Monthly News – March 2026

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Hi everyone,

Before we start with the news, I’d like to apologize for posting so late.

Release Strategy

In February I mentioned we were at a crossroads and that it was the right time to consider important changes.

The following decisions were made:

  • Linux Mint will adopt a longer development lifecycle.
  • The next release is planned for Christmas 2026.
  • Linux Mint will use the same installer as LMDE (i.e. “live-installer”).

What hasn’t been decided yet is the release strategy itself: the length of the cycle, whether minor releases are frozen (like the point releases in Mint 22.x) or backported/semi-rolling (as in LMDE), and whether we will introduce alpha releases.

Our mission is simple: fix bugs and improve the desktop. We look at our previous release and set the bar higher. The Linux landscape is evolving rapidly, however, and we often need to adapt to new challenges. We need a release strategy which gives us the flexibility to adapt and the empowerment to be ambitious in our development.

This is a great opportunity for us. We all want clarity on the direction, but we won’t rush these decisions.

Mint 23 Alfa

The release strategy will define the versioning and naming scheme. For now, we don’t know what the next release will be called and what version it will be… yet we had to start working on it.

As a temporary measure we decided to call the next release “Alfa” and to give it version 23.

Alfa is appropriately named since it’s unlikely to keep that name all the way to BETA 🙂

Anyway, developer jokes aside, Alfa is starting to look good.

It currently ships with:

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS as the package base
  • Linux kernel 7.0
  • Cinnamon 6.7-unstable (including the new Wayland screensaver, which we want to test early rather than later in the cycle)
  • CJS 140
  • Live-installer (ported from LMDE to replace Ubiquity; supports OEM installations, BIOS/EFI, SecureBoot, and LVM/LUKS)

Wayland support and a unified installer shared between Mint and LMDE are significant milestones for our project.

We’re working mostly on the base and the installation at the moment. The installer is receiving a lot of attention. We’ll focus on desktops, toolkits, and applications next. We’re already starting to feel the benefits of the longer cycle. We have time on our hands to do things well and nothing feels off-limits.

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Gold Sponsors:
Linux VPS Hosting
Unix Shells
Silver Sponsors:
Datadog
Sucuri
ThinkPenguin: For Everything Freedom		 Bronze Sponsors:
AYKsolutions Server & Cloud Hosting
Agile.Coach
Ben McCann
BGASoft Inc
C0MPLÉX1 SEO
Chargeblast
Marek Stapff
nesevo GmbH & Co. KG
Tinken Inc

Donations in February:

A total of $26,388 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 864 donors:

