 Visitor Reviews |
SpiralLinux
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Reader supplied reviews for SpiralLinux
Average rating
9.0 from 46 review(s)
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-07-24
Votes: 105
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After a few days of distro-searching, hopping & an awful time trying to like MXLinux on my recently adopted 2012 ThinkPad L530, I came across SpiralLinux & haven't looked back. It truly lives up to the claims as an out of the box, ready to go Debian desktop. Coming from years of Xubuntu, I fell right into place with the XFCE spin. Instead of spending a few hours getting drivers, installing updates & all the tedium you might associate with a clean-slate Debian system, I spent a few hours PERSONALIZING my system with themes, cursors & all that visually fun stuff! Zero hardware issues, wifi just worked, both touchpad & trackpad worked without any setup, hibernate & standby both reliably work & waking up is a seamless experience. I'm sure I'll come across some hiccups eventually, but I'm truly impressed with SpiralLinux! Plus, it's a relief that "the 'developer-hit-by-a-bus' concern" of smaller distros isn't an issue here since, well, it's just a very polished Debian!
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-05-20
Votes: 106
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The Absolute Best Out of box Debian experience one can get!
The developer of Geckolinux have done it again and this time, the developer have done it to debian.
The dev have set sane defaults for the base Debian, amplifying the out of box experience and it works like a dream with the rock solid stability of Debian Bookworm paired with OpenSUSE like BTRFS layout and implementation. Plus Spiral Linux have enabled BTRFS compression and Snapper application OOTB and they rules out some major pain points of post-install configuration in Debian based distros.
SpiralLinux have also opted for the "grub-btrfs" fork instead of regular grub, so that we can easily list the available BTRFS snapshots right from boot menu for easier rollback plus SpiralLinux also have zRAM swap preconfigured.
More than everything, SpiralLinux never tries to "one-up" Debian and rather than being yet another Debian derivative, it becomes just an optimized version of core Debian and it's one of the major selling points of SpiralLinux. Following this ideodology, SpiralLinux doesn't host separate repositories for it- Instead, it re-uses Debian's core repos.
There's still other tons of optimizations and absolutely logical decisions made by the dev like TLP, Wide array of DE selections, Flatpak preconfigred etc and this is by far the absolutely underrated Linux distros I've ever encountered!
Kudos to the dev and if the person reading this review is a Debian fan or someone who's wanting to dip their toes into the Debian world, then this is the perfect distro for you to try and it's enjoyable for Beginners and veterans alike.
I honestly wish this distro gets more traction and other Distro maintainers and developers take inspiration from SpiralLinux Developer and their choices!
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-05-20
Votes: 106
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This is the distro for those older PCs out there that nothing seems to work with very well. It is the closest I've ever seen to a version of Debian intended to compete in the desktop Linux market with its own descendants like Ubuntu and Mint. The software is all Debian rather than a true new distro requiring new repos with modified packages. However the Debian people don't maintain a version of their distro that takes full advantage of all of their own repos to produce a desktop Linux viable for new Linux users not wishing to get deep into system configuration. Sticking to all Debian repos means there's no risk of our needing to install something else if the person behind SpiralLinux decides to never update it, so long as Debian is still around. That is a major advantage over other distros in my view.
Distros often have few problems installing on Windows PCs from the last few years. The real test is the old devices and Macbooks. SpiralLinux XFCE is the only distro that could install smoothly on my 2015 Macbook Air and Thinkpad Education model with an ancient AMD E1-2500. None of the mainstream distros had the wifi drivers for either of these laptops. People often spend many hours, days or weeks trying to figure out how to get certain wifi chips working on laptops. Save yourself the time and use this instead.
XFCE is a little too much for the E1-2500 to handle, but installing and switching over to the LXDE desktop was extremely simple on SpiralLinux XFCE and now the ancient low-end Thinkpad runs just fine. The only caveat for those with Macbooks is that you still need to do a little customization to get the internal fan running, which is a common problem across all Linux distros.
I highly recommend this distro and am kind of surprised there is so little coverage of it among the Linux podcasters and other reviewers out there.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-04-29
Votes: 74
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I tried the KDE and the Gnome version. The Gnome version replaced the previous Fedora daily driver.
It's basically a Debian 12 set up to be usable from day 1. It has btrfs support with automatic snapshots on every install or update. For each snapshot there is an entry in the grub menu, so if something goes wrong you can boot to a previous saved system state.
The system is clean from the 180 languages that Debian normally install and it provides a graphical utility to install you language easilly.
From day 2 you forget the "spiral" and deal with a pure Debian distribution. You just save yourself days of hard optimization work.
I wish I had known about this distribution earlier.
Zero troubleshooting
Zero tweak
Zero problems
Zero cons
Everything works out of the box.
I recommend this distro to everybody.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-03-19
Votes: 48
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Spiral is about as good as a distro can get. It's simple yet powerful. It's the easiest Debian based distro to install and use. This is great since Debian has developed into the most reliable and stable form of Linux and this makes it even more accessible to all. Finally, someone in the USA is showing Linux computing leadership, instead of leaving it to buggy Ubuntu and flailing Fedora. Spiral seems to run faster than even the most minimalist distros out there, and I'm using the KDE desktop on a 12 year old laptop! There's only one thing I am bothered by. I don't receive any notifications of software updates. I'm going to ignore that for now and just periodically check for updates manually with synaptic, which is my favorite software handler anyway. Guess you can't have everything. Aside from that, my big wish is that the mysterious developer of Spiral would create a version of Slackware. I'm afraid this legendary Linux flavor is about to vanish into oblivion and would love to see it revived the Spiral way.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-03-18
Votes: 49
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I'm very impressed by this distro, tried so many and tested SpiralLinux more by curiosity than simply check/surch a good one
Finally SpiralLinux is just excellent!
All works directly out the box
All my hardware directly ok
All my prefered apps are here and install without any problem
All my indispensable apps are here and install without any problem
Even little unknown apps like "apwal" this kind of little app we love so much if not ok the distro has nothing to do more on my computer -> apwal just ok after two or three click :)
I'm running SpiralLinux on its KDE-Plasma version, and ô my God KDE-Plasma implantation is at his perfect point!
The more work to do after Spiral installation is to tweak to your own personal taste, just a question of few minutes when personal backups are to date, all the rest is already ok
No any bug nor any crash detected at this moment after four days of intensive daily utilisation, and the more i'm running Spiral the more this distro is sounding good to my ears and my soul, looks like it's very very very strong stable and confidence
SpiralLinux is for me an absolutely wonderful discovery, to be classified among the best ones in my own opinion next to Mageia Manjaro or MX, in short among the top of my personal podium
Excellent job is done here by the dev
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-03-18
Votes: 47
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This Distro is my perfect fit.
I've only started using Linux recently; I started with Ubuntu like a lot of others. But after unsuccessfully attempting to troubleshoot my Bluetooth headphones I started distro hopping; I was looking for an intuitive GUI installer and whatever arcane mix of audio drivers allows my headphones to work.
I've tried: Ubuntu, Manjaro, Endeavor, Fedora, openSUSE, Garuda, Norbara, MXLinux, Puppy (and several variants), NixOS, SparkyLinux, Bodhi, wattOS, Gecko, and FreeBSD. I started with GNOME as a DE, and I've largely switched to KDE.
With each of these I was looking for three things: 1) Is the Installer intuitive? 2) Can I easily connect to Wi-Fi? and 3) can I easily connect to my headphones?
The only ones that worked Out-Of-Box were Fedora, and SpiralLinux. I could not tell you why. When Fedora gave me a little trouble, I realized the system was a little more walled than I had hoped.
SpiralLinux fixed the Debian installer, comes with all the drivers I need, and is incredibly light and intuitive. Like others have explained better, with more technical reasons, I love that this is more of a Spin than a Distro and a very stable one at that. Resolving an issue is easy due to sheer amount of Debian troubleshooting available on the internet, I can mess around 'under the hood', and if I brick it, re-installation is very quick.
I'm very pleased. No notes.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-02-04
Votes: 23
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I give Spiral a high rating because it carries out the tasks I use a computer for,
like internet,file management, eBook reading, and keeping up to date on the news.
I selected the Mate desktop and really appreciate the multiple desktops
being provided as separate ISO files. That way I don't have to remove a desktop
and then add one I prefer. I use two externally connected Hard Drives for Linux
that I attached to my Dell Optiplex 9020, with four CPU cores running at
3.3 GHz, with 16 GB memory. The installation went smoothly the first time
through, so I didn't have to repeat the process and ended up with grub
installed on the system root ("/"), as I requested. I have run Distros
based on Debian for several years and Spiral shines as a Debian-based
Distribution. The obvious quality built in enhances comfortable use and
performance. I have also used the Cinnamon and XFCE desktops
released by Spiral and they likewise have performed fantastically. I have
used Linux at home about 3/4 of my time on the computer as a retired
person since 2011. The rest of my usage has been with Windows 7,
10, and 11. I find a lot of comfort in being able to easily replace a broken
Operating System with another that can handle the tasks I need it to.
My Linux usage has been dominated by Ubuntu and Debian-based
distributions over these last thirteen years. With an OS such as Spiral
available I expect to continue to primarily use Linux for my computing
needs. I would recommend that someone seeking a Linux
OS to use day-to-day try the Spiral flavor of choice and perhaps
significant distro hopping won't be necessary.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-31
Votes: 12
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I have been doing a lot of distro hopping lately, trying to find the one distro that stands above the rest and so far Spiral Linux is the one. What's different? The lone developer utilizes the power of Debian without adding any packages or repos other than Debian's. If the developer decided to quit tomorrow, I am left with a pure Debian install that can continue indefinitely. Think of Spiral Linux as the bus that simply drops you off at Debian's doorstep and drives away. This bloat free, expertly configured distro makes Spiral boot faster and load applications faster than most any other distro out there. I originally installed the XFCE spin which is fast, but then I installed the Plasma spin & was shocked that it was just as fast! Spiral is also the only Debian distro that I know of that uses BTRFS with snapper for simple rollbacks if something were to go wrong, just like openSUSE (no surprise, same creator of Gecko Linux). Generally, rollbacks are not really needed when using Debian stable, but if you want to try testing or unstable, which is extremely easy btw, it greatly reduces the risk. The system also comes with flatpaks & backports preconfigured to easily install newer software if needed. Another perk is the iso has an option to use a newer backported kernel, to make installation a breeze on newer hardware.
The only negative is the pre-installed themes, icons & wallpapers are sparse, but who really cares. That is what makes this distro so special, you get an outstanding and fully functioning foundation in which you can use out of the box or theme and build to your hearts content with the huge software availability that comes with Debian.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-27
Votes: 13
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I've always been struggled by Debian default installer. Furthermore I wanted a Debian with encrypted btrfs with snapper integrated to grub for easy recovering when needed.
