Is Linux Mint In Trouble? (nerds.xyz) 16
BrianFagioli writes: The developers behind Linux Mint say the project is rethinking its release strategy and moving toward a longer development cycle, with the next version now expected around Christmas 2026. In a monthly update, project lead Clement Lefebvre said the team reached a "crossroads" and needs more flexibility to fix bugs, improve the desktop, and adapt to rapid changes across the Linux ecosystem. The upcoming development build, temporarily called Mint 23 "Alfa," is currently based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and includes Linux kernel 7.0, an unstable build of Cinnamon 6.7, and early Wayland related work.
Mint is also replacing the long used Ubiquity installer with "live-installer," the same tool used by Linux Mint Debian Edition, allowing the project to unify installation infrastructure across its Ubuntu based and Debian based variants. While the team frames the changes as an opportunity to improve quality and reduce maintenance overhead, the shift has raised questions about the project's long term direction and whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.
Mint is also replacing the long used Ubiquity installer with "live-installer," the same tool used by Linux Mint Debian Edition, allowing the project to unify installation infrastructure across its Ubuntu based and Debian based variants. While the team frames the changes as an opportunity to improve quality and reduce maintenance overhead, the shift has raised questions about the project's long term direction and whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.
Is Linux Mint In Trouble? (Score:5, Insightful)
so - no - but need some click bait-y stupid headline...
Re: (Score:2)
Why would that make them "in trouble?" (Score:3)
Ubuntu ... Ugh (Score:5, Interesting)
Backstory: I started out with Gentoo and Mandrake Linux in '99. They were exciting, but ... messy and difficult.
Then, I started using Ubuntu on the job, and it was amazing. It felt like "Linux has finally arrived as a real OS!" It was incredible, and I thought the distro wars were all but over: Ubuntu won.
But then Shuttleworth (the maniac founder of Canonical/Ubuntu) thought the same thing, and started acting like the Bill Gates of the Linux community. Linux is supposed to be a community project, but he kept trying to force bad technical decisions on the rest of the community (eg. Unity).
Ultimately I switched to Linux Mint, which leveraged Ubuntu to offer great Linux ... without being constrained by Shuttleworth (eg. I run MATE or Cinnamon, not Unity).
TLDR; But what I care about, and I think what most people care about, is "Linux that works well". Few people give a damn about Ubuntu and Shuttleworth: if Linux Mint can deliver a great experience without them, it will be a *better* distro for it!
Re: (Score:2)
How in the world did you write my story?
Exactly the same. Same origin story. Same frustration with Ubuntu. Same landing spot for same reasons.
Re: (Score:2)
As skogs says, same reason I ended up using Linux Mint for a good few years.
Trouble is, last time I installed it there seemed to be things that just didn't work properly or at all any more. I needed to give something else a try, so wiped my new Framework 13 and instead installed Debian. Wow, what a difference, everything works. I've also upgraded the hardware in my home server and installed Debian on that too which is also working faultlessly.
The thing that I really wish for more than anything else in Linux
LMDE? (Score:2)
"whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base."
I know, they could call it Linux Mint Debian Edition... oh wait. They already have that.
As long as Mint can circumvent Debian's stubborness with Broadcom WiFi cards I don't see a problem here.
Fedora was only slightly better as the arcane incantation actually worked. The incantation also updated the kernel which I did not ask for but at least it all worked in the end.
Apple and Microsoft are both
Raises hand (Score:2)
Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.
And that would be bad why? Sure, Debian moves more slowly than Ubuntu, but but they're also not all-in on Snap. I'll take stability over cutting-edge for most things, especially if things that need more frequent (security) updates, like Firefox and Thunderbird, are also available - as packages. Also, don't most fixes from Ubuntu (and others) eventually get pushed upstream to Debian anyway?
I'm of two minds about this (Score:2)
... whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.
I'll second the click-bait concerns mentioned already in other comments. "In trouble" is too charged a term. That said, the last time I tried LMDE, I scurried back to the Mint based on Ubuntu - LMDE was just less refined and needed more intervention to get what I wanted.
I started out my Linux journey on Debian, but found that it became harder to maintain, and that even the "stable" version needed more effort than I wanted to put in to get what I wanted. So I went to Ubuntu, but jumped ship when they starte
Not in trouble (Score:2)
Terrible title (Score:3)
The title of the post is terrible and in no way reflects the content of the announcement. People who post crap like that should be banned for spreading FUD.
Strange (Score:4, Interesting)
Mint a derivative distribution based on Ubuntu, which is a derivative distribution based on Debian. Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint. OK I guess I get it.
But then they also have a Mint distribution that is a derivative of Debian? Debian -> Mint
Why so many derivatives and so much fracturing?
Re: (Score:2)
Mint a derivative distribution based on Ubuntu, which is a derivative distribution based on Debian. Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint. OK I guess I get it.
But then they also have a Mint distribution that is a derivative of Debian? Debian -> Mint
Why so many derivatives and so much fracturing?
Mint a derivative distribution based on Ubuntu, which is a derivative distribution based on Debian. Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint. OK I guess I get it.
But then they also have a Mint distribution that is a derivative of Debian? Debian -> Mint
Why so many derivatives and so much fracturing?
Ubuntu is based on Debian Experimental instead of Debian Stable. Ubuntu does a lot of vetting of pachages, selection and such, and Mint benefits from that.
Even in the fully debian derived branch, a lot of pre-requisite work was done by Ubuntu, and LM derives information from those choices when building their Debian Editions.
If debian dies (which can happen, for example because right now they are having problems getting new members in the community), Ubuntu will have to sort the mess out, but they have the m
Lack of information.... (Score:2)
Because programmers are prissy little ******* who want things exactly their way (remember, I are one too), and Linux is based on a 50 year old concept of how an operating system should be. So, there's tons of improvements and changes that can be made to the Unix baseline to bring the system up to 2020's expectations. But anytime you give 100 passionate people open source that needs lots of changes, you end up with 110 different sets of changes. Plus, you have completely disparate sets of users (Developer
Re: (Score:2)
If it would all coalesce into a *Nix version for everyone that _just_ works, things would look better for it.
If it could seamlessly run Windows programs natively (maybe even Mac stuff) (not in WINE or a VM... in a VM requires installing Windows in the VM, which defeats the purpose of installing *Nix in the first place)... after all, it's code... that would help tons toward adoption. .EXE and rewrite it so it'll install and work as a *Nix program.
Maybe *Nix could read the code in the
Ideally, it should be so
Betteridges Law of Headlines remains undefeated (Score:2)
For those unfamiliar with it, the law states: Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word "no".