The Sparky team has announced the release of Sparky 7.7, the latest point release in its Orion Belt stable series. Based on Debian 12 “Bookworm”, Sparky 7.7 offers a refined experience with fully updated packages and a range of desktop environment choices.

Sparky 7.7 featured image

Key Highlights in Sparky 7.7

  • All packages updated from Debian and Sparky stable repositories as of April 8, 2025
  • Linux Kernel (PC): 6.1.129-LTS (alternatives available in Sparky repos: 6.14.1, 6.12.22-LTS, 6.6.86-LTS)
  • Linux Kernel (ARM): 6.12.20-LTS
  • Desktop environments:
    • KDE Plasma 5.27.5
    • LXQt 1.2.0
    • MATE 1.26
    • Xfce 4.18
    • Openbox 3.6.1
  • LibreOffice: 7.4.7 (25.2.2 available via Debian backports)
  • Firefox ESR: 128.9.0esr (137.0.1 available in Sparky repos)
  • Thunderbird ESR: 128.9.0esr
  • Installer Fix: Resolved an issue in the CLI installer that caused failures when selecting other desktop environments during installation.

Available Editions

Sparky 7.7 is available in multiple versions tailored for different hardware:

  • amd64 BIOS/UEFI + Secure Boot:
    • Xfce, LXQt, MATE, KDE Plasma, MinimalGUI (Openbox), MinimalCLI (text mode)
  • i686 non-PAE BIOS/UEFI (Legacy):
    • MinimalGUI (Openbox), MinimalCLI (text mode)
  • ARMHF & ARM64:
    • Openbox, CLI (text mode)

This release continues Sparky’s commitment to offering a lightweight, flexible Linux distribution that remains compatible with the latest from Debian.

For downloads and more information, visit the official Sparky Linux website.

The official Sparky 7.7 release announcement is available in Sparky blog.