (13th donation), Abdulkadir H. aka “Askari”
$11 (13th donation), Marc V. K.
$11 (12th donation), Janne M.
$11 (12th donation), José G. aka “picaso”
$11 (10th donation), Davide A.
$11 (10th donation), JCSenar – linuxirun.com
$11 (10th donation), Marko U.
$11 (9th donation), Gabriele I.
$11 (9th donation), Frank J.
$11 (8th donation), Z. K. .
$11 (7th donation), Karl H.
$11 (7th donation), Jean C. A.
$11 (6th donation), Steuerberatung
$11 (6th donation), Vacances Scolaires
$11 (6th donation), Michael H. S.
$11 (6th donation), Rupert B.
$11 (6th donation), Florian P.
$11 (5th donation), Klaus K.
$11 (5th donation), Wieger W.
$11 (5th donation), Jan S.
$11 (5th donation), Islape
$11 (4th donation), Kent J.
$11 (4th donation), Manuel R.
$11 (4th donation), Ivaylo M.
$11 (4th donation), Alfons B.
$11 (4th donation), Dieter R.
$11 (4th donation), Björn H.
$11 (4th donation), www.malina314.com
$11 (3rd donation), Eduardo K.
$11 (3rd donation), Alexander M.
$11 (3rd donation), Lukas W.
$11 (3rd donation), Juan Carlos aka “Ehuntabi”
$11 (3rd donation), Marco Z.
$11 (3rd donation), Bruce M.
$11 (3rd donation), Gian Marco F. aka “Gmf_77”
$11 (3rd donation), wieczniezielony
$11 (3rd donation), António S.
$11 (3rd donation), Michal
$11 (3rd donation), Tristan V.
$11 (2nd donation), Time Will Tell
$11 (2nd donation), Markus B.
$11 (2nd donation), Giorgio C.
$11 (2nd donation), Harry W.
$11 (2nd donation), Maurizio Giacobbe aka “maurizioweb“
$11 (2nd donation), Adam P.
$11 (2nd donation), Vicente G.
$11 (2nd donation), Beniamin P.
$11 (2nd donation), Bjørn A. F.
$11 (2nd donation), Jaroslav J.
$11 (2nd donation), Antonio R.
$11 (2nd donation), Denis S.
$11, Yianis K.
$11, Hexagonal Basalt
$11, Luca P.
$11, Aziz Utku O.
$11, Heikki T.
$11, Calin M.
$11, Erich B.
$11, Anastasia P.
$11, Francesco G.
$11, Bruno G.
$11, Christophe D.
$11, Oliver E.
$11, Alexandru G.
$11, Eduardo H.
$11, Giovanni T.
$11, Gerd S.
$11, Lars O.
$11, Martin H.
$11, Gabriel B.
$11, Tim C.
$11, AndorrÀ S.
$11, Lorenz L.
$11, Sebastian S.
$11, Dietmar B.
$11, Andreas D.
$11, Mateusz S.
$11, Karin Brigitte A.
$11, Leslie B.
$11, Jose Vicente M.
$11, Guybertus J.
$11, Johan V.
$11, Giuliano B.
$11, Phil B.
$11, Ulrich G.
$11, Jean-B. N.
$11, Raymond N.
$11, TRANSLAVOX Tumaczenia Mariusz Listewnik
$11, Jose F.
$11, Giulio A.
$11, Edijs
$11, Patrick S.
$11, Georg G.
$11, Kamil A.
$11, Stefan K.
$11, Christian E.
$11, Aaron L.
$11, Bernat B.
$11, Kirill G.
$11, licherlothi
$11, Jürgen B.
$11, Fabian B.
$11, Maria Lina P.
$11, Dejan D.
$10 (92th donation), Tree Service Kansas City
$10 (86th donation), Tree Removal Raleigh NC
$10 (70th donation), Thomas C.
$10 (64th donation), Frank K.
$10 (64th donation), Fence Baton Rouge
$10 (47th donation), Rick R.
$10 (31st donation), Francois-R L.
$10 (25th donation), Sami Mannila
$10 (22nd donation), Hemant Patel
$10 (19th donation), Carpet Cleaning Winnipeg
$10 (17th donation), Fence Company Raleigh
$10 (17th donation), Philip Woodward
$10 (14th donation), Concrete Contractors Raleigh
$10 (14th donation), Cenacpa.rs
$10 (11th donation), Kenton B.
$10 (10th donation), Owen D.
$10 (10th donation), Dana S.
$10 (9th donation), Peter H.
$10 (8th donation), Minneapolis Commercial Cleaners
$10 (8th donation), Minneapolis Towing and Roadside Assistance
$10 (8th donation), Jorge R.
$10 (8th donation), Harold R.
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$10 (5th donation), Minneapolis Commercial Painting
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$10 (3rd donation), Nathan G. aka “Tree Service near me Bowling Green KY“
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$10, At Your Service Virtual Assistance
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$10, Tapio K.
$10, Roger
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$10, Nolan C.
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$10, Christos V.
$10, Margaret A H.
$10, Peter H.
$10, James C.
$10, Robert P.
$10, Debashis B.
$10, Andrei S.
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$10, José Juan M.
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$10, Brett K.
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$5, CercLL d’Entraide et Réseau Coopératif Autour des Logiciels Libres (LUG of Marseille, FR)
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$5, Matteo B.
$5, Love and Peace aka “4 All!”
$5, Mattia D.
$5, Matthias S.
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$5, Valentin aka “Tin”
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This is a quick announcement to let you know an “Edge” ISO image is now available for Linux Mint 20.3.

