Monthly News – July 2026 – The Linux Mint Blog

Hi everyone,

Before we begin, let me thank all our donors and sponsors. Many thanks to all of you for the help you’re providing us!

We’ve got new HWE ISOs this month and some really exciting news. As always, please be aware that the features and improvements mentioned in this blog are a work in progress and that this is a preview of what’s to come and what’s planned for the next release of Linux Mint.

HWE ISOs

A new set of HWE ISOs is available for Linux Mint 22.3 with kernel 7.0.

For more information on HWE, or to download these ISOs: https://www.linuxmint.com/hwe.php

Environment Variables

The System Administration tool received a new page dedicated to environment variables.

Variables defined on this page are set system-wide for all user sessions (graphical and/or console).

Kernel Management

Kernel management was removed from the Update Manager and re-implemented within the System Administration tool.

This new implementation supports both Linux Mint and LMDE. It focuses on kernel series rather than individual kernels.

Kernel management is very simple: You decide which series you want to track and how many older kernels you want to keep. You then receive kernel updates for your tracked series in the Update Manager, and older kernels are automatically removed by the system on a weekly basis.

If you need to free up space immediately, cleanups can be triggered manually.

You can also click on the History button to see which kernels were removed and when.

If you install a kernel from an unknown or custom series, the tool will list its series and give you the ability to mark it as tracked.

In the screenshot below, we installed an OEM and a Real Time kernel.

When you track a known series, the tool installs its meta-packages and ensures you receive updates for that series. In the case of a custom series, the tool doesn’t know how to do that and warns you that it is your responsibility to do so.

If a series is not tracked, all of its installed kernels get automatically removed during the next cleanup. Unless… you protect them.

You can click the “View all kernels” button to install, remove, or protect individual kernels.

When a kernel is marked as “protected”, it becomes immune to kernel cleanups and never gets deleted.

Keyboard Layouts and IM

Cinnamon received support for Fcitx5 with full Wayland/X11 parity.

With Fcitx5 selected in the Input Methods settings, Cinnamon no longer launches ibus-daemon, but uses a different internal handler instead. It lets you define a single layout and delegates everything else to Fcitx.

Cinnamon also features a new keyboard layout viewer.

This viewer replaces the gnome-kbd viewer, which was discontinued.

Other improvements

Interacting with the panel when working with fullscreen windows feels much more natural than before. You can click other components of the panel, close the menu, open other applets, etc.

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsors:

Bronze Sponsors:

Donations in June:

A total of $14,761 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 419 donors:

