The Sparky team has rolled out the latest ISO images, 2025.12, its third semi-rolling update of the year—for all enthusiasts of this lightweight Linux distro, based on Debian’s upcoming “Forky” testing branch.
The release pulls in packages from the Debian and Sparky testing repositories as of December 14, 2025. It ships with the Linux kernel 6.17 by default, while newer, long-term-supported kernels, 6.18.1, 6.12.62 LTS, and 6.6.119 LTS, are available through the Sparky repositories.
Core system components have also been updated, including Firefox 140.5 ESR, Thunderbird 140.5 ESR, and GRUB 2.14 from a recent development snapshot.
On top of that, the amd64 images are available with LXQt, KDE Plasma, MATE, and Xfce desktops, as well as MinimalGUI builds using Openbox and a M…
The Sparky team has rolled out the latest ISO images, 2025.12, its third semi-rolling update of the year—for all enthusiasts of this lightweight Linux distro, based on Debian’s upcoming “Forky” testing branch.
The release pulls in packages from the Debian and Sparky testing repositories as of December 14, 2025. It ships with the Linux kernel 6.17 by default, while newer, long-term-supported kernels, 6.18.1, 6.12.62 LTS, and 6.6.119 LTS, are available through the Sparky repositories.
Core system components have also been updated, including Firefox 140.5 ESR, Thunderbird 140.5 ESR, and GRUB 2.14 from a recent development snapshot.
On top of that, the amd64 images are available with LXQt, KDE Plasma, MATE, and Xfce desktops, as well as MinimalGUI builds using Openbox and a MinimalCLI text-only edition. Installation on UEFI systems is recommended using the Calamares-based graphical installer, while older BIOS-based machines are advised to use the command-line installer provided by the project.
This release also expands Sparky’s infrastructure with two new package mirror servers, located in the United Kingdom and the central United States, improving download availability and update performance for users in those regions.
As with previous rolling releases, existing SparkyLinux rolling installations do not require reinstallation. Keeping the system up to date is sufficient to receive all changes included in the 2025.12 update. New ISO images are available from the project’s rolling release download section.
Refer to the release announcement for detailed information.
Bobby Borisov
Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.