I seldom notice the icon about system notifications on my LM 22 computer, but tonight while waiting on updates I did and was asked about upgrading to 22.1.
I read through the release notes to see if anything much was different and it was quite a bit.
Not sure I understood all of the changes in APT, but:
Modernization of APT dependencies
Linux Mint transitioned to Aptkit and Captain:
Aptkit replaces aptdaemon, providing a streamlined library for package management operations with updated functionality.
Captain unifies the features of GDebi and apturl into a single, easy-to-use utility.
All the tools previously reliant on aptdaemon, synaptic or apturl now use these replacements. This transition has several benefits:
Better translations: Everything is now fully translated, eliminating longstanding localization issues.
Improved quality: By removing reliance on unmaintained components, Mint ensures fewer bugs and “paper cuts”. Small bugs can be addressed, they’re no longer considered as “upstream / wontfix”.
Simplified architecture: Moving to Aptkit allowed the Software Sources to downgrade foreign packages graphically and no longer rely on a VTE. In the Update Manager, it empowered us to boost Wayland compatibility and modernize the multithreading and multiprocessing code, which were getting very old.
Easier development: Rather than constantly patching release after release (packagekit’s inability to purge, aptdaemon’s inability to remove essential orphans), we develop the features we need and rely on libraries that fully support what we need.
And a new version of the Cinnamon desktop changes a few graphical items like wallpapers for desktops now become part of themes, probably like in Firefox and Thunderbird.
Main components
Linux Mint 22.1 features a Linux kernel 6.8 and an Ubuntu 24.04 package base.
LTS strategy
Linux Mint 22.1 will receive security updates until 2029.
Until 2026, future versions of Linux Mint will use the same package base as Linux Mint 22.1, making it trivial for people to upgrade.
Until 2026, the development team won’t start working on a new base and will be fully focused on this one.
I was prepared not to need this upgrade since I thought the first one “.1” did not make much difference. And I do remember one time upgrading to a next version in Kubuntu and was later sorry. But if all of the ones till 2026 are going to be minor and not worth doing, maybe I should.
I would go with the update…
But have not yet done it myself as I am on lmde version and waiting for the new things to come to that.
What I have noticed is a lot of the features in the .1 I just dont use or need. The normal update process on the main version is enough for me. I always do the update when offered, think it was back in 19 that became .1 then .2 then finally .3 which I did as offered but for an end user could not see a difference at user level.
Be interested in your experiences after you click…
It doesn’t seem that long ago I did the upgrade to 22. I went ahead with the point upgrade and after reboot, things were not working. My mouse cursor was frozen as a hand. I kept trying to move a window from a wrong workspace and could not grab it. Finally, using keyboard commands, I rebooted again and after that things worked well.
The first thing I noticed were the rounded corners on all windows. There were some nice themes with tranparent panels and vibrant notication windows. I am testing on of them now.
I think the explanation of that is …
Xorg was upgraded
You were still running the old X server, some of the new X components were incompatable
When you rebooted , it started the new X server, then all X components were compatable, and it worked properly.
This is always an issue with upgrades… anything running that is upgraded needs to be restarted. Sometimes it will tell you… eg “do you want to reststart CUPS.”
Dont run any VM’s or containers while you upgrade. That is asking for trouble.
Recently I was donated an AD2009 Asus Asutek F3E laptop , CPU : Intel core2 ,duo T7700. Memory 4GB , replaced the HDD by a 256GB SSD and installed LM22.1 XFCE version which worked well ,but since I prefer the Cinnamon desktop , I now have that installed …and this 16 years old machine is running very well.
The machine also has an internal SD slot which now has a SD converter fitted with a 1.1TB microSD…capable of providing Mega-data storage.
It shows that old hardware can still run the latest Linux distributions ,although I fear that following October 2025 (when Windows 10 will no longer be updated)older equipment will be dumped and replaced by the latest M$oft infested kit.
Yes Neville ,I am very pleased with this “oldie” be it that I now have ordered a new battery because the app inxi (sudo apt install inxi) tells me that the remaining capacity of the original battery is now only 9% . Inxi is an all inclusive app monitoring any hardware aspect of the laptop or any desktopPC.
I use the app on all my equipment (e.g. 4 laptops , an AD2000 Desktop (bought as a “barebone”) and a miniPC with a 3rd gen dual core Intel i7 MiniPC.
I don’t think I ever will have to buy new equipment . My Linux distros are LM and Zorin OS.
Is it worth investing in a battery ?
Guess it depends where and how you work… i mainly use laptops or net books but remove the battery just running on mains. There is a stack of laptop batteries in the corner of my workshop totally unused several are so old they may never work. Every so often i take a collection to be recycled.
Alhough I normally use laptops at home ,from time to time it is elsewhere without immediate access to an AC power socket …hence the battery.
Frank in County Wicklow -Ireland
I see that’s a proper Core2 duo system - so fully 64 bit…
Whenever I can dig out my Samsung N150 - I’m planning to run a 32 bit distro on it and probably XFCE… Technically it’s capable of 64 bit (dual core atom) - but I’ve found it runs better on 32 bit…
OK - only LMDE seems to have 32 bit releases still (up to LMDE 6) - the last Linux Mint to have a 32 bit release was 19.3…