docs: Linux Mint 22.x cannot host, and 24.04 gives the host no compositor

Measured on a real linuxmintd/mint22-amd64 image and on Ubuntu 24.04. The package installs on both, which is exactly what makes this easy to miss — nothing on the box can then produce a stream: * Cinnamon cannot host a virtual display (Muffin has no RecordVirtual). * gamescope is absent from 24.04 and cannot be built for it: the tree needs wayland >= 1.23.1 (has 1.22.0), libinput >= 1.26 (1.25), libavif >= 1.2.1 (1.0.4), pixman >= 0.44 (0.42), plus libdisplay-info2 and libxcb-errors0, neither of which 24.04 packages at all. * Switching desktop does not rescue it — 24.04 has KWin 5.27 (floor 6.5.6) and GNOME Shell 46 (floor 48). Only sway 1.9 is even a candidate. So the gamescope route documented for Cinnamon holds for LMDE 7 (Debian 13, verified end to end) but NOT for Linux Mint 22.x — which is every mainstream Mint until Mint 23 lands on a 26.04 base in December 2026. Both the Debian and Ubuntu pages now say so, and the Debian page carries a per-edition table. Also states what Debian 13 itself can drive: GNOME 48.7 and sway 1.10 are above the floors; its KWin 6.3.6 is below.
2026-08-13 12:12:52 +02:00
parent 5d8682d7b7
commit 107fa3472d
2 changed files with 42 additions and 6 deletions
@@ -153,12 +153,20 @@ never the `RecordVirtual` that Mutter gained in 42. Its portal backend
 (`xdg-desktop-portal-xapp`) implements no ScreenCast either, so the route that serves Sway and
 Hyprland is closed too. This is upstream's to fix, not a Punktfunk setting.

-What **does** work on a Mint or LMDE box is **gamescope**: the host starts its own headless
-gamescope for each connecting client and runs the game inside it, so it needs no desktop compositor
-at all. Your Cinnamon session keeps running untouched; the stream is the game, not the desktop.
+**Which Mint you run decides whether there is any route at all:**
+
+| Edition | Base | Can it host? |
+|---|---|---|
+| **LMDE 7 "Gigi"** | Debian 13 | ✅ Yes — via gamescope (below) |
+| **Linux Mint 22.x** ("Wilma"…"Zena") | Ubuntu 24.04 | ❌ No — see [below](#linux-mint-22x-cannot-host-yet) |
+| **Linux Mint 23** | Ubuntu 26.04 | ✅ Expected — due December 2026 |
+
+On **LMDE 7**, what works is **gamescope**: the host starts its own headless gamescope for each
+connecting client and runs the game inside it, so it needs no desktop compositor at all. Your
+Cinnamon session keeps running untouched; the stream is the game, not the desktop.

 ```sh
-sudo apt install punktfunk-gamescope
+sudo apt install punktfunk-gamescope      # LMDE 7 / Debian 13 — not available on Mint 22.x
 echo 'PUNKTFUNK_COMPOSITOR=gamescope' >> ~/.config/punktfunk/host.env
 systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host
 ```
@@ -172,8 +180,28 @@ rather than guessing. Set a game to launch with
 > and the patched build is what gives the stream HDR, a visible cursor, and the client's real
 > refresh rate instead of a hardcoded 60 Hz.

-If you want to stream the **desktop** from a Mint box, the answer today is to run a KDE, GNOME, Sway
-or Hyprland session instead — all four expose a virtual-output API.
+If you want to stream the **desktop** from an LMDE box, the answer today is to log into a GNOME or
+Sway session instead — Debian 13 ships GNOME 48.7 and sway 1.10, both above the
+[floors](/docs/requirements). (Debian 13's KDE is KWin **6.3.6**, below the 6.5.6 floor, so Plasma
+is not an option there yet.)
+
+### Linux Mint 22.x cannot host yet
+
+**On Linux Mint 22.x — the current mainstream release, and every version until Mint 23 in December
+2026 — there is no working configuration.** `punktfunk-host` will install, which makes this easy to
+miss, but nothing on the box can produce a stream:
+
+- **Cinnamon** cannot host a virtual display (above).
+- **gamescope is not available and cannot be made available.** Ubuntu 24.04 packages no gamescope,
+  and the patched `punktfunk-gamescope` cannot run there either: 24.04 is short of what the build
+  needs on *five* libraries — wayland 1.22.0 (needs ≥ 1.23.1), libinput 1.25 (≥ 1.26), libavif
+  1.0.4 (≥ 1.2.1), pixman 0.42 (≥ 0.44), and no `libdisplay-info2` or `libxcb-errors0` at all.
+- **Switching desktop does not rescue it.** Ubuntu 24.04 ships KWin **5.27** (floor 6.5.6) and GNOME
+  Shell **46** (floor 48). Only `sway` 1.9 is even a candidate, and that means giving up Cinnamon.
+
+If you want to run a host on Mint hardware today, use **LMDE 7** — it is the same desktop on a
+Debian 13 base, where gamescope works. Otherwise wait for **Mint 23** (Ubuntu 26.04 base), where
+both the patched gamescope and the newer compositors are available.

 ## Configure your desktop

@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ desktop on the [configure pages](#configure-your-desktop) afterward rather than
 > and needs GTK4 ≥ 4.20 and SDL3, so it installs on **26.04 or newer** only — the host has no such
 > limit.

+> ⚠ **On 24.04 LTS, the package installs but the distro gives it no compositor to drive.** The
+> host `.deb` is built for 24.04 and installs cleanly — but streaming needs a compositor that meets
+> the [version floors](/docs/requirements), and stock 24.04 meets none of them: KWin **5.27** (floor
+> 6.5.6), GNOME Shell **46** (floor 48), and no `gamescope` package at all (nor can the patched one
+> run there — 24.04 is too old on wayland, libinput, libavif and pixman). `sway` 1.9 is the only
+> candidate. **For a working host, use 26.04**, where the patched gamescope and current KDE/GNOME
+> are all available. This is why [Linux Mint 22.x cannot host](/docs/debian#linux-mint-22x-cannot-host-yet).
+
 > **On Debian**, see [Debian](/docs/debian) — the host, console and plugin runner are supported and
 > CI-tested on **Debian 13**; the desktop client is not packaged for it yet. Debian 12 (bookworm) is
 > below the glibc floor and cannot install anything here. Note that the `debian` in the repository