Spiralinux is the only ditro that can make Debian easy to install and enables many useful functionalities that I love.
If you want to change debian into a rolling release distro Spiralinux gives you an easy way to make that.
I come from Fedora world and Spiralinux is the reason why I switched to Debian.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-26
Votes: 5
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If you are looking for an easy introduction to the Debian world, this is the right place for you. Printers and scanners can be installed quickly and easily. I use the Gnome version. The developer also provides a large number of extensions that allow you to customize and improve the use of Gnome in many ways. And thanks to Flathub, the software of the programs is always up to date. All things like Bluethoth and Wifi are starting without any problems. But there is no Wayland at this time. Thanks to the developer!
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-08
Votes: 8
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I have tried about 20 of the more popular distros and Spiral is the only one
that installed my Brother USB printer without me having to download and
install Brother Drivers.
This feature alone has endeared me to use it as my daily driver.
Been using it for a month; absolutely rock, rock solid.
I installed it using the ext4 file system which enables me to use
Timeshift to backup to external drives.
What can I say; it is an install it and forget it distro that needs
no maintenance.
It is basically Debian made simple.
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Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-11-29
Votes: 20
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I'm running SpiralLinux on all of my systems now.
Main System HP Laptop
I have been using Linux since 1996 (SuSE Linux 4.3)
And Debian off and on since 1998.
But over time the other distributions became more user-friendly and easier to use. And I became lazier. I had less interest in dealing with the core of the system. I just wanted to use the system.
That's why I moved away from Debian.
I've tried a lot of things. In the end it was Linux Mint LMDE and MX Linux. Everything is all right again. At least Debian again :)
Then I came across SpiralLinux. By random. Through a brief notice in a forum.
I then installed the system in a VM. Just to have a look. I decided on the Budgie Desktop.
And as it had to happen, it happened.
The test took less than an hour and SpiralLinux was my main system!
Just awesome. The approach taken by the developer.
Simply making a pure Debian more end-user friendly with a few tweaks. But not to interfere with the repos and let Debian be Debian as it is. Class. This is unique.
Plus the simplicity of being able to use flatpaks if the Debian packages are not up to date.
In short, I have found my system with which I will grow old. Big praise to the developer with the hope that he will continue to support us with his work for a long time.
Even if you don't know your identity. No matter in this case. He's doing a fantastic job.
Spiral Linux rocks!!!
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Version: 12.231001
Rating: 7
Date: 2023-10-05
Votes: 2
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Really wanted this to be a success when I did a quick sample comparison of running live on i5 / 8GB:
SpiralLinux_LXQt_12.231001_x86-64.iso
-vs-
debian-live-12.1.0-amd64-lxqt.iso
Pro:
With Firefox running but no tabs loaded, top shows about 1200MB used with Spiral; ditto with debian, about 1374MB used.
Con:
playing an mp3 - virtually inaudible volume level at maximum on Spiral and no fiddling with pulse audio fixed, but debian fine.
useful applications like Feathernotes present in debian, did not see them in Spiral.
Based on this it seems prudent once a preferred DE is known to compare the debian -vs- Spiral live versions because as a long ago stale newbie-to-intermediate I wouldn't know how to fix the audio now without researching.
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Version: 12.230926
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-09-29
Votes: 1
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I have used Spiral Linux on a recent Ryzen based micro computer which supplements my main rig and have used it for some months now, advancing to the new version from the 11.22095 prior and initial version. I had wanted to see how well the advance of the system worked before writing of the experience.
The system is really not so much a distribution as an unauthorized spin of Debian Linux and the most problematic finding that I had was that the specific version of Spiral Linux is nowhere to be easily understood from the easy documentation available off the GUI or from the Terminal. The system is really a true Debian system with only some framework of utilization that characterizes it as Spiral Linux and the software nowhere shows any clear element foreign to its legacy.
As to the packages installed, I have chosen the conservative Debian model which I have implemented, not needing the most new versions, but the adjustment of Spiral Linux really does not press for a conservative take if one goes to its Synaptic Package Manager and looks to the Settings tab and the Repositories whih are available. It is clearly possible to move to the SID repository of the Debian packages and one can clearly move to a more aggressively bleeding edge experience through the Spiral Linux framework with a simple click or two. I have taken the less aggressive option of using the proposed upgrades before they have become incorporated into the main repository load and have seen no problems with that much less aggressive approach.
Nothing in the Debian function is at all difficult. Perhaps in the Bookworm Debian now altered the need for Spiral Linux is less clear, but having a simpler interface which requires a bit less tinkering to get it workable to the end is still a plus.
Everything I have used in the system has worked and the access to both installation and update of both standard .deb and of Flatpak applications works about as well as one could imagine they might.
Debian Bookworm has done away with os-prober and that makes it likely to be a bit more difficult to use the vanilla Debian on a dual boot system without dpkg-reconfigure being run to account for the nature of a grub reversion adjustment. I have not seen this as a problem with Spiral Linux, although I could not guarantee that others would be so lucky. Debian has made itself more handy without the spin, but it is yet not always the most facile of Linux entry systems and does demand a bit of care and extra attention to details not to be seen in systems left easy for the novice.
I am not exactly a novice, but I am far from a true maven of the Linux distribution panoply that I desire to go through all of the work without some help from others who have paved the way for me.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-09-23
Votes: 9
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As others have said, Spiral Linux is an enhanced version of Debian. That's not a bad thing, though.
Before version 12, Debian had some issues playing nice with the installer. Spiral takes care of that for you. Also, it has flatpak included by default, which will be a delight for some users. It's usually the first thing I remove from my setup.
Generally speaking, Spiral is made with the beginner in mind, who wants something reliable, extremely stable that can be installed and simply just works. It's a great addition to the Debian family and if Ubuntu at some point bites the dust, a great alternative
Someone without any Linux experience will be happy with this, if they can live with packages being old after a few months post release.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-07-27
Votes: 21
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This "distro" is a preconfigured Debian. It does this excellently. Its true pitch is offering tweaks for what the average user would want in a way that survives a 'death of the author' situation. It is one of the friendliest distributions to install and use without terminal wizardry.
Debian has its way of doing things so you should first assess the big points of Debian, which I summarize as an old, crusty, yet rock solid underlay that's not going anywhere. You will not be using cutting edge software - but then, Spiral offers usable flatpaks by default, an adequate solution for most people to get current software. For typical uses this is just about perfect. I recommend this as a peaceful answer for people looking for a setup that just works and who aren't concerned with the latest and greatest.
Many desktops are offered, you'll want to look into their strengths and weaknesses if you aren't familiar. Be advised that the debian core makes these desktops a little obsolete compared to more 'hip' distros. However SL based on debian 12 offers a very solid version of KDE Plasma. Plasma and Cinnamon are my top picks for fully-featured desktops for windows migrants and general feature completeness. For weaker hardware: XFCE, Mate and LXQT can serve you better, the difference is largely taste. Look into the desktops before picking. But in rough order these are my choices if you are feeling option overload.
Be advised that you may need to play with the first start boot option on newer hardware in case the normal boot option for installing does not play nicely. I've had this experience installing SL specifically on a more recent laptop.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 8
Date: 2023-07-12
Votes: 8
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I guess that calling SpiralLinux a separate distro is a misconception. There is very little branding of SpiralLinux on its own, wherever you look - the Neofetch output, wallpapers, os-release, finally a GRUB entry - they indicate you are using Debian.
There is nothing wrong with this fact - Debian is a rock solid GNU/Linux distribution and no wonder there are so many projects based on it.
I'd prefer to call Spiral "a set of tools and customisations around pure Debian" or even "Debian ready to be used by a normie".
In fact, the customisations made by the project's author are awesome. The software is stable and reliable, the default application selection is the most fitting for me, the resource usage is not very high and it doesn't stray far away from vanilla Debian.
There's much to like, although - as I mentioned earlier - that's not enough to call it a separate distro, but rather a well-put and reliable Debian set.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-06-02
Votes: 3
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Works really well, i like it more than any other i have tried, like mint debian, regular debian, manjaro, and various archlinux systems, i'm done with arch, debian have everything i could ever need, i don't need 100s of updates every day, and the unstability that often comes there.
I like the fact that snapshot are set up from the beginning, and that it's easy to install.
Also that it's light and not filled with a bunch of unnecesary stuff, it's fairly clean and highly customizable.
I run cinnamon on it, slightly customized for my liking. Great stuff!
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-05-11
Votes: 4
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Love this distro! It's light, fast, stable and has so many desktop environment options! I have very few criticisms other than the inclusion of some software and settings that weren't my finicky personal preference, selection of themes and wallpapers are a little sparse out of the box, and I think the default wallpaper is kinda ugly, but that's all minor nonsense. This is a really nice distro for both of my Lenovo Thinkpads after moving on from Peppermint. It is one of the few distros I've tried where the bluetooth support actually works reliably for me.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-04-26
Votes: 6
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Had been using Debian stable for years, then moved to Linux Mint Debian Edition after its last major release, as it seemed to offer a much more useful set of defaults for me. The Timeshift running indicator is probably my single favourite feature. However, the Cinnamon desktop environment, while it had many great features, just was not as responsive as XFCE for me. This is what led me to trying Spiral Linux XFCE.
Cons:
— Screenshots on the site are not what I had once installed. That's purely an aesthetic issue, quickly tweaked.
— No obvious update notifier as standard (have installed Package Update Indicator).
— Spiral Linux definitely does not get enough love or attention, publicity wise.
Pros:
— Great selection of default apps.
— Moving to testing or Sid is very straightforward thanks to the wiki.
— Completely based on standard Debian repos, Spiral Linux can disappear tomorrow, and you have nothing to worry about.
— Synaptic, and Gnome Software (Flatpak ready to go) is all there from the start.
— AppImages work straight away, too.
Overall great to be back on XFCE, the responsiveness is by far the best for me. Spiral has to offer the easiest way to get onto Debian without having to worry about long term support. Really impressed with what Spiral Linux have achieved.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-18
Votes: 7
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Easiest Debian install I ever used. I'm not worried about super up-to-date software, which matters to many. I can't say much negative about it, since it correctly found both our network printers, and not a hiccup when connecting to ethernet or wifi.
i haven't used Debian specifically in years, mostly due to how finicky installation can get sometimes, due to non free requirements to make this laptop (and others) usable, a ten to fifteen minute install, followed by all kinds of tweaking, installing proprietary drivers, etc.
Spiral nailed it, and I'm giving it a solid 10.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-14
Votes: 6
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I have not much to say about Spiral Linux, but is surely was a great finding!
It is an installation for having Debian usable out-of-the box.