$849, Martin H.
$531, Christoph S.
$387, Katerina T.
$333, Dennis M. H.
$318 (4th donation), Thomas K.
$265 (2nd donation), Thomas Metzinger
$212, Félix Piédallu – Semalibre aka “Salamandar”
$212, Mikko R.
$200 (2nd donation), Avery T.
$159, Achim E.
$153, Nik E.
$150 (9th donation), Markus S.
$150, Brian L.
$127, HeinO aka “TrueAdrenn”
$106 (17th donation), Jiří B.
$106 (12th donation), Mimi
$106 (9th donation), Rasmus A.
$106 (6th donation), The Incredibly Useful Company Limited
$106 (4th donation), F. S.
$106 (3rd donation), Albert-jozef P.
$106, a.f.koolmees aka “Ad K”
$106, Antonin D. F.
$106, J.Beikes
$106, Kees de Vries
$106, Mirko E.
$106, Paul S.
$106, PHILIPP F.
$106, Pieter M.
$106, Ramun W.
$106, Simon B.
$106, Thomas W.
$106, Tim H.
$100 (44th donation), Junkie
$100 (17th donation), Mothy
$100 (12th donation), John M.
$100 (9th donation), John B.
$100 (7th donation), William C.
$100 (3rd donation), David H.
$100 (3rd donation), David N.
$100 (3rd donation), Diego S.
$100, Amy W.
$100, Anonymous Citizen
$100, Anton T.
$100, Bradley S.
$100, Brian S. B.
$100, D.G.
$100, Damon B.
$100, Daniel O.
$100, David R.
$100, Joseph C.
$100, Michael D.
$100, phillip C.
$100, Rafael G.
$100, Roland W.
$80, Gary S.
$75, P M. R.
$74 (4th donation), Magnus I.
$74 (2nd donation), Alexander C.
$70 (8th donation), Clark R.
$70, Robert F.
$63 (3rd donation), David M.
$60 (4th donation), Douglas B.
$60, John D.
$55, Christopher C.
$53 (76th donation), Michael R.
$53 (16th donation), Roland H.
$53 (15th donation), Jyrki A.
$53 (9th donation), Daniel K.
$53 (9th donation), Marek Stapff
$53 (8th donation), Thomas M.
$53 (6th donation), Edward C. aka “Oldun”
$53 (5th donation), Karl-günter N.
$53 (5th donation), Morten K. A.
$53 (5th donation), Pascal B.
$53 (5th donation), Rob B.
$53 (5th donation), Stephan Tietz
$53 (4th donation), Gerard O.
$53 (4th donation), Michael K.
$53 (4th donation), Peter B.
$53 (3rd donation), M. B. .
$53 (3rd donation), Gudmundur O.
$53 (3rd donation), Ingo B.
$53 (3rd donation), Jürgen P.
$53 (3rd donation), Marinus D.
$53 (2nd donation), Arnaud R.
$53 (2nd donation), Braun M.
$53 (2nd donation), David B.
$53 (2nd donation), Peter A. C.
$53 (2nd donation), Reinder A. R.
$53 (2nd donation), Thomas S.
$53 (2nd donation), Torben C.
$53, Alexander L.
$53, Alfred S.
$53, Andreas M.
$53, Anna K.
$53, Barry C. F.
$53, Bernhard M.
$53, Celia M.
$53, Christian H.
$53, Christoph L.
$53, Daniel N.
$53, David G.
$53, Dirk B.
$53, Egils P.
$53, Evelyne N.
$53, Filip M.
$53, Gerhard E.
$53, Guido S.
$53, Henk van der Hoorn
$53, Isolde S.
$53, Jacopo B.
$53, Jesper D.
$53, Juha N.
$53, Jürgen M.
$53, LAURENT D.
$53, marc E.
$53, Marc P.
$53, MARC V. D.
$53, Marcus W.
$53, Markus V.
$53, Martin C.
$53, Martin I. Y. P.
$53, Matthis R. aka “Haeuptling”
$53, Maximilian B.
$53, MHCC
$53, MICHAEL
$53, Michael G
$53, Michael S.
$53, Michel B.
$53, Neil H.
$53, Niels E. P.
$53, Nils B.
$53, Norbert G.
$53, Ole N.
$53, Paolo D.
$53, Paul K.
$53, Peter D.
$53, Peter F. aka “Pete F”
$53, Philippe A.
$53, Ralf T.
$53, Rino T.
$53, SA B.
$53, Sebastian W.
$53, Sébastien M.
$53, Steffen G.
$53, Thierry G.
$53, Thomas K.
$53, Tino N.
$53, Torsten H.
$53, Walter D. G.
$53, Walter N.
$53, William B.
$50 (14th donation), Anthony C. aka “Ciak”
$50 (11th donation), Greg C.
$50 (8th donation), Larry B.
$50 (7th donation), Hans G. H.
$50 (6th donation), Jason B.
$50 (6th donation), Khalid T. aka “k9750”
$50 (5th donation), Mike H.
$50 (4th donation), Brenda C.
$50 (4th donation), Derek B.
$50 (4th donation), Leonhard R.
$50 (4th donation), M J W.
$50 (4th donation), Todd P.
$50 (3rd donation), Ian D.
$50 (2nd donation), David M.
$50 (2nd donation), Geoffry B. S.
$50 (2nd donation), Liam H.
$50 (2nd donation), Marc Z.
$50 (2nd donation), Michael T.
$50 (2nd donation), Ravindra J.
$50 (2nd donation), Robert E.
$50, Adam L.
$50, Alan C.
$50, Alfred C.
$50, Brian J.
$50, Brian R. N.
$50, Cameron S.
$50, Charles E.
$50, Chris J.
$50, Christopher D.
$50, Colin A.
$50, CyberManFriday
$50, Dan S.
$50, Daniel B.
$50, Daniel C.
$50, Daniel O.
$50, Darcy D.
$50, davey M.
$50, David E.
$50, David K.
$50, Edward O.
$50, Eugene P.
$50, Fahed G.
$50, Fernando S.
$50, Frank B.
$50, Gary H.
$50, George A. R.
$50, GREENVILLAGE
$50, Gregory P.
$50, Henry B.
$50, John W.
$50, Kelley W.
$50, Mario H.
$50, Nathan S.
$50, Ned H.
$50, Rami A.
$50, Robert B.
$50, Robert T.
$50, Rodney B.
$50, Ryan S.
$50, Sal G.
$50, Shaun S.
$50, simon B.
$50, Theo T.
$50, Thomas K.
$50, Tom L.
$42 (2nd donation), Christian M.
$42 (2nd donation), James W.
$42, Alessio D. F.
$42, Christof L.
$42, Nicholas Y.
$42, Sven K.
$40 (2nd donation), VICTOR G.
$40, Anon Y. Mous
$40, FRANCOIS P.
$40, Karl E.
$40, Louie D.
$38, Andrew I.
$38, BCJ R.
$37 (6th donation), Keith P.
$37 (2nd donation), Marcello M.
$36 (3rd donation), 何源
$35, Ernest M.
$35, Forrest G.
$35, Melissa G.
$32, G W. A.
$31 (5th donation), Peter P.
$31 (4th donation), jjb
$31 (3rd donation), Matthieu B.
$31 (2nd donation), paolo C.
$31, Berrick M.
$31, Gustavo Lopez
$31, J. K.
$31, Jörg P.
$31, Kimberley A. aka “Minty Pig”
$30 (8th donation), Thomas N.
$30 (3rd donation), Gary S.
$30 (2nd donation), Bruno D. P.
$30, Anthony S.
$30, David K.
$26 (14th donation), Alexander M.
$26 (9th donation), Vittorio F.
$26 (3rd donation), Michael R.
$26 (2nd donation), Enric P.
$26 (2nd donation), Robin C.
$26 (2nd donation), Stéphane B.
$26, alain D. W.
$26, Benedikt L.
$26, Bruno V.
$26, E D. I.
$26, Frank B.
$26, Nicholas T.
$26, Nicole N.
$26, robert K.
$25 (60th donation), Linux Mint Sverige
$25 (23rd donation), Richard N.
$25 (13th donation), John N.
$25 (4th donation), Donald S.
$25 (3rd donation), Dave M.
$25 (2nd donation), Alan F.
$25 (2nd donation), Mike P.
$25, Albrecht B.
$25, Brad B.
$25, Ted S.
$23, Strix Nebulosa aka “Strixy”
$22 (6th donation), John C.
$22, Greig S.
$21 (68th donation), Peter E.
$21 (35th donation), Stefan W.
$21 (30th donation), Benjamin W. aka “UncleBens”
$21 (28th donation), Marek S.
$21 (11th donation), Frank W.
$21 (8th donation), Jim W.
$21 (7th donation), Björn H.
$21 (7th donation), Raik D.
$21 (5th donation), Curd-Juergen S.
$21 (5th donation), Ulrich J.
$21 (4th donation), Alexandros D.
$21 (4th donation), John S.
$21 (4th donation), Lucian U.
$21 (3rd donation), Anonymous
$21 (3rd donation), christophe O.
$21 (3rd donation), Florian K.
$21 (3rd donation), Tomasz S.
$21 (2nd donation), Anatolii A.
$21 (2nd donation), DOMINGO A. R.
$21 (2nd donation), Fred N.
$21 (2nd donation), Leslie R.
$21 (2nd donation), Marco F.
$21 (2nd donation), Martin L.
$21 (2nd donation), Maurizio B.
$21 (2nd donation), NH-Trading
$21 (2nd donation), Peter G.
$21 (2nd donation), Sascha J.
$21 (2nd donation), Thomas S.
$21 (2nd donation), William N.
$21, A M.
$21, Alain P.
$21, Alessandro L.
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$21, Andre L.
$21, Beenno V. D.
$21, Benjamin
$21, Boris S.
$21, Carsten E.
$21, Christer P.
$21, Christian A.
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$21, Christian W.
$21, Claudio B.
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$21, Daniel P.
$21, Daniele R.
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$21, Deano C.
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$21, Elise B.
$21, Eusebio E.
$21, Fiona S.
$21, Francesco G.
$21, FRANCESCO V.
$21, Frank B.
$21, Gambheera V. D. P.
$21, General Brock
$21, Georgui V.
$21, Giovanni R.
$21, Gladys B.
$21, Haidar N.
$21, HANS H. F.
$21, Hans S.
$21, Harald W.
$21, Henk S.
$21, Henrik M. H.
$21, Hubert B.
$21, Immanuel K.
$21, Ingo H.
$21, Jakob R.
$21, jan J.
$21, Jan T.
$21, Jan-Patrick W.
$21, Jana B.
$21, Jarkko
$21, Jimmy S.
$21, joachim K.
$21, Joel B.
$21, Johann G. E. G.
$21, Josef B.
$21, Jürgen T.
$21, Kai S.
$21, Kalle P.
$21, Karlheinz K.
$21, Kim G. P.
$21, Leopoldo P.
$21, Luis A. Q.
$21, Luis D. M. aka “Luis”
$21, Manfred F.
$21, Manfred G.
$21, Manuel G.
$21, Marc S.
$21, Marco D.
$21, Markus B.
$21, MARTIN D.
$21, Martin H.
$21, Martin J.
$21, Massimo C.
$21, MR P. J. S.
$21, Nicolas R. aka “nicorey“
$21, Oleg K.
$21, Patrick H.
$21, Paul A.
$21, Paul O.
$21, Paul S.
$21, Péter L.
$21, Peter R.
$21, Radek L.
$21, Raul Z.
$21, Renato R.
$21, Robert W.
$21, Robert Y.
$21, Roland B.
$21, Roy W.
$21, Schkullie
$21, Sergej M.
$21, Stefan U.
$21, Steffen K.
$21, Stephan B.
$21, Steven S.
$21, Swen P.
$21, Sybe W.
$21, Thomas H.
$21, Thomas K.
$21, Tiemo F.
$21, Tobiasz
$21, Tommy L.
$21, Uwe S.
$21, Viktor F. aka “Viktor”
$21, Vincent F.
$21, yohan B.
$21, Zarco D.
$20 (76th donation), Bryan F.
$20 (51st donation), John D.
$20 (31st donation), Aimee W.
$20 (19th donation), John W.
$20 (9th donation), Eric H.
$20 (8th donation), Randall W.
$20 (7th donation), Jean-Michel R.
$20 (7th donation), Reel D.
$20 (6th donation), Douglas R. aka “darco”
$20 (6th donation), Luc C.
$20 (5th donation), Daniel M. L.
$20 (5th donation), Pj Sylvia.
$20 (5th donation), Steve T.
$20 (4th donation), Danila Ganchar aka “sp.2D”
$20 (3rd donation), Eric L.
$20 (3rd donation), Orlando O.
$20 (3rd donation), Wendy, S. Li. aka “Demokritus Jorik“
$20 (3rd donation), Wesley I.
$20 (2nd donation), Alejandro A.
$20 (2nd donation), ernest S.
$20 (2nd donation), George M.
$20 (2nd donation), Giraldo D.
$20 (2nd donation), Marco R.
$20 (2nd donation), Mark I.
$20 (2nd donation), Niko J.
$20 (2nd donation), Roger K.
$20 (2nd donation), Thomas K. W.
$20 (2nd donation), Walter R.
$20, Alan C.
$20, Alice J.
$20, Andreas W.
$20, Bobby E.
$20, byron S.
$20, Clayton V.
$20, Craig W.
$20, creasy E.
$20, Damien W.
$20, Daniel C.
$20, Danny C.
$20, David E.
$20, David P.
$20, Dennis L. V.
$20, Dylan S. T.
$20, Edwin M.
$20, Frank V.
$20, Gary T.
$20, Gregory B.
$20, Gregory E. P.
$20, Huebner C.
$20, Jacques A.
$20, Jeffrey L.
$20, jimmy W.
$20, John D. A.
$20, John D. P.
$20, John M.
$20, John P.
$20, John W.
$20, Jose F.
$20, Josef T.
$20, Karlene H.
$20, Kent D.
$20, Merle M.
$20, Michael B.
$20, michael G.
$20, Michael H.
$20, Michael P.
$20, Michel O.
$20, Mick H.
$20, Ned W.
$20, Paola F.
$20, Paolo L. R.
$20, Paul M. C.
$20, Paul N.
$20, Richard R.
$20, Robert G.
$20, Robert R.
$20, Russell P.
$20, Sally J.
$20, Shalima E.
$20, Shiyu J.
$20, Sterling B.
$20, Terrence M.
$20, Terry D.
$20, Thomas B.
$20, TIMOTHY M.
$20, Trent W.
$20, Vincent N.
$20, Walter B.
$20, Winston B. S.
$18 (7th donation), Lars K. aka “laku3008”
$18, Maxim M.
$16 (115th donation), Johann J.
$15 (89th donation), Andreas S.
$15 (17th donation), Fred B.
$15 (2nd donation), Aleksandre A.
$15 (2nd donation), CJ
$15 (2nd donation), Michael A.
$15 (2nd donation), Snorre L.
$15, Daniel G.
$15, Henrique A. M. P. S.
$15, Sean Y.
$15, Sergei A.
$15, ULrich H.
$15, Uwe T.
$14, 袁飞
$12 (8th donation), Michael W.
$12 (2nd donation), Andries B.
$12 (2nd donation), Zelalem G.
$12, Robert B.
$12, S. Phull
$11 (15th donation), Alessandro S.
$11 (3rd donation), Darko H.
$10 (119th donation), Thomas C.
$10 (61st donation), Philip Woodward
$10 (49th donation), Thomas Rehm
$10 (46th donation), Tugaleres.com
$10 (43rd donation), Denys G. aka “GD Next“
$10 (17th donation), Troy T.
$10 (14th donation), Abe Z.
$10 (14th donation), Axel R.
$10 (13th donation), Artem Ignatyev aka “ZaZooBred”
$10 (13th donation), Kamloops Retaining Wall
$10 (12th donation), Pierre G.
$10 (12th donation), Stephen F.
$10 (11th donation), JvdB
$10 (10th donation), Alexander Lang
$10 (10th donation), Mariusz B.
$10 (9th donation), Heston
$10 (9th donation), Sebastian S.
$10 (8th donation), M.B.
$10 (8th donation), Mario I.
$10 (8th donation), Mark W.
$10 (8th donation), Želimir S.
$10 (7th donation), Daniel H.
$10 (7th donation), Jan Z.
$10 (7th donation), Jody M.
$10 (7th donation), Matthias H.
$10 (7th donation), T.H.
$10 (6th donation), casca de copiat
$10 (6th donation), HM Magnusson
$10 (6th donation), Korora Solutions
$10 (6th donation), Marcos Antonio S.
$10 (6th donation), Steven J. L.
$10 (5th donation), Ernest T.
$10 (5th donation), Rainer B.
$10 (4th donation), Ingo H.
$10 (4th donation), James E.
$10 (4th donation), Rainer G.
$10 (3rd donation), Alex M.
$10 (3rd donation), Andres J. A. L.
$10 (3rd donation), Bernard H.
$10 (3rd donation), Casca de copiat
$10 (3rd donation), Florian B. aka “Mean”
$10 (3rd donation), Joachim M.
$10 (3rd donation), kamil P.
$10 (3rd donation), László B. aka “Lighthunter“
$10 (3rd donation), Levente B.
$10 (3rd donation), Mark O.
$10 (3rd donation), Markus S.
$10 (3rd donation), Oleksandr N.
$10 (3rd donation), Paul W.
$10 (3rd donation), Peter Z.
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$10 (3rd donation), Sébastien F.
$10 (3rd donation), Steven W.
$10 (3rd donation), Sydney C.
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$10 (3rd donation), Wolfgang V.
$10 (2nd donation), Alexander B.
$10 (2nd donation), Andrea K.
$10 (2nd donation), Dennis B.
$10 (2nd donation), Emanuel aka “Emulator”
$10 (2nd donation), Giuseppe I.
$10 (2nd donation), Hannah V.
$10 (2nd donation), Hans-peter W.
$10 (2nd donation), Joakim S.
$10 (2nd donation), Johan P.
$10 (2nd donation), Larry D.
$10 (2nd donation), Lawrence E.
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$10, .
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$10, haha nope
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$10, Luis F. Alvarez aka “SpectreiA”
$10, Lyuben R.
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$10, Marius N. H.
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$10, Mateusz M.
$10, Mattia P. aka “matypetrix”
$10, Michael J. S.
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153 comments

