A New Release of Lightweight Linux Distribution SparkyLinux is Now Available
SparkyLinux, a Debian-based Linux distribution, has been giving its quarterly point release, with LXQt, KDE Plasma, Xfce, OpenBox, and text modes available.
SparkyLinux 6.4 is here. Based on Debian Bullseye, this lightweight distribution ships with plenty of updates for packages like Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC, LibreOffice, LXQt, Xfce, Openbox, and KDE Plasma and makes it possible to install a number of those applications from Debian unstable (to enjoy more recent releases). The latest release is updated from both the Debian and Sparky stable repositories (as of August 11, 2022).
Out of the box, you'll find apps like Firefox to be a bit out-of-date (with version 91.11.0.0esr installed. Fortunately, those who prefer to use a more recent version of Firefox can install versions 103.0.2 or 102..1.0esr from the Sparky repositories (either firefox-sparky or firefox-esr-sparky).
Users who are running earlier versions of Sparky 6.x can upgrade to the latest version with the command sparky-upgrade.
This new release is available for the following architecture:
- amd64: Versions – LXQt, KDE Plasma, Xfce, Openbox, and text mode
- i686: LXQt, Openbox, and text mode
- armhf: Openbox and text mode
To find out more about Sparky 6.4, read the full release notes and download a copy of the ISO for installation.
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