Btrfs support, like OpenSUSE Snapper? Wow
Good font rendering.
New kernel. 6.0 !?!?!? Wow
Overall, I'm considering switching my main desktop to Spiral Linux.
This is totally Debian-dependable, so even if Spiral goes unmaintained, you don't have to do anything!
I upgraded my Bullseye to Testing (Bookworm), and everything is working absolutely great.
Flatpak installed in the store out of the box.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-01
Votes: 6
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Very nice OS.
In the "Just works" category.
Perfect for anyone coming across from Windows.
Not overloaded with too much bloat.
Has a useful selection of programs installed for office and media use.
I would recommend this to anyone wishing to try Linux for the first time or just looking for a clean stable OS.
I think i have the Xfce version installed as i have the Whisker menu bottom left of my desktop.
Works the same way classic Windows does with a simple jump-list accessible with a mouse click.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-02-19
Votes: 4
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nearly perfect debian fork fast and easy to control congrats for that
i use it since 03/22 in the xface variant and i am happy with it, stable und much faster than ubuntu
nothing more to say useable on older machines with 4 g ram
Debian done easy! Also has a great bonus feature, will run as long as Debian exists because Spiral uses Debian repos. One of the best Debian based distros already, even though it is fairly new. This distro has actual user friendly features that make this distro intuitive and forward looking(such as the aforementioned Debian repo obsolescence guard). I love this distro along with MX and Mint, there are none better. This distro is easy to try out, so that people can decide for themselves if it suits them and their use case.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-02-02
Votes: 3
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Spiral Linux is great. It takes Debian and adds all the conveniences an everyday user would want. Need codecs for playing videos and other media? Spiral has it. Do you need the latest version of specific packages? Flatpak is enabled by default. Are you interested in running Debian, but your hardware is a little too new? A newer kernel is installed.
It comes with a ton of flavors. Out of curiosity, I tried running the KDE version on an old laptop of mine. This thing has 2 cores/threads and 4 gigs of RAM. To my surprise, the KDE version ran amazingly and didn't use too much RAM. There's no way I would get anywhere near that performance on Kubuntu or KDE Neon. Even Mint's XFCE edition was a little heavy for this machine.
In a way, Spiral is like a combination of what Endeavour Os and Mint do. Endeavour gives you an easy way to install Arch with a ton of stuff an everyday user would want. Mint improves on the base of Ubuntu. I can see this becoming a very popular distribution in the coming years if the developer keeps it up. Get a team to implement tiling window managers, and a version without systemd, and you'll get a ton of internet personalities to giving this distribution more attention.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-01-13
Votes: 3
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I have also installed this distro twice, the second time a very short time ago, one on external 32GB USB disk (Cinnamon) and the other on slow internal HDD (Plasma) of ageing laptop. I wonder why this OS doesn't get more attention -- oh yeah I forgot because Arch and Fedora could give someone bleeding edge. Actually I installed it three times, the Cinnamon one twice but had to delete because I needed the disk for something else.
One criticism about the Plasma edition is the developers should have saved the theme! It is lost permanently when one of the Breeze's is chosen. I only wanted to change the "task manager" color because I really dislike black which mismatches elsewhere in white background, and I resent the world increasingly being dominated by "dark mode" which isn't really better for middle-age sight. I hope soon the Spiral developers save the theme but with white bottom "task manager" panel, or somebody could re-create it. I liked that watermelon accent color, but better on Cinnamon. On both distros I installed Wine without any problems... although this is getting on a bit, would like at least v7.0.1 or something like that. I'm focused on music production, I don't play games and if I did, I'd like for those that could natively run on Linux. I was able also to use Ardour and Cardinal synth but don't plan to get carried away.
The user should check the system settings for the keyboard, for his/her preferred behavior of the [CAPS-LOCK] key. Another trap on Cinnamon is for an user like me who makes heavy use of the touchpad. Must select (in "Mouse" section not "Touchpad") "mouse emulation" for buttons or it will drive you crazy!
Almost forgot to say that on KDE version "baloo" could suddenly eat memory like crazy for some reason! Better to change KRunner settings to disable search categories that aren't needed. I also disabled the compositor. Yeah no shadow which sucks sometimes but it runs faster. The "baloo" thing never happened to me on Manjaro KDE and I also have NeptuneOS and Slackware 32-bit, also used Bluestar for a short time but didn't like its ugly olive green "exclusive" themes.
I didn't need the language packs so I wouldn't be able to tell you about that. Also I have no need for three package managers, especially one of the buggiest aspects of KDE Plasma which is Discover. I uninstalled it. I like using "apt" on the terminal but have to struggle sometimes with slow Internet connection. Thanks very much Spiral developers for giving us a Debian-based thing that puts the original thing to shame and also other wanna-bes, especially that one without "systemd" and buggy with any kernel later than v5.10 or whichever outdated one they insisted on. At least Spiral could give the v6.0.0 kernel, no problems out of it so far. I'm sorry but I need at least one "non-free" and/or "propietary" thing and that is Wifi. Once I tried to install Debian just before Spiral KDE and it didn't even recognize Ethernet... what a mess.
I advise a splash screen while it starts, it's unsettling seeing only the gear alone in a black background, also while it shuts down. With the theme the devs refused to save, after the username and password are given, it also goes into a totally black screen where eg. Ubuntu Studio shows off stupidly which turned me off straight away way back in late April.
Again, great job by the developers of this distro.
by mnrv-ovrf-year-c
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-12-25
Votes: 1
|
Debian done easy! Also has a great bonus feature, will run as long as Debian exists because Spiral uses Debian repos. One of the best Debian based distros already, even though it is fairly new. This distro has actual user friendly features that make this distro intuitive and forward looking(such as the aforementioned Debian repo obsolescence guard). I love this distro along with MX and Mint, there are none better. This distro is easy to try out, so that people can decide for themselves if it suits them and their use case.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-12-20
Votes: 2
|
Spiral makes Debian easy, as it simplifies and cleans up both the install(Calamares) and the overall user experience. Ive used both Q4OS and MX Linux and much prefer Spiral. Even though it uses KDE 5.20.5 it does use the 6.0 kernel and offers a nice variety of apps without overdoing it. Install was easy but given that it defaults to the BTRFS file system be sure thats what you want, otherwise change it to EXT4.
You get Firefox ESR, Thunderbird, VLC,Clementine and LibreOffice up front so that you are ready to go. Resource usage through Ksysguard was between 650-700mbs which is higher than Q4OS but lower than MX Linux. Codecs are installed by default, so theres no need to deal with it. My wifi and printers were auto detected without issue and I havent had any issues at all so far. Ethernet connection works fine as well and on one of my systems, Im running a Geforce GT 740 also with no issues. Discover software center has improved and I was able to find Kdiskmark, a great ssd bench test. I was also able to install Chrome by downloading it and using GDebi to install it. Ive done multimedia tests and no issues whatsoever.
My only complaint though a minor one is, I would prefer to see Thunar as the file manager, rather than Dolphin, as Dolphin still suffers from some problems. If you still use dvds youll need to install k3b as its not installed by default.
If you are looking for an easy way to install and run Debian this is the distro for you.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-12-19
Votes: 3
|
I have been superbly been enjoying this. For a long time I have been waiting for install & use version of Debian that is a bit more upstream from Linux Mint and SpiralLinux has delivered. Not only do I get a stable distro, but it discovered my printers out the box and no theme issue (as I do enjoy tinkering) in my XFCE install was not at the end of the day fixable with just a simple restart.
If you were previously cold on Debian for all the extra stuff you had to set up before getting it work properly, I would wholly recommend at least a virtual try at this. Even the software compatibility is no longer the same issue it was five years ago with technologies such as Flatpak that Spiral supports out-of-the-box much like any other distro.
I have a very special criteria, mainly a distro for pensioners with older laptops and this has really brought my nirvana of having to just install it, making sure that it looks the way that they feel comfortable and leave them just use the browser and the video player/image viewer. From that point of view I really only need to add the unattended updates script and unless they call me, I can just enjoy the fact that they have a hazzle free computer experience until we need to spend a few moments moving to Debian 12 or when they want to upgrade their hardware.
Anyway, so cool distro that fits my needs.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 3
Date: 2022-11-10
Votes: 3
|
I installed Spiral linux twice. There are many things i like about it, not the least of
which is that it recognized and installed both my usb printer and my network printer
immediately, without me having to install any drivers.
In fact, there is nothing I dislike about Spiral except for the one problem which is
the reason that I rated it a 3.
And that is, on both installs, after a few reboots (3 or 4, don't recall exactly), the
ethernet connection disappeares. When I click on the internet icon in the panel,
the message is 'no network devices found'.
I tried 'edit connections' and there is no wired ethernet connection.
I tried to create a ethernet connection, and I entered the exact same information
that I see in the ethernet connection on another computer and saved it.
But still, it says 'no network devices found.
When I logon to another distro on the same computer, the ethernet connection
works just fine, so I know it is not a hardward problem.
Finally, I did the third fresh install of Spiral, and after 2 reboots, the same thing
happens; no network connection, and the message upon clicking the icon says,
'no network devices found'.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-11-06
Votes: 12
|
Spiral linux is one of the best debian based distros I have ever used. Having used mostly all distros like Mint, MX, Linux Lite I can say the creator has done defaults for distro that work for most of users and soon this distro will one of most popular distros I think. I use the mate version but I also tried lxqt version. Both were great but mate suits my flow much better. It's much faster than ubuntu based distros and much faster than all of them as it's mostly vanilla debian which uses much less resources but with great app selection and deefaults for users. Thanks for this awesome distro.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-31
Votes: 9
|
I never give 10 out of 10 because no OS is perfect, but Spiral is close. Spiral is basically vanilla Debian made easy, so everyone can enjoy the amazing stability of Debian. One of the great features is that the creator of this distro built this distro to rely on Debian repositories, and that means as long as Debian lives this distro will be alive.Spiral is a distro that you can depend on, to run without worrying about breakage like arch distros do. Debian is also more dependable than ubuntu(snaps are just bad).
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-30
Votes: 15
|
The thing I like about this build is that it's a pure debian distro with an easy installer and everything just works out of the box.
Not to mention enabled zram, btrfs as default and with automatic snapshots. That's the way EVERY Linux distro should be at this time.
Kudos to geckolinux for his efforts on putting this together.
