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SparkyLinux Changelog

What's new in SparkyLinux 5.10

Jan 13, 2020
  • the base system has been upgraded from Debian stable repos as of January 10, 2020
  • Linux kernel 4.19.67-2+deb10u1 LTS (PC)
  • Linux kernel 4.19.75-v7+ (ARMHF)
  • Chromium web browser changed to Firefox-ESR (ARMHF)
  • small bug fixes and small improvements

New in SparkyLinux 2019.11 Rolling (Nov 3, 2019)

  • system upgraded from Debian testing “Bullseye” repos as of November 2, 2019
  • Calamares installer 3.2.16 + kpmcore 4
  • Linux kernel 5.2.17 as default (5.3.8 & 5.4-rc5 in Sparky unstable repos)
  • obmenu-generator removed from Openbox edition (due to Perl updated up to 5.30 and libgtk2-perl removed); it has been replaced by sparky-obmenu (+obmenu)
  • added Sid repos back (not active) – use it on your own risk
  • Yad updated up to 5.0, but it is available from Sparky unstable repos now

New in SparkyLinux 5.9 Rolling (Oct 7, 2019)

  • The base system has been upgraded from Debian stable repos as of October 4, 2019.
  • It works on the Linux kernel 4.19.67 LTS.

New in SparkyLinux 2019.09 Rolling (Sep 2, 2019)

  • system upgraded from Debian testing “Bullseye” repos as of September 1, 2019
  • fixed issue in Advanced Installer which did not set home partition on non-root partition with no-formatting option (thank’s lami07)
  • Firefox-ESR replaced with Firefox Latest
  • GCC 9 is the default compiler now, GCC 8 removed
  • Calamares installer 3.2.13
  • Linux kernel 5.2.9 (5.2.11 & 5.3-rc6 available in Sparky unstable repos)
  • Openbox 3.6.1-8

New in SparkyLinux 5.8 Rolling (Jul 23, 2019)

  • based on Debian 10 stable “Buster” now, repositories changed from ‘testing’ to ‘stable’
  • system upgraded from Debian stable “Buster” repos as of July 14, 2019
  • Linux kernel 4.19.37-5 (i686 & amd64)
  • Linux kernel 4.19.57-v7+ (ARMHF)
  • the Calamares installer updated up to version 3.2.11
  • apt-daily.service disabled
  • sparky-tube installed as dafault
  • removed old 3rd party repositories
  • added obconf-qt (LXQt edition)
  • nm-tray installed instead of network-manager-gnome (LXQt edition)
  • network-manager added to CLI ARMHF image
  • small fixes

New in SparkyLinux 4.11 (Jul 12, 2019)

  • all packages upgraded from Debian & Sparky ‘oldstable’ repos as of 2019/July/09
  • fixed root password at armhf images (toor)
  • added network-manager (nmtui) to armhf-cli image

New in SparkyLinux 5.8 RC (Jun 5, 2019)

  • Debian repo set to buster now, not to testing
  • Sparky repo still points to testing, and will be updated automatically soon
  • usrmerge set dirs symlinks (can be removed after)
  • added inxi tool to all iso images
  • all packages updated from Debian Buster repos as of July 3, 2019
  • due to a few feedbacks I got, some of you are not happy with switching from LXDE to LXQt edition, so there is the Xfce edition re-built and ready to use
  • due to problem with sparky5 theme in the Xfce edition, a new sparky6 theme is set as default (Xfce only)
  • many Sparky apps have gotten Russian translations, thank’s to ChourS
  • Calamares updated up to 3.2.9
  • Firefox replaced by Firefox ESR

New in SparkyLinux 4.10 (May 5, 2019)

  • Full system upgrade from Debian stable Stretch repos as of May 2, 2019
  • Linux kernel 4.9.168 (PC)
  • Linux kernel 4.14.98 (ARM)

New in SparkyLinux 5.7.1 Rolling (Apr 8, 2019)

  • full disk encrypting via the Calamares installer back
  • Linux kernel 4.19.28 as default
  • all packages updated from Debian testing repos as of April 02, 2019
  • added qCamera and removed Camorama (LXQt iso)
  • added qCalculator and removed Galculator (LXQt iso)
  • and uGet download manager replaced by Persopolis (LXQt iso)

New in SparkyLinux 5.6.1 Rolling (Jan 4, 2019)

  • Sparky of the rolling line 5.6.1 is shipped with Linux kernel 4.20.0 as default and Python 3.7 (3.6 has been already removed).

