The BETA of the new Upgrade Tool is now available for testing.

It can be used to upgrade LMDE 4 to LMDE 5.

To install it refresh your cache and install the mintupgrade package:

apt update
apt install mintupgrade

The Upgrade Tool is graphical but it is launched from the command line:

sudo mintupgrade

Follow the instructions on the screen.

When the tool is done and the upgrade is successful uninstall it and reboot your computer.

apt remove mintupgrade
sudo reboot

Use the comment section to seek help or to give us your feedback.

Bugs can be reported at https://github.com/linuxmint/mintupgrade/issues (include a screenshot of the window and the output of the terminal in your bug reports).

Notes:

• If anything goes wrong all changes can be reverted using Timeshift.
• If you close the tool for any reason, you can run it again no matter how far you went in the upgrade.
• This BETA is only available for LMDE. Do not test this tool in Linux Mint 20 (the Linux Mint 21 package base isn’t stable yet).

Many thanks to all of you for your support and your generous donations.

Slow download speeds

We are observing heavy load on our main repositories.

If you are experiencing slow download speeds when updating large packages (Firefox and Chromium in particular), launch the Software Sources and click on the “Main” repository:

This opens up a dialog and checks the speed on local mirrors:

Pick the fastest, validate and you’re done!

On our side we’ll also scale up our infrastructure and increase our bandwidth. The more people switch to local mirrors though, the better.

Linux Mint 21

Linux Mint 21 was given the codename “Vanessa”.

It will be based on Ubuntu 22.04 and support 3 editions: Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce.

Upgrade tool

Linux Mint follows a 6 months release cycle, with a new major version every 2 years followed by 3 point releases.

As detailed in the user manual, upgrades towards a point release within the same major version of Linux Mint are quite simple and easy to perform.

Upgrades towards the next major release however are much more complex. They require an advanced level of knowledge and experience and they are performed using the command line.

We are working on an upgrade tool which will make this significantly easier in the future.

Here are its main features compared to the existing upgrade tool:

• It’s fully graphical, no command line.
• It’s localized (the existing tool is only in English).
• It performs more checks to make sure everything is fine (for instance it checks that you are connected to AC power, free space vs download size, list of removed packages etc..).
• It’s configurable (even though you really shouldn’t skip anything, it does allow you to disable some requirements, such as the presence of a Timeshift snapshot).
• It preserves your choice of mirrors (it checks to see if they’re compatible, responsive and up to date)
• It doesn’t force you to remove your custom repositories and PPAs (it checks whether or not they support the target release though)
• It warns but lets you keep orphaned packages (packages which aren’t present in repositories)
• It provides and handles solutions (for most detected issues, along with the explanation you’ll just need to click a “Fix” button to solve the issue).

As you can see it’s much more useful and easy to use than the current command line utility. It won’t change the fact that major upgrades can go wrong and take more time to download/install, but your experience as a user will be way simpler than before.

We’re planning to get this tool ready as soon as possible. It’s our number one priority in this development cycle. We will be using it for the LMDE 4 -> LMDE 5 upgrade first, and then for the Linux Mint 20.3 -> Linux Mint 21 upgrade.

LMDE 4

LMDE 4 “Debbie” will reach EOL in August 2022.

LMDE 5 “Elsie” is available as a fresh install but the upgrade path isn’t open yet.

We’ll release the new upgrade tool as soon as possible. It will go through a small BETA phase when it is feature ready so we can identify and fix any potential bugs.

The upgrade tool is currently in ALPHA at https://github.com/linuxmint/mintupgrade2.

Warpinator

Is Warpinator the coolest piece of software we’ve ever written? A long time ago, even before it was born, its ancestor “Giver” already felt magical.

When Warpinator was born it made it easy again to share files on the local network without file servers, cloud accounts, USB sticks or even an Internet connection. We were delighted with it. We designed it as an XApp, so it wasn’t just a tool for us, but an app for all distributions of Linux and we made it available also on Flathub. It wasn’t necessarily something casual users need, not yet anyway, but it was there for people with networks, doing what Giver did back in the days.