From his website:
SpiralLinux features:
Installable live DVD / USB images around 2GB in size and carefully configured for a wide array of popular desktop environments
Built from Debian Stable packages with newer hardware support preinstalled from Debian Backports
Easily upgradable to Debian's Testing or Unstable branches with just a few clicks (instructions)
Optimal Btrfs subvolume layout with Zstd transparent compression and automatic Snapper snapshots bootable via GRUB for easy rollbacks (instructions)
Graphical manager for Flatpak packages and preconfigured Flatpak theming
Font rendering and color theming preconfigured for optimal legibility
Preinstalled proprietary media codecs and non-free Debian package repositories ready to use
Broad hardware support with a wide array of proprietary firmware preinstalled
Extensive printer support with relaxed permissions for printer administration
Optimal power management with TLP preinstalled
VirtualBox support available out-of-the-box
Enables zRAM swap by default for better performance on low-end hardware
Normal users can operate and administer the system without recurring to the terminal
Depends entirely on the Debian infrastructure, thus avoiding the "developer-hit-by-a-bus" concern
Installed system can be smoothly upgraded to future Debian releases while retaining its unique SpiralLinux configuration
|
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 5
Date: 2022-10-20
Votes: 0
|
I just tried this Distro out by its Live-Cinnamon-Version. Its very similiar to Linux Mint-Cinnamon but not that clear.
Anyway, after i tried out LMDE4 moving to LMDE5 and usung beside Linux Mint Ubuntu, i would like to give it a try.
Man, you cant set a Admin-Passwort on Installing, but you need it if you use that System. You just cant fill in, there is no Option at the Installer.
How can that be?
I trie very many distros, as i start their Live-Version from Ventoy-USB-Stick. But sometimes i ask myself are they serious?
Well, i give it 5 Stars, and i tried to be very neutral. I would give Linux Mint Ubuntu 8 Stars and LMDE5 9,5 Stars.
Spiral-Linux uses Calamaris-Installer, which isnt the best, also it dont recognize my old WIN7 on my Laptop, which Linux Mint does, as Septor and some other Distros.
I installed it with internet-connection on after 3 installs, its a joke. To bring out a Linux-Distro with leaving the user without the option of admin-password...oh dear...
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-07
Votes: 4
|
At first I thought: "oh, another debian distro that only includes codecs and non-free software, there is already a debian non-free ISO". But I have to say that its installation and handling is extremely simple. It comes to choose from live usb with kernel 5.10 or with kernel 5.18: as I have a new PC, I have installed kernel 5.18 and everything is going great.
I really liked the work of Gecko LInux and now I like the work in Debian, although I don't see it as necessary: in opensuse there are no distros that add codecs and non-free, but in Debian there are many distributions of this style. Also, the aesthetic is a bit retro or ugly. But the installation is simple, fast, and everything is in order to start working. Well done.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-07
Votes: 5
|
This is the distro I've been looking for. I'm using it on my Dell Optiplex 9020 1993 MHz quad core with 16 GB RAM.
I use the Arc menu (found in the Gnome extensions with either the Raven (Alternative selection) menu or the Tognee
menu, from the "Modern" menu choices. Tognee is actually mt favorite of the two, with a Budgie-style look, two columns,
with the right-hand one featuring the categories. When a category is selected, its applications appear in a vertical list.
I plan to use this as my daily driver. What I especially liked about this distro is the option to choose from among the offered desktops by clicking the "Downloads" button on the Spiral home page. Optionally, it can be downloaded from the link on the Distrowatch announcement. This list of files will provide the size of the download and the link to the ISO file. My Gnome desktop download turned out to be 2.2 GB. I selected Gnome specifically for the many alternative menus available with the arc menu, which I have used in other distros. I would highly recommend Spiral for intermediate level users coming from Windows or just deciding to start with a fresh Linux distribution. I consider this a pretty big jump for recent Linux converts,
and more of a lateral move for someone who has used Debian or Ubuntu. I have been hopping among distros for about
11 years and Spiral easily slides into my favorite Linux OS spot. Many other distributions are acceptable for daily use
and this one is a particularly good fit for someone like me who prefers the Ubuntu/Debian family.
|
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 7
Date: 2022-10-05
Votes: 0
|
I really can not do anything with my lap top in regards to wifi, the kernal 5.10.0.18amd64 does not have the install wifi drivers for my lap top intel corei5-8250U CPU 1.6GHz *4, I'm running Deepin 20 on it with kernal 5.15.45-amd64 desktop. Realtek: RTL 8821CE 802.11ac . If there is a way to upgrade the kernal? Or perhaps stop using such an old kernal in your builds. Happy to see you building your base system on Debian. Perhaps step up to using the more modern versions of the desk top environments.
|
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-02
Votes: 2
|
I had the distro (Cinnamon) Live - not installed - in memory and found it to be very good. I was connected to the net, I had screen, mouse, keyboard and printer and everything worked. I had no trouble changing keyboard etc.
The only whinge I have : no "gnome-commander" in either the distro, nor in any repository - pity.
We wouldn't have made it into this millenium without programs like "XTREE", and various other "commanders".
How one can "hope" for a "light" distro at 2 gig download I cannot understand ......
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-02
Votes: 8
|
J'ai installé Spirallinux Mate sur 2 PC vieux de 12 ans : ACER Z5610 et DELL inspirion 5521
et tout fonctionne parfaitement (imprimante,WiFi' audio, vidéo, Bluetooth, ...)
-choix entre plusieurs bureaux (DE) Xfce, Cinnamon, Lxqt, Mate, Gnome, Budgie -
PROS
--- installation très facile en 12 minutes
--- consommation RAM au lancement : 600MB
--- Spirallinux est simple, conviviale et stable car basée sur Debian.
--- Synaptic est présent pour l'installation des applications Debian (apt)
j'ai installé VLC, GIMP, Audacity, VokoscreenNG .....
--- Gnome Software est là pour installer les app flatpak
CONS
--- dconf-editor ne fonctionne pas pour modifier la largeur du Menu.
--- Gnome-Software ne fonctionne pas pour mettre à jour le système.
--- Shotwell est superflu car Eye of Mate est installé par défaut.
--- Clementine est superflu car j'utilise VLC.
--- Gnome-Software (root) et Snapper-Gui (root) ne se lancent pas et pourquoi root ?
Notes:
Cette distribution s'améliore rapidement car le développeur est à l'écoute des utilisateurs
et répond rapidement sur le forum .
Spirallinux est à comparer avec DEBIAN FACILE (Xfce uniquement) ou SPARKYLINUX.
J'ai adopté Spirallinux et je le conseille vivement aux nouveaux venus.
Grand merci au développeur.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 1
Date: 2022-09-28
Votes: 0
|
LXQt Spin
Was hoping for a nice light distribution but that was not the case.
Installation was easy so no issues there.
Post installation was over 1.2 GB idle memory used... for LXQt?
Stock applications are a mishmash of GNOME and Qt software. Comes with GNOME Software center installed?
Additionally, there are other superfluous applications installed.
Guess I quite don't see the vision. Feels more like it was thrown together in a rush.
It's always exciting to see a new player but for me this one os a no go.
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Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-09-28
Votes: 3
|
Version XFCE et Fluxbox.
Exactement ce que je cherche : Debian en plus simple et plus convivial encore !
Spiral joue dans la même catégorie que MX (XFCE ou Fluxbox).
L'installation via Calamares a fonctionné de manière impeccable sur mon PC âgé de 9 ans. Merci aussi d'avoir installé zRAM par défaut !
Bien entendu, Spiral c'est d'abord Debian. Il ne faut donc pas s'attendre à quelque chose de totalement neuf et différent. Mais c'est quelque chose de solide et à la portée aussi bien du débutant que de l'utilisateur confirmé.
Bravo, 10/10.
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Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-26
Votes: 2
|
Now this is what I'm, talking about! Debian made simple and easy! Debian is the greatest, but using the pure version can be problematic. I've never been able to install pure Debian without many tweaks, add-on's, and adjustments. And it still often does not run the way I want. Spiral has no muss and fuss. Just install and go. It's light but powerful, and doesn't bog my computer down. I was skeptical when I first heard about Spiral and was reluctant to try it, because of a recent glut of disappointing distros. However, with Spiral I've been able to save two of my old laptops from the trash heap, reviving them to past glory. It's now the number one distro in my shop. My faith in Linux has now been restored. Thanks Spiral.
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Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-21
Votes: 3
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This distro is very nice, simple to use and quite polished. Spiral linux is a good as any distro out there right now. Being based on Debian and using exclusively Debian repo's is a great move. This distro is not burdened by too much software that will never be used and as a result is quite nimble much like bare debian. I have in the past used many different Distros, Debian based, ubuntu based and Arch based as well as Fedora so I am confident in my ability to judge quality. Debian based distros are what I run mostly(MX and Debian) and also Fedora(KDE). Stability is what I need and debian based has never disappointed me.
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Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-19
Votes: 5
|
Spiral is based on an interesting concept - take the base Debian (11.5) and only make additions to it from the standard repositories to plug the well-known, obvious holes, hence implying that Spiral will be updated indefinitely even if the author is indisposed. It turns out that the author has form, as he also maintains Gecko which is a similar concept based on OpenSUSE, and this shows.
I chose the Cinnamon spin, booted to it and then installed. The installation is straightforward using Calamares, and the major differences from vanilla Debian on restarting are:
- btrfs filesystem with snapshots enabled and a graphical package, Snapper GUI, to manage them
- wireless etc. drivers installed by default (from a vanilla Debian installation, I have no wireless)
- a reasonable selection of basic applications
- fonts and theming in place
- the complex Debian language support replaced with a single application
- flatpak already set up with a GNOME Software front end (which actually works, unlike too many GNOME Software incidences)
- software and repository management using Synaptic, with the testing and unstable Debian branches a few checkboxes away.
These seem modest but the first, in particular, is a huge improvement over almost any other Debian-based distribution - timeshift comes across as crude in comparison. And the second, or lack of a second, frequently confuses new users to the extent that Debian is considering dropping "non-free" installation media.
I switched to testing with the few checkboxes implied as above and, now, have the latest and greatest software all round, with the safety net of a btrfs snapshot if that failed (it didn't).
Overall, I give 9. The 1 is knocked off for the rather bland themes, wallpaper and icon set (faenza), although these can easily be replaced, and the use of Firefox ESR which is a bit artificial on Debian's part and, now, most simply superseded using the Mozilla flatpak.
Recommended. Very nicely done and fast. I actually prefer Spiral to LMDE 5 because of the superb snapshot implementation.
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Version: 11.220628
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-09-19
Votes: 4
|
At last! I'm an old hand at installing Linux distros and distro spins. I have been waiting a very long time to have a spin that actually requires hardly any fiddling and manuvering to be at home with. SpiralLinux is it! A most friendly Debian spin that should put a smile on many a face.
So far I've only installed the KDE version. What I'd like to see is a Pantheon desktop knockoff that would include a global menu.
By the way, everything did work right out of the box including the printer drivers, wifi, the better fonts and the multimedia codecs.
So far I've installed a copy on a 2012 Mac-mini, a (bios modified) Acer chromebox, two older laptops and a Terryza mini. All run without a hitch.
