Perhaps it's time for Linux to blow the minds of everybody. A new report claims that one of its distributions is about to make a comeback after it was believed the project was abandoned due to the death of its project lead.
We're talking about Peppermint OS, which is about to return some point in the near future, according to a report from Forbes. The digital publication said that a new dev team is on board and will continue the legacy of its CEO, Mark Greaves.
Greaves passed away in January, leaving Peppermint without a pilot and the project more or less abandoned. After his death, Peppermint community forums and the official website itself went offline, leaving no word about the status of the project.
With this report from Forbes, it's the first time anybody has heard about Peppermint. The digital publication's report indicated that the project had been picked up by a new team currently "sorting thru the voluminous work [Mark] left behind."
While this is certainly good news, a caveat to it is the lack of an ETA. Forbes' report doesn't include info as to when Peppermint 11 will go live. There's not even a mention of a beta build.
One thing we know about the project though, is that it's still in its infancy, meaning there's still a lot of work to do before Peppermint makes its way to our devices again.
Peppermint's latest release was version 10, which was based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and shipped in May 2019. It packs the Linux kernel 5.0 and a few really nice touches under the hood like an ad-blocker, as well as ICE, a utility that transforms a website or web app into a standalone browser-based application that integrates right into the system menus and desktop.
Presumably, Peppermint 11 could be based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, since the OS now uses Ubuntu LTS. And should Peppermint 11 go live in 2021, users are guaranteed some four years of support for the OS.
Peppermint OS also includes menu links to Microsoft's various Office Online apps, a nice addition to ease friction for people who aren't quite ready to escape the Windows world.
For now, however, it's too early to expect the release of Peppermint 11, but you're allowed to get excited. There's still a lot of work to be done, but considering what happened to Greaves, it's good progress for the team.
