Monthly News – April 2018

Before anything else, let’s thank all the people who contribute to this project. Many people do, in very different ways. Special thanks to our donors to our “silent friend” from Germany for the coffee!

Many thanks also to all the developers who interacted with us on Github lately. We’ve seen a lot of new faces and very cool contributions. A slack team was recently set up to improve communication between new developers and the development team.

We’re currently working on a few different things:

• A lot of work is dedicated to adapting to the Debian Stretch and Ubuntu Bionic package bases, reviewing, re-applying or letting go of some of the fixes we had on the previous bases, monitoring and fixing new issues and reviewing new software and our default package selection. Other than a few issues we’ve yet to fix, everything looks really good so far. Both systems look smoother by the day as they get more and more stable. We’ve also reviewed and simplified some of our packaging, minimizing differences between LMDE and Mint and reducing the number of packages.
• A part of the team is working on artwork. HiDPI improvements and GTK 3.22 support were implemented already. We’re improving icons, themes, support for symbolic icons and dark theme variants. As we’re switching to Mint-Y for the default theme, we’re also starting to look into providing color variations for it.
• Cinnamon 3.8 was finalized. Its official release was slightly delayed because of a build issue in libnemoextension (which is used by xreader and some of the nemo extensions). We’re hoping to get this fixed and officially announce the release this week.
• New features are still being implemented in the Mint tools. We’re focusing on the Update Manager, the Software Manager and the Welcome Screen in particular.
• Although documentation efforts have slowed down since we published the Installation and Troubleshooting guides, we’re still planning to finish our Developer and Security guides before releasing Linux Mint 19.

We’re often asked when Linux Mint 19 or LMDE 3 will be released, what editions will be supported, and whether such or such changes affecting Ubuntu will also affect us. Here are a few elements of response:

• We will release in this order: Cinnamon 3.8, Linux Mint 19, LMDE 3.
• Linux Mint 19.x releases (19, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3) will be available in 3 editions (Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce), both in 32 and 64-bit.
• LMDE 3 will be available in a single edition (Cinnamon), both in 32 and 64-bit.
• Ubuntu ships with “ubuntu-report”, which collects metrics and usage data. This package won’t be present in Linux Mint, no data will be collected or sent.
• In Ubuntu 18.04, support for home directory encryption was removed in the installer. Although it’s to soon to confirm whether or not this feature will stay, we’re working on it at the moment and we’re hoping to keep it.
• The LMDE 3 installer will not get support for disk or home directory encryption.

In terms of timing, it’s hard to predict when things will be ready. If any issue is important enough not to release something, we won’t release it. Cinnamon 3.8 is very likely to be out this week though. We’re planning to release the Xfce edition of Linux Mint 19 at the same time as the Cinnamon and MATE editions. If everything goes smoothly, we should see the BETA releases in May, followed by the the stable releases 2 or 3 weeks later.

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Donations in March:

A total of $10,291 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 501 donors:

