Debian 13 is nearing its final stable release, expected to arrive probably this month. In the meantime, the second release candidate of the Trixie installer is now available. Here’s a look at what’s new.
First off, a notable tweak in the apt-setup component now disables CD-ROM sources automatically when the installation medium isn’t an actual CD—such as USB sticks, SD cards, or ISO files—addressing previous challenges where APT struggled post-installation.
Additionally, Debian users can now preseed extra options directly into local “sources.list” lines, streamlining system configurations. Plus, the Linux kernel was updated to version 6.12.33.
Another significant change is the removal of the wget applet from BusyBox. The updated mirrors list in choose-mirror ensures users get better, faster download options, while the debian-cd component now clearly logs embedded firmware packages in modified initial RAM disks (initrds).
Cryptographic support also received a solid boost. The installer now ensures systemd-cryptsetup is available alongside cryptsetup-initramfs, offering better flexibility for users employing encrypted file systems beyond basic LVM setups.
Hardware compatibility improvements extend particularly to users of ARM-based Apple laptops, such as the M1 MacBook Pro and M2 MacBook Air, with added support for Apple’s MTP and SPI keyboards. For users with Secure Boot setups, the installer conveniently includes shim-signed packages for AMD64 and ARM64 architectures.
Lastly, the installer now includes improved support for Japanese text rendering, thanks to new fonts—specifically the MotoyaLCedar font—and increased font size, making installations smoother for Japanese-speaking users.
For more information on all changes, see the official announcement. If you want to try the installer, download it here.
