Innovation and Community
Distro Walk – Linux Mint

© Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
Clement Lefebvre gives a brief history of Linux Mint and thanks the community that has grown up around the distribution.
Linux Mint is one of the top three Debian derivatives. Although it began as an Ubuntu derivative in 2006, Linux Mint first became prominent in 2011 when it forked Gnome 2 under the name of MATE for users who shied away from Gnome 3. Today, Linux Mint is also known for the development of its own desktop, Cinnamon, and for its rolling release Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), as well as for the friendly interaction between its developers and its community. Throughout its 18 years of existence, Linux Mint has been guided by team leader Clement Lefebvre, who has taken the time to reflect on the project's history with Linux Magazine.
Linux Magazine: How did Linux Mint get started?
Clement Lefebvre: Linux was always a hobby. Over the years, it became much more than that, but from the very start it [was] always something I played with for fun. I wrote software; I tinkered with distributions; I spent a lot of time just chatting with other users. Eventually, I started writing articles and reviews about Linux, and, when the time came to host them myself, I called my website Linux Mint.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.