$305, High time to buy you guys some coffee! aka “A silent friend”
$218 (7th donation),
$200 (3rd donation), Scott G.
$150, Derek H.
$125, David S.
$109 (6th donation), Sten L.
$109 (2nd donation), Andreas M.
$109, Andrea S.
$109, Damien SMEJ
$100 (3rd donation), Urban R.
$100 (3rd donation), Jan S.
$100 (2nd donation), Ean P.
$100, Mark D.
$100, Bernd E.
$100, Clifton Hyatt
$100, Templar Consultancy Ltd.
$100, JR Gillard
$98, Stephan D.
$72 (2nd donation), Thomas Ö.
$71, François J.
$60, Justin D.
$54 (8th donation), Volker P.
$54 (4th donation), Derek L.
$54 (3rd donation), Iskar E.
$54 (3rd donation), Ashwin P.
$54 (2nd donation), David DeFebo aka “ SchweitzerFormula.com”
$54 (2nd donation), Hilmar Klemm aka “Speedastir”
$54 (2nd donation), Paolo B.
$54, Bruce J.
$54, Vladan Z.
$54, Thomas B. aka “Sprudel”
$54, www.xxl-groessen.de [Übergrößen & Überlängen]
$54, Klaus G.
$54, Johann G.
$54, Vnr J.
$54, Loeper M.
$54, Johannes O.
$52, GOLEM – Gruppo Operativo Linux Empoli aka “GOLEM”
$50 (25th donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (5th donation), Torben C.
$50 (3rd donation), Ian C.
$50 (2nd donation), Jovo S.
$50 (2nd donation), William C.
$50 (2nd donation), W. B. .
$50 (2nd donation), Dan R.
$50 (2nd donation), Paul C.
$50 (2nd donation), Alex G Doll Consulting Ltd
$50 (2nd donation), Jiayue Wang
$50, Omero P. C.
$50, David P.
$50, Dana S.
$50, Alan M.
$50, Tera P.
$50, Joe M. L.
$50, George F.
$50, Andrew K.
$50, Chhap Y. L.
$50, Roger B.
$50, Dustin B.
$50, Gary P.
$50, Todd W.
$50, Martin aka “MartyE(ME)”
$50, P.J Douillard
$50, Mark B.
$50, Michael S.
$50, David W.
$50, Nicholas R.
$50, Robert K.
$45 (5th donation), Pavel B.
$45 (5th donation), Roberto O. L.
$44, Andrew M.
$44, Uwe W.
$40 (2nd donation), Ken D. V.
$40, Duane W.
$40, Greg S.
$33 (97th donation), Olli K.
$33 (2nd donation), Philippe A. aka “Philippe”
$33 (2nd donation), Christian Z. aka “CyboSan”
$33, Massimo R.
$33, Dominique D.
$30 (12th donation), Geoff P
$30, Rachel T.
$30, André D.
$30, aggie
$30, W G. M.
$30, Nicholas N.
$29, Alexander N.
$27 (3rd donation), Karel D. B.
$27 (3rd donation), Thorbjørn H.
$27, Marc J.
$27, J H.
$27, Klaus S.
$27, Alain P.
$27, Stephan G.
$27, Marco D.
$27, Nico R.
$27, Bruce B.
$27, John F.
$27, Holger R.
$27, Roger R.
$27, J H.
$26, Walter P.
$25 (80th donation), Ronald W.
$25 (37th donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan ”
$25 (21st donation), Larry J.
$25 (12th donation), Kwan L.
$25 (10th donation), Bill S.
$25 (4th donation), Michael G. aka “Vaughn”
$25 (3rd donation), B. H. .
$25 (3rd donation), Robert E.
$25 (2nd donation), Barbara B.
$25 (2nd donation), Chris Coyle
$25 (2nd donation), Steven S.
$25, Daniel S.
$25, Seth S.
$25, Gene P.
$25, Todd M. R.
$25, Richard H.
$25, Nakajima H.
$25, Timothy A.
$25, David B.
$25, Marlon H.
$25, George M.
$25, Brian P.
$25, Link R.
$25, D H.
$25, Douglas S.
$24, Rainer K.
$22 (14th donation), Derek R.
$22 (9th donation), Anthony M.
$22 (7th donation), Janne S.
$22 (3rd donation), Eric S.
$22 (3rd donation), Vytautas M.
$22 (2nd donation), Walter H.
$22 (2nd donation), Frank H.
$22 (2nd donation), Laurent G.
$22, Luke P.
$22, Gorazd G.
$22, Nicholas N.
