Mate – SparkyLinux

Sparky 2020.02

2020/02/10 by pavroo

Sparky 2020.02 “Po Tolo” of the (semi-)rolling line is out. It is based on the testing branch of Debian “Bullseye”.

Changes:
* system upgraded from Debian testing “Bullseye” repos as of February 9, 2020
* Calamares installer 3.2.18
* Linux kernel 5.4.13 as default (5.5.2 & 5.6-rc1 in Sparky unstable repos)
* Firefox 72.0.2
* Thunderbird 68.4.2
* LibreOffice 6.4.0
* VLC 3.0.8
* Exaile 4.0.2, etc.
* added the new Sparky public key

System reinstallation is not required, install the new Sparky public key as follows:

wget -O - https://repo.sparkylinux.org/sparky.gpg.key | sudo apt-key add -

and make full system upgrade:

sudo apt update sudo apt full-upgrade

New rolling iso images can be downloaded from the download/rolling page.

Known issues:
* Calamares installer failed if you install Sparky in full auto mode with full disk encryption and a swap partiton; it works fine without a swap partition;

Sparky 5.3

2018/03/10 by pavroo

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.3 “Nibiru” available to download.
Sparky 5 follows rolling release model and is based on Debian testing “Buster”.

Sparky 5.3 provides fully featured operating system with lightweight desktops: LXQt, MATE and Xfce.

Sparky MinimalGUI (Openbox) and MinimalCLI (text mode) lets you install the base system with a desktop of your choice and a minimal set of applications, via the Sparky Advanced Installer.

Changes:
– full system upgrade from Debian testing repos as of March 7, 2018
– Linux kernel 4.15.4 as default (4.15.8-sparky is available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
– the default system installer Calamares updated up to version 3.1.12
– added packages to support btrfs & xfs file systems
– cleaning out old files configs
– added new tool for cleaning your system from old files and configs: bleachbit
– missing language package installer (a part of APTus) has gotten gnome, kde & qt language package installtion option
– gdebi has been removed; locale stored debs can be installed via APTus-> Install-> Install package
– cli edition has been re-configured; it uses sudo as default after installing it on a hard drive as well
– many small fixes and improvements

No system reinstallation is required, simply make full system upgrade:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If any problem, run:
sudo dpkg --configure -a sudo apt-get install -f

New iso images of the rolling edition can be downloaded from download/rolling page.

Known issues:
– possible problem with unmounting the live system squashfs if running inside of a virtual machine – ignore, shot the live system down, remove the live media and run your machine normally.

Sparky 5.2

2020/02/102017/12/20 by pavroo

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.2 “Nibiru” available to download.
Sparky 5 follows rolling release model and is based on Debian testing “Buster”.

Sparky 5.2 provides fully featured operating system with lightweight desktops: Xfce, MATE and LXQt.
Sparky 5.2 MinimalGUI (Openbox) and MinimalCLI (text mode) lets you install the base system with a desktop of your choice and a minimal set of applications, via the Sparky Advanced Installer.

Important !
Sparky based on Debian testing is not a stable edition; can make problems sometimes and can need individual fixing. If you prefer much stable operating system – Sparky 4.x of the stable line will be better choice.

Changes of all editions:
– full system upgrade from Debian testing repos as of December 17, 2017
– Linux kernel 4.14.2 from Debian Sid repos (4.14.8-sparky is available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
– Calamares 3.1.10 as the default system installer
– the full disk encryption option has been activated in the Calamares, so Sparky can be installed on an encrypted disk now
– added 8 new wallpapers of Polish nature to ‘sparky-artwork-nature’ package
– added symlink of ‘sparkylinux-installer’ to ‘sparky-installer’ (Advanced Installer), and ‘spb’ shortcut to ‘sparkybackup’ command (backup tool)

Changes in Xfce edition:
– due to abnormal CPU usage of the ‘xfce4-pulseaudo-plugin’ (with Sparky 5 icon set), the plugin has been replaced by ‘pasystray’

Changes in MinimalGUI edition:
– PCManFM file manager replaced by Thunar
– external USB disks are mounted automatically now

No system reinstallation is required, simply make full system upgrade:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If any problem, run:
sudo dpkg --configure -a sudo apt-get install -f

New iso images of the rolling edition can be downloaded from the download/rolling page.

