Emmabuntus is a distribution that is unfamiliar to the average Linux user. This is primarily due to its target audience. But first, a few words regarding the distro.
While the name implies an association with Ubuntu, this is untrue and originates from earlier versions of Emmabuntus that were based on Ubuntu. As of February 2016, the distro is based entirely on the Debian stable branch and comes with two default desktop environments, Xfce and LXQt.
Emmabuntus’ goals can be mainly divided into two directions. First and foremost, Emmabuntus is a Linux distribution solely with a humanitarian focus. And to put it more precisely, the distro is designed to facilitate the restoration of computers donated to humanitarian organizations like the Emmaus Communities.
Second, Emmabuntus falls into the category of lightweight Linux distributions, which means it can run with very low hardware requirements. However, you need at least 512MB RAM, 1.4GHz AMD or Intel CPU, and 20GB of available disk space for it to work.
As a result of the above, Emmabuntus is widely applicable in places where people can not afford new computers. So with that out of the way, let’s look at what the most recent release has to offer.
Emmabuntus DE4 1.02 Highlights
Emmabuntus DE (Debian Edition) 4 1.02 is based on Debian 11.4 (Bullseye) and supports 64-bit and 32-bit architectures. The versions of the two desktop environments it provides are Xfce 4.16 and Lxqt 0.16, respectively.
It is important to mention that Emmabuntus shares a concept similar to Endless OS. In other words, the distro can be installed without an Internet connection because all required packages are included within the installation ISO image.
Another key highlight of this release is the added 64-bit UEFI boot with 32-bit ISO and vice versa.
Under the hood, Emmabuntus DE 4 1.02 ships with Linux kernel 5.10. In addition, the images in the Calamares installer slideshow have been updated as well. On top of that, the Debian Beginner’s handbook has been bumped to version 11.3.
And speaking of updates, some applications in Emmabuntus DE 4 1.02 have received them. The more important ones to note are Firefox ESR 91.12, Thunderbird 91.12, Ventoy 1.0.79, Warpinator 1.2.9, gSpeech 0.11, Radiotray-NG 0.2.8, TurboPrint 2.53-1, boot-repair 4ppa200, Veracrypt 1.25.9, and MintStick 1.4.9.
For a complete list of changes, please refer to the official announcement. Additionally, if you want to give Emmabuntus DE 4 1.02 a try, installation ISO images are available on the project website’s download section.