$22, Matthias H.
$22, Gerardo P. S.
$22, John M.
$22, Carl-mathias W.
$22, Ivo L.
$22, Börje Å.
$22, Wim V.
$22, Thomas L.
$22, Davide Z.
$22, James F.
$22, Hayden P.
$22, Torsten B.
$22, Karl G.
$22, Juan M. O. C.
$22, Peter Huckle aka “Peter H.”
$22, Nikolaos L.
$22, Jochen G.
$22, Karol A.
$22, Mati V.
$21, Vladimirs A.
$20 (12th donation), Matsufuji H.
$20 (5th donation), Paul K.
$20 (4th donation), Pete E.
$20 (3rd donation), WL aka “blewtiga001”
$20 (2nd donation), Headphonesrepair.com
$20 (2nd donation), Harris Lowry Manton LLP
$20 (2nd donation), D. L. .
$20 (2nd donation), Keith M.
$20 (2nd donation), Jason P.
$20 (2nd donation), Allan M. aka “trini64”
$20 (2nd donation), Bob W.
$20 (2nd donation), Chap-liong O.
$20 (2nd donation), M. R. .
$20 (2nd donation), Damian C.
$20 (2nd donation), John D.
$20, Douglas Y.
$20, Harpreet S.
$20, Narom S.
$20, Shane W.
$20, Alex S.
$20, John M.
$20, Karen S.
$20, Dallas H.
$20, Jorge A.
$20, Niko O.
$20, Michael C.
$20, Bruce M.
$20, Leif F.
$20, Edmund S.
$20, Frode L.
$20, Emil H.
$20, David C.
$20, Samuel I.
$20, Greg K.
$20, Antonio M.
$19 (30th donation), Jt Spratley aka “Go Live Lively”
$18.3 (13th donation), Anton W. aka “redant”
$18.3 (12th donation), Anton W. aka “redant”
$17, Пупкин В.
$16 (4th donation), Michael S.
$16 (3rd donation), Liviu B.
$16 (2nd donation), Thomas G.
$16, Charalampos S.
$16, Robert M.
$16, Christian B.
$16, Martin R.
$16, Jrh F.
$16, Jerome L.
$16, Christoph S.
$16, François T.
$16, Josef aka “Thesing”
$16, Marcus F.
$15 (2nd donation), Benoit L.
$15, Darci M. F.
$15, Carlos S.
$15, Evgenii K.
$15, Paulo D. R.
$15, Joseph R.
$13 (24th donation), Anonymous
$13 (9th donation), Ray
$13, Piotr S.
$12 (84th donation), Tony C. aka “S. LaRocca”
$12 (30th donation), JobsHiringnearMe
$12 (3rd donation), Stephen R.
$12, Frank L.
$11 (14th donation), Johann J.
$11 (9th donation), Queenvictoria
$11 (6th donation), Tomas S.
$11 (4th donation), Jonathan K.
$11 (4th donation), Gilles S.
$11 (4th donation), Laurent M aka “lolomeis”
$11 (4th donation), Jean-françois E. aka “Jeff”
$11 (2nd donation), Hervé E.
$11 (2nd donation), Oliver E.
$11 (2nd donation), Herbert P.
$11 (2nd donation), John L.
$11 (2nd donation), Helmut K.
$11, Vittorio F.
$11, Arto V.
$11, Fiorelli A.
$11, Derrick L.
$11, Nikolas S.
$11, FC Bayern fan club Thessaloniki Greece
$11, Luca D.
$11, Gregor E.
$11, Mark L.
$11, Paul B. L.
$11, Madars V.
$11, Gilles G.
$11, Romeu G.
$11, Dieter S.
$11, Thomas L.
$11, Norbert V.
$11, Dominic M.
$11, Rene R.
$11, Dimitrios T. aka “mpoulieris”
$11, Alexander P.
$11, Samuele B.
$11, Stefan B.
$11, Charles L.
$11, Tomas H.
$11, Jerrel A.
$11, Björn M.
$11, Gabor S.
$11, Christian B.
$11, Cezary F.
$11, John Y.
$11, Marcos C.
$11, Guido S.
$11, Juan M.
$11, Kévin L.
$11, Mauro R.
$11, Peter B.
$11, Maximilian Ast
$11, aka “Bohemond”
$11, Fernando S. L.
$11, Klaus H.
$10 (28th donation), Thomas C.
$10 (19th donation), Paul O.
$10 (19th donation), Frank K.
$10 (16th donation), Jim A.
$10 (13th donation), Aliki K.
$10 (13th donation), Alessandro S.
$10 (11th donation), Rick R.
$10 (11th donation), Dmitry P.
$10 (9th donation), Andre Cardoso
$10 (8th donation), Andre Cardoso
