Linux Mint Introduces Fingerprint Login Support in Latest Update

In the latest monthly news update from the Linux Mint team, developers announced the integration of fingerprint login support. This new feature is set to debut in Linux Mint 22.2, which will run on Fingwit.

Fingwit operates under a new XApp developed by the Mint team. It manages the detection of fingerprint scanners and the registration of fingerprints. Once configured, users can authenticate using their fingerprint for the login screen, screen lock, sudo commands, and any other administrative tasks that typically require a password prompt (pkexec).

Fingwit relies on fprintd for backend functionality, but the Mint developers have indicated that their custom authentication module will be capable of identifying complex scenarios where fingerprint scanning might fail. For instance, if the home directory is encrypted, a password will be needed for decryption during system login, and solely using a fingerprint could lead to a session failure. In such cases, Fingwit dynamically requests the password.

The Mint team claims that Fingwit will be compatible with «any desktop environment and any Linux distribution.»

A major motivator behind this development has been the ongoing collaboration with Framework. Their hardware testing has inspired the Mint team to incorporate features found in modern laptops.

In addition, the team has announced a variety of other updates. As part of this initiative, core applications such as gnome-calendar, simple-scan (document scanner), and baobab (disk usage analyzer) will be upgraded to their latest libAdwaita versions. To tackle a longstanding issue where libAdwaita applications ignored system themes, the developers have made adjustments to the library.

The team has also cautioned users of older versions that the Linux Mint 20.x series—including versions 20, 20.1, 20.2, and 20.3—will officially reach the end of life in April 2024. The system will continue to function but will no longer receive security updates from official repositories, making it vulnerable. The team has suggested two options: the recommended route is to upgrade to a newer version (22.1), which will be supported until 2029. Alternatively, users may consider a place-upgrade process that involves a multi-step transition from 20.x to 21.3.

In January 2025, the stable release of Linux Mint 22.1 «Xia» was launched, based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) and featuring the Linux kernel 6.8. Builds are available for download in Cinnamon 6.4 (which includes the Night Light feature supporting both XOrg and Wayland), Xfce, and MATE.