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Latest Reviews
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-07-24
Votes: 105
|
After a few days of distro-searching, hopping & an awful time trying to like MXLinux on my recently adopted 2012 ThinkPad L530, I came across SpiralLinux & haven't looked back. It truly lives up to the claims as an out of the box, ready to go Debian desktop. Coming from years of Xubuntu, I fell right into place with the XFCE spin. Instead of spending a few hours getting drivers, installing updates & all the tedium you might associate with a clean-slate Debian system, I spent a few hours PERSONALIZING my system with themes, cursors & all that visually fun stuff! Zero hardware issues, wifi just worked, both touchpad & trackpad worked without any setup, hibernate & standby both reliably work & waking up is a seamless experience. I'm sure I'll come across some hiccups eventually, but I'm truly impressed with SpiralLinux! Plus, it's a relief that "the 'developer-hit-by-a-bus' concern" of smaller distros isn't an issue here since, well, it's just a very polished Debian!
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-05-20
Votes: 106
|
This is the distro for those older PCs out there that nothing seems to work with very well. It is the closest I've ever seen to a version of Debian intended to compete in the desktop Linux market with its own descendants like Ubuntu and Mint. The software is all Debian rather than a true new distro requiring new repos with modified packages. However the Debian people don't maintain a version of their distro that takes full advantage of all of their own repos to produce a desktop Linux viable for new Linux users not wishing to get deep into system configuration. Sticking to all Debian repos means there's no risk of our needing to install something else if the person behind SpiralLinux decides to never update it, so long as Debian is still around. That is a major advantage over other distros in my view.
Distros often have few problems installing on Windows PCs from the last few years. The real test is the old devices and Macbooks. SpiralLinux XFCE is the only distro that could install smoothly on my 2015 Macbook Air and Thinkpad Education model with an ancient AMD E1-2500. None of the mainstream distros had the wifi drivers for either of these laptops. People often spend many hours, days or weeks trying to figure out how to get certain wifi chips working on laptops. Save yourself the time and use this instead.
XFCE is a little too much for the E1-2500 to handle, but installing and switching over to the LXDE desktop was extremely simple on SpiralLinux XFCE and now the ancient low-end Thinkpad runs just fine. The only caveat for those with Macbooks is that you still need to do a little customization to get the internal fan running, which is a common problem across all Linux distros.
I highly recommend this distro and am kind of surprised there is so little coverage of it among the Linux podcasters and other reviewers out there.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-05-20
Votes: 106
|
The Absolute Best Out of box Debian experience one can get!
The developer of Geckolinux have done it again and this time, the developer have done it to debian.
The dev have set sane defaults for the base Debian, amplifying the out of box experience and it works like a dream with the rock solid stability of Debian Bookworm paired with OpenSUSE like BTRFS layout and implementation. Plus Spiral Linux have enabled BTRFS compression and Snapper application OOTB and they rules out some major pain points of post-install configuration in Debian based distros.
SpiralLinux have also opted for the "grub-btrfs" fork instead of regular grub, so that we can easily list the available BTRFS snapshots right from boot menu for easier rollback plus SpiralLinux also have zRAM swap preconfigured.
More than everything, SpiralLinux never tries to "one-up" Debian and rather than being yet another Debian derivative, it becomes just an optimized version of core Debian and it's one of the major selling points of SpiralLinux. Following this ideodology, SpiralLinux doesn't host separate repositories for it- Instead, it re-uses Debian's core repos.
There's still other tons of optimizations and absolutely logical decisions made by the dev like TLP, Wide array of DE selections, Flatpak preconfigred etc and this is by far the absolutely underrated Linux distros I've ever encountered!
Kudos to the dev and if the person reading this review is a Debian fan or someone who's wanting to dip their toes into the Debian world, then this is the perfect distro for you to try and it's enjoyable for Beginners and veterans alike.
I honestly wish this distro gets more traction and other Distro maintainers and developers take inspiration from SpiralLinux Developer and their choices!
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-04-29
Votes: 74
|
I tried the KDE and the Gnome version. The Gnome version replaced the previous Fedora daily driver.
It's basically a Debian 12 set up to be usable from day 1. It has btrfs support with automatic snapshots on every install or update. For each snapshot there is an entry in the grub menu, so if something goes wrong you can boot to a previous saved system state.
The system is clean from the 180 languages that Debian normally install and it provides a graphical utility to install you language easilly.
From day 2 you forget the "spiral" and deal with a pure Debian distribution. You just save yourself days of hard optimization work.
I wish I had known about this distribution earlier.
Zero troubleshooting
Zero tweak
Zero problems
Zero cons
Everything works out of the box.
I recommend this distro to everybody.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-03-19
Votes: 48
|
Spiral is about as good as a distro can get. It's simple yet powerful. It's the easiest Debian based distro to install and use. This is great since Debian has developed into the most reliable and stable form of Linux and this makes it even more accessible to all. Finally, someone in the USA is showing Linux computing leadership, instead of leaving it to buggy Ubuntu and flailing Fedora. Spiral seems to run faster than even the most minimalist distros out there, and I'm using the KDE desktop on a 12 year old laptop! There's only one thing I am bothered by. I don't receive any notifications of software updates. I'm going to ignore that for now and just periodically check for updates manually with synaptic, which is my favorite software handler anyway. Guess you can't have everything. Aside from that, my big wish is that the mysterious developer of Spiral would create a version of Slackware. I'm afraid this legendary Linux flavor is about to vanish into oblivion and would love to see it revived the Spiral way.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-03-18
Votes: 47
|
This Distro is my perfect fit.
I've only started using Linux recently; I started with Ubuntu like a lot of others. But after unsuccessfully attempting to troubleshoot my Bluetooth headphones I started distro hopping; I was looking for an intuitive GUI installer and whatever arcane mix of audio drivers allows my headphones to work.
I've tried: Ubuntu, Manjaro, Endeavor, Fedora, openSUSE, Garuda, Norbara, MXLinux, Puppy (and several variants), NixOS, SparkyLinux, Bodhi, wattOS, Gecko, and FreeBSD. I started with GNOME as a DE, and I've largely switched to KDE.
With each of these I was looking for three things: 1) Is the Installer intuitive? 2) Can I easily connect to Wi-Fi? and 3) can I easily connect to my headphones?
The only ones that worked Out-Of-Box were Fedora, and SpiralLinux. I could not tell you why. When Fedora gave me a little trouble, I realized the system was a little more walled than I had hoped.
SpiralLinux fixed the Debian installer, comes with all the drivers I need, and is incredibly light and intuitive. Like others have explained better, with more technical reasons, I love that this is more of a Spin than a Distro and a very stable one at that. Resolving an issue is easy due to sheer amount of Debian troubleshooting available on the internet, I can mess around 'under the hood', and if I brick it, re-installation is very quick.
I'm very pleased. No notes.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-03-18
Votes: 49
|
I'm very impressed by this distro, tried so many and tested SpiralLinux more by curiosity than simply check/surch a good one
Finally SpiralLinux is just excellent!
All works directly out the box
All my hardware directly ok
All my prefered apps are here and install without any problem
All my indispensable apps are here and install without any problem
Even little unknown apps like "apwal" this kind of little app we love so much if not ok the distro has nothing to do more on my computer -> apwal just ok after two or three click :)
I'm running SpiralLinux on its KDE-Plasma version, and ô my God KDE-Plasma implantation is at his perfect point!
The more work to do after Spiral installation is to tweak to your own personal taste, just a question of few minutes when personal backups are to date, all the rest is already ok
No any bug nor any crash detected at this moment after four days of intensive daily utilisation, and the more i'm running Spiral the more this distro is sounding good to my ears and my soul, looks like it's very very very strong stable and confidence
SpiralLinux is for me an absolutely wonderful discovery, to be classified among the best ones in my own opinion next to Mageia Manjaro or MX, in short among the top of my personal podium
Excellent job is done here by the dev
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-02-04
Votes: 23
|
I give Spiral a high rating because it carries out the tasks I use a computer for,
like internet,file management, eBook reading, and keeping up to date on the news.
I selected the Mate desktop and really appreciate the multiple desktops
being provided as separate ISO files. That way I don't have to remove a desktop
and then add one I prefer. I use two externally connected Hard Drives for Linux
that I attached to my Dell Optiplex 9020, with four CPU cores running at
3.3 GHz, with 16 GB memory. The installation went smoothly the first time
through, so I didn't have to repeat the process and ended up with grub
installed on the system root ("/"), as I requested. I have run Distros
based on Debian for several years and Spiral shines as a Debian-based
Distribution. The obvious quality built in enhances comfortable use and
performance. I have also used the Cinnamon and XFCE desktops
released by Spiral and they likewise have performed fantastically. I have
used Linux at home about 3/4 of my time on the computer as a retired
person since 2011. The rest of my usage has been with Windows 7,
10, and 11. I find a lot of comfort in being able to easily replace a broken
Operating System with another that can handle the tasks I need it to.
My Linux usage has been dominated by Ubuntu and Debian-based
distributions over these last thirteen years. With an OS such as Spiral
available I expect to continue to primarily use Linux for my computing
needs. I would recommend that someone seeking a Linux
OS to use day-to-day try the Spiral flavor of choice and perhaps
significant distro hopping won't be necessary.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-31
Votes: 12
|
I have been doing a lot of distro hopping lately, trying to find the one distro that stands above the rest and so far Spiral Linux is the one. What's different? The lone developer utilizes the power of Debian without adding any packages or repos other than Debian's. If the developer decided to quit tomorrow, I am left with a pure Debian install that can continue indefinitely. Think of Spiral Linux as the bus that simply drops you off at Debian's doorstep and drives away. This bloat free, expertly configured distro makes Spiral boot faster and load applications faster than most any other distro out there. I originally installed the XFCE spin which is fast, but then I installed the Plasma spin & was shocked that it was just as fast! Spiral is also the only Debian distro that I know of that uses BTRFS with snapper for simple rollbacks if something were to go wrong, just like openSUSE (no surprise, same creator of Gecko Linux). Generally, rollbacks are not really needed when using Debian stable, but if you want to try testing or unstable, which is extremely easy btw, it greatly reduces the risk. The system also comes with flatpaks & backports preconfigured to easily install newer software if needed. Another perk is the iso has an option to use a newer backported kernel, to make installation a breeze on newer hardware.
The only negative is the pre-installed themes, icons & wallpapers are sparse, but who really cares. That is what makes this distro so special, you get an outstanding and fully functioning foundation in which you can use out of the box or theme and build to your hearts content with the huge software availability that comes with Debian.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-27
Votes: 13
|
I've always been struggled by Debian default installer. Furthermore I wanted a Debian with encrypted btrfs with snapper integrated to grub for easy recovering when needed.