  1. Awesome news! Can’t wait to see what this longer release cycle will bring to the table. Also judging by the increasing number of donations, Windows 10 EOF seems to have drawn a lot of newcomers on Mint which is amazing.

    Reply

  2. Thanks for the update!

    Regarding Wayland; can you give some insight on whether version 23 will support fractional scaling and in what way (experimental etc)?

    Reply

    2. And server side decorations in Muffin?

      Actually, how about that schedule:

      Mint 23: Wayland support

      Mint 24: closing the gap between LM and LMDE with Mint tools substitutes to Ubuntu tools

      Mint 25: rebasing LM to Debian, with migration tool.

      *Mint 26: Qt/KDE Frameworks porting for Cinnamon

      *Mint 27: dropping of Xfce and MATE in favor of LXQt and Budgie

    1. I know this is an important matter. But i suspect it’s much too early of the team to have a definitive opinion. I haven’t seen yet what Debian is going to do, although Ubuntu will almost have to deal with it due to them being a corporate entity.

      Age attestation is efffectively inevitable and we’re probably on the slippy slope towards age verification. Avoiding it will likely make the internet as we know it gone for good. Sad! I hope aginst hope that the open source communities get together and have one system. My 2c

    2. Yes Clem, has the Team been planning about this and do you already have an opinion?

      Regarding Mint 23, release it when ready. As I grow older I start to appreciate more and more the effects of proper time on a job well done, especially on IT where things usually are rushed half baked.
      I want the Team to work well, not fast. Mint 23 can arrive later, it can be late, whatever, but I know it will be good. Enjoy your work Clem and Team, cheers.

    3. 2 bad news in one update would’ve been a bit much. Of course they bend. I already consider which systemd-less Distro to switch to. Sad.

  5. Well, this message was definitly worth the longer wait. I like the proposed release-cycle a lot. Also the release moment. During wintertime lots of people have more time to do other things like installing a new OS. When the release-cycle is longer perhaps you could provide more often up to date ISO’s. Let’s say every 3 months or so? And perhaps providing a minimall-install also? Keep on going 🙂

    Reply

  6. I understand the reasons for the delayed release of Mint 23, but still I find it rather disappointing….

    Furthermore, it’ll mean that people who have very new hardware that’s not being covered by the drivers in Mint 22.x, will be unable to install Mint for six months longer than usual. This’ll probably force some people away to other distros.

    Reply

    1. I completely agree with you.

      Having to wait until Christmas 2026 to enjoy Mint 23 is very uninspiring, and it seems to me to go against both the needs of users and Linux Mint’s reputation among them ;-(

    2. If the newer hardware support thing is the main concern for when newer versions of hwe kernels are released, either new builds with hwe or even bringing back edge releases can be a solution, without affecting the dev cycle.

    3. Having the updated HWE kernel and assorted drivers kinda makes this a much smaller issue imo.
      I understand the Mint team wanting to do more, which takes time. Especially to the quality that their team expects and is known for.

  7. The only problem I see with this long development cycle is that Linux Mint will be so out dated and so behind other distros especially with the Linux kernel. By the time Linux Mint 23 comes out with the currently new kernel 7.0, it will be ancient history.

    Reply

  8. Hello,

    Thank you for this news.

    Will you be offering disk encryption via TPM 2, like Ubuntu 26.04 does?

    This feature is extremely important for laptops, in case they are lost or stolen.

    In that case, I’d be delighted to reinstall Linux Mint 23 on my laptop, otherwise, I’ll have to settle for Ubuntu…

    Best regards to the whole team.

    Reply

    1. Hi Philippe,

      TPM2 is not in our roadmap but we can consider it. Is this something you’re already using with Mint 22.3? Afaik you can set this up easily post-install already, you don’t need it to be done in the installer.

    2. Hello Clem,

      I don’t know of any way to encrypt a partition with TPM 2, other than by installing Ubuntu 26.04 or Windows.

      If you were to implement it on Linux Mint, I’d be thrilled 🙂

      I’ve seen tutorials explaining how to set up partition encryption using passphrases after installation, but not with TPM 2. Have you a URL about this you’d like to share with me ?

      The big advantage of TPM 2 is that you don’t have to manually unlock the drive every time you want to use your computer…This is what I need for my laptop.

    3. In my experience it’s possible but requires changing the initramfs system from the default to dracut. Enrolling the TPM just needs one command, systemd-cryptenroll –tpm2-device=auto –tpm2-pcrs=7 /dev/your_dev_here.

  9. I recommend evaluating the longer release cycles closely.
    “Release early, release often” seems to be one of the core recipes to keep the crowd exited and the media interested. In the long run this decision might show unintended side effects and the project might lose momentum.
    I will certainly miss the shorter release cycles.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often
    One thing you should consider: Starting with earlier pre-releases!

    Reply

    1. I thought we are not in the corporate environment here with Linux Mint… “Exiting the media and crowds” (or rather, translating into reality: investors, to get billions form them) is something for Microsoft, Meta and other entities of this kind to do.

  10. Adopt new base system earlier. This is too basic to have to explain why to you.
    Wait till Christmas? This makes Mint for me and I bet many other users just irrelevant.
    We won’t hold it against you if you don’t have Wayland support ready this Spring but wait 8 months to move on to a new base system?

    Reply

    1. Mint is a free gift, so we can’t demand anything…. And I’m certainly grateful for what Mint has given me in the past decade.

      Of course it’s a bit painful to see Mint giving up its “sweet spot” in the Ubuntu derivatives ecosystem: Mint has been the “best compromise” in the Debian/Ubuntu range for many years. As a result, I’ve become quite attached to it.

      But perhaps it’s time to start exploring some other distros (again). Lots of choice, thankfully. 🙂

    2. It does indeed appear that compatibility with Wayland was the reason behind the decision to postpone the release of Mint 23, although Clem didn’t put it that way.

      It would have been preferable to stick with X11 and release Mint 23 in May 2026.

      With this decision to postpone Mint 23 until late December 2026, I fear they will suffer a loss of users, financial losses, and a significant decline in the reputation of this distribution.

      If I had been in charge of this OS, I would never, ever have made such a decision. It’s simply a form of suicide.

