Linux Mint shook up its release schedule this year and now it’s shaking up its versioning scheme as well – the next major release won’t be Linux Mint 23, but Linux Mint 27.
Releases will now be numbered by year. Linux Mint 27 will be followed by v28, and so on.
The release also sees the start of a new series of release codenames.
Mint has traditionally used feminine first names, cycling through the alphabet from Linux Mint 1.0 ‘Ada’ in 2006 through to Linux Mint 22.3 ‘Zena’ in 2026. The series returns to ‘A’ with Linux Mint 27 and the codename has been revealed as ‘Adrien’.
Yup, Linux Mint is switching to masculine names. Why?
Over the years some in the Linux community have charged that Mint’s use of feminine codenames for adornment was sexist, even objectifying. Though the distro doesn’t say it plainly, I’d wager the switch is, in part, a way to rebuff and counter those claims.
Names, numbers – whatever, right? Features and improvements are what most folks care about.
In a blog post, Mint’s Clement Leberfve said that in over 20 years working on the distro he’s not sure he’s “…seen so many changes and new features implemented for a single release”.
We’ve already seen its Mint’s new calendar app, Clockenstein, and ePub viewer, Book Reader. Another new addition is Clocks, an Android-inspired tool for setting recurring alarms with custom sounds and notifications.
Linux Mint 27 ‘Adrien’ arrives Christmas 2026, built on top of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. From what we know so far – though there’s more detail still to be revealed – it sure sound like there’ll be a lot to unwrap when it lands in December.