Spiralinux is the only ditro that can make Debian easy to install and enables many useful functionalities that I love.
If you want to change debian into a rolling release distro Spiralinux gives you an easy way to make that.
I come from Fedora world and Spiralinux is the reason why I switched to Debian.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-26
Votes: 5
|
If you are looking for an easy introduction to the Debian world, this is the right place for you. Printers and scanners can be installed quickly and easily. I use the Gnome version. The developer also provides a large number of extensions that allow you to customize and improve the use of Gnome in many ways. And thanks to Flathub, the software of the programs is always up to date. All things like Bluethoth and Wifi are starting without any problems. But there is no Wayland at this time. Thanks to the developer!
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-08
Votes: 8
|
I have tried about 20 of the more popular distros and Spiral is the only one
that installed my Brother USB printer without me having to download and
install Brother Drivers.
This feature alone has endeared me to use it as my daily driver.
Been using it for a month; absolutely rock, rock solid.
I installed it using the ext4 file system which enables me to use
Timeshift to backup to external drives.
What can I say; it is an install it and forget it distro that needs
no maintenance.
It is basically Debian made simple.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-11-29
Votes: 20
|
I'm running SpiralLinux on all of my systems now.
Main System HP Laptop
I have been using Linux since 1996 (SuSE Linux 4.3)
And Debian off and on since 1998.
But over time the other distributions became more user-friendly and easier to use. And I became lazier. I had less interest in dealing with the core of the system. I just wanted to use the system.
That's why I moved away from Debian.
I've tried a lot of things. In the end it was Linux Mint LMDE and MX Linux. Everything is all right again. At least Debian again :)
Then I came across SpiralLinux. By random. Through a brief notice in a forum.
I then installed the system in a VM. Just to have a look. I decided on the Budgie Desktop.
And as it had to happen, it happened.
The test took less than an hour and SpiralLinux was my main system!
Just awesome. The approach taken by the developer.
Simply making a pure Debian more end-user friendly with a few tweaks. But not to interfere with the repos and let Debian be Debian as it is. Class. This is unique.
Plus the simplicity of being able to use flatpaks if the Debian packages are not up to date.
In short, I have found my system with which I will grow old. Big praise to the developer with the hope that he will continue to support us with his work for a long time.
Even if you don't know your identity. No matter in this case. He's doing a fantastic job.
Spiral Linux rocks!!!
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.231001
Rating: 7
Date: 2023-10-05
Votes: 2
|
Really wanted this to be a success when I did a quick sample comparison of running live on i5 / 8GB:
SpiralLinux_LXQt_12.231001_x86-64.iso
-vs-
debian-live-12.1.0-amd64-lxqt.iso
Pro:
With Firefox running but no tabs loaded, top shows about 1200MB used with Spiral; ditto with debian, about 1374MB used.
Con:
playing an mp3 - virtually inaudible volume level at maximum on Spiral and no fiddling with pulse audio fixed, but debian fine.
useful applications like Feathernotes present in debian, did not see them in Spiral.
Based on this it seems prudent once a preferred DE is known to compare the debian -vs- Spiral live versions because as a long ago stale newbie-to-intermediate I wouldn't know how to fix the audio now without researching.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 12.230926
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-09-29
Votes: 1
|
I have used Spiral Linux on a recent Ryzen based micro computer which supplements my main rig and have used it for some months now, advancing to the new version from the 11.22095 prior and initial version. I had wanted to see how well the advance of the system worked before writing of the experience.
The system is really not so much a distribution as an unauthorized spin of Debian Linux and the most problematic finding that I had was that the specific version of Spiral Linux is nowhere to be easily understood from the easy documentation available off the GUI or from the Terminal. The system is really a true Debian system with only some framework of utilization that characterizes it as Spiral Linux and the software nowhere shows any clear element foreign to its legacy.
As to the packages installed, I have chosen the conservative Debian model which I have implemented, not needing the most new versions, but the adjustment of Spiral Linux really does not press for a conservative take if one goes to its Synaptic Package Manager and looks to the Settings tab and the Repositories whih are available. It is clearly possible to move to the SID repository of the Debian packages and one can clearly move to a more aggressively bleeding edge experience through the Spiral Linux framework with a simple click or two. I have taken the less aggressive option of using the proposed upgrades before they have become incorporated into the main repository load and have seen no problems with that much less aggressive approach.
Nothing in the Debian function is at all difficult. Perhaps in the Bookworm Debian now altered the need for Spiral Linux is less clear, but having a simpler interface which requires a bit less tinkering to get it workable to the end is still a plus.
Everything I have used in the system has worked and the access to both installation and update of both standard .deb and of Flatpak applications works about as well as one could imagine they might.
Debian Bookworm has done away with os-prober and that makes it likely to be a bit more difficult to use the vanilla Debian on a dual boot system without dpkg-reconfigure being run to account for the nature of a grub reversion adjustment. I have not seen this as a problem with Spiral Linux, although I could not guarantee that others would be so lucky. Debian has made itself more handy without the spin, but it is yet not always the most facile of Linux entry systems and does demand a bit of care and extra attention to details not to be seen in systems left easy for the novice.
I am not exactly a novice, but I am far from a true maven of the Linux distribution panoply that I desire to go through all of the work without some help from others who have paved the way for me.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-09-23
Votes: 9
|
As others have said, Spiral Linux is an enhanced version of Debian. That's not a bad thing, though.
Before version 12, Debian had some issues playing nice with the installer. Spiral takes care of that for you. Also, it has flatpak included by default, which will be a delight for some users. It's usually the first thing I remove from my setup.
Generally speaking, Spiral is made with the beginner in mind, who wants something reliable, extremely stable that can be installed and simply just works. It's a great addition to the Debian family and if Ubuntu at some point bites the dust, a great alternative
Someone without any Linux experience will be happy with this, if they can live with packages being old after a few months post release.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-07-27
Votes: 21
|
This "distro" is a preconfigured Debian. It does this excellently. Its true pitch is offering tweaks for what the average user would want in a way that survives a 'death of the author' situation. It is one of the friendliest distributions to install and use without terminal wizardry.
Debian has its way of doing things so you should first assess the big points of Debian, which I summarize as an old, crusty, yet rock solid underlay that's not going anywhere. You will not be using cutting edge software - but then, Spiral offers usable flatpaks by default, an adequate solution for most people to get current software. For typical uses this is just about perfect. I recommend this as a peaceful answer for people looking for a setup that just works and who aren't concerned with the latest and greatest.
Many desktops are offered, you'll want to look into their strengths and weaknesses if you aren't familiar. Be advised that the debian core makes these desktops a little obsolete compared to more 'hip' distros. However SL based on debian 12 offers a very solid version of KDE Plasma. Plasma and Cinnamon are my top picks for fully-featured desktops for windows migrants and general feature completeness. For weaker hardware: XFCE, Mate and LXQT can serve you better, the difference is largely taste. Look into the desktops before picking. But in rough order these are my choices if you are feeling option overload.
Be advised that you may need to play with the first start boot option on newer hardware in case the normal boot option for installing does not play nicely. I've had this experience installing SL specifically on a more recent laptop.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 8
Date: 2023-07-12
Votes: 8
|
I guess that calling SpiralLinux a separate distro is a misconception. There is very little branding of SpiralLinux on its own, wherever you look - the Neofetch output, wallpapers, os-release, finally a GRUB entry - they indicate you are using Debian.
There is nothing wrong with this fact - Debian is a rock solid GNU/Linux distribution and no wonder there are so many projects based on it.
I'd prefer to call Spiral "a set of tools and customisations around pure Debian" or even "Debian ready to be used by a normie".
In fact, the customisations made by the project's author are awesome. The software is stable and reliable, the default application selection is the most fitting for me, the resource usage is not very high and it doesn't stray far away from vanilla Debian.
There's much to like, although - as I mentioned earlier - that's not enough to call it a separate distro, but rather a well-put and reliable Debian set.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-06-02
Votes: 3
|
Works really well, i like it more than any other i have tried, like mint debian, regular debian, manjaro, and various archlinux systems, i'm done with arch, debian have everything i could ever need, i don't need 100s of updates every day, and the unstability that often comes there.
I like the fact that snapshot are set up from the beginning, and that it's easy to install.
Also that it's light and not filled with a bunch of unnecesary stuff, it's fairly clean and highly customizable.
I run cinnamon on it, slightly customized for my liking. Great stuff!
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-05-11
Votes: 4
|
Love this distro! It's light, fast, stable and has so many desktop environment options! I have very few criticisms other than the inclusion of some software and settings that weren't my finicky personal preference, selection of themes and wallpapers are a little sparse out of the box, and I think the default wallpaper is kinda ugly, but that's all minor nonsense. This is a really nice distro for both of my Lenovo Thinkpads after moving on from Peppermint. It is one of the few distros I've tried where the bluetooth support actually works reliably for me.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-04-26
Votes: 6
|
Had been using Debian stable for years, then moved to Linux Mint Debian Edition after its last major release, as it seemed to offer a much more useful set of defaults for me. The Timeshift running indicator is probably my single favourite feature. However, the Cinnamon desktop environment, while it had many great features, just was not as responsive as XFCE for me. This is what led me to trying Spiral Linux XFCE.
Cons:
— Screenshots on the site are not what I had once installed. That's purely an aesthetic issue, quickly tweaked.
— No obvious update notifier as standard (have installed Package Update Indicator).
— Spiral Linux definitely does not get enough love or attention, publicity wise.
Pros:
— Great selection of default apps.
— Moving to testing or Sid is very straightforward thanks to the wiki.
— Completely based on standard Debian repos, Spiral Linux can disappear tomorrow, and you have nothing to worry about.
— Synaptic, and Gnome Software (Flatpak ready to go) is all there from the start.
— AppImages work straight away, too.
Overall great to be back on XFCE, the responsiveness is by far the best for me. Spiral has to offer the easiest way to get onto Debian without having to worry about long term support. Really impressed with what Spiral Linux have achieved.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-18
Votes: 7
|
Easiest Debian install I ever used. I'm not worried about super up-to-date software, which matters to many. I can't say much negative about it, since it correctly found both our network printers, and not a hiccup when connecting to ethernet or wifi.
i haven't used Debian specifically in years, mostly due to how finicky installation can get sometimes, due to non free requirements to make this laptop (and others) usable, a ten to fifteen minute install, followed by all kinds of tweaking, installing proprietary drivers, etc.
Spiral nailed it, and I'm giving it a solid 10.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-14
Votes: 6
|
I have not much to say about Spiral Linux, but is surely was a great finding!
It is an installation for having Debian usable out-of-the box.
Btrfs support, like OpenSUSE Snapper? Wow
Good font rendering.
