Lightweight Linux distribution
Linux distribution
SparkyLinux is a desktop-orientedoperating system based on theDebian [ 3] [ 4] desktops to choose from.[ 5]
The project was born in October 2011 as anUbuntu remix withEnlightenment as the defaultdesktop having the nameue17r (Ubuntu Enlightenment17 Remix). After a few months of testing, the base system was changed to Debian and renamed SparkyLinux.[ 6] [ 7]
SparkyLinux has two main "flavors": the "stable flavor", which is based on the latestDebian stable, and the “rolling flavor”, which is based on the testing (next stable) branch of Debian and uses a (semi-)rolling-release cycle . Additionally, it includes a collection of tools and scripts to help users with easy administration of the system.[ 8]
The default desktop environments areLXQt (formerLXDE ),MATE ,Xfce , andKDE , but users can install other desktops via 'Sparky APTus'.
As Sparky ISO image features a fewproprietary packages, the 'Sparky APTus' provides a small tool called 'Non-Free Remover' which can easily uninstall all 'contrib' and 'non-free' packages from the system.[ 9]
Since 2023, the project has offered storage persistence from a utility that writes USB disk images. The feature so far only works on the MinimalGUI version of SparkyLinux.[ 10]
GameOver Edition, targeted to gamers. It features a large set offree and open-source games and some needed tools.[ 11] Rescue Edition, provides a live system and a large number of applications for recovering broken operating systems.[ 12] Multimedia for audio, video, and HTML pages editing. MinimalCLI and MinimalGUI.[ 8] Releases and reception [ edit ] SparkyLinux 1.0 – codename “Venus” was renamed from ue17r to SparkyLinux 1.0 on January 15, 2012.[ 13] SparkyLinux 2.0 – codename “Eris” was released on December 19, 2012.[ 14] SparkyLinux 3.0 – codename “Annagerman” was released on July 27, 2013.[ 15] SparkyLinux 3.4 – codename “Annagerman” was released on June 03, 2014.[ 16] [ 17] SparkyLinux 3.5 – codename “Annagerman” was released on September 06, 2014.[ 18] [ 19] [ 20] SparkyLinux 4.0 – codename “Tyche” was released on June 26, 2015.[ 21] SparkyLinux 5.0 – codename “Nibiru” was released on July 17, 2017.[ 22] [ 23] SparkyLinux 5.5 – codename “Nibiru” was released on July 27, 2018.[ 24] SparkyLinux 6.0 – codename “Po Tolo” was released on August 20, 2021.[ 25] SparkyLinux 7.0 – codename “Orion Belt” was released on June 15, 2023.[ 26] [ 27] SparkyLinux 8.0 – codename “The Seven Sisters” was released on August 14, 2025.[ 28] [ 29] [ 30] SparkyLinux 9.0 – code name “Tiamat” (based on Debian 14 “Forky”) is in beta testing.[ 31] ^ "SparkyLinux Team" . Retrieved20 August 2021 .^ "Sparky 8.0" .^ "Derivatives/Census/SparkyLinux - Debian Wiki" .wiki.debian.org . debian.org. 16 August 2025. Retrieved20 August 2025 .^ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025)."DistroWatch.com: SparkyLinux" .distrowatch.com . Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ "SparkyLinux Wiki" .Sparky Wiki .^ "SparkyLinux 1.0 wersja finalna" .Linuxiarze.pl . 5 May 2012. Retrieved20 August 2021 .^ pavroo (13 October 2021)."ue17r" .ArchiveOS . Retrieved12 March 2025 . ^a b pavroo (18 December 2024)."About" .SparkyLinux . Retrieved12 March 2025 . ^ pavroo (20 September 2023)."Sparky APTus" .SparkyLinux . Retrieved12 March 2025 . ^ pavroo (20 January 2023)."Sparky 2023.01 + Persistence" .SparkyLinux . Retrieved2023-02-05 . ^ Newell, Gary (October 2014)."An Everyday Linux User Review Of SparkyLinux Gameover Edition" .Everyday Linux User . Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ pavroo (4 May 2021)."sparky_rescue [Sparky Wiki]" .Sparky wiki . Poland: SparkyLinux. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ pavroo (16 October 2021)."10 years of SparkyLinux!" .SparkyLinux . Poland. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Smith, Jesse (18 February 2013)."First look at SparkyLinux 2.1 "Ultra" edition" .DistroWatch Weekly . No. 495. Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Newell, Gary (26 November 2013)."Everyday Linux User review of SparkyLinux 3.1 Razor-Qt Edition" .Everyday Linux User . Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Fagioli, Brian (8 July 2014)."SparkyLinux 3.4 GameOver -- a Linux distro for gamers" .BetaNews . Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Germain, Jack M. (20 August 2014)."SparkyLinux GameOver Is a Winning Work-Play Combo" .LinuxInsider . Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Gayan (11 October 2014)."SparkyLinux 3.5 (E18) Review – Lightweight, Comes with Lots of Apps, But a Bit Buggy" .Hectic Geek . Archived fromthe original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Smith, Jesse (20 October 2014)."SparkyLinux 3.5" .DistroWatch Weekly . No. 581. Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Kanoy, Michael D. (30 September 2014)."SparkyLinux: Low Resource OS Packing Dynamite!" .Reach Unlimited . Archived fromthe original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Smith, Jesse (26 June 2015)."Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 4.0 (DistroWatch.com News)" .distrowatch.com . Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Watson, J. A. (July 21, 2017)."Hands-on with Sparky Linux 5, powered by Debian" .ZDNet . Retrieved2022-03-12 . ^ Germain, Jack M. (27 July 2017)."SparkyLinux 5: Great All-Purpose Distro for Confident Linux Users" .LinuxInsider . Encino, CA: ECT News Network, Inc. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Smith, Jesse (27 July 2018)."Development Release: SparkyLinux 5.5 Dev (DistroWatch.com News)" .distrowatch.com . Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Smith, Jesse (20 August 2021)."Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 6.0 (DistroWatch.com News)" .distrowatch.com . Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Cafiero, Larry (10 July 2025)."Sparky Linux: "Takes the Options Ball and Runs With It!" .FOSS Force . King, N.C.: Unicorn Media. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Wallen, Jack (19 February 2024)."Sparky Linux is a blazing-fast distro that can keep your older machines running for years" .ZDNET . Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Smith, Jesse (14 August 2025)."Distribution Release: SparkyLinux 8.0 (DistroWatch.com News)" .distrowatch.com . Copenhagen, DK: Atea Ataroa Limited. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ Borisov, Bobby (14 August 2025)."SparkyLinux 8.0 Launches with Debian 13 Base" .Linuxiac . Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ pavroo (14 August 2025)."Sparky 8.0" .SparkyLinux . Poland. Retrieved20 August 2025 . ^ pavroo (17 August 2025)."Sparky 9 code name and repos" .SparkyLinux . Poland. Retrieved20 August 2025 .