And then something amazing happened. Somebody made an Android version of it. Then all of a sudden, you could share files back and forth between Linux and your phone or even your tablet. And so it wasn’t just something for people with networks anymore, it was becoming extremely useful.

And then Winpinator came along and brought Microsoft Windows into the equation. And so you can now warpinate all you like between computers and mobile devices, even without any Linux at all.

Look at this video aimed at Steam Deck users:

It’s funny to see how Warpinator became a solution to something we never actually envisioned. In this video Windows users are looking for a way to share files with their Steam Deck. I find this really cool personally, not just to see developers build on top of what we made, but to see software reach new audiences and let completely different devices interoperate like this.

Now, before people ask, no, it’s not “coming on Switch” 🙂

But we do hear there’s a BETA out for iOS!

Links:

• Linux: https://github.com/linuxmint/warpinator
• Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.x.Warpinator
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slowscript.warpinator
• iOS (beta): https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comments/rn04lw/interest_in_warpinator_for_ios/
• Windows: https://winpinator.swisz.cz

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Gold Sponsors: Silver Sponsors:

Bronze Sponsors:

Donations in February:

A total of $10,470 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 400 donors:

$216, Alan G.
$200 (2nd donation), Ian S.
$140, Franky W.
$108 (10th donation), Jack W. S. aka “kundalinijack”
$108 (3rd donation), Michael F.
$108, Thomas K.
$100 (8th donation), John M.
$100 (5th donation), Terry F.
$100 (3rd donation), Somers Rocks Press
$100 (2nd donation), Andreas S.
$100 (2nd donation), Nathan M.
$100, Anthony D.
$100, John S.
$80 (8th donation), TM
$80 (2nd donation), Vincent F.
$70 (31st donation), Wolfgang P.
$65, Armin S.
$54 (14th donation), Naoise G.
$54 (6th donation), Richard C.
$54 (6th donation), Thomas D.
$54 (5th donation), Dirk B.
$54 (5th donation), Glen P.
$54 (4th donation), Frédéric D. aka “AZAMOS“
$54 (2nd donation), Rainer L.
$54 (2nd donation), Thomas M.
$54 (2nd donation), Eric P.
$54 (2nd donation), Frank B. aka “poypoyfrank”
$54, Robert-jan D.
$54, Kai B.
$54, Hans-otto K.
$54, Jarkko T.
$54, Marco V.
$54, Ron D.
$54, Eddy C.
$54, Rainer S.
$50 (11th donation), An L.
$50 (5th donation), Malcolm G.
$50 (5th donation), Nate P. aka “cog_nate”
$50 (2nd donation), John D H.
$50 (2nd donation), Alan W.
$50 (2nd donation), T. S. .
$50 (2nd donation), Edward C.
$50 (2nd donation), Petrus M.
$50 (2nd donation), Mark W.
$50, Alfonso D.
$50, Joe B.
$50, Carl B.
$50, Clark R.
$50, David G.
$50, Thomas S.
$50, Peter S.
$50, Evan S.
$43 (143th donation), Olli K.
$43 (5th donation), silver_whiskers
$43, Hubert F.
$41, Michael W.
$40 (2nd donation), David P.
$39, Matei B.
$35, Mark T.
$34, Martin .
$32, Oliver L.
$30 (11th donation), B. H. .
$30 (6th donation), Mark H.
$30 (4th donation), Susan S.
$30 (2nd donation), Les J.
$29 (2nd donation), Walter P.
$28 (10th donation), Adam K.
$27 (2nd donation), Mario R.
