SparkyLinux is a Debian-based OS that aims to supply a quick, lightweight and fully customizable experience to the user. Out of the box, the user has the choice to settle on from four different desktop environments which will be given a group of pre-installed open-source software.
SparkyLinux 2021.03 Release – KDE Plasma Desktop Added
The developers behind Sparky Linux have announced the discharge of “SparkyLinux 2021.03” which is predicated on the “Bullseye” testing branch of Debian and maybe a rolling release distribution.
This new release features many updates and new desktop environments. Let’s have a glance at what’s on offer.
KDE Plasma Edition
The most important addition to SparkyLinux with the new release is the addition of a KDE Plasma edition.
It runs the KDE Plasma 5.20.5 desktop environment and is being offered with KDE Frameworks 5.78 and KDE Applications 20.12.2.
Xfce 4.16
With the discharge of SparkyLinux 2021.03, Xfce has been updated to 4.16 and is being offered with a couple of extra keyboard shortcuts. The Xfce desktop environment is supposed for those that prefer a really minimal and light-weight experience.
LXQt 0.16.0
The LXQt desktop environment has also been updated to version 0.16.0. It features a couple of extra keyboard shortcuts and a number of latest applications that include, Clementine rather than Exaile because the default audio player, Kopete rather than Pidgin for fast messaging, Konversation rather than HexChat and Webcamoid rather than Cheese because of the webcam application.
MATE 1.24.1
The MATE desktop environment has been updated to version 1.24.1 with none specific changes as seen with the opposite desktop environments.
Sparky APTus AppCenter
The Sparky APTus AppCenter may be a GUI tool that creates it easy to put in new applications with one click.
In its current form, one might think it’s a touch primitive but new updates are being pushed thereto regularly and with Sparky Linux 2021.03, version 20210302 of Sparky APTus AppCenter is being offered.
Other Improvements
Sparky Linux 2021.03 features Linux Kernel 5.10.13 with the choice to urge 5.11.3 or 5.12-rc2 through the unstable repositories of Sparky.
Other than that a lot of applications are updated that include:
- Mozilla Firefox 86.0
- Mozilla Thunderbird 78.8.0
- LibreOffice 7.0.4.2
- Openbox 3.6.1
- VLC 3.0.12
- Calamares 3.2.37
- kpmcore 20.12.3
For more information, you’ll also read the official announcement.
Existing users can either update their system through the “Sparky Upgrade” tool or run the following commands to update their system.
A user can directly execute the following command by typing or pasting it in the terminal:
sparky-upgrade
or
Open the terminal and type or paste the following command to get the update package:
sudo apt update
Then type or paste the following command into the terminal to update SparkyLinux:
sudo apt full-upgrade
If you are a new user, then you can go to the official downloads page for getting a suitable ISO image.
Six different ISO images are available for download that include four different desktop environments, LXQt, MATE, Xfce, and KDE. You will also find two other additions as a minimal GUI edition and a Command-Line edition.
For information regarding SparkyLinux or installation instructions, you can head to the official wiki.
