Linux Mint 21 won’t use the controversial memory management feature currently affecting users of Ubuntu’s latest LTS release.
Although Linux Mint 21 will still be based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS it eschews systemd-oom, despite on-going efforts by Ubuntu developers to “tame” the bolshy behaviour of the daemon.
To recap, systemd-oom is a user-space “killer” that force-quits apps with high memory usage if/when overall system memory is getting low. The feature is designed to intervene early to prevent the infamous system lockups that occur on Linux when memory is maxed out.
However, some Ubuntu users have found the daemon is killing critical applications despite their overall system responsiveness not being affected by memory-related pressures.
“Last month we got negative feedback about systemd-oom. After investigating some of the issues we decided not to add it to Linux Mint 21,” Mint lead Clement Lefebvre says in his latest monthly update.
What Mint plans is use in place of system-ood to mitigate low-memory situations isn’t stated, but the Linux kernel has its own memory-management features so users will, hopefully, be protected (and given Mint is frequently used on lower-end systems with constrained memory, it’s perhaps more vital here).
A Linux Mint 21 beta is due to be released next week, followed by a stable release a few weeks after.
Other changes in Linux Mint 21 will include .webp image support in the Nemo file manager and image viewer, home directory encryption available in the installer, and keeping os-prober enabled by default to ensure dual-boots work as intended.
As reported a few months back, Linux Mint 21 makes a major change to its bluetooth stack by replacing its home-grown Blueberry tool with the latest version of Blueman.