The SparkyLinux team has released SparkyLinux 2026.06, the June ISO snapshot of the Rolling edition (codename “Tiamat”). This is the project’s semi-rolling line, which pulls its packages from the Debian Testing repositories, now tracking the upcoming Debian 14 “Forky”.
SparkyLinux is a lightweight Debian-based distribution aimed at both modest machines and anyone who wants a fresh base without waiting for a stable Debian release. The Rolling branch keeps packages current; the monthly images mainly serve new installs, since existing users only need to keep their system updated.
Here is what’s new in SparkyLinux 2026.06:
- Linux kernel 7.0.12 by default. For those who want to go a step further, the Sparky repositories include the recent Linux 7.1.0. If you prefer long-term support instead, the 6.18.35 and 6.12.93 LTS kernels are also available.
- Firefox 140.11.0 ESR as the default browser, with Firefox 152.0.1 sitting in the repositories for anyone who wants the latest branch.
- Thunderbird 140.11.0 ESR for email.
- Calamares 3.4.2 as the graphical installer. This version adds support for the Plasma Login Manager on the KDE Plasma edition and lets you set a single-character account password during installation.
- All packages were updated from the Debian Testing and Sparky Testing repositories as of June 17th, 2026.
One cleanup worth noting: this release removes the Lumina desktop from the repository, along with Sparky APTus and the command-line installer for that environment. The developers gave no reason, though Lumina has been inactive for a while.
SparkyLinux 2026.06 ships for 64-bit systems in six standalone flavors: KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXQt, MATE, MinimalGUI (Openbox), and MinimalCLI (text mode). On the Live images, the user logs in with the password live and the root account has a blank password.
A couple of practical notes from the team: installing Sparky on UEFI machines requires an active internet connection, and they recommend Calamares for those setups. On older BIOS machines you can still install from the command-line installer with sudo sparky-installer.
If you already run the Rolling branch, there’s no need to reinstall anything: just update and you’re done. The new images are in the Rolling download section of the official site.