New in SparkyLinux 4.9 (Nov 12, 2018)

  • full system upgrade from Debian stable repos as of November 8, 2018
  • Linux kernel 4.9.110 (PC)
  • Linux kernel 4.14.71 (ARM)
  • added key bindings of configuration of monitor brightness (Openbox)
  • added key bindings of configuration of system sound (Openbox & LXDE)
  • added cron configuration to APTus Upgrade Checker
  • Added packages:
  • xfce4-power-manager for power management
  • sparky-libinput for tap to click configuration for touchpads
  • xfce4-notifyd for desktop notifications
  • ‘sparky-artwork-nature’ package features 10 more new nature wallpapers of Poland
  • Changes in the „100” special edition:
  • added „sparky100” theme pack, which provides a special background to: desktop, Lightdm login manager, GRUB/ISOLINUX boot manager and Plymouth
  • added a sub-menu called „100”, separated in English and Polish, which provides menu entries to Wikipedia, to let you find out about Polish National Independence Day and others, important informations from Polish history as well.

New in SparkyLinux 5.5 Rolling (Jul 27, 2018)

  • system update from Debian testing repos as of July 26, 2018
  • Linux kernel 4.17.8 (4.17.10-sparky is available in Sparky “unstable” repo)
  • older Linux kernel 4.16.12 is available from live media as well, which can be used in a case of any problem with the newest one
  • added support of btrfs & xfs file systems in Advanced Installer – installation on btrfs installs the system in subvolumes: @ and @home; choosing a separate partition for home makes the @home subvolume as well; it lets you make a snapshot of your system partitions via the btrfs utility or via TimeShift appliacation and lets you recovery them later
  • added new tool: TimeShift
  • added new, own tool: DEBiTool, which replaced GDebi and can be used for installing deb packages from a local drive
  • improved configuration of removing live packages in Advanced Installer; sudo package is not removed now if you install Sparky using minimalcli iso image

New in SparkyLinux 5.4 Rolling (Jun 11, 2018)

  • full system upgrade from Debian testing repos as of June 10, 2018
  • Linux kernel 4.16.12 (4.17.0-sparky is available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
  • Calamares 3.1.12 (not upgraded to 3.2 yet)
  • added packages: xinit (provides “startx” command)
  • removed packages: gksu
  • Firefox ESR removed and replaced by the latest Firefox 60.0.2 (LXQt edition)
  • Java web plugin removed; most modern web browsers don’t support the plugin any more
  • Open Java (OpenJDK) removed from the live system too; the package can be installed back via APTus-> Codecs-> OpenJDK
  • Clementine music player changed by Yarock; Clementine uses old Qt 4, Yarock uses Qt 5 (LXQt edition)
  • slightly refreshed appearance of the Tint2 panel (MinimalGUI edition)
  • the Midori web browser is not upgraded for the last 3 years about so has been removed and replaced by an other small and fast Otter Browser (still in RC stage); your favorite web browser can be installed via APTus-> Network
  • the default terminal emulator has been changed from XTerm to LXterminal (MinimalGUI edition)
  • added a new, small tool to the Tint2 panel: Sparky Dashboard which displays all installed applications inside of Yad based fullscreen window (MinimalGUI edition); and can run them of course.

New in SparkyLinux 4.8 (May 14, 2018)

  • full system upgrade from Debian stable repos as of May 11, 2018
  • Linux kernel 4.9.88 (PC)
  • Linux kernel 4.14.34 (ARM)
  • Calamares 3.1.12 with possibility of installing the live system on an encrypted disk
  • added new option of live system booting which lets you choose your localization
  • sparky tools which need the root access use pkexec now instead of gksu/gksudo/kdesudo/etc.
  • added packages: xinit (provides startx command) and bleachbit (for cleaning the system)
  • sparky advanced installer features 6 localizations now: Brazilian, English, German Italian, Polish and Portuguese
  • APTus 0.4.x has been enlarged of new, additional applications and tools to be easy installed
  • removed packages: gksu, gdebi, reportbug, sparky-fontset

New in SparkyLinux 4.8 RC (Apr 13, 2018)

  • full system upgrade from Debian stable repos as of April 11, 2018
  • Linux kernel 4.9.82
  • Calamares 3.1.12 with an option of installing system on an encrypted disk
  • added new option of live system booting which lets you choose a localization (via kernel parametr) and keyboard layout (via a new script)
  • sparky tools which need the root access use pkexec now instead of gksu/gksudo/kdesudo/etc.
  • added packages: xinit (provides startx command) and bleachbit (for cleaning the system)
  • temporary removed gscreenshot and replaced with sparky-screenshot
  • sparky advanced installer features 4 localizations now: Brazilian, English, German and Polish (more translations needed!); fixed removing partitions from the partition list after choosing and used them;