Known issues:
– possible problem with unmounting the live system’s squashfs if running inside of a virtual machine (tested in VirtualBox only) – ignore it, shot the live system down, remove the live media and run your machine normally.

Merry Christmas to all Sparkers
from Aneta i Paweł

Sparky 5.1

2017/09/27 by pavroo

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.1 “Nibiru” available to download.
Sparky 5 follows the rolling release model and is based on Debian testing “Buster”.

Sparky “Home” edition provides fully featured operating system with lightweight desktops: Xfce, MATE and LXQt.
Sparky MinimalGUI (Openbox) and MinimalCLI (text mode) lets you install the base system with a desktop of your choice and a minimal set of applications via the Sparky Advanced Installer.

Changes between version 5.0 and 5.1:
– full system upgrade from Debian testing repos as of September 25, 2017
– Linux kernel 4.12.13 as default (4.13.3-sparky is available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
– gcc 6 removed from the live media; the default compiler is gcc 7
– obmenu-generator updated up to version 0.80 (MinmalGUI edition), what speeded up launching the menu with svg icons
– the default system installer Calamares updated up to version 3.1.4
– added new tool for installing a web browser: Sparky Web Browser Installer
– new desktop environment added to Sparky repos: Manokwari
– live system’s memtest86+ issue has been fixed
– source code repos moved to GitHub

No system re-installation is required, simply make full system upgrade:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If any problem, run:
sudo dpkg --configure -a sudo apt-get install -f

New iso images of the rolling edition can be downloaded from download/rolling page.

Sparky 5.0

2017/07/162017/07/16 by pavroo

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.0 “Nibiru” available to download.
Sparky 5 follows rolling release model and is based on Debian testing branch “Buster”.

From Wikipedia:

In Babylonian astronomy, Nibiru (in cuneiform spelled dné-bé-ru or MULni-bi-rum). The term refers to the equinox and the astronomical objects associated with it…
…Nibiru was considered the seat of the summus deus who shepherds the stars like sheep, in Babylon identified with Marduk.

Sparky “Home” edition provides fully featured operating system with lightweight desktops: LXQt, MATE and Xfce.

As usually, Sparky MinimalGUI (Openbox) and MinimalCLI (text based) lets you install the base system with a minimal set of applications and a desktop of your choice, via the Sparky Advanced Installer.

Changes between version 4.5 and 5.0:
– full system upgraded from Debian testing repos as of July 14, 2017
– Linux kernel 4.11.6 as default (4.12.x is available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
– new theme “Sparky5”
– new theme of LXQt edition
– new default wallpaper created by our community member “barti”
– new set of wallpapers of the Nature category, with a few nice landscapes from Poland
– Calamares 3.1.1 as the default system installer
– new tool for checking and displaying notification on your desktop about available updates

Other changes:
– added new repos (not active): wine-staging.com
– email client Icedove replaced by Thunderbird
– changed http to https protocol of all Sparky services, including repository; updating the ‘sparky-apt’ package fixes it automatically
– added two new live system boot options:
1. toram – lets you load the whole live system into ram memory (if you have enough);
2 – text mode – if any problem with normal or failsafe boot, this option runs sparky in text mode and lets you install it using the advanced installer

Sparky edition based on the Openbox window manager (MinimalGUI) has gotten 3 key shortcuts:
– Super+t -> terminal emulator
– Super+r -> gexec
– Super+q -> logout window

No system reinstallation is required.

