One thing is sure: the activity of Sparky Linux developers this month has been impressive. Today, barely ten days after delivering updated versions of their main rolling release distro, they welcome us with three more updated versions.
But before we go any further, let’s briefly explain to our readers in a few words what Sparky Linux is. It is a Debian-based lightweight desktop Linux distribution that aims to be easy on system resources and can breathe new life into aging computers.
The distro has two editions. The first is a regular point release based entirely on the stable Debian branch that adheres to the established pattern of releasing new versions over time.
The second version of Sparky Linux, which we are discussing, adheres to the rolling release model. Today, the Sparky team announced the release of three updated ISO images for its GameOver, Multimedia, and Rescue editions. So let’s look at what’s new.
Sparky Linux 2022.07 Special Editions Highlights
As you can see, the names of the three editions are pretty descriptive, indicating their intended use. All three editions include the lightweight and easy-to-use Xfce desktop environment.
Sparky “GameOver” Edition includes many preinstalled games, handy utilities, and scripts. In other words, it is built for gamers. The exciting part is that Steam, Wine, PlayOnLinux, and TeamSpeak Installer are pre-reinstalled and ready to use.
SparkyLinux “Multimedia” Edition extensively uses various tools for creating and manipulating images, audio, video, and HTML pages, including Blender, Krita, Darktable, GIMP, Audacity, Mixxx, Qtractor, Avidemux, Blender, Kdenlive, VideoCut, and so on.
Sparky “Rescue” Edition is an operating system that only runs in live DVD/USB mode. The Live system includes many tools for scanning and repairing files, partitions, and operating systems on hard drives.
The main changes in all these releases are solely related to the updated package base. All available packages have been updated to the current versions in the Debian test repositories as of July 16, 2022.
Several new packages have been added to the installation ISO file on all three Sparky 2022.07 Special Editions. These are Nala (APT Frontend), ZSTD (Compression Tool), and onboard (On-screen Keyboard). At the same time, Florence, an extensible scalable virtual keyboard for X11, has been removed.
Furthermore, the Timeshift app has been added to the Rescue edition, which protects your system by taking incremental file system snapshots at regular intervals.
Similarly, the Hypnotix app, an IPTV streaming application with support for live TV, movies, and series, was added to the SparkyLinux “Multimedia” edition.
Under the hood, Sparky 2022.07 Special Editions ships with the Linux kernel 5.18.5 as versions 5.18.12 and 5.15.55-LTS are also available in Sparky’s unstable repositories.
Lastly, the sparky-upgrade CLI app now uses Nala rather than Apt. As you know, Nala is a frontend for the APT package manager so that now you can have prettier output and faster downloads of packages.
You can refer to the official announcement for detailed information about all changes in Sparky Linux 2022.07 Special Editions.
Download
Sparky Linux 2022.07 Special Editions installation ISO images can be downloaded from the download/rolling page of the project.
Of course, there is no need to reinstall Sparky Semi-Rolling if you already have it installed on your computer. Instead, you may easily update via command-line, executing:
sudo sparky-upgrde