      The Mint 22 is now two years old, and most of its software is already outdated… ;-( Things can only get worse in eight months.

      Clem would be better off hiring a temporary employee if he can’t meet the deadlines he’s set for himself, rather than leaving his clients dissatisfied like this… He cannot continue to make unprofessional, ill-considered decisions, as he did when he first started out and as he is doing again now, thereby disappointing his customers.

      I sincerely hope that he will take a step back and reconsider his position in light of the widespread dissatisfaction.

    3. I think some users are stepping out of their boundaries.

      Keep up with the good word, Mint devs.

  11. This is good. from what i know about Mint, The Mint philosophy is to prioritise stability over bells and whistles.

    Reply

    1. Stability is something I rate very highly, in both my day to day usage and in the absence of support calls from friends I have put onto Mint ( I have had precisely one call in 6 years). Mint’s philosophy of ‘release when ready’ is a refreshing contrast to other software making changes for changes sake ( normally making things worse) and pushing out half baked updates that break things. If Clem and the team have decided to concentrate on bug fixing and genuine improvements that can only be a good thing

  12. I’m under Mint since so many years, that is quite a bad news IMO. Gaming start to hit Linux, new users/gamers are joining the community, and most of them have a recent hardware. 1 year cycle is way to long for these people to make them using Mint.

    Wrong turn at the wrong moment.

    Reply

    1. No one can afford new hardware and companies aren’t releasing new hardware. When they do, it’s been paper releases. It’s a good time for those who struggle with rampant consumerism to learn some self control.

    2. I’m one of of those gamers. With 5070 Ti and Ryzen 9 9900X. I had 0 issues jumping on Mint Cinnamon and getting 99% games on Steam run smooth AF (One indie game still refuses to launch idk why, need to look that up, but titles like Space Marine 2 and Indiana Jones, Claire Obscure, Atomic Heart – 0 issues). Nvidia drivers run perfectly. Steam gets it’s own Proton updates built-in. Lock and load and go. No problem at all.

    3. As a former systems engineer / workstation architect, I completely agree with you Jeff.

  13. It sounds like you want longer release cycles for major developments, with smaller mini-updates of various features. I think it’s exciting, although yes I would agree with others here, the people like their mini-updates. For marketing reasons you might have to find creative ways to make the fanboys happy while keeping with your new roadmap. However, no hate here I think you’re doing great and making the right calls.

    To be fair, Mint uses the HWE kernal now, which supports newer hardware quite well. Gaming is a huge crowd, and gamers like their drivers easy and new as possible. That covers lots of ground. Its just wayland and now additional GUI features that benefits everyone who arent/cannot be terminal experts.

    Reply

    1. Although right now they’re the same, a release and a new ISO are two very different things. When we talk about a release we talk about a repository, a feature-set, and the choice, or absent of choice, for the user to adopt it. What we did in the past with the HWE ISO wasn’t an actual release, it was just a new ISO. That doesn’t take long to put in place and it can be separate from the release strategy.

      The choice of release strategy makes the need of ISO refreshes more or less relevant, but in any case adopting a longer release cycle doesn’t mean we’ll be stuck without HWE kernels for longer than before. Things like ALPHA and HWE ISO could even be automated. They can become more important than in the past if the strategy is longer but they’re not something we can’t solve and which restricts us in that regard.

  14. Hi everyone in the community,

    I really liked the news about more time for development, I fully support the decision! The stability and quality of the Linux Mint project will improve immensely, this is the road to the future!!!

    To infinity and beyond (^o^)//

    Reply

  15. Interesting approach, it would be great if by this cycle you can take into consideration the section of “whether minor releases are frozen… or backported/semi-rolling”, if you leave the initial ISO without updating, when someone reinstalls it has issues into downloading a lot of packages which might slow down implementations (I had to reinstall LMDE a couple of days ago, and with a limited bandwidth I had to download almost 600MB of packages, which slowed down the process needed to install the rest of the apps), and if you can implement it in both LMDE and Mint edition directly, that would be great.

    Otherwise, keep doing a good job so far and I hope that any decision you take it is for the best of everyone

    Reply

  16. Impatient whiners. Mint is a great distro. Reliable, stabile and up to date enough. I have used alot of others and come back here because it works. Take as long as you need, I prefer quality over goodies. Keep up the good work, I can wait!

    Reply

  17. Thanks for the update. The slower update cycle to do bigger things sounds like a great change!

    But in the meantime, please consider releasing versions 22.3.x for the latest hardware support. This is a big deal for beginners who want to install Mint on their new device. In the future, we could have versions 23.0 Stable, 23.1 Stable etc. based on the 26.04 LTS kernel, and versions 23.0.1, 23.0.2 for newer hardware support.

    Reply

    1. Just to expand on this, having a “Latest” 22.3.x and “Stable” 22.3 on the download page would be really useful.

      Having that extra point for Latest would be helpful if some people experience a regression on the newest kernel but also need something newer than LTS.

    2. I think part of the Mint polish is simplicity. Having various subversions tend to go against that. Playing with your idea though, the update manager has options already what to install, one could just use that.

    3. You can’t access the update manager if you get a blackscreen because your GPU isn’t supported. And in general, the “kernels” section is a bit hidden, new users will complain without knowing about it, and someone will just tell them to install some bleeding edge rolling release distro (setting them up for more pain).

      I understand the reason that new users are protected from messing with the kernel this way, but at the same time they need some easy way to access the latest hardware support. Having a “Stable” and “Latest” version should be simple enough, and most people can’t go wrong with “Latest” and can easily revert to the LTS kernel if needed (so it should be the default with Stable offered alongside it).

  18. First for the positive news, the continued development of Wayland and the unification of the live-boot installer is going to be a very welcome change by users for further improving the Mint experience.

    Now onto the controversial changes …

    The further delaying of the Mint LTS cycle as discussed here and also in other parts of the Linux Mint communities comes with several notable consequences which need further discussing, one of them is the simple basic fact that Linux Mint itself will be 8 months behind the latest Ubuntu LTS release packages wise.

    This will create problems specifically within the earlier and later years of each major Linux Mint release in that it increase the period of time in which newer hardware devices may not find Mint usable enough for the average user due to a lack of packages available. For reference with the release of Mint 23.0 delayed for Christmass that would mean that a total of 2 years and 8 months roughly would have passed between Ubuntu 24.04 and Mint 23.0 which is a very large delay in release cycles.

    Additionally currently Linux is going through a massive increase in popularity and with that has come a lot of changes inbetween Ubuntu LTS releases to the Linux ecosystem such as in gaming, software performance improvements or other different sectors.

    With that out of the way onto the more personal questions.

    With amazing increase in Linux Mint donations these last years it has come to my attention that there isn’t much detailed information on how exactly Linux Mint manages its finances which are funded by the donation users. Would it be possible for that to be further expanded upon on the Mint donation page?

    And for the final topic, have there been any advances in adding further Linux Mint communities to the LInux Mint website? Such as the new Linux Mint Community Wiki recently created: https://mintguide.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

    Reply

  19. I just want to add a thank you for going with a longer time to release so things are well thought out and most problems fixed before the release. This coming from one of the old timers here who has been using LInux since we had to make a bootable floppy to get into the system then take the default source for the kernel and configure it for the machine we had and compile that (and on my old original 486 that too about 25 t0 30 minutes to compile.) You would attempt to boot it and if you had everything right you were in a very basic start up. Everything game as source and you would compile and then install. I also remember when the first release of Slackware came out on multiple CDs (yes, CD, not DVD) and only the brave could even get that right.
    It’s amazing how far we have come. Of course I’m from the dark ages, before UNIX even, so I obviously still love this stuff. I use Mint on my primary desktop and my primary laptop, but I have at any one time about 8 other distros running on laptops, and old tower, and a few Raspberry Pi machines. Obviously I’m not afraid to re-install, but I really like the stability of my primary machines these days.
    I do want to know where Mint stands on the age issue for operating systems. I’m highly against it, but again, I’m old and I don’t like giving out too much information.

    Reply

  20. That is great news. In my opinion the release cycle of LMDE is great: all changes are included via updates. I see no reason for minor releases, since anyone who wants to update the system to a next major version has to update to at least the latest minor edition. Also, I think that the LMDE installer was always better the its counterpart in LM. Finally, I think that the main improvements into major releases are into the user experience and not the base itself. Keep up the good work. I would love to see LMDE with xfce also!!

    Reply

    1. That depends, they might need to find a middle ground since, as I posted before, if I want to install LMDE on a new PC, I have to install LMDE with the things from last year, and to have it updated to the latest version means downloading between 500MB to 1GB, which might affect an implementation and even more if the bandwidth is slow (my case at my work), if they can do something between “using the same base” as LMDE/Ubuntu based on LTS, but refreshing “ISO with the newer updates” as point releases, it will be great since there would be less to download and an always up-to-date ISO as of now

  21. I find the concerns about a longer release cycle a bit.. misplaced. We get kernel updates anyway, which should ease hardware concerns. Seriously, how often do you actually upgrade your hardware? The manufacturers aren’t even upgrading that often any more; forget the prices they ask now.
    My question would be regarding the base, and the moves Ubuntu are making. Are you going to use their re-written utilities? What about the use of AI in coding? While I don’t expect that to affect your coding much, if at all, what of any third party packages?
    I’m not so enamored of the “oooh, new shiny” syndrome. I’m surprised those who might be aren’t on a rolling release. As regards gamers; if they’re coming from Windows they might be glad for the lack of breakage and inopportune update timing.
    Just my 2 cents.