$10 (6th donation), hotelsnearbyme.net
$10 (5th donation), Thomas D. Y.
$10 (4th donation), Lance M.
$10 (4th donation), John J. aka “Sankaty”
$10 (3rd donation), aka “Cachafaz”
$10 (3rd donation), Stephan G.
$10 (3rd donation), Roland H. aka “rol4dawgs”
$10 (3rd donation), James H.
$10 (3rd donation), Luigi D.
$10 (3rd donation), S. Falcão aka “S. Falcao”
$10 (2nd donation), Roger S.
$10 (2nd donation), Aaron S.
$10 (2nd donation), William S.
$10 (2nd donation), Cedric H.
$10 (2nd donation), G. G. .
$10 (2nd donation), Shawn L. aka “Friendship is Magic!”
$10 (2nd donation), Gary E.
$10 (2nd donation), D. H. .
$10 (2nd donation), Z. K. .
$10 (2nd donation), Jonathan. H
$10 (2nd donation), Nicolas D.
$10 (2nd donation), Mariano E.
$10 (2nd donation), Mohamed A.
$10 (2nd donation), Ключников С.
$10, Joao K.
$10, Robert F.
$10, nakednorman
$10, Nigel J.
$10, Бударин А.
$10, Mário V.
$10, Andrew C.
$10, Critic Thoughts
$10, John M.
$10, Hugo P. C.
$10, Leslie P.
$10, anonimous
$10, Jack S.
$10, Gordon M.
$10, Michael D.
$10, Sávio Rodrigues
$10, Thomas A.
$10, David J.
$10, Dale C.
$10, Peter B.
$10, Patrick H.
$10, Pieter W.
$10, Ramon M. L.
$10, Thomas G.
$10, Lisa P.
$10, Rodney W.
$10, Jérôme A.
$10, Judith L.
$10, Muhtashim A.
$10, Jaime H. V.
$10, Brett G.
$10, Peter A.
$10, James H.
$10, John W.
$9.23, Maziar D.
$9, Bart K.
$8 (15th donation), Kouji Sugibayashi
$8 (3rd donation), Ian C.
$8 (2nd donation), Suraj S.
$8, Jim A.
$7.75, Tim P.
$7, Martin B.
$5 (22nd donation), Eugene T.
$5 (14th donation), Bhavinder Jassar
$5 (14th donation), Kouji Sugibayashi
$5 (8th donation), Hemant Patel
$5 (5th donation), Ronny G. aka “127.o.o.1”
$5 (4th donation), Joseph G.
$5 (4th donation), Marcelo S.
$5 (4th donation), Danial B.
$5 (3rd donation), Arkādijs S.
$5 (3rd donation), Nenad G.
$5 (3rd donation), Jason N. aka “IggyNelix”
$5 (3rd donation), Jozo M.
$5 (2nd donation), Jan F.
$5 (2nd donation), Sávio Rodrigues
$5 (2nd donation), Emilot Margus aka “Emilot”
$5 (2nd donation), Marek A.
$5 (2nd donation), Jan Miszura
$5 (2nd donation), Z. F. .
$5 (2nd donation), James H.
$5, Tom’s E-Store
$5, Kannan M.
$5, Dimitri V.
$5, Robert L.
$5, Michail V.
$5, Cecilia B.
$5, Brody A.
$5, Gunnar O.
$5, Jay H.
$5, Alexandru H.
$5, Victor J. C. C.
$5, Bolshakov P.
$5, Caio C. M.
$5, Leigh E.
$5, Stuart B.
$5, Michael C.
$5, O. Rönn
$5, Gernot K.
$5, Jean P. S. Costa
$5, Dariusz B.
$5, Daniel J.
$5, Laurent D.
$5, David G.
$5, James H.
$5, Hector G. aka “Business Intelligence and Analytics”
$5, Turgut Uyar
$5, Baptiste G.
$5, Max H.
$5, Tom H.
$5, Alpine A.
$5, Vanessa F.
$5, Tree Removal aka “Tree Care”
$5, Kevin T.
$5, Julio C. B. Monqueiro aka “juliomonq”
$5, Auctior Ltd
$5, Peter N.
$5, Le M.
$5, Carmen M.
$5, Gabriel R. G.
$5, Luke W.
$5, Sunil B.
$5, Mikko H.
$5, Mark F.
$5, David F.
$5, Dmitry aka “holeech”
$5, G S.
$5, Alessandro C.
$5, Ying Z.
$4 (7th donation), Laura NL aka “lauranl”
$4, Alex L.
$4, Bastianino G. F.
$4,
$3.45 (17th donation), Paul B. aka “Dude”
$3 (8th donation), demi pension cheval
$3, Holger L.
$3, Jürgen L.
$3, Szymon B.
$3, Takatosi A.
$3, Luís P. S. B. D. S.
$2.22, Chris J.
$2.11, Noah Z.
$82.95 from 69 smaller donations