TLDR;

Another happy Linux Mint User.

Here is a picture of Linux Mint running my desktop (dual monitors) + Laptop + plus my favorite mints - Altoids

I’ve been using Linux as my primary development environment since 1995. This post documents my recent migration to Linux Mint 22 on both desktop and laptop systems, along with the partitioning strategy that has served me well for painless distro upgrades.

Bootable Media: Ventoy

Ventoy has replaced traditional USB imaging tools in my workflow. The setup is straightforward: install Ventoy to a USB drive once, then simply copy ISO files directly to the drive. At boot time, Ventoy presents a menu of all available ISOs.

This approach is particularly valuable for evaluating multiple distributions before committing to an installation—no need to re-flash the USB for each distro you want to test.

Distribution Evaluation (December 2025)

I evaluated the following distributions as potential upgrades from Kubuntu 24.04:

• Ubuntu 25.10
• Kubuntu 25.10
• Linux Mint 22
• Pop!_OS 24.02

While Pop!_OS impressed with its visual design, I prioritized stability and familiarity. My shortlist narrowed to Linux Mint 22 and Kubuntu 25.10. However, persistent installer crashes with Kubuntu 25.10 made the decision straightforward: Linux Mint 22 it was.

Partition Scheme for Painless Upgrades

Here’s the disk layout I’ve refined over years of distro-hopping:

Dual Root Partitions: The Safety Net

The dual root partition approach provides a fail-safe mechanism for distro upgrades. You can install and test a new distribution on the secondary root partition while maintaining a fully functional system on the primary. If the new installation has issues—driver problems, workflow incompatibilities, or simply doesn’t meet expectations—you can reboot into your existing system with zero downtime.

During installation, only the target root partition is formatted, ensuring a clean slate for the new distro.

Home Partition: Persistent User Data

Allocating the remaining disk space to /home ensures that user data, application configurations, and custom settings persist across distro upgrades. Critically, this partition is never formatted during installation.

This separation of system files from user data is one of Linux’s most powerful features for maintaining continuity across major system changes.

Home Directory Encryption

My encryption strategy has evolved based on practical experience. I previously used LUKS full-partition encryption for /home, but this occasionally caused complications during installation or when accessing data from live systems.

Current approach:

• Format /home with a standard filesystem (ext4)
• Use ecryptfs or fscrypt for per-user home directory encryption
• Most modern distributions offer this during installation and handle it transparently

This provides strong encryption where it matters—your actual files—while maintaining maximum compatibility and ease of recovery.

Installation Experience

Linux Mint 22 exceeded expectations across both systems.

General impressions:

• Desktop environment is polished and visually consistent
• Comprehensive default application suite eliminated most post-install configuration

Desktop installation highlights:

• Flawless dual-monitor detection and configuration
• Automatic NVIDIA GPU detection with driver installation prompt
• All peripherals and hardware recognized immediately

Laptop installation highlights:

• Clean installation process
• Resolved persistent suspend/sleep battery drain issues present in my previous distro
• Power management now functions correctly—the laptop actually stays suspended

Conclusion

Linux Mint 22 has proven to be a solid choice for both desktop and mobile workstations. The installation process is refined, hardware support is excellent, and the distribution strikes a good balance between stability and modernity.

The dual-root partition strategy continues to provide peace of mind during upgrades, and I’d recommend it to anyone who experiments with different distributions or wants a safety net for major system updates.

Happy Minting