$25 (7th donation), Anton R.
$25 (4th donation), Thomas N.
$25, Dallen M.
$25, Angel Zetina aka “AlfaZulu”
$22 (22nd donation), Peter E.
$22 (13th donation), Pentti T.
$22 (6th donation), Matteo aka “Mac7veN“
$22 (5th donation), Alfred H.
$22 (4th donation), Piotr M.
$22 (4th donation), Davide P. aka “Dragone2“
$22 (4th donation), Marin M.
$22 (4th donation), Patrick H.
$22 (3rd donation), Jose M. T. A.
$22 (3rd donation), Lionel R.
$22 (3rd donation), Opik Oort
$22 (2nd donation), Robert L.
$22 (2nd donation), Zeger W.
$22 (2nd donation), Jeremy C.
$22 (2nd donation), Tiny H.
$22 (2nd donation), Tim S.
$22, Alessandro P.
$22, Iiro S.
$22, John M.
$22, Simone B.
$22, Hugo R.
$22, Martin T.
$22, Marco C.
$22, Hendrik D.
$22, Hans-peter T.
$22, Rupert W.
$22, Jorge V.
$22, Dominique R.
$22, Ulrich G.
$22, Gabriele G.
$22, Steve T.
$22, Gaston V.
$22, Giorgio B.
$22, Lugh D.
$20 (44th donation), Bryan F.
$20 (38th donation), Stefan M. H.
$20 (29th donation), John D.
$20 (20th donation), Brent P.
$20 (16th donation), Scott O.
$20 (8th donation), Todd W.
$20 (7th donation), Daniel M.
$20 (6th donation), Antonio Misaka
$20 (6th donation), Trevor H.
$20 (5th donation), Hans M.
$20 (4th donation), Oscar B.
$20 (3rd donation), Steve H.
$20 (3rd donation), Daniel T.
$20 (3rd donation), Bryan Portillo aka “BryanRice80“
$20 (3rd donation), Diane K.
$20 (2nd donation), Yordan A.
$20 (2nd donation), Alvin A.
$20 (2nd donation), Stephen S.
$20 (2nd donation), Ray F.
$20 (2nd donation), David W. aka “skydave”
$20 (2nd donation), Javier A. O. D. L. T.
$20 (2nd donation), Noe R.
$20 (2nd donation), Travis H.
$20 (2nd donation), aka “GM46”
$20, Stephen H.
$20, Gaspar N.
$20, Peers T.
$20, Matt H. aka “ermacaz”
$20, Mark E.
$20, Robert K.
$20, xexus.us
$20, Michael S.
$20, Leigh A.
$20, Jose A.
$20, Michael M.
$20, James W.
$20, Jose R.
$20, Maurice L. aka “The Bacon Friar”
$20, Thomas I.
$20, James H.
$20, Nick S.
$20, Eric M.
$20, Cosmo F.
$20, Jennifer T.
$20, David M.
$20, Donald H.
$20, Lee B.
$20, Jim U.
$20, Jakub K.
$20, James W B.
$18 (3rd donation), Imre N.
$16 (62th donation), Andreas S.
$16 (11th donation), Luk
$16 (9th donation), Gerhard E.
$16, Andrew V.
$15 (40th donation), Michael R.
$15 (15th donation), Constantin M.
$14 (67th donation), Johann J.
$13 (13th donation), Antonio aka “pengu73”
$12 (131th donation), Tony C. aka “S. LaRocca”
$12 (7th donation), Wohnungsreinigung
$12 (3rd donation), Gerardo R.
$12 (2nd donation), Steven W.
$11 (26th donation), Sami Mannila
$11 (18th donation), Raymond M. (retired)
$11 (14th donation), Janne M.
$11 (13th donation), Marko U.
$11 (11th donation), Yves R.
$11 (9th donation), Michele B. aka “MickyInTheSky“
$11 (9th donation), Laurent M
$11 (8th donation), François L.
$11 (7th donation), Thomas K.
$11 (5th donation), J. D. .
$11 (5th donation), Dennis K.
$11 (4th donation), goppermann
$11 (4th donation), Adam P.
$11 (4th donation), Thomas R.
$11 (3rd donation), Lars Pohlink
$11 (3rd donation), Ant
$11 (3rd donation), Gerald H.
$11 (3rd donation), ML
$11 (2nd donation), Victor G.
$11 (2nd donation), Phil W.
$11 (2nd donation), Mr A
$11 (2nd donation), Mario I.
$11, Tamjidul I.
$11, Rajat
$11, Gaetano V.
$11, Blenard N.
$11, Peter J.
$11, Panagiotis S.
$11, Cheating camera