$580 (7th donation), Natalya S.
$464 (2nd donation), Michael S.
$300 (35th donation), John Mc aka “Land Research Project“
$300 (9th donation), André Inácio
$290, DJ
$250 (5th donation), Benjamin M.
$232, Dr. S. T.
$232, Götz K.
$145, Libre à Quimperlé
$128, Martin B.
$120 (8th donation), Michael P.
$116 (21st donation), Jiří B.
$116 (14th donation), Hans-Georg Thien
$116 (9th donation), Walter K.
$116, Jan K.
$116, Jan S.
$116, Martin D.
$116, OuestWare
$116, Richard L.
$116, Silvia S.
$116, Thomas E.
$116, Wolfgang H.
$100 (8th donation), William C.
$100 (3rd donation), abrames
$100 (3rd donation), Dale K.
$100 (3rd donation), Gilbert B.
$100 (3rd donation), Mark S.
$100, Adam S.
$100, Dan B.
$100, Edward R. K.
$100, Isaac K.
$100, Michael S.
$100, Services Multiples R.
$87 (2nd donation), Florian S.
$81, Benjamin S.
$75, Javier S.
$70 (6th donation), Vincent F.
$70 (3rd donation), ZS
$70, Simon H.
$58 (18th donation), Roland H.
$58 (17th donation), Jyrki A.
$58 (12th donation), Karl H.
$58 (7th donation), Gerald H.
$58 (5th donation), Karl-heinz P.
$58, Alexander H.
$58, Anton R.
$58, Bernd C.
$58, Daniel B.
$58, gilles Delaguette aka “gillou”
$58, Günter A.
$58, John P.
$58, Kai N.
$58, Levente D.
$58, Martin K.
$58, Michael T. B.
$58, Michel O.
$58, Nick V.
$58, Ralf E.
$58, Ralf S.
$58, Rene W.
$58, Rolando
$58, Rupert W.
$58, Ruth S.
$58, Sanny S.
$58, Stefan I.
$58, Thomas B.
$58, William A.
$58, William F.
$58, Yeun H. T.
$52, Jeffery M.
$51, John A.
$50 (21st donation), Mothy
$50 (17th donation), Anthony C. aka “Ciak”
$50 (11th donation), Peter L. aka “Pedro“
$50 (8th donation), Gerard S.
$50 (7th donation), Tim A.
$50 (6th donation), Leonhard R.
$50 (5th donation), Robert L.
$50 (3rd donation), Soeren
$50 (2nd donation), James M.
$50 (2nd donation), Jason E.
$50 (2nd donation), Johnny R. D.
$50 (2nd donation), peter T.
$50 (2nd donation), Timothy J I.
$50, Algie M.
$50, ANDREW M.
$50, Austin R.
$50, Caleb S.
$50, Dustin P.
$50, edward K. aka “edthefair”
$50, Gohér L.
$50, Joshua E.
$50, Lionel L.
$50, Maciej S.
$50, Marco M.
$50, Mark W.
$50, MOHD A. A. H.
$50, Richard A.
$50, Rolando G.
$50, Ruiping L.
$50, Samuel G.
$50, Shay C.
$50, vitalii V.
$50, Vitalox.co.uk
$50, Wayne L.
$50, WILSON N. S.
$50, Øyvind L.
$46, José R. B. U.
$46, Maik S.
$45, James R.
$41, M.J. D.
$40 (10th donation), Orlando O.
$40 (2nd donation), Jonathan L.
$40, Grant L. S.
$40, Joseph D.
$37, siobhan M.
$36, Shawn D.
$35 (3rd donation), Renee M.
$35, achim M.
$35, David B.
$35, Donald B.
$35, Fazekas F.
$35, GARRY J. W.
$35, Helmut E.
$35, P J. C.
$35, Russell R.
$35, Simon H.
$35, Teo S.
$35, Tobias K.
$35, vincent R.
$31 (6th donation), David B.
$31, Johannes W.
$30 (8th donation), Doug S.
$30, David S.
$30, Jan V. D.
$30, MR G. S.
$30, Terence R.
$29 (2nd donation), Askeldaja
$29 (2nd donation), Kerry H.
$29, Andrea P.
$29, Andrew G.
$29, Michael Koch
$29, Mr T. A.
$29, Warren B.
$28 (4th donation), Toon V.
$27, Benjamin B.
$25 (64th donation), Linux Mint Sverige
$25 (19th donation), Donna B.
$25 (17th donation), John N.
$25 (6th donation), Oleksandr N.
$25 (2nd donation), Roger M.
$25, John H.
$25, Ong L. Z.
$25, ROBERT A. B.
$23 (119th donation), Johann J.
$23 (78th donation), Bryan F.
$23 (72nd donation), Peter E.
$23 (39th donation), Stefan W.
$23 (34th donation), Benjamin W. aka “UncleBens”
$23 (32nd donation), Marek S.
$23 (14th donation), Frank W.
$23 (8th donation), Tapani H.
$23 (6th donation), Robert J.
$23 (4th donation), Guillaume P.
$23 (4th donation), Jeff H.
$23 (4th donation), Pedro A.
$23 (3rd donation), Adam B. aka “Neomodus”
$23 (3rd donation), Benjamin L.
$23 (3rd donation), Gehova L.
$23 (3rd donation), Systemutvikler R. S.
$23 (3rd donation), Thomas H.
$23 (2nd donation), Henrik M.
$23 (2nd donation), Ian K.
$23 (2nd donation), Michel S.
$23 (2nd donation), Norbert E.
$23 (2nd donation), Pascal T.
$23 (2nd donation), Peter V. R.
$23 (2nd donation), Z A. Z. A.
$23, aka “Dealer Dahl”
$23, Andreas S.
$23, Anonymous
$23, Dan M.
$23, Frédéric B.
$23, Heinz-Jürgen F.
$23, Helmut M.
$23, Henning G.
$23, Henrik H.
$23, J.P. G.
$23, Jochen H.