    Reply

  22. Will the MATE flavour of version 23 ship with MATE 1.28? It’s been ready for quite some time now. Regarding that, could you please add a text bubble for the window list applet like the rest of the mate-panel applets? It’s more or less invisible now, and coming from Windows it took me a long time to see and understand that it has a place on the panel (the little space between the app launchers and the visible list) and can be right-clicked and moved just like the other applets. The same is true for the separator, but I understand that you would at least want to increase the delay before showing the bubble to avoid it from popping up all the time (for aesthetic purposes).

    Right now there’s a bug that if you use “add to panel” to an application, the rightmost panel app launcher quantum tunnels to the right of the window list after a reboot, blocking the window list from appearing properly and breaking much of the basic navigation that it is needed for
    https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-panel/issues/1534 . Until this is fixed, it’s important for users to understand that they can move the window list a bit to the right to avoid this behaviour.

    Reply

    1. You don’t need “text bubble” if the theme is right. For example, if you switch to the old Mint-X theme, you will find the handle for panel window list reappear. Now whether we should get Mint-L and Mint-Y theme get the handle back is another matter.

    3. Cinnamon doesn’t really work the way I want it to. I put my panel on top and with the XP-style window list it’s like another row of browser tabs. For that I undecorate maximized windows which Cinnamon doesn’t offer, and put custom app launchers on the right as window controls (minimize, maximize, close). With the MATE color picker I also like theming my panel color and transparency, this tool and panel option aren’t in Cinnamon OOTB. Cinnamon also forces you to use their Muffin compositor, while MATE allows me to use no compositing, Compiz, Picom, or another compositor. I can also trust MATE to say, not change the start menu, and it’s generally lighter.

      Nothing wrong with Cinnamon, but I feel more at home with MATE.

    1. There’s been quite some noise from people saying it’s trending this way. I wonder what the team thinks.

  24. What about gtk3/libadwaita theming problems?
    Some apps in LMDE, like Gimp3, have a dropdown menus without any icon, a very unusable/uncomfortable/unfrendly idea for apps with long menus, for a frenzy gtk/gnome choice. What about this? Tks

    Reply

    1. For me I was able to solve this issue by installing qt6-svg package with
      sudo apt install qt6-svg-plugins
      Might work for you as well?

  25. Many thanks for the update Clem. I had been holding off some fresh installs til mid summer but will go and install 22.3 now on those machines. My only concern is that the 23 release will be based on an LTS that will already be 8 months out of date. Given Ubuntu’s proposed plans for Grub, the live-installer does seem like an excellent choice. And having more timeto concentrate on bug squashing will be great and can reduce the volume of outstanding bugs making for an even better more consistent stable system. I do think there needs to be provision for newer kernels to help with new hardware, but other than that I look forward to the changes, it all sounds exciting!!

    Reply

  27. The main concern regarding the change in the release/development cycle is the obvious time lag between the kernel and applications compared to other distros, which could be particularly detrimental to Mint’s visibility and publicity (the eight-month gap between Mint 23 Alpha and the Ubuntu 26.04 base is somewhat concerning).

    While this change in the release cycle may seem challenging for users, mainly due to the uncertainty and the shift from the scenario we’re accustomed to, I’m confident that it will be for the better and will allow LM to be around for much longer, as this involves reorganizing the resources, efforts, and workload of the development team.

    BTW Clem, have you defined your position regarding the issue of age verification?

    Reply

  28. As a Linux Mint fan, I’m really happy to hear the news, but I’ve been waiting for Wayland support for a long time -and now I have to wait all the way until Christmas…

    Reply

  29. Hi,

    Personally i dont see an issue in releases taking longer, however how will this affect us who contribute?
    Does this mean we can expect existing PR’s to be merged when the next release is ready, seems like a long time.

    Anyways, looking forward to the changes in the next release, looks great as always!

    Reply

  30. I am using Mint Mate since 2009 on 4 Machines and Nobara for my Gaming Machine.
    I suggest adding Apache Open Office instead of LibreOffice!!
    Great Work, LinuxMint Team!

    Reply

    1. why? Open Office ist outdatet and insecure… Open Office vanished from the Ubuntu repositories many years ago

    3. Can you explain why you propose using OpenOffice? That has not made any sense for years now.

  31. I am currently advising an organization that wants to convert 300 Windows-10 laptops to Linux. It will likely be Linux Mint Cinnamon. The organization supports users with limited digital knowledge and financial resources. It would be beneficial if a release could be maintained for approximately five years or longer.

    Reply

    1. Every major Mint Release (21.x, 22.x) is supported for (almost) five years. The minor releases don‘t change that, they’re just additional features. Mint 22 came out in July of 2024, it’s supported until April 2029, no matter of updated to 22.1, .2 or .3 in the meanwhile.
      So if a new major version is installed right after release, you get almost 5 years of updates without having to upgrade to any other release.
      With Mint 23 releasing in winter, the support will be a bit shorter, I would guess until April 2031.

  32. What about the elephant in the room. Ubuntu 26.04 is shipping Pipewire as a SNAP!
    Will Mint be able to continue to avoid SNAP on the new Ubuntu base?

    Reply

  33. Timescales to me are unimportant, compared to having a stable, up-to-date OS. Naming conventions are also immaterial BUT numbering could be perceived a problem. LM 23, being issued in nearly 2027 will make anyone coming to Mint think that version is already 4 years old!. I think you should consider changing the numbering convention to reflect the year of issue, similar to what MX or Ubuntu do.

    Reply

  34. I think this is the voice of sanity in the Linux world. What I want from my OS is a rock solid stability for my production-grade machine and doing important, professional work. Guess what – not everybody on the planet Earth is a gamer. Gaming is second grade, free-time, hobby activity (and let’s make it clear straight away – you will be much better with other hobbies outdoors, like racing a bike, birdwatching, hiking or picking up girls). First important things (and in grown-up’s world that is, unfortunately, work), then the leisure. That’s why all of the small, under-the-radar-of -youtubers, user-oriented changes made me fall in love with Linux Mint. You may frown, but I started using Linux in 2009 and after so many years, distros and probmlems to solve – I switched to Mint only… last year. It felt like I’ve finally found the Oasis of Peace and Reason. In less hyperbolic language – for me it’s simply the best, most stable, easiest to configure and to use distro out there (not everybody is a programmer either, and the work is waiting). I want the OS to be even more polished this way – and if longer release cycle will help (and it seems perfectly reasonable) – I’m totally into it. If you use your computer for work you will pretty quickly find out that new release every half a year is more of a hassle than good, the same way as new Nvidia drivers version is rather a calamity, not improvement on a production machine. And if you are a gamer and want all the latest bells and whistles – why are you on Debian-based distro anyway? For people coming from Windows new system every six months will appear insane. However – I do agree that the same people wouldn’t have a slightest clue why their freshly purhcased state-of-the-art computer is “too new” for the system everybody recommends for newcomers as stable and easy one – they may try it, burn, and never come again…
    One release per year is totally fine for me. I really like the LMDE installer, so I’m glad it’s coming to Mint. Slow adoption of “new, shiny things” and making sure they are really properly polished before releasing them to the people’s everyday machines – sure. All the decisions here appear to me as absolutely reasonable and I would make them myself if in the same position. The only thing I’m worried about now is Wayland and it’s color management, which is crucial for me for professional work (photography, graphics, illustration). It’s one of the reasons I switched to Mint, IMO the best proper and modern system based on X11 right now. I really, really hope the Mint Team will treat the color management seriously and professionally – so the “Minty Oasis of Peace and Reason” will be here to stay for me…

    Reply

    1. Another important point is what will happen with upgrades from version 22.3 to 23 when using the update manager.
      This feature, available in Linux Mint, offers an undeniable advantage for updating many working PC; will this option remain available?

  35. My family and I sincerely, thank you for your work, Team. We are just happy to have LMDE stably running on our machines, and if it means slightly longer release cycle for the sake of quality – then so be it. Otherwise, we could f..ck off to gazillion other distros, who in their desperate efforts to stay relevant among modern audience with 1.5 sec attention span (carefully trained by TikTok) pop vibe-coded builds faster than a farmer blows his nose.

    Reply

  36. Thank you, Clem, for the update! With LM 23 is coming at the end of the year, will there be a 22.3 Edge ISO released when Canonical backports the 7.0 Kernel to 24.04 HWE for users with newer hardware?

    Reply

  38. Hi,

    I understand the longer release cycle but like some others I’m worried about the old kernel keeping new users away due to compatibility. Or is it a real problem? I have no clue about Linux distro development. From your perspective how challenging is a new kernel or a new Ubuntu/Debian base support? Or is it the burden of two/several major branches with different cycle length that is the pain point? Does it brings too much complexity/overhead?