This image is made for people whose hardware is too new to boot the 5.4 LTS kernel included in Linux Mint 20.3. It ships with kernel 5.13.0-25 instead.

For information on Edge ISO images visit https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/edge.html.

Yesterday we announced a new partnership with Mozilla and a transition to Mozilla default settings in Firefox 96. If you didn’t read this announcement yet, please visit https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4244.

Today, in preparation for Firefox 96 I want to make one more blog post, this time to talk specifically about technical details and to help people before, through and after the transition.

Firefox 96 is out today but we’ll publish the update on Friday January 14th. This will give everyone a few days to read this post, prepare for the update and get an opportunity to ask questions and seek help before the transition.

Introduction

Impacted releases

This post is relevant for users of Linux Mint 19x, 20, 20.1, 20.2 and LMDE 4.

In Linux Mint 20.3 the transition already took place with Firefox 95 during the BETA (https://github.com/linuxmint/mint20.3-beta/issues/47).

Impacted browsers

Only the repository version of Firefox is impacted.

The flatpak version of Firefox already uses the Mozilla default settings. The Mozilla version (downloaded from their site) obviously also already uses it as well, and so do versions from PPA (ESR or not).

Other browsers are not impacted.

Nature of the changes

If you used Firefox in Windows or other Linux distributions you’re already familiar with Mozilla’s default settings.

We’re transitioning towards the same configuration as the one which is used everywhere else. The most noticeable changes are the search engines, the start page, and the preferences settings.

Impact on configuration (technical explanation)

The main impact is on the configuration. Because of the way settings work in Firefox, only settings which value is different from the default value are actually stored in your profile. As the default value changes, you can lose some configuration.

Say a particular setting defaults to A in Linux Mint but B in Mozilla. If you set it to C, then your profile contains a custom value. As we transition the default from A to B, you keep your C custom value.

Now, say you have it set to A. Since it’s identical to the default value, it is not custom, and so it’s not stored in your profile. To you it may look like something you set, but really you’re just using the default value, so this is actually not “set”. As we transition the default value from A to B, you simply transition from no custom value to no custom value, and thus also transition from A to B. From your own point of view this can create a gap between your expectation and the resulting configuration.

Before the update

Before the transition, make a backup copy of your profile and perform a system snapshot. This guarantees you’ll be able to go back and essentially removes any risk of losing anything.

System snapshot

To create a snapshot, open Timeshift and hit the Create button.

Profile backup

To make a backup copy of your profile, open a terminal and type:

cp -R .mozilla .mozilla-backup

Custom Policy file

Our packages will provide a policy file in /usr/lib/firefox/distribution/policies.json.

If you created a file under that path, it will be overwritten. Make a copy of it.

After the transition you can place your policy in /etc/firefox/policies instead.

After the update

Review your settings

In Firefox click on Settings and go through the tabs on the left to review your settings.

Set things to your liking and select your favorite search engine.

Spell check and dictionaries

On any website, right-click in a text area (i.e. a zone where you can enter text) and select “Languages”.

If you don’t see your language, select “Add Dictionaries…”.

Alternative solution

Alternatively, reinstall the package for your Firefox language pack. Type this command in a terminal to list your language packs:

dpkg -l firefox-l*

And then for each pack:

apt reinstall pack-name

Replace pack-name with the appropriate pack name. For instance, to reinstall the French language pack in Linux Mint, the command would be:

apt reinstall firefox-locale-fr

If you had added words to your dictionary and they are missing, look for a file called persdict.dat in your profile backup and copy it to your profile.

Custom Chrome CSS

If you had a custom chrome/userContent.css file and it goes missing, copy it over from your backup profile and enable the following setting in about:config:

toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets

Warning messages

Firefox cannot handle its own updates. It doesn’t know how to check the repositories and doesn’t have admin privileges anyway. In Linux Mint this is the job of the Update Manager so Firefox is told not to handle updates.

In the past, this was done via code changes. We patched Firefox not to do it and not to show any warning about it. This is how it is in Debian and Ubuntu as well.

With this transition this is done via a policy file, i.e. via system-wide configuration. Firefox shows the following messages in the preferences and in the about dialog as a result:

These messages can be quite confusing, especially the first one. Please ignore them for now. We’ll be reporting the issue to get it fixed upstream.

Comments section

The comments section on this post is exclusively dedicated to support. If you have questions, or you need help about the technical aspects of this transition then this is the right place.

We can’t “move” off-topic comments to the appropriate post here with WordPress. If something is off-topic we can either let it harm the topic or moderate it. Please respect this so we have this space to interact on support and technical questions don’t get lost.

To talk about Firefox in general or the partnership with Mozilla comment at https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4244 instead.

For any other topics use the forums or the other posts on this blog.

Thank you for your understanding and if you’re waiting on this update for your patience. I wish you all a smooth update and I hope you’ll enjoy your experience with Mint and Firefox after this transition as much or even more than before.