Linux Mint

Linux Mint is a desktop distribution built on top of Ubuntu LTS releases. A new release series comes out every two years, followed by point releases, and the whole series is supported until the Ubuntu LTS it's based on leaves standard support. There's no maintenance phase. The Debian-based LMDE edition isn't tracked by OS Checker.

How security updates work on Linux Mint

Linux Mint doesn't publish security advisories of its own. Most packages on a Mint machine come straight from the Ubuntu LTS base, so their fixes come from the Ubuntu Security Team and are announced as Ubuntu Security Notices (USN). Mint's own packages - Cinnamon, the Mint tools, and Mint's own builds of Firefox and Thunderbird among them - are updated by the Mint team without a security feed.

How OS Checker tracks Linux Mint

OS Checker compares each machine against its Ubuntu base plus Mint's own repository, where Mint's pinned packages take precedence over Ubuntu's, just like on the machine. Packages that come from Ubuntu are checked against Ubuntu Security Notices. Mint's own packages have no security source, so they're only ever reported as outdated, never as vulnerable.

See the full list of supported releases.