    Thanks for your amazing work. Using Mint for 5 years now and never got an issue.

    Reply

  39. Thanks for the update. For someone who’s basically new to Linux Mint (used it on and off for years when Windows would frustrate me, but made the full switch earlier this year on both laptops to LM only). I like LM because of it’s stability. I like that your goal is to “do it right” not “do it quickly.”
    I understand those that want the newest for newer hardware, but does putting of the release of LM 23 Alfa until December prevent LM 22.x from being updated to handle the newer hardware via updates as opposed to upgrades? I wouldn’t think so, but I’m not a programmer/coder. In my opinion, doing it right is more important than doing it quickly. The stability and dependability of LM is what I have come to love about this OS.
    Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  40. Hello, Clem & the development team thank you for sharing you news on the future of MINT. Like many other people I keep hearing a lot of gossip & rumors about the issue of “age verification” and how Linux is going to be locked out of the internet. Not only do I not understand this but its hard to know if this is just fearmongering or if this talk has any basis in reality. I wonder what your thoughts are Clem. Is this just fearmongering?

    Reply

    1. I’ve heard that Ubuntu has already implemented this age verification thing. While I’m not a fan, I’m also a California resident (and yes, I’ve written scathing letters to those behind this stupid law). I’m not familiar with the details of how Ubuntu has implemented this, but perhaps the Mint installer could add a small bit of code that checks your IP for general location, and if it’s within California (or other locations requiring age verification by law) it gives a warning (and the option to cancel installation) and automatically installs whatever library Ubuntu is using for this task and causes the installer to ask the dreaded age question. That way, those outside of California and other areas requiring this can still use the non-age-verified version of Linux Mint, while those living within those areas can still install and enjoy Mint without putting the Mint team in danger of fines. Just a thought, anyway. I’m not looking forward to this weirdness.

    2. @ Mike F:
      You shouldn’t required ID/age regardless, since that goes against the FOSS philosophy! Just don’t implement it at all!
      ” while those living within those areas can still install and enjoy Mint without putting the Mint team in danger of fines”
      Linux Mint is not in the US or Commiefornia, therefore they are not liable! Even then you should fight it an not just comply like a sheep! Also Mint shouldn’t install the age thing regardless of where you are!

    3. I get what you’re saying. I’m a less of a reactionary activist than you are, apparently. I’m just a user trying to prevent the Linux Mint team from getting fines because of Linux users willfully breaking the law, as you suggest I do. I’m just suggesting one possible option. That’s all.

    4. @ Mike F:
      Since when is standing for your rights “breaking the laws” or being a “reactionary activist “?
      You do realize that these laws are unconstitutional, I would hope someone like you from the US would know that!
      “Linux users willfully breaking the law”
      These laws only apply to OS vendors, not users, but even then you don’t comply your way out of tyranny! You only enable them even more when you comply like sheep!

  41. Could you clarify (by policy) whether Mint + LMDE is going to remain snap-free, and also whether you’re going to stick with the GNU-coreutils?

    Snap is driving me nuts on Ubuntu – because so many things don’t work any more. The most recent: example: dart-sass is a snap; therefore it doesn’t work in a CI pipeline, because snap will not work when the operator doesn’t have a home-directory. It’s also stupidly wasteful of resource – my Ubuntu 26.04 system has 15 copies of python3 installed! Some of us still have machines with resource-limits. In my view, the rust-coreutils rewrite is also wrong – because it tries to remove a core piece of GNU (and GPL-protections) from the distro. Thanks – Richard

    Reply

  42. Thank you for the update, Clem! Here are my thoughts…

    1. I totally understand the need for longer release cycles, so I’m good with that, although part of me is sad that we have to wait an extra 6 months for the Mint upgrade goodness.

    2. If I had a vote in this scenario (which I’m sure I don’t), I would vote for semi-rolling release of Mint-specific software updates. It was difficult hearing all about the good things being developed and having to wait for the updates before. Now it’s going to be excruciating. Since you’ve got the precident of the semi-rolling releases in LMDE, this time of change would be a great time to just carry that concept over to the main edition.

    3. I can’t wait until Christmas!

    Reply

  43. @Clem, may I offer a suggestion for the new release schedule?

    Instead of keeping us waiting for a later on Mint 23 (lets say next December), the Team could focus on a simpler earlier release of Mint 23.0 (lets say this July) just with the new updated code base from Ubuntu 26.04 and eventually some minimal new stuff. Then until 23.1, (lets say in December) the Team could focus on adding the new stuff (major Cinnamon update, etc.). Then after this calmly focus just in new stuff for a whole year and give us 23.2 in December 2027.

    So:
    Mint 23.0: July 2026 (just the new code base from Ubuntu 26.04)
    Mint 23.1: December 2026 (new stuff added)
    Mint 23.2: December 2027 (more new stuff added)
    Mint 24.0: July 2028 (just the new code base from Ubuntu 28.04)

    This way we the Community would have the both of both worlds: The more “final” version in December as you have planned but also have the updated base 5 months sooner. And after this the Team would have a full year for planning, implementing and testing a more careful next release.

    If this makes sense, you’re welcome!

    Reply

    2. ^^^ This is the best plan. Waiting until December is a really bad idea:

      https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/

      Why? Because Mint is the already oldest distro in terms of packages that we ship to our customers. By 2027 it will be three years old already. We won’t wait that long, and many others won’t either.

      “Three years is an awfully long time in the Internet world.”—Joel

      In project management this is called “scope creep.” If a project can’t make a deadline, the best idea is to reduce the scope of work and ship existing improvements, not keep people waiting on things not done yet.

    3. This^
      Bingo, @Bruno Miranda. That schedule is kinda what I’ve expected to happen after reading the previous monthly news (Feb. 2026):

      Next cycle:
      July/August 2026: new release (new Ubuntu LTS base)
      December 2026/January 2027: new stuff
      December 2027/January 2028: more new stuff.

      Then:
      July/August 2028: new release (new Ubuntu LTS base)
      December 2028/January 2029: new stuff
      December 2029/January 2030: more new stuff.

      And so on.
      Well, I love Linux Mint and fully trust Clem and the whole team. Whatever release cycle we get, I’ll be happy using Mint <3
      Thank you so much for your great job.

    4. Good idea! Or, you could release 23 this summer, like the above, with nothing new other than Ubuntu’s base. Just have 22.3’s Mint-specific software ported to Ubuntu 26.04 to start with. Then release Mint-specific software packages as a semi-rolling release over the top of 26.04. Just release each package when it’s ready regardless of any specific release numbers or dates. So there wouldn’t be any need for 23.1, 23.2, etc. Just one version 23 with software updates as they’re available. No time pressure at all, other than making what’s current work on the new Ubuntu (which I’m sure is a lot still, but that could be your only focus immediately following Ubuntu LTS releases instead of new Cinnamon features, etc.)

    5. hello, it seems a good idea, Clem please take it into consideration. Besides, it will generate more interest in Mint if from time to time there are news about it in media. Promotion matters. One release per year means a long silence or at least quasi-silence, with fewer people downloading the image, tinkering with it etc.

    6. Yeah. It is a good idea.
      If it is only possible, please consider proposed approach.

    7. This seems like a good way of keeping up to date with the base Ubuntu LTS cycle for the system packages while still ensuring longer development time for newer feature additions.

    8. I think having to drop everything just to ship the new codebase in time goes against the whole reason Clem mentions for relaxing the schedule.

      If it’s possible, it may be a great idea, but it might not be so trivial to accomplish without setting back all the other development work.

    9. This is a sensible proposal. I love Mint for its implementation, stability and dependability. I do not use Cinnamon (I love MATE), I mainly don’t want snaps (which is why I had to move away from Ubuntu), and Mint has provided that. I am not worried about an up-to-date kernel like so many commenters, because there are ways around that. I am more worried about library compatibility, and being on a 2-year release cycle works, but is on the edge. Having to wait another half year for the next Mint that is based on Ubuntu 26.04 is not attractive. I can see that having all kinds of extra bells & whistles built into Mint might excite and motivate Mint contributors, but it is not what I need, and, as this proposal states, could be done at any time after the base versions of Mint have been published in July. People that want Cinnamon can have it in the .1 release when it’s ready, no rush. Ambitious development goals should not slow down the base releases. As to the numbering, you can just use the 26 for releases based on 26.04 LTS, and attach .0 .1 etc. as that would just make a lot of sense.
      Mint is still my best option, and a great distribution (saying this as someone who has used Linux full-time on the desktop before Ubuntu existed), but if you change the vision too much, you might lose more users than you win.

    10. Yes, Clem really needs to find a compromise for his project to satisfy both his power users and everyone else. Right now, it feels like he’s undermining years of hard work and user loyalty ;-(

    11. That’s why I like this proposition as it looks like a good solution. From one side there is no more .3 releases to loosen schedule, from the other side .0 release would be available quickly to allow users to install software which requires new code base.

