MX Linux is one of the best desktop-oriented distros, as evidenced by the fact that since 2019 it has topped the page-hit ranking of Distrowatch. It is lightning-fast and is a perfect mixture of simplicity, reliability, ease of use, and appeal to more seasoned users.
The distro is based on Debianโs stable branch, but unlike it is an (almost) systemd-free – MX uses systemd-shim, meaning that systemd is installed, but the default init is SysVinit.
These days, the distro decided to refresh its identity, changing its logo, well known to all Linux enthusiasts for years. Here’s the reason why.
The New MX Linux Logo
The roots of MX Linux can be traced back 20 years when, in May 1993, MEPIS released its first version. Unfortunately, ten years later, the distribution ceased to exist.
However, as is often the case in the Open Source world, one thingโs end marks anotherโs start. This is precisely the case with MX Linux. The distro began with a discussion about future options among members of the MEPIS community in December 2013.
Joining forces with the developers from the antiX project, MX released its initial version in March 2014.
Why am I telling you all this? Because to pay homage to their roots, and more specifically to MEPIS, which started what we knew today as MX Linux 20 years ago, the developers decided to change the distribution logo, which will now be the official MX hallmark.
And the new logo has already proudly taken its place in the just-released beta of the upcoming MX-23 release, so let’s see what they have in store for us.
MX Linux 23 ‘Libretto’ Highlights
Powered by long-term supported Linux kernel 6.1, MX Linux 23 builds on the upcoming Debian 12 ‘Bookworm’ base and the MX repositories. As always before, the release uses SysVinit by default, with systemd available for installed systems.
As a fully desktop-oriented Linux distribution, the emphasis is predictably on the desktop environments MX offers, and in that spirit, users here have reason to rejoice.
MX-23 will provide the latest and greatest, specifically KDE Plasma 5.27, Xfce 4.18, and Fluxbox 1.3.7. In addition, each comes loaded with new features and improvements, which you can read about in our related articles.
Continuing with the novelties, it is worth noting that the installer now supports swapfiles and swap partitions with the typical auto installation using swapfiles by default. Besides that, the installer has received many improvements, both in the GUI part and functional.
Under the hood, the MX-Updater tool now uses Nala, a frontend for the APT command, as its default backend.
And speaking of tools, MX Linux is known for offering a whole host of them to make the user experience easier. In MX-23 โLibrettoโ beta, many of them have received bug fixes and updates, and all tools now launch with their policy kit configurations.
Finally, if you are impatient and want to try this beta, the links to the installation ISO images are in the announcement. Of course, remember that this release is for testing purposes only.