New in SparkyLinux 5.2 Rolling (Dec 20, 2017)

  • 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)

New in SparkyLinux 4.7 (Nov 20, 2017)

  • Linux kernel 4.9.0-4 (4.9.51)
  • Xfce 4.12.3
  • LXDE 0.99.2
  • Openbox 3.6.1
  • Firefox ESR 52.5.0
  • Thunderbird 52.4.0
  • Pidgin 2.12.0
  • HexChat 2.12.4
  • VLC 2.2.6
  • DeaDBeeF 0.7.2
  • LibreOffice 5.2.7
  • Transmission 2.92
  • Calamares 3.1.8

New in SparkyLinux 5.1 Rolling (Sep 28, 2017)

  • 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

New in SparkyLinux 4.6 (Jun 22, 2017)

  • full system upgrade from Debian 9 stable repos as of June 19, 2017
  • Linux kernel 4.9.30 as default (4.10.x and 4.11.x available in Sparky ‘unstable’ repo)
  • added new repo (not active): wine-staging.com
  • deep cleaning from old packages and files of older releases
  • 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
  • new theme “Sparky5” which fixes look of gtk+ based applications
  • 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
  • new tool for checking and displaying notification on your desktop about available updates

New in SparkyLinux 4.6 RC (May 4, 2017)

  • upcoming Debian stable Stretch ready
  • Calamares installer with LUKS disabled; instead of the previous Live Installer (Advanced installer is still available)
  • updated all packages from Debian Stretch and Sparky repositories
  • many small improvements and bugs fixing
  • deep cleaning to reduce iso images size

New in SparkyLinux 4.6-dev20170307 (Mar 8, 2017)

  • all packages updated from Debian (frozen, but still testing) Stretch repositories as of March 07, 2017;
  • Calamares 3.1;
  • fixed installation on UEFI machines issue; it installs the efi-grub debs offline (no internet connection needed), in the same way as the Advanced and the present Live Installers do;
  • fixed small lightdm related issue, which did not list a target user in the login window;
  • cleanup, removed some unnecessary packages, so the iso images are a little smaller then before.

New in SparkyLinux 4.5.2 (Dec 18, 2016)

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

New in SparkyLinux 4.5 (Dec 4, 2016)

  • 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

New in SparkyLinux 4.4 (Aug 21, 2016)

  • 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

New in SparkyLinux 3.1 (Oct 1, 2013)

  • Linux kernel 3.10-3 (3.10.11-1)
  • all packages have been updated from Debian testing repositories as of 2013/09/27
  • added Teamviewer client for remote controling other machines
  • added Sparky APTus – a small, simply and lightweight frontend for “apt-get” for upgrading and cleaning up the system, installing and removing packages
  • added Minitube – a lightweight video player of YouTube contents
  • added Gnote – a lightweight notes
  • added Osmo – a lightweight personal organizer
  • added Radiotray – a very small application for listening to the internet radio channels
  • SparkyBackup-System bug fixed – updated up to 0.1.4
  • Brasero has been removed and Xfburn has been installed
  • lxpolkit bug fixed after the LXDE and Lxpolkit updating
  • e17 desktop has been dropped out from the main release

New in SparkyLinux 2.1 (Mar 19, 2013)

  • Linux kernel 3.2.39-2
  • minor bugs fixing
  • live system works on USB stick fixing
  • full system installation on USB stick – link
  • new set of wallpapers

New in SparkyLinux 2.1 RC (Mar 7, 2013)

  • Linux kernel 3.2.35
  • Enlightenment 0.17.1
  • All packages have been updates
  • Fixed USB Live system works
  • Added full system installation on USB stick
  • New wallpapers and LaGaDesk-BlackWhite icon set
  • Added 12 new Enlightenment’s themes

New in SparkyLinux 2.0.1 (Dec 20, 2012)

  • Linux kernel 3.2
  • LXDE
  • Iceweasel, VLC, Leafpad, Pidgin, Transmission, XChat and a few really important apps
  • Flash, Java, multimedia codecs, VLC plugin for Iceweasel
  • Desura for Linux
  • Steam beta for Linux
  • Wine & PlayOnLinux