  44. How much do you have to change from the Ubuntu base? Linux Mint has always removed snaps. What about the other changes Ubuntu made or is planning to make? They replaced the GNU core utilities before the replacements were even feature complete in 25.10, and that change is continuing in 26.04. Will Linux Mint be carrying this change forward, or will you revert back to the GNU core utilities? There was also news of Ubuntu considering removing features from GRUB in future releases.

    Reply

  45. I hope this December release schedule is a one-off for Mint 23, not a long term trend.

    Previously, the Summer release schedule made a Mint x.0 release getting a 5 years support period minus a few months. With a Christmas release schedule, a Mint x.0 release will get a support period shortened to 4 years plus a few months.

    Reply

  46. Hello Clem,

    Are there any plans to make a statement concerning age verification laws and what the Linux Mint projects stance on them is?

    Thanks,
    A Concerned Netizen

    Reply

  47. You are right, the Wayland support and the unified installer shared between Mint and LMDE are significant milestones.
    A longer release cycle to achieve the stability we’re accustomed to is fine by me.

    Reply

  48. Thanks for the update @Clem. With a longer release cycle confirmed, what will happen to the monthly blog? Will you keep updating it as we have become accustomed to, or you will update when and only when you deem necessary. I feel like the blog is part of the LM brand, and if it gets “forgotten”, interest in LM as a project might be negatively affected in the long run

    Reply

  49. Each release point brings a hike in donations which will be lesser if releases are less, so that’s a loss to consider. To manage this, may do something like bringing a release just with updates installed and little changes here and there, kind of pseudo or mini release, but that can keep up the donations hike to some extent! Sorry but cash is important.

    Reply

    1. Very good point, I think a lot of people decide to (or remember to) make a donation after a release so hopefully this will not have a bad effect on the funds received .

  50. the problem I will haVE WITH Linux Mint will using the same installer as LMDE is you have toi formmat the main install drive…i always same the home and delete the rest of the drive, with the same user name everything is in place without formating

    Reply

  52. Hello, first of all I’d like to thank you for the work on GNU/Linux Mint. Also, I have to praise that we, as users of the system, can simply get in touch with the team. While I do think that the longer cycle is much less stressing for you and will only lead to good effects, have you considered to make the next release during the summer and then proceed with the annual cycle? This way it would be more up to date with Ubuntu LTS releases. But it may not be possible, and I understand that; you might want to wait because it is easier to develop by the time the LTS release is more mature.

    I am very happy with the adoption of live-installer instead of surrendering to the Flutter apps, which seem to regard desktop integration as harmful. I hope that Mint can stay a consistent GTK system.

    Reply

  53. I understand this decision and for the majority of the packages it makes sense to me however shouldn’t the kernel be updated more regularly? I game on Linux Mint and if we don’t even get 7.0 until then it’s not very nice.

    Reply

  54. Only on Christmas?
    Bad news…
    They should at least release an update for Cinnamon so we can have the new version of the screensaver.

    Reply

  55. Linux Mint should just go ‘all in’, use a Debian base, and offer a ‘Stable’ and ‘Testing’ version.

    Reply

  56. I think one release per year might be right, yet I hoped to grab xfce 4.20 this summer but instead I have to wait another year like other Xfce flavour users. Bad luck… Will new Mint have 2 versions per release cycle to synchronize with Ubuntu LTS?

    Reply

  57. Can people relax on this whole age verification thing for now. We are not even in 2027, yet, already people are rushing into things. For all i know It could all backfire. That said; amazing work from the mint team..Kudos.

    One thing about the installers when it comes to ubiquity vs live Debian installer. Ubiquity is much more flexible when it comes to the advanced disk options. The Debian version of the installer does not let you create a btrfs luks disk setup. Just thought i point that out since switching installers in the ubuntu version. I love the ubiquity installer for that reason.

    Again; amazing work. Looking forward to Mint23 when it comes out.

    Reply

    1. Brazil has already implemented this weeks ago. Just FYI. And BTW way nastier than the California and alike bills. The US is not the center of the Universe.

    2. “Can people relax on this whole age verification thing for now.”

      Um… how about, “No.” Don’t you get it yet?

      *Your* computer is *your* personal property that *you* bought with *your* money. And yet a cabal of complete strangers are trying to weaponize legislation to take away your personal ownership of your personal property away from you. And meanwhile, if you comply, you are monitored 24/7 by those complete strangers who then get to harvest your private information to sell to third-parties at your expense. I’m talking about billions of dollars of personal info world-wide that is ripe for the taking… and politicians get a cut of that which is why they are so eager to support it.

      Don’t kid yourself. This isn’t about “protecting children.” This is brute-force corporate-sponsored totalitarianism.

      This is *my* computer. I own it. I will not comply.

  58. Linux Mint is switching to a longer development cycle. Can this even be called news?! It seems like a joke. How long will it be? What’s happening with Cinnamon? What’s happening with the current system? Will it still receive updates for Cinnamon or not? How long a system remains supported, and many other questions, need to be clarified, but nothing is being said. Is this the right way to handle things?

    Reply

    1. There is much to do, Ubuntu changed a lot of stuff where they need to decide what to take into Mint 23 and what to leave out. They mentioned like two years ago that they want to get Wayland support fully ready in Mint 23, and it seems like they want to keep that promise. Also new Mint versions are supported as long as the Ubuntu package base, I don’t think that’s going to change.
      I wish Clem and the Team the best of luck on accomplishing these goals. The longer waiting time isn’t that bad, it’s free after all.

  59. The screensaver crashes every time on my laptop (Thinkpad E16) – the lock screen shows constantly the same time, no login possible etc etc…

    This is very annoying, and I hoped for the new wayland version.

    Certainly you can understand that I am very disappointed to wait until Xmas…

    Probably I will be forced to use another distro which is sad, because the rest of linux mint is really great.

    Reply

  60. Hey Mint team! Thanks for the news! As long as the version of virt-manager is bumped up in the next release, it will be worth the wait! But 8 months is a long time!!!

    Reply

  61. Longer Development Cycle:
    I’m a gamer and I own a business. I do both with Linux Mint. Of course my business comes first and it is my lively hood, and when I heard they were going to the longer cycle I was quite pleased as I know my business OS will remain solid and stable for years to come. However, as a gamer I like to have the latest and greatest kernel and updates! After reading through the comments and Clem’s responses, I’m not worried. The Mint Team usually does well with maintaining the distro, keeping it solid, and moving it forward, so I don’t really feel I have anything to worry about as a gamer or a business owner. This is why I chose Mint years ago and have never considered moving to another distro. I like the steady, considered approach to development even if it ruffles a few feathers. In conclusion, I’m OK with the change and can’t wait for Christmas to roll around. In the meantime, I’ll keep gaming and running my business without worry.

    Reply

  62. Well, the big problems affecting Mint’s future are as follows:

    – Ubuntu adopting Age Verification
    – Debian adopting SystemD and Wayland all the while actively opposing alternatives (such as OpenRC, Runit, and xlibre).
    – SystemD and Wayland have finally been exposed of being the underlying foundational dependencies for Age Verification to work in Linux, while quietly calling out to and connecting to Google servers to send telemetry and unique device identifiers bypassing user privacy settings and VPN usage (which now explains why the toxic cult-like behavior of the lunatics pressuring wide-spread adoption of SystemD and Wayland… “or you’re a terrible person”). Lunduke was right. It was a trap after all.
    -Flatpack has announced it’s own Age Verification for the Flatpack store so that you can neither install nor update an app without identifying yourself.
    – The latest Linux Kernel now has Rust and Vibe Coding in it which raises serious questions of there possibly being kernel-level support, implementation and enforcement for Age Verification.

    Perhaps the future of Mint should look to another route such as:
    – Switch to a BSD base,
    – Switch to the GNU/Herd kernel,
    – Switch to xlibre,
    – Build a new Mint from scratch based on Slackware, or Gentoo?

    In any case, this whole fiasco is profoundly disappointing. I don’t envy what decisions the Mint development team will have to face, but I thank you for at least trying to protect your user-base.

    Good luck and God speed.
    (Recommended reading: https://systemdfree.com/ )

    Reply

    1. While I share some of your concerns, if you’re going that far then just go the extra mile and migrate to either a Devuan or a Devuan-based OS.

  63. At 1st LMDE is supposed to be THE fallback plan, now I’m thinking as per the anti-systemd crowd whether or not the rest of us agrees with them or not, has been utterly prescient evidently by the current UN-welcome developments in the Linux world. Yes about age attestation/verification’s slippery slope towards MORE invasive end users’ parameters. Boom of all the starting point, systemd unfortunately became the only closest “natural” component to insert said agenda.

    Cut all of this short, I feel like Linux Mint’s team now need to seriously consider yet another base upstream move, considering that Debian is not sending out any strong signal about their stance on the matter just yet. On the core technical side, I don’t think any upstream dependent on systemd can truly avoid any systemd-wide related changes long term. I’m not thinking about anything drastic such as Slackware or Void. There’s already Devuan (preferably Devuan Freia = Debian testing) which should provide arguably the best path of least resistance. Vendefoul Wolf Linux proves that this is doable, they have a Freia build.

