Why my favorite Linux distro is slowing down - and I'm thrilled about it

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Linux Mint volition beryllium slowing down however often it releases its namesake distro.
• We'll inactive spot the adjacent distro not agelong aft Ubuntu 26.04 appears.
• Mint volition proceed to enactment X11 and Wayland for now. 

My favourite Linux desktop distribution, Linux Mint, is considering slowing down its merchandise cadence. That's because, arsenic pb developer Clement "Clem" Lefebvre explained, portion releasing often has worked precise well, it produces "these incremental improvements merchandise aft release. But it takes a batch of time, and it caps our ambition erstwhile it comes to development. … [so] We're reasoning astir changing that and adopting a longer improvement cycle."

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So, what does that slower aboriginal look like? Well, the adjacent merchandise volition inactive travel the expected Ubuntu 26.04 release successful April. That's not to accidental the forthcoming Mint 23 volition look precisely similar Resolute Raccoon, Ubuntu 26.04. It won't. Clem and institution person ever gone their ain way. 

The biggest quality is that Ubuntu is shifting implicit erstwhile and for each to the Wayland model manager from the astir 40-year-old X11 Window System. Mint won't beryllium doing that. Instead, Clem said Mint would support X11 arsenic agelong arsenic it "works champion for astir users."

Wayland vs. X11

The differences betwixt these 2 fashionable windowing systems are profound. They bash the aforesaid occupation -- drafting windows and handling input -- but they bash it with precise antithetic architectures and trade‑offs.  X11 is simply a 1980s client–server show protocol successful which a cardinal show server (typically Xorg) handles drawing, input, model management, and galore bequest features successful a single, aging stack. Wayland is simply a newer household of protocols successful which the compositor (Mutter, KWin, wlroots-based, etc.) is successful charge. In Wayland, applications gully their ain contented straight via modern APIs specified arsenic OpenGL/Vulkan, portion the compositor composites finished buffers.

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They besides grip information precise differently. Under X11, immoderate lawsuit tin snoop connected oregon interfere with others: it tin spot planetary keystrokes, work the contents of different windows, and inject input events. This makes it trivial to constitute applications similar keyloggers and surface scrapers. That aforesaid powerfulness is besides a information concern. So, Wayland deliberately removed those capabilities. Clients cannot work each other's buffers oregon keystrokes, and features specified arsenic screenshots, surface sharing, and distant power spell done controlled interfaces, making it overmuch harder to physique utile applications of this benignant and besides making maltreatment of the desktop overmuch much difficult.

That doesn't mean you can't physique specified apps successful Wayland. It conscionable takes much elbow grease. For example, the Mint squad is gathering a new Cinnamon, Mint's default desktop screensaver, that tin tally natively nether some X11 and Wayland. Today's Cinnamon screensaver is simply a standalone GTK exertion that lone truly makes consciousness successful an X11 environment, wherever the X server keeps it connected apical of everything other erstwhile the surface locks.

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Cinnamon's ain model manager/compositor volition render the planned replacement directly. It uses the aforesaid toolkit that the task already relies connected for the panel, menus, and applets. That displacement should present smoother fastener animations, a much integrated look, and "full Wayland support." Lefebvre describes this arsenic the "last missing portion of the puzzle for Cinnamon to afloat enactment Wayland."

Mint isn't astir to flip the default conscionable due to the fact that Wayland enactment exists. Lefebvre calls existent Wayland enactment "experimental" and says the extremity is to beryllium capable to "support it and commencement investigating it arsenic a imaginable solution," not to unit it connected unwilling users. As with erstwhile large changes, Mint's stance is that it volition yet follow whichever stack "works champion for astir users," adjacent if that means X11 and Wayland coexist for immoderate time.

What other to expect

Under the hood, the task is besides softly reclaiming territory that astir users ne'er deliberation astir until thing breaks: User and relationship management. Lefebvre laments that astir Linux desktop environments person built their ain user-administration panels, adjacent though this is "typically an country which belongs to distributions" and 1 that desktops "cannot beryllium and surely isn't decently handled" upstream.