$11, E S K.
$11, Lino G.
$11, Tewfik G.
$11, Werner B. aka “Boozek”
$11, Heiko W.
$11, Rene S.
$11, Macaulay N.
$11, Siegfried M.
$11, Lukáš J.
$11, Jürgen S.
$11, Edoardo M.
$11, Craig L.
$11, Jaroslaw J. aka “janux”
$11, B B.
$11, Andreas D.
$11, Bernd S.
$11, Peyman S.
$11, Jan Kirsch
$11, Raimund B.
$11, Marek G.
$10 (95th donation), Tree Service Kansas City
$10 (89th donation), Tree Removal Raleigh NC
$10 (73th donation), Thomas C.
$10 (67th donation), Fence Baton Rouge
$10 (67th donation), Frank K.
$10 (50th donation), Rick R.
$10 (33rd donation), Francois-R L.
$10 (21st donation), Massage West Edmonton
$10 (20th donation), Philip Woodward
$10 (20th donation), Fence Company Raleigh
$10 (20th donation), Carpet Cleaning Winnipeg
$10 (17th donation), Software Development Edmonton
$10 (17th donation), Concrete Contractors Raleigh
$10 (15th donation), Solar Panels Saskatoon
$10 (13th donation), Tree Removal Eau Claire
$10 (12th donation), Owen D.
$10 (12th donation), Randy D.
$10 (11th donation), Dana S.
$10 (8th donation), Soeren S.
$10 (7th donation), Massage Parkland County
$10 (7th donation), Beloit Tree Service
$10 (6th donation), Daniel J G II
$10 (6th donation), narghilea
$10 (5th donation), Mr G. J. A.
$10 (5th donation), Aimee W.
$10 (3rd donation), Chris C.
$10 (3rd donation), Gene P.
$10 (3rd donation), Stefan N.
$10 (3rd donation), Harald H.
$10 (3rd donation), Vang P.
$10 (2nd donation), Arthur H.
$10 (2nd donation), Tree Service Norfolk VA
$10 (2nd donation), Stephen B.
$10 (2nd donation), Robert E.
$10 (2nd donation), Great Gifts For Bakers
$10 (2nd donation), Tree Service Little Rock
$10 (2nd donation), Steven P.
$10, Charlie Z.
$10, Meidad V.
$10, Robert J T.
$10, Maninderjit S.
$10, Ian E.
$10, Wynn B.
$10, Nacer A.
$10, Nathan G. aka “Roofer Citrus County Florida“
$10, Paul F.
$10, Jarle D.
$10, Christopher C.
$10, Mark B.
$10, Jonathan G.
$10, Fructuoso G.
$10, Kim S.
$10, Lawrence C.
$10, Christopher R.
$10, Michael J.
$10, Walter T.
$10, Kotelna Tattoo
$10, James T.
$10, Thomas R.
$10, Mary E C S.
$10, Wedding Videographer Rochester, NY
$10, Raj P.
$10, Ian F.
$9, Lars D.
$8 (6th donation), Marius @ Awesome AF Tech
$8, Jon Martin Teodor F.
$6 (20th donation), Sérgio D. S. S. aka “sersantos”
$6 (3rd donation), Pressure Washers Columbia
$6, Julian F.
$5 (69th donation), Eugene T.
$5 (41th donation), William Menezes
$5 (33rd donation), Hristo Gatsinski
$5 (27th donation), Thomas R.
$5 (18th donation), Alexander G. B.
$5 (14th donation), Teobaldo D.
$5 (11th donation), Michael V.
$5 (10th donation), Konstantin S.
$5 (5th donation), Daniel G. Lago
$5 (4th donation), Bruce M.
$5 (3rd donation), Lucas DH
$5, Lesli R.
$5, Alan C.
$5, Carl T.
$5, Juan Carlos C.
$5, Linux M.
$5, Bernardino P.
$5, Aldo Ismael Sánchez López
$4, Mustafa Kemal S.
$4, Denis L.
$3 (17th donation), Szilard S.
$21 from 14 smaller donations

If you want to help Linux Mint with a donation, please visit https://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php

Patrons:

Linux Mint is proudly supported by 596 patrons, for a sum of $2,692 per month.

To become a Linux Mint patron, please visit https://www.patreon.com/linux_mint

Rankings:

• Distrowatch (popularity ranking): 2273
• Alexa (website ranking): 10648