SparkyLinux

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>The project was born in October 2011 as an <a href="/facts/Ubuntu_(operating_system)/0WDd7hkb">Ubuntu</a> remix with <a href="/facts/Enlightenment_(software)/MGEattNf">Enlightenment</a> as the default <a href="/facts/Desktop_environment/VXBpMWnG">desktop</a> having the name ue17r (Ubuntu Enlightenment17 Remix). After a few months of testing, the base system was changed to Debian and renamed SparkyLinux.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<p>SparkyLinux has two main "flavors": the "stable flavor", which is based on the latest <a href="/facts/Debian/cBd93qfJ">Debian</a> stable, and the “rolling flavor”, which is based on the testing (next stable) branch of Debian and uses a (semi-)<a href="/facts/Rolling_release/zBaErSFW">rolling-release cycle</a>. Additionally, it includes a collection of tools and scripts to help users with easy administration of the system.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p><p>The default desktop environments are <a href="/facts/LXQt/AH4hnqpY">LXQt</a> (former <a href="/facts/LXDE/knmvgsPm">LXDE</a>), <a href="/facts/MATE_(software)/pqGMfA3B">MATE</a>, <a href="/facts/Xfce/dsDLWxx1">Xfce</a>, and <a href="/facts/KDE_Plasma_5/ao7x6z7s">KDE</a>, but users can install other desktops via 'Sparky APTus'.
</p><p>As Sparky ISO image features a few <a href="/facts/Proprietary_software/9zcskxYL">proprietary</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="special-editions">Special editions</h2>
<ul><li>GameOver Edition, targeted to gamers. It features a large set of <a href="/facts/Free_and_open-source_software/1cHtjLCB">free and open-source</a> games and some needed tools.</li>
<li>Rescue Edition, provides a live system and a large number of applications for recovering broken operating systems.</li>
<li>Multimedia for audio, video, and HTML pages editing.</li>
<li>MinimalCLI and MinimalGUI.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Free and open-source software portal</li><li>Linux portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_live_CDs/RVKTCFDE">List of live CDs</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>

<ul><li>Fagioli, Brian (8 July 2014). <a href="http://betanews.com/2014/07/08/sparkylinux-3-4-gameover-a-linux-distro-for-gamers/">"SparkyLinux 3.4 GameOver -- a Linux distro for gamers"</a>. <i>BetaNews</i>. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Gayan (11 October 2014). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180814235705/https://www.hecticgeek.com/2014/09/sparkylinux-3-5-e18-review/">"SparkyLinux 3.5 (E18) Review – Lightweight, Comes with Lots of Apps, But a Bit Buggy"</a>. <i>Hectic Geek</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.hecticgeek.com/2014/09/sparkylinux-3-5-e18-review/">the original</a> on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Germain, Jack M. (20 August 2014). <a href="http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/80923.html">"SparkyLinux GameOver Is a Winning Work-Play Combo"</a>. <i>LinuxInsider</i>. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Kanoy, Michael D. (30 September 2014). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141811/http://www.reach-unlimited.com/p/37252415/sparkylinux-low-resource-os-packing-dynamite">"SparkyLinux: Low Resource OS Packing Dynamite!"</a>. <i>Reach Unlimited</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.reach-unlimited.com/p/37252415/sparkylinux-low-resource-os-packing-dynamite">the original</a> on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Newell, Gary (26 November 2013). <a href="http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2013/11/everyday-linux-user-review-of.html">"Everyday Linux User review of SparkyLinux 3.1 Razor-Qt Edition"</a>. <i>Everyday Linux User</i>. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Newell, Gary (October 2014). <a href="http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/10/an-everyday-linux-user-review-of.html">"An Everyday Linux User Review Of SparkyLinux Gameover Edition"</a>. <i>Everyday Linux User</i>. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Smith, Jesse (18 February 2013). <a href="http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130218#feature">"First look at SparkyLinux 2.1 "Ultra" edition"</a>. <i>DistroWatch Weekly</i>. No. 495. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Smith, Jesse (20 October 2014). <a href="http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20141020#feature">"SparkyLinux 3.5"</a>. <i>DistroWatch Weekly</i>. No. 581. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li>
<li>Watson, J. A. (July 21, 2017). <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-sparky-linux-5-powered-by-debian/">"Hands-on with Sparky Linux 5, powered by Debian"</a>. <i>ZDNet</i>. Retrieved 2022-03-12.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SparkyLinux.

<ul><li><a href="https://sparkylinux.org">Official website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=sparky">SparkyLinux</a> at <a href="/facts/DistroWatch/PXUkruJo">DistroWatch</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"SparkyLinux Wiki". Sparky Wiki. <a href="https://wiki.sparkylinux.org/doku.php" target="_blank">https://wiki.sparkylinux.org/doku.php</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>pavroo (13 October 2021). "ue17r". ArchiveOS. Retrieved 12 March 2025. <a href="https://archiveos.org/ue17r/" target="_blank">https://archiveos.org/ue17r/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>pavroo (18 December 2024). "About". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 12 March 2025. <a href="https://sparkylinux.org/about/" target="_blank">https://sparkylinux.org/about/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>pavroo (20 September 2023). "Sparky APTus". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 12 March 2025. <a href="https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-aptus/" target="_blank">https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-aptus/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>pavroo (20 January 2023). "Sparky 2023.01 + Persistence". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 2023-02-05. <a href="https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-2023-01-persistence/" target="_blank">https://sparkylinux.org/sparky-2023-01-persistence/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>pavroo (18 December 2024). "About". SparkyLinux. Retrieved 12 March 2025. <a href="https://sparkylinux.org/about/" target="_blank">https://sparkylinux.org/about/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

SparkyLinux open-in-new

SparkyLinux