If you have Sparky up to 4.5 installed on your hard drive, simply make full system upgrade:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If any problem, run:
sudo dpkg --configure -a sudo apt-get install -f

New iso images of the rolling edition can be downloaded from download/rolling page.

SparkyLinux 4.5.2

2016/12/182016/12/18 by pavroo

New, updated iso images of SparkyLinux 4.5.2 “Tyche” are ready for download.

The new images provide a Virtualbox related bug fix, which has been solved via the latest updates from Debian testing repos.

If you have Sparky already installed – you do not need to reinstall your system, simply keep it up to date.

So, the updated iso images let you play, test and install Sparky inside the VirtualBox virtual machine, as before.

There are a few important updates landed in Sparky repos in meantime:
– Budgie Desktop 10.2.9
– CDE (Common Desktop Environment) 2.2.4-1 (some small issues fixed)
– Enlightenment 0.21.5 & EFL 1.18.4
– Firefox 50.1
– Linux kernel 4.8.15
– Lumina Desktop 1.1.0-p1 (own build)
– Palemoon 27.0.3
– SlimJet 12.0.12
– Vivaldi 1.6
– Skype Installer 0.1.10 (installs 4.x i386 on 32 bit/1.x Alpha amd64 on x86_64 bit systems now)
– TOR Browser 6.0.8

Sparky iso images can be downloaded from the download page as usually.

SparkyLinux 4.5 is out

2016/12/03 by pavroo

There is an update of SparkyLinux 4.5 “Tyche” available now.

As before, Sparky “Home” editions provide fully featured operating system based on Debian ‘testing’ with desktops of your choice: LXDE, LXQt, KDE, MATE and Xfce.

Sparky MinimalGUI and MinimalCLI lets you install the base system with a minimal set of applications and your favorite desktop, via the Sparky Advanced Installer.

Changes between 4.4 and 4.5:
– full system upgrade as of November 29, 2016
– Linux kernel 4.8.7 as default (4.8.12-sparky available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
– Firefox 45.5.0 ESR (Firefox 50.0.2 available in our repos)
– Icedove 45.4 (Thunderbird 45.5.1 available in our repos)
– LibreOffice 5.2.3-rc1
– libc6 2.24, systemd 232-6, python 2.7.12 + 3.5.2, gcc 5.4.1 + 6.2.0
– added 2 new desktops to be installed via the MinimalGUI/CLI and APTus: CDE (Common Desktop Environment), DDE (Deepin Desktop Environment); Pantheon desktop has been removed from the configuration
– all Sparky pages (blog, forums, wiki) are encrypted so they are available via the https protocol now; it did not make changes in Sparky repos
– Netsurf web browser replaced by Midori in MinimalGUI Edition – it does not work well with the https protocol
– added support for ‘exfat’ file system

Big thanks go to our community members, for their intensive help on Sparky forums and community portals.

Known issues:
– the live system does not work well inside VirtualBox (but works fine inside VMware Workstation, in BIOS and EFI mode)

ISO images of SparkyLinux can be downloaded from the download page.

SparkyLinux 4.4 is out

2016/11/172016/08/20 by pavroo

New, updated live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 4.4 “Tyche” are available to download now.

As before, Sparky “Home” editions provide fully featured operating system based on the Debian ‘testing’, with desktops of your choice: LXDE, LXQt, KDE, MATE and Xfce.

Changes between versions 4.3 and 4.4:
– full system upgrade as of August 15, 2016
– Linux kernel 4.6.4 (4.7.1-sparky is available in Sparky repos, see howto)
– firefox 45.3.0.ESR (firefox 48 is available in Sparky repos)
– calamares is available (but not default yet) in our repos
– new default theme called ‘Numix-SX’
– added new desktops to MinimalISO and APTus: Lumina, Trinity and PekWM
– ‘tint2’ panel replaced by ‘fbpanel’ in the MinimalGUI iso images
– added ‘rootactions-servicemenu’ to the Dolphin file manager in the KDE edition
– added short key which runs a terminal emulator in the MinimalGUI edition (Super+t)
– added an option which lets you install a PDF viewer, to the ‘sparky-office’ tool
– Midori web browser replaced by NetSurf in the MinimalGUI edition
– the ‘sparky-firstrun’ which lets you fully upgrade the system and install missing language packages has been fixed
– the ‘sparkylinux-installer’ – a part of ‘sparky-backup-core’ tool refreshes package list itself and installs the latest desktop settings in the MinimalGUI and MinimalCLI editions
– added Vivaldi and NetSurf web browsers to Sparky repos
– improved Wiki pages

