Linux Mint 22.x and kernel evolution (HWE)

[Angedestenebres]

Hello,

In the monthly news of March 2024, there was an information about kernel change:

Kernels Series

To prioritize stability our 21.x releases shipped with Ubuntu LTS kernels (5.15). EDGE ISOs were made available, with HWE kernels, to bring support for new hardware.

Ubuntu 22.04.x releases used HWE kernels, and version 24.04 is set to use kernel 6.8.

During the last two years we didn’t observe significant differences in terms of stability between LTS and HWE series. Both were pretty stable. A growing number of users with new laptops/chipsets relied on EDGE images to be able to install Linux Mint though.

Linux Mint 22 will follow Ubuntu going forward and ship with new kernel series release after release.

My understanding about that was the Linux Mint's kernel will evolve to follow change made on Ubuntu with HWE kernel.
Today we still have the 6.8 kernel provided with linux-image-generic. I checked and this is exactly what Ubuntu provides in their repositories: https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=noble-updates&searchon=names&keywords=linux-image-generic

However on Ubuntu 24.04.1 at least, the kernel installed by default is the HWE one so we have already the kernel 6.11, see screens:

In fact, the current kernel works well but it can already be an issue for people with recent hardware and so I'm asking if it's planned to move on HWE kernel as previously announced. Maybe it will be the case with the future ISO for Mint 22.2?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Ps : I know we can switch to HWE easily via mintUpdate ;)

[Angedestenebres]

Hey 🐈

I answer myself about that with the lastest Monthly News: https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4811

As previously announced, Linux Mint 22.x will not have an EDGE release. Starting with Linux Mint 22.2, the HWE kernel will be used.