SparkyLinux 2026.03 comes with a new kernel and multiple package updates

SparkyLinux 2026.03 Tiamat now available

Based on the Debian testing "Forky" repository as of March 14, 2026, SparkyLinux 2026.03 “Tiamat” comes with the Linux kernel 6.19.6, Firefox and Thunderbird 140.8.0esr, Calamares 3.4.2, and more. The list of versions available includes LXQt, MATE, and MinimalGUI (Openbox), as well as MinimalCLI (text mode).

Codrut Nistor, Published 03/16/2026

One of the many Debian-based distros around is SparkyLinux, which now uses Forky as its foundation. The 2026.03 "Tiamat" update for this distro comes with the latest packages from the repositories as of March 14, 2026, but there are more changes to it than just updated packages.

SparkyLinux 2026.03 "Tiamat" is now available with the Linux kernel 6.19.6, but those who need something slightly different can access the following kernels available in the Sparky repositories: 7.0-rc3, 6.19.8, 6.18.18-LTS, and 6.12.77-LTS. Other highlights of this update include the following:

Firefox and Thunderbird 140.8.0esr, with Firefox 148.0.2-latest available in the repositories.
Calamares 3.4.2, which now allows the use of a single-character password during setup.
The CLI installer (sparky-installer) now offers an option to install the 32-bit version of GRUB UEFI on 64-bit hardware.
GCC 15 + GCC16-base installed.

Existing users can just update their rolling version. New users can choose one of the following flavors: LXQt, KDE Plasma, MATE, Xfce, MinimalGUI (Openbox), and MinimalCLI (text mode). All downloads can be found on this page. The smallest ISO is the MinimalCLI one, with just 929 MB, while the heaviest version is KDE, which has 2.56 GB in size.

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Codrut Nistor - Senior Tech Writer - 6747 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013

In my early school days, I hated writing and having to make up stories. A decade later, I started to enjoy it. Since then, I published a few offline articles and then I moved to the online space, where I contributed to major websites that are still present online as of 2021 such as Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, but I also wrote for multiple blogs that have disappeared over the years. I've been riding with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I am not planning to leave it anytime soon. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but also smartphones, streaming services, and digital art.

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Codrut Nistor, 2026-03-16 (Update: 2026-03-16)

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