Linux Mint 21.3 Released With Full SecureBoot Support, Cinnamon 6.0 Desktop

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Linux Mint 21.3 Released With Full SecureBoot Support, Cinnamon 6.0 Desktop

Linux Mint 21.3 is now available for the latest version of this easy-to-use, beginner-friendly desktop Linux distribution that is currently built atop an Ubuntu 22.04 LTS package base...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Mint-21.3-Released

[ThomasD]

What exactly means full secure boot support?
Is only the bootloader + kernel protected, is the initramfs protected or is also the complete root image protected like verity-squash-root does it?

[pesekcuy]

What exactly means full secure boot support?
Is only the bootloader + kernel protected, is the initramfs protected or is also the complete root image protected like verity-squash-root does it?

By a distro aiming for user-friendliness like Mint, it probably means that Mint now supports default Microsoft-signed keys provided by motherboard firmware, similar to what have been done by upstream Ubuntu. Prior to this, enabling secure boot meant going through the hurdles (that I still don't bother to find the steps details) and provide your own key.

[pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx]

What exactly means full secure boot support?
Is only the bootloader + kernel protected, is the initramfs protected or is also the complete root image protected like verity-squash-root does it?

I didn't think it was about what was protected, merely that they are using Ubuntu's current shim.

[kylew77]

I'll be excited for the next release based on 24.04 instead of 22.04 Ubuntu. With that version of Ubuntu coming out in April I don't see a point in releasing a version of Mint now in January even, but maybe they have reasons that aren't apparent.

[Paradigm Shifter]

I'll be excited for the next release based on 24.04 instead of 22.04 Ubuntu. With that version of Ubuntu coming out in April I don't see a point in releasing a version of Mint now in January even, but maybe they have reasons that aren't apparent.

Rebasing against current 22.04.x release, which is what they've always done. Also gives them an opportunity to have Cinnamon 6 out in the wild for a few months before 24.04. Also, while Ubuntu 24.04 might be out in April, Mint is usually at least a couple of months behind in release, so it could be as much as six months before Mint 22 lands (longer if the beta throws up something unexpected)...

As for full SecureBoot support... I had Mint running in dual-boot with SecureBoot enabled on a hybrid Intel/nVidia laptop back in Mint 18. I didn't manually sign any keys, and it was just using the Ubuntu shim. Getting it set up was a little tricky, but it wasn't impossibly hard... the only thing that really drove me crazy was Windows' obsession with seeing GRUB and going, "Nice alternative bootloader you have there, it would be a shame if anything happened to it... *splat*" every time Windows got one of its six-monthly "feature updates".

[Rovano]

Things I don't understand:

Why don't they call ISOs of LM as Canonical to make it clear when what version was published?
Why don't Edge ISO (kernel newer than 5.15) for version 21.3? Or why is Edge ISO 21.2 just for Cinnamon?
I found information about Edge Isos on the blog, but is buried up to several pages down.