The Sparky Advanced Installer runs on MinimalGUI or MinimalCLI iso image lets you install the base system with a minimal set of applications and a desktop of your choice, such as: awesome, bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon, Enlightenment, Fluxbox, GNOME Flashback, GNOME Shell, i3, IceWM, JWM, KDE Plasma 5, Lumina, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Openbox, Pantheon, PekWM, Trinity, Window Maker, Xfce.

It also lets you choose a web browser to be installed: Chromium, Dillo, Epiphany, Firefox (esr or latest), Konqueror, Midori, NetSurf, QupZilla, SeaMonkey, TOR Browser, Vivaldi.

The installation of a desktop of your choice via the Advanced Installer is possible only if your network connection is on (online installation). Otherwise, the Advanced Installer installs the Live system as it is.

Read the MinimalISO how to https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/minimal

ISO images of SparkyLinux can be downloaded from the download page:
https://sparkylinux.org/download

Sparky ISO images verification how to: https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/verify_iso

Known issues: login screen failed, see how to fix it.

SparkyLinux 4.3 is out

2016/11/182016/04/29 by pavroo

4 sparky 4.3 teraz

New, updated iso images of SparkyLinux 4.3 “Tyche” are available now.
As before, Sparky “Home” editions provide fully featured operating system based on the Debian ‘testing’, with desktops of your choice: LXDE, LXQt, KDE, MATE and Xfce.

Changes between version 4.2 and 4.3:
– full system upgrade as of April 24, 2016
– Linux kernel 4.5.1
– Iceweasel web browser replaced by Firefox
– Turpial microblogging client replaced by Corebird
– APTus 0.3.x with an option of installation a set of pre-configured desktops: https://sparkylinux.org/aptus-0-3-0/
– Ceni network manager changed by Network Manager in the CLI edition; the manual network configuration can be done via the ‘nmtui’ command
– openjdk and icedtea-plugin updated to version 8.x
– LibreOffice 5.1.2
– gstreamer0.10 completely removed, the system uses only gstreamer1.0 now
– Exaile audio player (based on gstreamer0.10) replaced by Audacious
– Gnome-Screenshot changed by Gscreenshot
– all the iso images are signed with the GPG key, check how to verify Sparky images:
https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/verify_iso

“Base Openbox” and “CLI” editions changed their names to: MinimalGUI and MinimalCLI. They feature upgraded Sparky Advanced Installer, which lets you install the base system with a minimal set of applications and a desktop of your choice, such as:
– awesome
– bspwm
– Budgie
– Cinnamon
– Enlightenment
– Fluxbox
– GNOME Flashback
– GNOME Shell
– i3
– IceWM
– JWM
– KDE Plasma 5
– LXDE
– LXQt
– MATE
– Openbox
– Pantheon
– Window Maker
– Xfce

Find screenshots of all available Sparky desktops at:
https://sparkylinux.org/4-3-minimaliso-screenshots/

* Make sure that the Sparky Advanced Installer lets you install a desktop of your choice using the MinimaGUI or MinimalCLI iso images only. Using the Advanced Installer in the Home editions will install the Live system as it is.

ISO images of SparkyLinux can be downloaded from the download page:
https://sparkylinux.org/download

Known issues:
* The Pantheon desktop needs to be chosen in the LightDM window instead of the default session at first login.