Almost six months after its previous 24.11 “Vicuna” release, the new stable version, NixOS 25.05 “Warbler,” is officially here. Targeted at advanced users and developers and betting on an immutable design and an atomic update model, NixOS is a unique Linux distro emphasizing reproducibility and reliability using the Nix package manager.
This new release adds an impressive 7,840 new packages while updating over 28,000 existing ones. At the same time, nearly 1,700 outdated packages were pruned.
On the desktop side, GNOME 48 is now the default version, featuring welcome enhancements such as notification stacking, HDR support, and a new music player. But what’s more exciting is that NixOS 25.05 introduces initial support for System76’s COSMIC DE (Alpha 7 build), which users can enable via simple configuration options.
Plasma sees a bump to v6.3.5, accompanied by KDE Frameworks 6.14 and KDE Gear 25.04.1 apps collection. Of course, you can choose from just about any desktop environment you like—and with this new release, you’ll also find updated versions like Cinnamon 6.4, Xfce 4.20, LXQt 2.2, Pantheon 8, and more.
Under the hood, the release updates the default Linux kernel from version 6.6 to 6.12 (with v6.14 also available), maintaining all supported kernels for compatibility. Major compiler toolchains have been upgraded to LLVM 19 and GCC 14.
Moreover, a full rewrite of the essential nixos-rebuild tool in Python—named nixos-rebuild-ng—is available for testing and will become the default in the next major release. Mesa graphics drivers have undergone significant reworking, improving compatibility for applications using different Mesa versions and making version management easier without requiring full system rebuilds.
OpenSSH has been upgraded to version 10.0p2, dropping deprecated DSA key support and enhancing security with new features like locking sshd into RAM for better performance under memory pressure.
It’s also worth noting that NixOS 25.05 introduces a massive array of new modules and services, expanding its versatility across use cases. Highlights include:
- AmneziaVPN: A self-hostable open-source VPN client with enhanced WireGuard masking features.
- Kimai: A web-based multi-user time-tracking application.
- Kismet: Advanced Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RF monitoring.
- Firezone: An enterprise-ready zero-trust platform built on WireGuard.
- Whoogle Search: A privacy-respecting, self-hosted metasearch engine.
- Mattermost: Updated with disabled telemetry and a native frontend build.
- Various Prometheus exporters: For MQTT, Nvidia GPU metrics, eBPF, and SSL certificate expiry monitoring.
However, as with any major release, users should be aware of some backward-incompatible changes and deprecated packages. For instance, support for Ripple-related services and the rippled package has been removed due to a lack of maintenance.
Nextcloud users must carefully note upgrade paths, especially when moving between major versions. Changes in configuration options for services like PowerDNS Recursor, Mattermost, and Paperless-ngx also require attention during upgrades.
Lastly, several packages and modules have been updated or removed to align with upstream developments, security considerations, and improved system performance.
For more information, visit the announcement or check out the release’s highlights here for a complete list of changes. The distro is available for download in two variants: with a GUI installer and as a Minimal installation image for 64-bit AMD/Intel and ARM architectures.
25.05 is correctly called “Warbler”