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SparkyLinux

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SparkyLinux
SparkyLinux 6.0 "Po Tolo" with Xfce
DeveloperSparkyLinux team[1]
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release5 May 2012; 13 years ago (2012-05-05)
Latest release8.0[2] / 14 August 2025; 21 days ago (14 August 2025)
Available inMultilingual
Update methodAPT (front-ends available)
Package managerdpkg (front-ends available)
Supported platformsIA-32, x86-64, ARM
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandGNU
Default
user interface		LXQt, MATE, Xfce and KDE
LicenseMainly GPL and other free software licenses, minor additions of proprietary
Official websitesparkylinux.org

SparkyLinux is a desktop-oriented operating system based on the Debian[3] operating system.[4] The project offers a ready-to-use operating system with various desktops to choose from.[5] SparkyLinux is released 3-4 times per year to provide the latest versions of all applications.

History

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The project was born in October 2011 as an Ubuntu remix with Enlightenment as the default desktop having the name ue17r (Ubuntu Enlightenment17 Remix). After a few months of testing, the base system was changed to Debian and renamed SparkyLinux.[6][7]

Features

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SparkyLinux has two main "flavors": the "stable flavor", which is based on the latest Debian stable, and the โ€œrolling flavorโ€, which is based on the testing (next stable) branch of Debian and uses a (semi-)rolling-release cycle. Additionally, it includes a collection of tools and scripts to help users with easy administration of the system.[8]

The default desktop environments are LXQt (former LXDE), MATE, Xfce, and KDE, but users can install other desktops via 'Sparky APTus'.

As Sparky ISO image features a few proprietary packages, the 'Sparky APTus' provides a small tool called 'Non-Free Remover' which can easily uninstall all 'contrib' and 'non-free' packages from the system.[9]

Since 2023, the project has offered storage persistence from a utility that writes USB disk images. The feature so far only works on the MinimalGUI version of SparkyLinux.[10]

Special editions

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  • GameOver Edition, targeted to gamers. It features a large set of free and open-source games and some needed tools.[11]
  • Rescue Edition, provides a live system and a large number of applications for recovering broken operating systems.[12]
  • Multimedia for audio, video, and HTML pages editing.
  • MinimalCLI and MinimalGUI.[8]

Releases and reception

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  • SparkyLinux 1.0 โ€“ codename โ€œVenusโ€ was renamed from ue17r to SparkyLinux 1.0 on January 15, 2012.[13]
  • SparkyLinux 2.0 โ€“ codename โ€œErisโ€ was released on December 19, 2012. [14]
  • SparkyLinux 3.0 โ€“ codename โ€œAnnagermanโ€ was released on July 27, 2013. [15]
  • SparkyLinux 3.4 โ€“ codename โ€œAnnagermanโ€ was released on June 03, 2014.[16][17]
  • SparkyLinux 3.5 โ€“ codename โ€œAnnagermanโ€ was released on September 06, 2014.[18][19][20]
  • SparkyLinux 4.0 โ€“ codename โ€œTycheโ€ was released on June 26, 2015.[21]
  • SparkyLinux 5.0 โ€“ codename โ€œNibiruโ€ was released on July 17, 2017.[22][23]
  • SparkyLinux 5.5 โ€“ codename โ€œNibiruโ€ was released on July 27, 2018.[24]
  • SparkyLinux 6.0 โ€“ codename โ€œPo Toloโ€ was released on August 20, 2021.[25]
  • SparkyLinux 7.0 โ€“ codename โ€œOrion Beltโ€ was released on June 15, 2023.[26][27]
  • SparkyLinux 8.0 โ€“ codename โ€œThe Seven Sistersโ€ was released on August 14, 2025.[28][29][30]
  • SparkyLinux 9.0 โ€“ code name โ€œTiamatโ€ (based on Debian 14 โ€œForkyโ€) is in beta testing.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "SparkyLinux Team". Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Sparky 8.0".
  3. ^ "Derivatives/Census/SparkyLinux - Debian Wiki". wiki.debian.org. debian.org. 16 August 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  4. ^ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025). "DistroWatch.com: SparkyLinux". distrowatch.com. Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  5. ^ "SparkyLinux Wiki". Sparky Wiki.
  6. ^ "SparkyLinux 1.0 wersja finalna". Linuxiarze.pl. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  7. ^ pavroo (13 October 2021). "ue17r". ArchiveOS. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  8. ^ a b pavroo (18 December 2024). "About". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  9. ^ pavroo (20 September 2023). "Sparky APTus". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  10. ^ pavroo (20 January 2023). "Sparky 2023.01 + Persistence". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  11. ^ Newell, Gary (October 2014). "An Everyday Linux User Review Of SparkyLinux Gameover Edition". Everyday Linux User. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  12. ^ pavroo (4 May 2021). "sparky_rescue [Sparky Wiki]". Sparky wiki. Poland: SparkyLinux. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  13. ^ pavroo (16 October 2021). "10 years of SparkyLinux!". SparkyLinux. Poland. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  14. ^ Smith, Jesse (18 February 2013). "First look at SparkyLinux 2.1 "Ultra" edition". DistroWatch Weekly. No. 495. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  15. ^ Newell, Gary (26 November 2013). "Everyday Linux User review of SparkyLinux 3.1 Razor-Qt Edition". Everyday Linux User. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  16. ^ Fagioli, Brian (8 July 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.4 GameOver -- a Linux distro for gamers". BetaNews. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  17. ^ Germain, Jack M. (20 August 2014). "SparkyLinux GameOver Is a Winning Work-Play Combo". LinuxInsider. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  18. ^ Gayan (11 October 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.5 (E18) Review โ€“ Lightweight, Comes with Lots of Apps, But a Bit Buggy". Hectic Geek. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  19. ^ Smith, Jesse (20 October 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.5". DistroWatch Weekly. No. 581. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  20. ^ Kanoy, Michael D. (30 September 2014). "SparkyLinux: Low Resource OS Packing Dynamite!". Reach Unlimited. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  21. ^ Smith, Jesse (26 June 2015). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 4.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". distrowatch.com. Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  22. ^ Watson, J. A. (July 21, 2017). "Hands-on with Sparky Linux 5, powered by Debian". ZDNet. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  23. ^ Germain, Jack M. (27 July 2017). "SparkyLinux 5: Great All-Purpose Distro for Confident Linux Users". LinuxInsider. Encino, CA: ECT News Network, Inc. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  24. ^ Smith, Jesse (27 July 2018). "Development Release: SparkyLinux 5.5 Dev (DistroWatch.com News)". distrowatch.com. Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  25. ^ Smith, Jesse (20 August 2021). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 6.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". distrowatch.com. Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  26. ^ Cafiero, Larry (10 July 2025). "Sparky Linux: "Takes the Options Ball and Runs With It!"". FOSS Force. King, N.C.: Unicorn Media. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  27. ^ Wallen, Jack (19 February 2024). "Sparky Linux is a blazing-fast distro that can keep your older machines running for years". ZDNET. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  28. ^ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 8.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". distrowatch.com. Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  29. ^ Borisov, Bobby (14 August 2025). "SparkyLinux 8.0 Launches with Debian 13 Base". Linuxiac. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  30. ^ pavroo (14 August 2025). "Sparky 8.0". SparkyLinux. Poland. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  31. ^ pavroo (17 August 2025). "Sparky 9 code name and repos". SparkyLinux. Poland. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
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