SparkyLinux
Lightweight Linux distribution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| SparkyLinux | |
|---|---|
| |
 SparkyLinux 6.0 "Po Tolo" with Xfce | |
| Developer | SparkyLinux team[1] |
| OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Open source |
| Initial release | 5 May 2012 |
| Latest release | 8.2[2] / 16 February 2026 |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Update method | APT (front-ends available) |
| Package manager | dpkg (front-ends available) |
| Supported platforms | IA-32, x86-64, ARM |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
| Userland | GNU |
| Default user interface | LXQt, MATE, Xfce and KDE |
| License | Mainly GPL and other free software licenses, minor additions of proprietary |
| Official website | sparkylinux |
History
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
SparkyLinux has two main "flavors": the "stable flavor", which is based on the latest Debian stable, and the “rolling flavor”, 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
- 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
- SparkyLinux 1.0 – codename “Venus” was renamed from ue17r to SparkyLinux 1.0 on January 15, 2012.[13]
- SparkyLinux 2.0 – codename “Eris” was released on December 19, 2012.[14]
- SparkyLinux 3.0 – codename “Annagerman” was released on July 27, 2013.[15]
- SparkyLinux 4.0 – codename “Tyche” was released on June 26, 2015.[21]
- SparkyLinux 5.5 – codename “Nibiru” was released on July 27, 2018.[24]
- SparkyLinux 6.0 – codename “Po Tolo” was released on August 20, 2021.[25]
- SparkyLinux 9.0 – code name “Tiamat” (based on Debian 14 “Forky”) is in beta testing.[31]
