Linux Mint 22 is great, but are they trying to do too much?

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Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
00:41 Sponsor: Proton VPN
01:56 App Installs & Flatpak changes
05:00 Cinnamon 6.2
06:43 Big App Changes
11:35 Under the hood changes
12:26 Too much work for Mint?
15:13 Sponsor: Tuxedo Computers
16:07 Support the channel

#linuxmint #Mint22 #linuxdistro #linuxdesktop #linux

Their focus is still on deb packages, mostly, as for example, they're now maintaining a deb package for Thunderbird. The Software install app itself now loads much faster, with the main window appearing almost instantly.

By default, unverified flatpaks won't appear in Mint's software manager.

You do get an option to show these again in the store, with a warning telling you that it's not really secure, you won't see any user reviews, or ratings with the little stars, because this would, I suppose, make them look legit and just like other verified packages.

People WILL turn this setting back on, because not every flatpak people want is verified: Steam, Spotify, Chrome, Dolphin, VLC and more. When they do turn this on, they won't have any indication if said packages could have problems, because they won't have reviews or ratings.

Mint is now moving to older versions of a lot of default apps that are made by GNOME. So, the Font Viewer has been entirely removed from Mint's default install. it's still in the repos though. The video player, the calculator, the scanning app, the disk usage analyzer, the system monitor, the calendar, and the archive manager were all reverted to their older GTK 3 versions, because they all moved to GTK4 and libadwaita for GNOME, and this means Mint wouldn't be able to apply their usual themes to these applications.

The rationale here is that Mint likes to offer a cohesive desktop, much like what GNOME is doing, and what KDE is doing, with one set of guidelines for the user interface, and one theme. The problem is, Mint was using a lot of GNOME apps, which first, started losing their menubars for headerbars a while back, meaning the user interface guidelines were a bit muddied, and second, it meant that these apps were using the libadwaita library, which hardcodes the Adwaita theme itself. Mint could still change this theme, because there are ways to do so, but it's not very sustainable, and it would basically lock users to one single theme.

Other applications that Mint will now ship by default include a new Online Accounts app, that replaces the older online accounts settings panel.

Mint 22 also ships with a matrix client by default now, to replace the discontinued Hexchat app.

Mint 22 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, meaning it will get security updates until 2029. This package base is also going to stay the same for Mint until 2026, as always, mint will ship minor updates, but won't move to a newer Ubuntu base.
In turn, this means Mint 22 moved to pipewire as the default, because that's what Ubuntu uses now. It also means Mint comes with the kernel 6.8, and they'll add the usual hardware enablement stack to it, meaning Mint will keep supporting newer hardware by default. This kernel is NOT an LTS version, so I would also be surprised if Mint didn't move to something newer at some point.

On top of that, Mint 22 received more HiDPI improvements in their login screen and in the boot screen as well. Their themes were also updated to work with GTK4, although they won't theme libadwaita apps, only non libadwaita GTK4 apps, which there aren't many of, AFAIK.

[umikaliprivate]

bro just casually guessed the exact time mint 22 released.

[mario]

"The Wayland will come for you"

- Nick Linux (2024)

[crism]

The plight of Ubuntu derivatives

When a distro doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from Ubuntu: "Does this distro have a reason to exist?"

When a distro does too much to differentiate itself from Ubuntu: "Is this distro trying to do too much?"

[TazerXI]

I agree that the removal of star ratings for unverified apps is weird

You have to enable it, so the user should be awear of apps not being verified. Showing a tick next to verified apps, and a warning on unverified apps also reminds them of this.

These are then clearly separated from the user reviews, using different symbols (ticks compared to stars), so the user won't confuse them.

If it was enabled by default, I would understand, but otherwise it makes it more difficult to tell if you can trust the unverified app.

[bobowon]

ya know. with windows 10 support coming to an end in a year or so i think its time i finally transition my main rig into mint

[huljaxful]

I think linux mint team is gonna be fine. I really love their distro a lot. I just donated a small amount to help the team. Also i donated to other free and open software. I think a lot of people kind of forget that even a small donation means a lot.

[furiousfellow]

I really applaud the effort on Mint to unify apps on various desktops, that alone deserve making a couple donations to the project imo

[keyboard_g]

Mint is pretty well funded. I appreciate them heading in a path they see fit rather than be lead around by Canonical and Gnome with their drama.

[that_leaflet]

2:32 I don't get why distros include flatpak and Flathub by default if they don't trust it enough to include apps by default.

[JoaoMachado]

Adding Flatpaks in an ISO is a royal pain! There are very difficult technical reasons for being able to ship Flatpaks on an ISO. Three or four flatpaks can push an ISO into an excessively large size download.

[hindigente]

My dad uses Cinnamon on one of his laptops and it is a beautiful, cohesive DE. Also their idea of a generalist toolkit is genuinely commendable. I wish the Mint team all the best!

[urlhnd]

I think the natural progression here is them switching to Debian as the base. Ubuntu *will* eventually turn most debs into snaps, so at least there will be some burden off their shoulders.

[Sunlight]

Have you seen how few people maintain the entire Steam ecosystem?

[savagepro]

4:02
France: "FBI Fausse Bonne Idée"
America:

[dantahoua]

Hope they will go further with LMDE and make it their main distrib, so they will gain time by not having to remove/changing snap from ubuntu. And they should focus on Cinnamon spin, their is a lot of other XFCE or Mate distrib...

[flemtone]

Programs like Transmission and LibreOffice have their core program and a gui as a separate entity so we can change between gtk/qt or whatever, maybe this is what we should move towards, that way the main program is kept up-to-date and users can select whichever gui suits their desktop.

[romo]

I get the sneaky feeling that maybe, just maybe, the Mint team might drop the Ubuntu version and just go with the LMDE version.

[jimcabezola]

I've been using the beta of Linux Mint 22 for a few weeks. All my existing stuff just works. I'm happy with it.

[DyoKasparov]

Very glad of the Mint team for their opinion on Gnome and GTK, it was getting out of hand for years now

[lpslucasps]

Me: "Come to Brazil"

Wayland: "Oh, I'll come to you, alright."