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In the adjacent Mint release, a caller Administration Tool (mintsysadm) volition instrumentality implicit idiosyncratic medication and relationship details successful editions wherever those desktop-specific tools tin beryllium hidden. The thought is to absorption connected the tasks that really substance connected a emblematic Mint system. This includes creating users, allowing them to acceptable their ain passwords, and completing relationship setup without further admin intervention.

That re-centralization comes with immoderate tangible perks. Home directory encryption, antecedently disposable lone astatine installation time, volition beryllium afloat supported erstwhile creating caller idiosyncratic accounts. This makes it overmuch easier to retrofit encryption onto existing systems.

 The caller relationship UI besides brings modern niceties that desktop users present expect: webcams enactment decently for avatars, including unrecorded previews and an enactment to reflector the image, and avatar images get afloat HiDPI attraction truthful they look crisp connected modern displays.

Taken together, these moves underscore Mint's self-image not conscionable arsenic a "distribution" but arsenic a coherent operating strategy and idiosyncratic experience, with capable in-house engineering to debar being boxed successful by desktop decisions it disagrees with.

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Lefebvre argues that Mint's "slow and steady" attack is 1 of its halfway strengths -- incremental improvement that sometimes irritates users but ne'er fundamentally breaks the acquisition they signed up for. Another, helium says, is the project's independency and willingness to "develop our ain solutions erstwhile we're not blessed with the alternative," whether that's sticking to LTS bases, rejecting Canonical's Snap packaging, oregon creating Cinnamon successful effect to a GNOME 3.0, due to the fact that "it didn't consciousness similar GNOME."

The trade-off is that a rapid-release treadmill limits however ambitious Mint tin be. With a caller LTS basal coming adjacent rhythm and, arsenic Lefebvre jokes, the squad "just ran retired of codenames," Mint is treating this infinitesimal arsenic an accidental to agelong its timeline. Details connected what "longer" means stay unclear. I'd conjecture Mint volition dilatory to 1 merchandise a twelvemonth alternatively of two. I inactive expect, however, to spot the adjacent Mint to look soon aft Ubuntu 26.04 ships. My champion guesstimate is May 2026.

Record donations 

If Mint is going to inquire users to spot it done a slower but much opinionated evolution, it helps that the project's financials are moving successful the close direction. Unlike galore different fashionable Linux desktop distros, Mint has nary firm backing. It's wholly paid for by donations. 

So erstwhile December 2025 brought successful $47,312 successful donations from 1,393 idiosyncratic donors, a fig Lefebvre calls "unprecedented" and "humbling," and 1 helium says makes him "really arrogant of this community," that's a large deal. The task besides counts 2,017 patrons connected Patreon contributing a combined $4,900 per month. That whitethorn dependable penny-ante, and it is compared to the multi-million dollar backing rounds we spot retired of Silicon Valley, but Lefebvre and his squad marque it work. 

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That wealth straight supports keeping Mint autarkic of firm agendas and comfy rejecting technologies it doesn't judge service its users well. It besides enables the task developers to walk superior clip connected unglamorous but indispensable infrastructure work. For example, due to the fact that a flood of AI bots made Mint's forums "slow and unreliable" for quality visitors, Mint upgraded its forum server with 10x the CPU and doubly the bandwidth.

Mint's determination to dainty bots arsenic a denial-of-service occupation alternatively than a maturation metric fits neatly with its broader philosophy: optimize for existent users, not AI. For a task that has built its marque connected being the "it conscionable works" desktop for radical fleeing different operating systems oregon much experimental Linux distros, the awesome to its assemblage is reassuring.

None of this adds up to a flashy reinvention of Linux Mint. Instead, it sketches a aboriginal wherever the distro becomes adjacent much itself: blimpish successful what it exposes to users, stubbornly autarkic erstwhile upstream moves clash with its plan sense, and consenting to put successful the boring plumbing that holds a desktop together.

For desktop Linux users who chose Mint precisely due to the fact that it avoids sudden, jarring changes, that mightiness beryllium the astir important quality of all: the aboriginal of Linux Mint looks a batch similar its past, with conscionable a spot much clip betwixt releases. I similar this plan. I similar it a lot.