SparkyLinux explained

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.

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

• List of live CDs

Notes and References

1. Web site: SparkyLinux Team. 20 August 2021.
2. Web site: Derivatives/Census/SparkyLinux - Debian Wiki . wiki.debian.org . debian.org . 20 August 2025 . 16 August 2025.
3. Web site: Smith . Jesse . DistroWatch.com: SparkyLinux . distrowatch.com . Atea Ataroa Limited . 20 August 2025 . Copenhagen, DK . en-UK . 14 August 2025.
4. Web site: SparkyLinux Wiki . Sparky Wiki.
5. Web site: SparkyLinux 1.0 wersja finalna. 5 May 2012 . 20 August 2021 . Linuxiarze.pl.
6. Web site: pavroo . ue17r . ArchiveOS . 12 March 2025 . 13 October 2021.
7. Web site: pavroo . About . SparkyLinux . 12 March 2025 . 18 December 2024.
8. Web site: pavroo . Sparky APTus . SparkyLinux . 12 March 2025 . 20 September 2023.
9. Web site: pavroo . Sparky 2023.01 + Persistence . 2023-02-05 . SparkyLinux . 20 January 2023 . en-US.
10. Web site: Gary . Newell . An Everyday Linux User Review Of SparkyLinux Gameover Edition . Everyday Linux User . October 2014 . 2022-03-12.
11. Web site: pavroo . sparky_rescue [Sparky Wiki] ]. Sparky wiki . SparkyLinux . 20 August 2025 . Poland . en-UK . 4 May 2021.
12. Web site: pavroo . 10 years of SparkyLinux! . SparkyLinux . 20 August 2025 . Poland . en-UK . 16 October 2021.
13. Jesse . Smith . First look at SparkyLinux 2.1 "Ultra" edition . DistroWatch Weekly . 495 . 18 February 2013 . 2022-03-12.
14. Web site: Gary . Newell . Everyday Linux User review of SparkyLinux 3.1 Razor-Qt Edition . Everyday Linux User . 26 November 2013 . 2022-03-12.
15. Web site: Brian . Fagioli . SparkyLinux 3.4 GameOver -- a Linux distro for gamers . BetaNews . 8 July 2014 . 2022-03-12.
16. Web site: Jack M. . Germain . SparkyLinux GameOver Is a Winning Work-Play Combo . LinuxInsider . 20 August 2014 . 2022-03-12.
17. Web site: Gayan . SparkyLinux 3.5 (E18) Review – Lightweight, Comes with Lots of Apps, But a Bit Buggy . Hectic Geek . 11 October 2014 . 2022-03-12 . 2018-08-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180814235705/https://www.hecticgeek.com/2014/09/sparkylinux-3-5-e18-review/ . dead .
18. Jesse . Smith . SparkyLinux 3.5 . DistroWatch Weekly . 581 . 20 October 2014 . 2022-03-12.
19. Web site: Michael D. . Kanoy . SparkyLinux: Low Resource OS Packing Dynamite! . Reach Unlimited . 30 September 2014 . 2022-03-12 . 2015-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141811/http://www.reach-unlimited.com/p/37252415/sparkylinux-low-resource-os-packing-dynamite . dead .
20. Web site: Smith . Jesse . Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 4.0 (DistroWatch.com News) . distrowatch.com . Atea Ataroa Limited . 20 August 2025 . Copenhagen, DK . 26 June 2015.
21. Web site: Watson . J. A. . July 21, 2017 . Hands-on with Sparky Linux 5, powered by Debian . ZDNet . 2022-03-12.
22. Web site: Germain . Jack M. . SparkyLinux 5: Great All-Purpose Distro for Confident Linux Users . LinuxInsider . ECT News Network, Inc. . 20 August 2025 . Encino, CA . 27 July 2017.
23. Web site: Smith . Jesse . Development Release: SparkyLinux 5.5 Dev (DistroWatch.com News) . distrowatch.com . Atea Ataroa Limited . 20 August 2025 . Copenhagen, DK . 27 July 2018.
24. Web site: Smith . Jesse . Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 6.0 (DistroWatch.com News) . distrowatch.com . Atea Ataroa Limited . 20 August 2025 . Copenhagen, DK . 20 August 2021.
25. Web site: Cafiero . Larry . Sparky Linux: "Takes the Options Ball and Runs With It!" . FOSS Force . Unicorn Media . 20 August 2025 . King, N.C. . 10 July 2025.
26. Web site: Wallen . Jack . Sparky Linux is a blazing-fast distro that can keep your older machines running for years . ZDNET . 20 August 2025 . en . 19 February 2024.
27. Web site: Smith . Jesse . Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 8.0 (DistroWatch.com News) . distrowatch.com . Atea Ataroa Limited. . 20 August 2025 . Copenhagen, DK . 14 August 2025.
28. Web site: Borisov . Bobby . SparkyLinux 8.0 Launches with Debian 13 Base . Linuxiac . 20 August 2025 . 14 August 2025.
29. Web site: pavroo . Sparky 8.0 . SparkyLinux . 20 August 2025 . Poland . en-UK . 14 August 2025.
30. Web site: pavroo . Sparky 9 code name and repos . SparkyLinux . 20 August 2025 . Poland . en-UK . 17 August 2025.