A few days ago the MX Linux developers released the release of the first beta of what will be the next version of MX Linux 21 and which is already ready for testing.
MX Linux version 21 uses the Debian Bullseye package base and MX Linux repositories. A distinctive feature of the distribution is the use of the sysVinit initialization system, its own tools to configure and deploy the system, as well as more frequent updates to popular packages than in the stable Debian repository.
For those who are unfamiliar with MX Linux, you should know that this It is an operating system based on stable Debian versions and uses core components of antiX, with additional software created and packaged by the MX community, it is basically an operating system that combines a sleek and efficient desktop with simple configurations, high stability, stable performance, and minimal space.
It is developed as a cooperative company between the antiX and former MEPIS communities, with the aim of using the best tools each of these distributions.
Main new features of MX Linux 21.
In this beta version we can find that the system is already using the Linux kernel 5.10, in addition to including the update of many packages, among which the change to the Xfce 4.16 user environment was also made.
In the part of installer, in this has updated the interface to select a partition for installation, plus lvm support has been implemented if the lvm volume already exists. While in the Updated system boot menu in UEFI mode, whereupon you can select boot options from the boot menu and submenus instead of using the previous console menu.
Inside the system we can find that now by default, to perform administrator tasks via sudo, a user password prompt is implemented. This behavior can be changed in the "MX Tweak" / "Other" tab.
Many small configuration changes have also been included, especially in the panel with the new set of default plugins.
The developers of the distribution emphasize that in this version they are especially interested in testing the new boot menus of the system in UEFI mode, as well as in testing the installer. Testing in a VirtualBox environment is recommended, but for the most part it is interesting to test the implementation of the system on real hardware. In addition, developers are asked to test the installation of popular applications.
Regarding known issues, the developers mention the following:
- The current system monitor Сonky sometimes gets lost in the context of overloaded wallpapers.
- It looks better on some screens than others. This will be fixed once the default wallpaper is selected.
- For 32-bit * .iso only: I get an error message when starting VirtualBox and VirtualBox guest additions are not installed on the 32-bit version of the iso image.
- MX Package Installer - Test repository and backup tabs show nothing (for obvious reasons these repositories do not exist yet or are currently empty).
Finally of the plans that are had It is mentioned:
- KDE and Fluxbox based desktop editions.
- AHS (Advanced Hardware Support) version - A repository customization option for the MX Linux distribution that offers the latest graphics stack subsystem and microcode updates for newer processors.
- Packages with enhanced hardware support can be installed as they are released using standard installation and update tools.
Download and test MX Linux 21
For those who are interested in trying this beta version, they should know that the images available for download are 32 and 64 bits with a weight of 1.8 GB.
Minimum system requirements:
- Intel or AMD i686 processor
- 512 MB of RAM
- 5 GB of free hard disk space
- Sound Blaster, AC97, or HDA-compatible sound card
- DVD drive
Precisely because it is based on Debian 11 (Bullseye) it has some bugs ... I have already tried it and, although it is good, it has things to polish, but we are a thousand times better than the distro it comes from (Debian 11), if I told you ...