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SpiralLinux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: SpiralLinux

SpiralLinux


Last Update: 2025-12-03 15:28 UTC

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  • Based on:
  • Origin:
  • Architecture:
  • Desktop:
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  • Status: Active
  • Popularity: 232 (62 hits per day)
SpiralLinux is a selection of desktop spins built from Debian GNU/Linux, with a focus on simplicity and out-of-the-box usability across all the major desktop environments. SpiralLinux serves as an alternative live installation method for a highly reliable customized Debian system using only official Debian package repositories. Unlike Debian's official install media, SpiralLinux includes non-free firmware. It also provides popular media codecs out of the box.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 123 (94), 6 months: 232 (62), 3 months: 268 (55), 4 weeks: 255 (48), 1 week: 226 (45)

Average visitor rating: 9.1/10 from 54 review(s).

SpiralLinux Summary
Distribution SpiralLinux
Home Page https://spirallinux.github.io/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/discussions
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/wiki
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://sourceforge.net/projects/spirallinux/files/ • DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/issues
Related Websites --
Reviews 11.x: DistroWatch • ZDNET
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2023-10-02: Distribution Release: SpiralLinux 12.231001
 • 2022-09-27: Distribution Release: SpiralLinux 11.220925
 • More SpiralLinux releases...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 12.231120 11.220925
Release Date 2023-11-20 2022-09-27
End Of Life    
Price (US$) Free Free
Image Size (MB) 1800-2400 1800-2100
Free Download ISO ISO
Installation Graphical Graphical
Default Desktop Budgie, Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Xfce Budgie, Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Xfce
Default Browser    
Package Management DEB (APT), Flatpak DEB (APT), Flatpak
Release Model Fixed Fixed
Office Suite LibreOffice LibreOffice
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64
Init Software systemd systemd
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext4 Btrfs, ext4
Multilingual -- --
Asian Language Support -- --
Full Package List 12.231120 11.220925
Package 12.231120 11.220925
alsa-lib (1.2.15) 1.2.8 1.2.4
amdgpu (25.0.0) 23.0.0 19.1.0
apparmor (4.1.2)    
apt (3.1.12) 2.6.1 2.2.4
bash (5.3) 5.2 5.1
bind (9.20.16) -- --
chromium (143.0.7499.109) -- --
cinnamon (6.6.0) 5.6.8 4.8.6
cups (2.4.16) 2.4.2 2.3.3
e2fsprogs (1.47.3) 1.47.0 1.46.2
ffmpeg (8.0.1) 5.1.4 4.3.4
firefox (146.0) 115.4.0 102.3.0
flatpak (1.16.1) 1.14.4 1.10.7
freetype (2.14.1) 2.12.1 2.10.4
gcc (15.2.0) 12.2.0 10.2.1
gimp (3.0.6) -- --
git (2.52.0) -- --
glibc (2.42) 2.36 2.31
gnome-shell (49.2) 43.6 3.38.6
grub (2.12) 2.06 2.06
gtk (4.20.3) 4.8.3 3.24.24
httpd (2.4.66) -- --
inkscape (1.4.2) -- --
kmod (34.2) 30 28
krita (5.2.14) -- --
LibreOffice (25.8.3) 7.4.7 7.0.4
Package 12.231120 11.220925
libselinux (3.9) 3.4 3.1
linux (6.18.1) 6.1.55 5.10.140
mariadb (12.1.2) -- --
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.26.0 1.24.1
mesa (25.3.1) 22.3.6 20.3.5
mysql (9.5.0) -- --
nautilus (49.2) 43.2 3.38.2
NVIDIA (580.119.02) -- --
openjdk (25) -- --
openssh (10.2p1) 9.2p1 8.4p1
openssl (3.6.0) 3.0.11d 1.1.1n
perl (5.42.0) 5.36.0 5.32.1
php (8.5.0) -- --
plasma-desktop (6.5.4) 5.27.5 5.20.5
postfix (3.10.7) -- --
postgresql (18.1) -- --
Python (3.14.2) 3.11.2 3.9.2
qt (6.10.1) 6.4.2 5.15.2
samba (4.23.4) 4.17.12 4.13.13
systemd (258.3) 252.17 247.3
thunderbird (146.0) 115.4.1 91.13.0
vim (9.1) 9.0 8.2
vlc (3.0.22) 3.0.20 3.0.17.4
wayland (1.24.0) -- --
xfdesktop (4.20.1) 4.18.1 4.16.0
xorg-server (21.1.21) 21.1.7 1.20.11

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for SpiralLinux

Average rating
9.1
from 54 review(s)


What are your thoughts on SpiralLinux?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):



Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 12.231120
Rating: 7
Date: 2025-11-13
Votes: 0


 This is a good distro.
It is very easy to install this distro and it works very well.
It satisfies my minimalist taste.

I would like to talk about one thing.
It is about treating VirtualBox.

It is very easy to install this distro on VirtualBox
(The host distro is another distro such as Linux Mint).
It works very well.

But I cannot install VirtualBox itself on this distro.
(I followed the message shown when installing this distro. I added a parameter to kernel as it was indicated.)
I don't know the reason of this malfunction.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 12.231120
Rating: 7
Date: 2025-10-06
Votes: 8


 Pros:
+ iso file only 2GB
+ installation is pleasure - easy and fast
+ perfect compatibility with Debian
+ Xfce version is light and responsive

Cons:
- iso installation file outdated (two years old)
- update from bookworm to trixie failed. had to use a snapshot to avoid a black screen after boot
- only basic applications preinstalled
- only one theme (Numix) and one wallpaper preinstalled

It appears to be a one man project. I prefer distributions with a team of developers.
I recommend giving this distro a try only when a new installation iso is released.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 11.220925
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-29
Votes: 1


 A Superb Distro.

Before selecting it I did an AI search for the best btrfs file-system distros for:
a) install, and
b)btrfs management.

There were really only 2 choices: Spiral Linux and OpenSuse.

I have tried both now. Opensuse is a very long install and is not so coherent for someone beginning on btrfs management. I also found it cumbersome.

Spiral Linux is a joy to setup and use. It is simpler, and has what is needed for my day-to-day use. It has the essentials needed for btrfs use: snapshot management. It did lack grub-btrfs: grub-btrfs improves the grub bootloader by adding a btrfs snapshots sub-menu, allowing the user to boot into snapshots. But this was easy to install from source.

Spiral Linux is now definitely my permanent distro. I love it.



Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 54 reader reviews of SpiralLinux...


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