$23, johan B. aka “Woody”
$23, Johannes A.
$23, John M. S.
$23, Klaus P.
$23, Marcus B.
$23, Martin E.
$23, martine P.
$23, Michael N.
$23, michael P.
$23, Mr L. W.
$23, Nurbol K.
$23, Paolo R.
$23, Randy Lahey
$23, Riccardo B.
$23, Ronald H.
$23, Sebastian B.
$23, Sonja S.
$23, staffan O.
$23, Thomas B.
$23, Tobias E.
$23, WILFRIED H.
$23, Wolfgang M. S.
$21 (6th donation), James H.
$20 (53rd donation), John D.
$20 (31st donation), Denis D.
$20 (16th donation), Michel S.
$20 (12th donation), Randall W.
$20 (9th donation), Leela A.
$20 (9th donation), Ricardo M.
$20 (7th donation), Michael G.
$20 (5th donation), Gary S.
$20 (5th donation), Nathan B. aka “Diginate “
$20 (3rd donation), Theodore K.
$20 (2nd donation), Dmytro Z.
$20 (2nd donation), Jerome P.
$20 (2nd donation), Richard L. S.
$20 (2nd donation), Stephen B.
$20 (2nd donation), Terrence C.
$20, Aaron A.
$20, any N.
$20, Brian P.
$20, Bryan J.
$20, David S.
$20, Elijah W.
$20, Elizabeth H.
$20, Gervase G.
$20, GLEATON’S
$20, HYUNGU H.
$20, James M.
$20, Jay G.
$20, Jim B.
$20, Martin J.
$20, Michael B.
$20, Paul B.
$20, Randi J. R.
$20, Revd. Barry Keal aka “G4HDU“
$20, Richard J.
$20, RICHMOND D.
$20, Robert H.
$20, Ron H.
$20, Samuel K.
$20, Steve T.
$20, The Best Buy
$20, Thomas F. aka “Tom”
$17 (93rd donation), Andreas S.
$17 (8th donation), Tristan V.
$17 (5th donation), Tomasz S.
$17, Álvaro V.
$17, Michal L.
$15 (9th donation), mitch K.
$15 (4th donation), Snorre L.
$15 (2nd donation), Justin C.
$15, Josephine
$13 (19th donation), Alessandro S.
$12 (56th donation), Francois-R L.
$12 (51st donation), Thomas Rehm
$12 (50th donation), Tugaleres.com
$12 (30th donation), Adian K.
$12 (24th donation), Slobodan Vrkacevic
$12 (22nd donation), Eskild T
$12 (18th donation), Abe Z.
$12 (17th donation), Artem Ignatyev aka “ZaZooBred”
$12 (17th donation), Tomi P.
$12 (12th donation), Intralogistiker
$12 (8th donation), Rainer B.
$12 (7th donation), J M. H. C.
$12 (6th donation), Claudio A.
$12 (6th donation), Stefan B.
$12 (5th donation), Lyuben R.
$12 (5th donation), Olivier R.
$12 (5th donation), ronald H.
$12 (4th donation), Bartomiej T.
$12 (4th donation), Matthias K.
$12 (4th donation), Renaud A.
$12 (3rd donation), Arne A
$12 (3rd donation), Donald B.
$12 (3rd donation), FrankFRL
$12 (3rd donation), Raul Z.
$12 (2nd donation), Brian C.
$12 (2nd donation), Frank F.
$12 (2nd donation), Marc L.
$12 (2nd donation), MorpurgoMedia.nl aka “Morpurgo Media“
$12 (2nd donation), Nektarios T.
$12 (2nd donation), Ricardo O.
$12 (2nd donation), Sebastian M.
$12, –
$12, Antonio A. M.
$12, Antonio S.
$12, Bernhard R.
$12, Bettina B.
$12, Bogdan D.
$12, Christian B.
$12, Christoph A.
$12, Claes C.
$12, David P. B.
$12, Esteve L. G.
$12, Eugen W.
$12, Fidel V.
$12, FLORIAN K.
$12, Giobatta L.
$12, Helmut S.
$12, Henning S.
$12, Igor C.
$12, Jan O.
$12, Jesse D. A. R. D. S. J.
$12, Joe S.
$12, John D.
$12, Kalin S.
$12, Karel J.
$12, Klaus D. N.
$12, Koski M. K. aka “Wintageman“
$12, Lauris S.
$12, Mark C.
$12, Markus B.
$12, martin G.
$12, Michael D.
$12, Neil G.
$12, Noel A.
$12, Ralph A. W.
$12, Renzo M.
$12, Ruben O. K.
$12, Steffen H.
$12, Sven S.
$12, Tamás R. V.
$12, Thomas L.
$12, tj J.
$12, Wolfram S.
$11, Jozef T.
$10 (123rd donation), Thomas C.
$10 (65th donation), Philip Woodward
$10 (43rd donation), Sami Mannila
$10 (19th donation), Thevirtua
$10 (14th donation), Mariusz B.
$10 (9th donation), Korora Solutions
$10 (9th donation), Steven L.
$10 (6th donation), S Russo
$10 (6th donation), Selwyn A.
$10 (5th donation), makeup
$10 (4th donation), Earl R.
$10 (4th donation), notariat
$10 (3rd donation), narghilea
$10 (3rd donation), Richard W.
$10 (2nd donation), Daniel R.
$10 (2nd donation), Jacek B.
$10 (2nd donation), Metehan K.
$10 (2nd donation), Timothy C.
$10 (2nd donation), VPRECA
$10 (2nd donation), William P.
$10, B P.
$10, Brody McDonald
$10, Cesar R. B.
$10, Craig D.
$10, Dean D.
$10, Hector G. G.
$10, Michael S.
$10, NEWT L. H.
$10, Roger L.
$10, Seth A.
$10, Szilvia D.
$10, Timoth O.
$10, Vasilis A.
$10, Victor M. aka “Bull”
$10, William R.
$177 from 45 smaller donations