New kernel. 6.0 !?!?!? Wow
Overall, I'm considering switching my main desktop to Spiral Linux.
This is totally Debian-dependable, so even if Spiral goes unmaintained, you don't have to do anything!
I upgraded my Bullseye to Testing (Bookworm), and everything is working absolutely great.
Flatpak installed in the store out of the box.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-01
Votes: 6
|
Very nice OS.
In the "Just works" category.
Perfect for anyone coming across from Windows.
Not overloaded with too much bloat.
Has a useful selection of programs installed for office and media use.
I would recommend this to anyone wishing to try Linux for the first time or just looking for a clean stable OS.
I think i have the Xfce version installed as i have the Whisker menu bottom left of my desktop.
Works the same way classic Windows does with a simple jump-list accessible with a mouse click.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-02-19
Votes: 4
|
nearly perfect debian fork fast and easy to control congrats for that
i use it since 03/22 in the xface variant and i am happy with it, stable und much faster than ubuntu
nothing more to say useable on older machines with 4 g ram
Debian done easy! Also has a great bonus feature, will run as long as Debian exists because Spiral uses Debian repos. One of the best Debian based distros already, even though it is fairly new. This distro has actual user friendly features that make this distro intuitive and forward looking(such as the aforementioned Debian repo obsolescence guard). I love this distro along with MX and Mint, there are none better. This distro is easy to try out, so that people can decide for themselves if it suits them and their use case.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-02-02
Votes: 3
|
Spiral Linux is great. It takes Debian and adds all the conveniences an everyday user would want. Need codecs for playing videos and other media? Spiral has it. Do you need the latest version of specific packages? Flatpak is enabled by default. Are you interested in running Debian, but your hardware is a little too new? A newer kernel is installed.
It comes with a ton of flavors. Out of curiosity, I tried running the KDE version on an old laptop of mine. This thing has 2 cores/threads and 4 gigs of RAM. To my surprise, the KDE version ran amazingly and didn't use too much RAM. There's no way I would get anywhere near that performance on Kubuntu or KDE Neon. Even Mint's XFCE edition was a little heavy for this machine.
In a way, Spiral is like a combination of what Endeavour Os and Mint do. Endeavour gives you an easy way to install Arch with a ton of stuff an everyday user would want. Mint improves on the base of Ubuntu. I can see this becoming a very popular distribution in the coming years if the developer keeps it up. Get a team to implement tiling window managers, and a version without systemd, and you'll get a ton of internet personalities to giving this distribution more attention.
|
Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-01-13
Votes: 3
|
I have also installed this distro twice, the second time a very short time ago, one on external 32GB USB disk (Cinnamon) and the other on slow internal HDD (Plasma) of ageing laptop. I wonder why this OS doesn't get more attention -- oh yeah I forgot because Arch and Fedora could give someone bleeding edge. Actually I installed it three times, the Cinnamon one twice but had to delete because I needed the disk for something else.
One criticism about the Plasma edition is the developers should have saved the theme! It is lost permanently when one of the Breeze's is chosen. I only wanted to change the "task manager" color because I really dislike black which mismatches elsewhere in white background, and I resent the world increasingly being dominated by "dark mode" which isn't really better for middle-age sight. I hope soon the Spiral developers save the theme but with white bottom "task manager" panel, or somebody could re-create it. I liked that watermelon accent color, but better on Cinnamon. On both distros I installed Wine without any problems... although this is getting on a bit, would like at least v7.0.1 or something like that. I'm focused on music production, I don't play games and if I did, I'd like for those that could natively run on Linux. I was able also to use Ardour and Cardinal synth but don't plan to get carried away.
The user should check the system settings for the keyboard, for his/her preferred behavior of the [CAPS-LOCK] key. Another trap on Cinnamon is for an user like me who makes heavy use of the touchpad. Must select (in "Mouse" section not "Touchpad") "mouse emulation" for buttons or it will drive you crazy!
Almost forgot to say that on KDE version "baloo" could suddenly eat memory like crazy for some reason! Better to change KRunner settings to disable search categories that aren't needed. I also disabled the compositor. Yeah no shadow which sucks sometimes but it runs faster. The "baloo" thing never happened to me on Manjaro KDE and I also have NeptuneOS and Slackware 32-bit, also used Bluestar for a short time but didn't like its ugly olive green "exclusive" themes.
I didn't need the language packs so I wouldn't be able to tell you about that. Also I have no need for three package managers, especially one of the buggiest aspects of KDE Plasma which is Discover. I uninstalled it. I like using "apt" on the terminal but have to struggle sometimes with slow Internet connection. Thanks very much Spiral developers for giving us a Debian-based thing that puts the original thing to shame and also other wanna-bes, especially that one without "systemd" and buggy with any kernel later than v5.10 or whichever outdated one they insisted on. At least Spiral could give the v6.0.0 kernel, no problems out of it so far. I'm sorry but I need at least one "non-free" and/or "propietary" thing and that is Wifi. Once I tried to install Debian just before Spiral KDE and it didn't even recognize Ethernet... what a mess.
I advise a splash screen while it starts, it's unsettling seeing only the gear alone in a black background, also while it shuts down. With the theme the devs refused to save, after the username and password are given, it also goes into a totally black screen where eg. Ubuntu Studio shows off stupidly which turned me off straight away way back in late April.
Again, great job by the developers of this distro.
by mnrv-ovrf-year-c
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-12-25
Votes: 1
|
Debian done easy! Also has a great bonus feature, will run as long as Debian exists because Spiral uses Debian repos. One of the best Debian based distros already, even though it is fairly new. This distro has actual user friendly features that make this distro intuitive and forward looking(such as the aforementioned Debian repo obsolescence guard). I love this distro along with MX and Mint, there are none better. This distro is easy to try out, so that people can decide for themselves if it suits them and their use case.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-12-20
Votes: 2
|
Spiral makes Debian easy, as it simplifies and cleans up both the install(Calamares) and the overall user experience. Ive used both Q4OS and MX Linux and much prefer Spiral. Even though it uses KDE 5.20.5 it does use the 6.0 kernel and offers a nice variety of apps without overdoing it. Install was easy but given that it defaults to the BTRFS file system be sure thats what you want, otherwise change it to EXT4.
You get Firefox ESR, Thunderbird, VLC,Clementine and LibreOffice up front so that you are ready to go. Resource usage through Ksysguard was between 650-700mbs which is higher than Q4OS but lower than MX Linux. Codecs are installed by default, so theres no need to deal with it. My wifi and printers were auto detected without issue and I havent had any issues at all so far. Ethernet connection works fine as well and on one of my systems, Im running a Geforce GT 740 also with no issues. Discover software center has improved and I was able to find Kdiskmark, a great ssd bench test. I was also able to install Chrome by downloading it and using GDebi to install it. Ive done multimedia tests and no issues whatsoever.
My only complaint though a minor one is, I would prefer to see Thunar as the file manager, rather than Dolphin, as Dolphin still suffers from some problems. If you still use dvds youll need to install k3b as its not installed by default.
If you are looking for an easy way to install and run Debian this is the distro for you.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-12-19
Votes: 3
|
I have been superbly been enjoying this. For a long time I have been waiting for install & use version of Debian that is a bit more upstream from Linux Mint and SpiralLinux has delivered. Not only do I get a stable distro, but it discovered my printers out the box and no theme issue (as I do enjoy tinkering) in my XFCE install was not at the end of the day fixable with just a simple restart.
If you were previously cold on Debian for all the extra stuff you had to set up before getting it work properly, I would wholly recommend at least a virtual try at this. Even the software compatibility is no longer the same issue it was five years ago with technologies such as Flatpak that Spiral supports out-of-the-box much like any other distro.
I have a very special criteria, mainly a distro for pensioners with older laptops and this has really brought my nirvana of having to just install it, making sure that it looks the way that they feel comfortable and leave them just use the browser and the video player/image viewer. From that point of view I really only need to add the unattended updates script and unless they call me, I can just enjoy the fact that they have a hazzle free computer experience until we need to spend a few moments moving to Debian 12 or when they want to upgrade their hardware.
Anyway, so cool distro that fits my needs.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 3
Date: 2022-11-10
Votes: 3
|
I installed Spiral linux twice. There are many things i like about it, not the least of
which is that it recognized and installed both my usb printer and my network printer
immediately, without me having to install any drivers.
In fact, there is nothing I dislike about Spiral except for the one problem which is
the reason that I rated it a 3.
And that is, on both installs, after a few reboots (3 or 4, don't recall exactly), the
ethernet connection disappeares. When I click on the internet icon in the panel,
the message is 'no network devices found'.
I tried 'edit connections' and there is no wired ethernet connection.
I tried to create a ethernet connection, and I entered the exact same information
that I see in the ethernet connection on another computer and saved it.
But still, it says 'no network devices found.
When I logon to another distro on the same computer, the ethernet connection
works just fine, so I know it is not a hardward problem.
Finally, I did the third fresh install of Spiral, and after 2 reboots, the same thing
happens; no network connection, and the message upon clicking the icon says,
'no network devices found'.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-11-06
Votes: 12
|
Spiral linux is one of the best debian based distros I have ever used. Having used mostly all distros like Mint, MX, Linux Lite I can say the creator has done defaults for distro that work for most of users and soon this distro will one of most popular distros I think. I use the mate version but I also tried lxqt version. Both were great but mate suits my flow much better. It's much faster than ubuntu based distros and much faster than all of them as it's mostly vanilla debian which uses much less resources but with great app selection and deefaults for users. Thanks for this awesome distro.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-31
Votes: 9
|
I never give 10 out of 10 because no OS is perfect, but Spiral is close. Spiral is basically vanilla Debian made easy, so everyone can enjoy the amazing stability of Debian. One of the great features is that the creator of this distro built this distro to rely on Debian repositories, and that means as long as Debian lives this distro will be alive.Spiral is a distro that you can depend on, to run without worrying about breakage like arch distros do. Debian is also more dependable than ubuntu(snaps are just bad).
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-30
Votes: 15
|
The thing I like about this build is that it's a pure debian distro with an easy installer and everything just works out of the box.
Not to mention enabled zram, btrfs as default and with automatic snapshots. That's the way EVERY Linux distro should be at this time.
Kudos to geckolinux for his efforts on putting this together.
