Software: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)
Available inMultilingual
Update methodAPT (front-ends available)
Package managerdpkg (front-ends available)
PlatformsIA-32, x86-64, ARM
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandGNU
Default user interfaceLXQt, 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[2] operating system.[3] The project offers a ready-to-use operating system with various desktops to choose from.[4] SparkyLinux is released 3-4 times per year to provide the latest versions of all applications.

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.[5][6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Special editions

  • GameOver Edition, targeted to gamers. It features a large set of free and open-source games and some needed tools.[10]
  • Rescue Edition, provides a live system and a large number of applications for recovering broken operating systems.[11]
  • Multimedia for audio, video, and HTML pages editing.
  • MinimalCLI and MinimalGUI.[7]

Releases and reception

  • SparkyLinux 1.0 – codename “Venus” was renamed from ue17r to SparkyLinux 1.0 on January 15, 2012.[12]
  • SparkyLinux 2.0 – codename “Eris” was released on December 19, 2012. [13]
  • SparkyLinux 3.0 – codename “Annagerman” was released on July 27, 2013. [14]
  • SparkyLinux 3.4 – codename “Annagerman” was released on June 03, 2014.[15][16]
  • SparkyLinux 3.5 – codename “Annagerman” was released on September 06, 2014.[17][18][19]
  • SparkyLinux 4.0 – codename “Tyche” was released on June 26, 2015.[20]
  • SparkyLinux 5.0 – codename “Nibiru” was released on July 17, 2017.[21][22]
  • SparkyLinux 5.5 – codename “Nibiru” was released on July 27, 2018.[23]
  • SparkyLinux 6.0 – codename “Po Tolo” was released on August 20, 2021.[24]
  • SparkyLinux 7.0 – codename “Orion Belt” was released on June 15, 2023.[25][26]
  • SparkyLinux 8.0 – codename “The Seven Sisters” was released on August 14, 2025.[27][28][29]
  • SparkyLinux 9.0 – code name “Tiamat” (based on Debian 14 “Forky”) is in beta testing.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SparkyLinux Team". https://sparkylinux.org/team. 
  2. ↑ "Derivatives/Census/SparkyLinux - Debian Wiki". debian.org. 16 August 2025. https://wiki.debian.org/Derivatives/Census/SparkyLinux. 
  3. ↑ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025). "DistroWatch.com: SparkyLinux" (in en-UK). Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=sparky. 
  4. ↑ "SparkyLinux Wiki". https://wiki.sparkylinux.org/doku.php. 
  5. ↑ "SparkyLinux 1.0 wersja finalna". 5 May 2012. https://linuxiarze.pl/sparkylinux-1-final/. 
  6. ↑ "ue17r". 13 October 2021. https://archiveos.org/ue17r/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "About". 18 December 2024. https://sparkylinux.org/about/. 
  8. ↑ "Sparky APTus". 20 September 2023. https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-aptus/. 
  9. ↑ pavroo (20 January 2023). "Sparky 2023.01 + Persistence" (in en-US). https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-2023-01-persistence/. 
  10. ↑ Newell, Gary (October 2014). "An Everyday Linux User Review Of SparkyLinux Gameover Edition". http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/10/an-everyday-linux-user-review-of.html. 
  11. ↑ "sparky_rescue [Sparky Wiki"] (in en-UK). Poland: SparkyLinux. 4 May 2021. https://wiki.sparkylinux.org/doku.php/sparky_rescue. 
  12. ↑ "10 years of SparkyLinux!" (in en-UK). Poland. 16 October 2021. https://sparkylinux.org/10-years-of-sparkylinux/. 
  13. ↑ Smith, Jesse (18 February 2013). "First look at SparkyLinux 2.1 "Ultra" edition". DistroWatch Weekly (495). http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130218#feature. Retrieved 2022-03-12. 
  14. ↑ Newell, Gary (26 November 2013). "Everyday Linux User review of SparkyLinux 3.1 Razor-Qt Edition". http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2013/11/everyday-linux-user-review-of.html. 
  15. ↑ Fagioli, Brian (8 July 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.4 GameOver -- a Linux distro for gamers". http://betanews.com/2014/07/08/sparkylinux-3-4-gameover-a-linux-distro-for-gamers/. 
  16. ↑ Germain, Jack M. (20 August 2014). "SparkyLinux GameOver Is a Winning Work-Play Combo". http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/80923.html. 
  17. ↑ Gayan (11 October 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.5 (E18) Review – Lightweight, Comes with Lots of Apps, But a Bit Buggy". http://www.hecticgeek.com/2014/09/sparkylinux-3-5-e18-review/. 
  18. ↑ Smith, Jesse (20 October 2014). "SparkyLinux 3.5". DistroWatch Weekly (581). http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20141020#feature. Retrieved 2022-03-12. 
  19. ↑ Kanoy, Michael D. (30 September 2014). "SparkyLinux: Low Resource OS Packing Dynamite!". http://www.reach-unlimited.com/p/37252415/sparkylinux-low-resource-os-packing-dynamite. 
  20. ↑ Smith, Jesse (26 June 2015). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 4.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=08993. 
  21. ↑ Watson, J. A. (July 21, 2017). "Hands-on with Sparky Linux 5, powered by Debian". https://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-sparky-linux-5-powered-by-debian/. 
  22. ↑ Germain, Jack M. (27 July 2017). "SparkyLinux 5: Great All-Purpose Distro for Confident Linux Users". Encino, CA: ECT News Network, Inc.. https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/sparkylinux-5-great-all-purpose-distro-for-confident-linux-users-84704.html. 
  23. ↑ Smith, Jesse (27 July 2018). "Development Release: SparkyLinux 5.5 Dev (DistroWatch.com News)". Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=10270. 
  24. ↑ Smith, Jesse (20 August 2021). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 6.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=11327. 
  25. ↑ Cafiero, Larry (10 July 2025). "Sparky Linux: "Takes the Options Ball and Runs With It!"". King, N.C.: Unicorn Media. https://fossforce.com/2025/07/sparky-linux-takes-the-options-ball-and-runs-with-it/. 
  26. ↑ Wallen, Jack (19 February 2024). "Sparky Linux is a blazing-fast distro that can keep your older machines running for years" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/sparky-linux-is-a-blazing-fast-distro-that-can-keep-your-older-machines-running-for-years/. 
  27. ↑ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025). "Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 8.0 (DistroWatch.com News)". Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited.. https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=12525. 
  28. ↑ Borisov, Bobby (14 August 2025). "SparkyLinux 8.0 Launches with Debian 13 Base". https://linuxiac.com/sparkylinux-8-0-launches-with-debian-13-base/. 
  29. ↑ "Sparky 8.0" (in en-UK). Poland. 14 August 2025. https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-8-0/. 
  30. ↑ "Sparky 9 code name and repos" (in en-UK). Poland. 17 August 2025. https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-9-code-name-and-repos/. 



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