The first release in the upcoming Linux Mint 18.x series will be named “Sarah”.

Sarah is a Jewish feminine given name found in many different areas of the world. Sarah is a consistently popular given name across Europe and North America, as well as in the Middle East—being commonly used as a female first name by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and remaining popular also among non-religious members of cultures influenced by these religions.

Frequently, the name refers to Sarah, the wife of Abraham in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, and the Islamic Quran. In Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, it means woman of high rank, often simply translated as “Princess”. In Modern Hebrew, “sarah” (שרה) is the word for “woman minister”.

It’s still very early to talk about Linux Mint 18, but here are a few pieces of information about it:

Linux Mint 18 is estimated to be released around May/June 2016.

Linux Mint 18.x releases will be based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and supported until 2021.

One of the goals set for Linux Mint going forward is to feature a new look and feel (so it’s likely “Princess Sarah” will be the one getting that new dress) 🙂

Sarah is just a name at the moment and we’re still quite far from Linux Mint 18, but we’ll start working on this new series early. If you want to follow our development, please keep an eye on the Segfault blog, where we’ll cover the news and details and we’ll talk about changes and new features as they materialize.