    It’s almost as if Peppermint OS had foreseen some things the rest of us didn’t way earlier with their PepDevuan released in 2022 and PepVoid plans in motion, test ISOs for this are already out. Now that we’re committing to a much more slowed down pace of development lifecycle, I hope that there’s space to explore similar alternatives AND if found viable, makes for a feasible base change.

    Reply

  64. First of all i want to say Thank you Linux Mint team for the amazing job that you do, there are countless of people that i made them switch to from Windows since the end of Windows 10 support, they are extremely happy with it.
    As for the news:
    I am all down for it for the longer cycle and hopefully we get Fractional Scaling support as it’s the main deal breaker for a lot of people right now. (including me on some of my laptops).
    A lot of people have 12-14″ Laptops and at 100% scaling, text and everything is way too small, 200% is way too big.
    125% and 150% options are a necessity.
    Latest Kernel and base are necessary for newer devices support, other than that, the distribution is perfect. it has everything a laptop/pc would need out of the box.

    Reply

  65. I am surprised no one has suggested a 9 month release cycle. If we are following Ubuntu, then:

    Mint 23.0: Aug 2026 (just the new code base from Ubuntu 26.04)
    Mint 23.1: April 2027 (new stuff added)
    Mint 23.2: December 2027 (more new stuff added)
    Mint 24.0: Aug 2028 (just the new code base from Ubuntu 28.04)

    Reply

  66. The eight-month gap between Mint 23 Alfa and the Ubuntu 26.04 base is truly a huge disappointment. From the release of Alfa, there are only 15 months and Ubuntu 28.04 will be released. That says it all.

    Reply

  67. I’ve never used LMDE before, but I think I’ll give it a try. Same for alpha/beta/testing systems; I may test LM 23 alfa when it comes. Thanks again for your great job!

    Reply

  68. I think this is the right decision for the Mint team. It’s only in the Linux bubble that everyone wants the “absolute-brand-spanking new” all the time. But Mint, quite rightly, appeals to a wider demographic than just Linux enthusiasts. And most of those people want a dependable, reliable, stable experience every time they turn on their machine. They don’t want to worry about upgrading every six months. There are various options the team can introduce to run concurrently to a standardised release (the option to install newer or other kernels such as the Liquorix kernel). In the meantime, everyone else gets a rock solid system where the experience improves exponentially with each release. This approach would also likely make it more attractive to OEMs. So I say, let’s do it!

    Reply

  69. Any plans to implement XFCE as an option for the Debian edition, also what are your DEFINITIVE thoughts about the “age” (actually ID) verification?

    Reply

  70. First of all thanks for the update and hard work Mint team!
    I think the decision of long developement cycle taken by mint team is totally justificable.
    Linux mint has a smaller team compared to other distributions which mint is based on (Ubuntu).
    Having said that instead of being locked in and wait for the 23 Alfa, the linux team could provide some bug fixes and system stability update as 22.4.
    Also 22.4 with bug fixes and stability update aligns perfectly with mint philosphy, priority to stability and reliability than new features.
    I know some might say linux mint only provides 3 point releases per major relase, but we are at a corssroad as Clem said and somethings must be reconsidered when everyones eyes are lock on “Linux Mint”.
    I really hope that the mint team will handle this crossroad gracefully.
    Much appriciated the work, put on by mint team. Love you guys.

    Reply

  71. A few worries :

    1) LMDE was (and maybe still is) not installable through VENTOY multi-OS boot keys. I hope that switching to the LMDE installer will not make Mint uncompatible with VENTOY. This tool is a must for install party.

    2) it is very important for office document compatibility to have the newest version of LibreOffice. At the moment we lag behind too much. Can in the future update of LibreOffice be available more often ?

    3) minor thing about numbering the future versions. Can the number refer to the upstream base version of Ubuntu / Debian for better understanding of where we stand and remembering the EOL year ?

    Thank you for the wonderful work making Mint our preferred distro !

    Reply

  72. Honestly, I think this news is terrible. Mint is one of the distributions that takes a long time to update packages, and now it’s going to take even longer? I really like using Cinnamon, but for those who like to play games, compared to KDE, Cinnamon leaves much to be desired, especially with this delay that’s going to happen. It’s a shame.

    Reply

  73. I use Linux Mint for nearly five years, under Debian counterpart (LMDE), and I thank the team for its development.

    When Mint 22 was released, I remember a lot of issues ongoing because of a development snapshot Ubuntu 24.04 took from Debian Testing at that time.

    Of course, I don’t know what Mint developers have to say, but I suppose the postpone proposal has, among other reasons, something related to avoid too much testing surprises on the Ubuntu underlay.

    Reply

  74. Clem, what about Linux Mint Team regarding future LMDE development. LMDE is for many LM users more and more important distro, because of its stability and reliability. Do you plan some significant improvements to be functionally closer to the LM-Cinnamom (Ubuntu based)? Or LMDE remains as a “backup” distro, just in case of Ubuntu “collapse”? I think that fully functional LMDE (just like LM: Driver Manager, Linux Kernel at Update manager, etc.) would perfect 2nd option Linux Mint distro for more stable and reliable hungry users. Please let as know in more detail about your future plans regarding LMDE!!!

    Reply

  76. Hi, I’m curious if the new instaler will be able to install system with btrfs + LVM + LUKS? This was not possible from the old one, you would have to this manualy.

    Reply

  77. Not happy at all to wait until December.
    I’ve been using Mint for many years and even with the 6 month cycle I’ve never seen any instability or “unfinished” parts, so it’s not clear to me why you have to extend the cycle to 1 year.
    22.x XFCE edition is still on 4.18, released in dec 22 (!!!) and included in Ubuntu 24.04, but 4.20 is out from dec 24… People have to wait until dec26 for a 2-years-old DE, and stay until dec 26 with a 4-years-old DE?!? It’s crazy, and this in only an example of effects of so long cycle, cumulated with third-party cycles.
    Before Debian include, Ubuntu include and Mint include, the software base become extra-hyper-old.
    Add to this the theming/usability problems coming from gtk and libadwaita “ideas”.
    For all of this, I (and I think many) would be forced to move on to something else, perhaps qt-based.

    Reply

  78. What does the team think of server side decorations in the Wayland compositor? What I mean is: Mutter doesn’t have them, what about Muffin?

    Reply

  79. Hi Mint Team,

    please fix wwan support on Notebooks. It seems like it’s a USB modeswitch issue – mint only gives “array element may not be null” error messages. Arch Linux just does it configure right ootb.

    First time in 10+ years i had to switch distros 🙁

    No useful help on the web

    Reply

  80. First of all, thank you for the transparent update. I fully understand and support the decision to adopt a longer development lifecycle. In the current rapidly evolving Linux landscape—especially with the transition to Wayland and major kernel updates—having more breathing room will undoubtedly allow the team to focus on deep architectural improvements and “doing things well” without the pressure of a 6-month deadline.
    Regarding the release strategy, I have a small suggestion: Would it be possible to follow a model similar to Windows by releasing updated ISOs every few months (e.g., every 2 months) that include the latest security patches and bug fixes?
    The primary benefit would be for users performing fresh installations; it would significantly reduce the massive volume of updates required immediately after a new install, making the “out-of-the-box” experience much smoother and more efficient.
    Thank you again for all your hard work on Mint!

    Reply

  81. I imagine your work is incredibly demanding and demanding, and you’re contributing your time for free, but…

    Mint has always felt outdated. If it’s already this slow, yet it still puts pressure on you, forcing you to decide on an even longer development lifecycle, I feel… even if Linux gains more new users, your distro won’t be the first choice for their new OS installation. Even if it’s not obvious now, it might become very apparent in a year or two.

    Take “kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns” for example—you actually need to set it to 0? And for over two years? This is just a small change in Ubuntu; if you can’t even keep up, I feel you’ll become increasingly unable to keep up with Ubuntu’s evolution.

    Reply

  82. The Lockscreen/Screensaver crashes regularly on my ThinkPad and excludes me from continuing work.
    Very annoying, no solution on the web to be found.
    I hoped for the new screensaver version, now I have to wait until the end of 2026.
    My status: disappointed and wondering to use another distro.

    Reply

  83. Especially I am interested in the actual important problem regarding LMDE7 + newest nvidia cards support: The “black screen” or “CLI-only” boot on LMDE 7 (and other Debian 12/13 based distros) with NVIDIA 550 drivers is a known race condition. The display manager (LightDM) attempts to start the graphical interface before the NVIDIA kernel modules are fully initialized. So straightforward installation of nvidia-driver -550 is actually impossible??!! Every known workarounds always bring many other drawbacks or problems … So situation does not look well, for anybody who is using discrete NVIDIA cards. I spent more than week of terrible tuning, fixing, reinstalling, etc. And finally, I realized, that LMDE7 is definitely not ready for proper using of currently available nvidia -driver at repos (550) … big disappointment for LMD7 users….

    Reply

  84. So, I guess I can’t post here about you employing digital rаcism, but what’s the point of it anyway since you have an extra cеnsоrship layer?
    What is it? Be a good boy and donate, otherwise we don’t want to hear from you?

    Reply

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