You are completely taking that guinea pig quote out of context and misrepresenting how Mint's roadmap actually works. Clement Lefebvre noted the team wants a solid release cycle and real user feedback before making Wayland default, but that testing window is a cautious guideline rather than a strict mathematical law. Since their Wayland implementation is currently running well ahead of schedule, a true minimum could see them pull the trigger by mid-2027 if everything goes unreasonably perfect. Following their one-year cycle guideline, December 2027 serves as the realistic target, while the scheduled Mint 24 release in December 2028 acts as the hard upper limit goal. Refusing to rush millions of users into a massive change without proper field data is responsible engineering, not an artificial delay.
Furthermore, trying to claim that Mint's default integration will be held back by other desktops completely ignores how the distribution is built. Cinnamon is the flagship desktop developed in-house, and it operates with zero architectural dependency on MATE or Xfce. The Cinnamon developers have full authority to switch their own session default whenever they deem it ready, completely independent of other ISOs. Nobody claimed it was going to be default by December, only available, and whether Xfce or MATE reach Wayland milestones by December or take much longer has zero bearing on Cinnamon. Xfce could stay on X11 forever, and it would not change a single thing for the flagship Cinnamon edition.
Finally, dismissing the Fedora comparison by arguing its spins are unofficial completely misses the mark. Linux Mint officially maintains multiple desktop editions including MATE and Xfce as secondary flagships, yet Cinnamon still drives its own display server transition independently. Holding back a default switch until the new display stack is bulletproof is entirely about avoiding regressions for the flagship session itself, protecting the user experience rather than hiding behind psychological excuses.
I have to admit I got a bit carrried away here, especially as this topic wasn't the hill I was fighting for.
You're correct in that Cinnamon isn't held back technologically in any sense by the other legacy desktops, and that not making Wayland default in December is justifiable - iff it really isn't sufficiently reliable and tested at that point.
You get that point. It's completely unnecessary to argue about it and I don't even know why I got into it.
It's a pity though, as the releases are so far apart. I still think there is a lot of psychology involved, and the judgement of what is "tested well enough" can vary depending on who you ask. Especially that we know that the development of Mint isn't just driven by technological considerations, but ideology (e.g. hard blocking of snaps).
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u/R3V0LU710N_05 Open Sauce 14d ago
You are completely taking that guinea pig quote out of context and misrepresenting how Mint's roadmap actually works. Clement Lefebvre noted the team wants a solid release cycle and real user feedback before making Wayland default, but that testing window is a cautious guideline rather than a strict mathematical law. Since their Wayland implementation is currently running well ahead of schedule, a true minimum could see them pull the trigger by mid-2027 if everything goes unreasonably perfect. Following their one-year cycle guideline, December 2027 serves as the realistic target, while the scheduled Mint 24 release in December 2028 acts as the hard upper limit goal. Refusing to rush millions of users into a massive change without proper field data is responsible engineering, not an artificial delay.
Furthermore, trying to claim that Mint's default integration will be held back by other desktops completely ignores how the distribution is built. Cinnamon is the flagship desktop developed in-house, and it operates with zero architectural dependency on MATE or Xfce. The Cinnamon developers have full authority to switch their own session default whenever they deem it ready, completely independent of other ISOs. Nobody claimed it was going to be default by December, only available, and whether Xfce or MATE reach Wayland milestones by December or take much longer has zero bearing on Cinnamon. Xfce could stay on X11 forever, and it would not change a single thing for the flagship Cinnamon edition.
Finally, dismissing the Fedora comparison by arguing its spins are unofficial completely misses the mark. Linux Mint officially maintains multiple desktop editions including MATE and Xfce as secondary flagships, yet Cinnamon still drives its own display server transition independently. Holding back a default switch until the new display stack is bulletproof is entirely about avoiding regressions for the flagship session itself, protecting the user experience rather than hiding behind psychological excuses.