From his website:
SpiralLinux features:
Installable live DVD / USB images around 2GB in size and carefully configured for a wide array of popular desktop environments
Built from Debian Stable packages with newer hardware support preinstalled from Debian Backports
Easily upgradable to Debian's Testing or Unstable branches with just a few clicks (instructions)
Optimal Btrfs subvolume layout with Zstd transparent compression and automatic Snapper snapshots bootable via GRUB for easy rollbacks (instructions)
Graphical manager for Flatpak packages and preconfigured Flatpak theming
Font rendering and color theming preconfigured for optimal legibility
Preinstalled proprietary media codecs and non-free Debian package repositories ready to use
Broad hardware support with a wide array of proprietary firmware preinstalled
Extensive printer support with relaxed permissions for printer administration
Optimal power management with TLP preinstalled
VirtualBox support available out-of-the-box
Enables zRAM swap by default for better performance on low-end hardware
Normal users can operate and administer the system without recurring to the terminal
Depends entirely on the Debian infrastructure, thus avoiding the "developer-hit-by-a-bus" concern
Installed system can be smoothly upgraded to future Debian releases while retaining its unique SpiralLinux configuration
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 5
Date: 2022-10-20
Votes: 0
|
I just tried this Distro out by its Live-Cinnamon-Version. Its very similiar to Linux Mint-Cinnamon but not that clear.
Anyway, after i tried out LMDE4 moving to LMDE5 and usung beside Linux Mint Ubuntu, i would like to give it a try.
Man, you cant set a Admin-Passwort on Installing, but you need it if you use that System. You just cant fill in, there is no Option at the Installer.
How can that be?
I trie very many distros, as i start their Live-Version from Ventoy-USB-Stick. But sometimes i ask myself are they serious?
Well, i give it 5 Stars, and i tried to be very neutral. I would give Linux Mint Ubuntu 8 Stars and LMDE5 9,5 Stars.
Spiral-Linux uses Calamaris-Installer, which isnt the best, also it dont recognize my old WIN7 on my Laptop, which Linux Mint does, as Septor and some other Distros.
I installed it with internet-connection on after 3 installs, its a joke. To bring out a Linux-Distro with leaving the user without the option of admin-password...oh dear...
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-07
Votes: 5
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This is the distro I've been looking for. I'm using it on my Dell Optiplex 9020 1993 MHz quad core with 16 GB RAM.
I use the Arc menu (found in the Gnome extensions with either the Raven (Alternative selection) menu or the Tognee
menu, from the "Modern" menu choices. Tognee is actually mt favorite of the two, with a Budgie-style look, two columns,
with the right-hand one featuring the categories. When a category is selected, its applications appear in a vertical list.
I plan to use this as my daily driver. What I especially liked about this distro is the option to choose from among the offered desktops by clicking the "Downloads" button on the Spiral home page. Optionally, it can be downloaded from the link on the Distrowatch announcement. This list of files will provide the size of the download and the link to the ISO file. My Gnome desktop download turned out to be 2.2 GB. I selected Gnome specifically for the many alternative menus available with the arc menu, which I have used in other distros. I would highly recommend Spiral for intermediate level users coming from Windows or just deciding to start with a fresh Linux distribution. I consider this a pretty big jump for recent Linux converts,
and more of a lateral move for someone who has used Debian or Ubuntu. I have been hopping among distros for about
11 years and Spiral easily slides into my favorite Linux OS spot. Many other distributions are acceptable for daily use
and this one is a particularly good fit for someone like me who prefers the Ubuntu/Debian family.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-07
Votes: 4
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At first I thought: "oh, another debian distro that only includes codecs and non-free software, there is already a debian non-free ISO". But I have to say that its installation and handling is extremely simple. It comes to choose from live usb with kernel 5.10 or with kernel 5.18: as I have a new PC, I have installed kernel 5.18 and everything is going great.
I really liked the work of Gecko LInux and now I like the work in Debian, although I don't see it as necessary: in opensuse there are no distros that add codecs and non-free, but in Debian there are many distributions of this style. Also, the aesthetic is a bit retro or ugly. But the installation is simple, fast, and everything is in order to start working. Well done.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 7
Date: 2022-10-05
Votes: 0
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I really can not do anything with my lap top in regards to wifi, the kernal 5.10.0.18amd64 does not have the install wifi drivers for my lap top intel corei5-8250U CPU 1.6GHz *4, I'm running Deepin 20 on it with kernal 5.15.45-amd64 desktop. Realtek: RTL 8821CE 802.11ac . If there is a way to upgrade the kernal? Or perhaps stop using such an old kernal in your builds. Happy to see you building your base system on Debian. Perhaps step up to using the more modern versions of the desk top environments.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-10-02
Votes: 8
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J'ai installé Spirallinux Mate sur 2 PC vieux de 12 ans : ACER Z5610 et DELL inspirion 5521
et tout fonctionne parfaitement (imprimante,WiFi' audio, vidéo, Bluetooth, ...)
-choix entre plusieurs bureaux (DE) Xfce, Cinnamon, Lxqt, Mate, Gnome, Budgie -
PROS
--- installation très facile en 12 minutes
--- consommation RAM au lancement : 600MB
--- Spirallinux est simple, conviviale et stable car basée sur Debian.
--- Synaptic est présent pour l'installation des applications Debian (apt)
j'ai installé VLC, GIMP, Audacity, VokoscreenNG .....
--- Gnome Software est là pour installer les app flatpak
CONS
--- dconf-editor ne fonctionne pas pour modifier la largeur du Menu.
--- Gnome-Software ne fonctionne pas pour mettre à jour le système.
--- Shotwell est superflu car Eye of Mate est installé par défaut.
--- Clementine est superflu car j'utilise VLC.
--- Gnome-Software (root) et Snapper-Gui (root) ne se lancent pas et pourquoi root ?
Notes:
Cette distribution s'améliore rapidement car le développeur est à l'écoute des utilisateurs
et répond rapidement sur le forum .
Spirallinux est à comparer avec DEBIAN FACILE (Xfce uniquement) ou SPARKYLINUX.
J'ai adopté Spirallinux et je le conseille vivement aux nouveaux venus.
Grand merci au développeur.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-10-02
Votes: 2
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I had the distro (Cinnamon) Live - not installed - in memory and found it to be very good. I was connected to the net, I had screen, mouse, keyboard and printer and everything worked. I had no trouble changing keyboard etc.
The only whinge I have : no "gnome-commander" in either the distro, nor in any repository - pity.
We wouldn't have made it into this millenium without programs like "XTREE", and various other "commanders".
How one can "hope" for a "light" distro at 2 gig download I cannot understand ......
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-09-28
Votes: 3
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Version XFCE et Fluxbox.
Exactement ce que je cherche : Debian en plus simple et plus convivial encore !
Spiral joue dans la même catégorie que MX (XFCE ou Fluxbox).
L'installation via Calamares a fonctionné de manière impeccable sur mon PC âgé de 9 ans. Merci aussi d'avoir installé zRAM par défaut !
Bien entendu, Spiral c'est d'abord Debian. Il ne faut donc pas s'attendre à quelque chose de totalement neuf et différent. Mais c'est quelque chose de solide et à la portée aussi bien du débutant que de l'utilisateur confirmé.
Bravo, 10/10.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 1
Date: 2022-09-28
Votes: 0
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LXQt Spin
Was hoping for a nice light distribution but that was not the case.
Installation was easy so no issues there.
Post installation was over 1.2 GB idle memory used... for LXQt?
Stock applications are a mishmash of GNOME and Qt software. Comes with GNOME Software center installed?
Additionally, there are other superfluous applications installed.
Guess I quite don't see the vision. Feels more like it was thrown together in a rush.
It's always exciting to see a new player but for me this one os a no go.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-26
Votes: 2
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Now this is what I'm, talking about! Debian made simple and easy! Debian is the greatest, but using the pure version can be problematic. I've never been able to install pure Debian without many tweaks, add-on's, and adjustments. And it still often does not run the way I want. Spiral has no muss and fuss. Just install and go. It's light but powerful, and doesn't bog my computer down. I was skeptical when I first heard about Spiral and was reluctant to try it, because of a recent glut of disappointing distros. However, with Spiral I've been able to save two of my old laptops from the trash heap, reviving them to past glory. It's now the number one distro in my shop. My faith in Linux has now been restored. Thanks Spiral.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-21
Votes: 3
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This distro is very nice, simple to use and quite polished. Spiral linux is a good as any distro out there right now. Being based on Debian and using exclusively Debian repo's is a great move. This distro is not burdened by too much software that will never be used and as a result is quite nimble much like bare debian. I have in the past used many different Distros, Debian based, ubuntu based and Arch based as well as Fedora so I am confident in my ability to judge quality. Debian based distros are what I run mostly(MX and Debian) and also Fedora(KDE). Stability is what I need and debian based has never disappointed me.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220628
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-09-19
Votes: 4
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At last! I'm an old hand at installing Linux distros and distro spins. I have been waiting a very long time to have a spin that actually requires hardly any fiddling and manuvering to be at home with. SpiralLinux is it! A most friendly Debian spin that should put a smile on many a face.
So far I've only installed the KDE version. What I'd like to see is a Pantheon desktop knockoff that would include a global menu.
By the way, everything did work right out of the box including the printer drivers, wifi, the better fonts and the multimedia codecs.
So far I've installed a copy on a 2012 Mac-mini, a (bios modified) Acer chromebox, two older laptops and a Terryza mini. All run without a hitch.
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Project: SpiralLinux
Version: 11.220628
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-09-19
Votes: 5
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Spiral is based on an interesting concept - take the base Debian (11.5) and only make additions to it from the standard repositories to plug the well-known, obvious holes, hence implying that Spiral will be updated indefinitely even if the author is indisposed. It turns out that the author has form, as he also maintains Gecko which is a similar concept based on OpenSUSE, and this shows.
I chose the Cinnamon spin, booted to it and then installed. The installation is straightforward using Calamares, and the major differences from vanilla Debian on restarting are:
- btrfs filesystem with snapshots enabled and a graphical package, Snapper GUI, to manage them
- wireless etc. drivers installed by default (from a vanilla Debian installation, I have no wireless)
- a reasonable selection of basic applications
- fonts and theming in place
- the complex Debian language support replaced with a single application
- flatpak already set up with a GNOME Software front end (which actually works, unlike too many GNOME Software incidences)
- software and repository management using Synaptic, with the testing and unstable Debian branches a few checkboxes away.
These seem modest but the first, in particular, is a huge improvement over almost any other Debian-based distribution - timeshift comes across as crude in comparison. And the second, or lack of a second, frequently confuses new users to the extent that Debian is considering dropping "non-free" installation media.
I switched to testing with the few checkboxes implied as above and, now, have the latest and greatest software all round, with the safety net of a btrfs snapshot if that failed (it didn't).
Overall, I give 9. The 1 is knocked off for the rather bland themes, wallpaper and icon set (faenza), although these can easily be replaced, and the use of Firefox ESR which is a bit artificial on Debian's part and, now, most simply superseded using the Mozilla flatpak.
Recommended. Very nicely done and fast. I actually prefer Spiral to LMDE 5 because of the superb snapshot implementation.
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