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Clear Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Clear Linux

Clear Linux


Last Update: 2025-04-17 10:34 UTC


Clear Linux is a minimal distribution primarily designed with performance and cloud use-cases in mind. The operating system upgrades as a whole rather than using individual packages. Extra software can be added to the system (along with associated dependencies) using pre-compiled bundles which can be accessed through the distribution's swupd software manager.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 165 (52), 6 months: 172 (53), 3 months: 170 (54), 4 weeks: 146 (52), 1 week: 138 (54)

Average visitor rating: 7.65/10 from 23 review(s).


Clear Summary
Distribution Clear Linux
Home Page https://clearlinux.org/
Mailing Lists https://lists.clearlinux.org/postorius/lists/
User Forums https://community.clearlinux.org/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://clearlinux.org/documentation/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://clearlinux.org/downloads
Bug Tracker --
Related Websites  
Reviews 2020: Heise (German) • Arstechnica
2019: OrdinatechnicPhoronix
2017: DistroWatch
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 43280 40040 37860 35000 31300 27900 12430 Feature
Release Date 2025-04-17 2023-10-03 2022-12-23 2021-08-31 2019-10-15 2019-02-19 2017-01-03 Release Date
End Of Life               End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 900-4700 900-4400 900-4200 100-3000 100-4700 40-2200 200-400 Image Size (MB)
Free Download IMG, ISO IMG, ISO IMG, ISO IMG, ISO IMG, ISO IMG IMG Free Download
Installation -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Installation
Default Desktop GNOME GNOME GNOME GNOME GNOME GNOME Xfce Default Desktop
Package Management swupd swupd swupd swupd swupd swupd swupd Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd Init Software
Journaled File Systems ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 Journaled File Systems
Multilingual               Multilingual
Asian Language Support               Asian Language Support
Full Package List 43280 40040 37860 35000 31300 27900 12430 Full Package List
Package 43280 40040 37860 35000 31300 27900 12430 Package
abiword (3.0.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- abiword (3.0.6)
alsa-lib (1.2.14) 1.2.14 1.2.10 1.2.8 1.2.5.1 1.1.9 1.1.8 1.1.3 alsa-lib (1.2.14)
amdgpu (23.0.0) 23.0.0 22.0.0 22.0.0 21.0.0 19.1.0 18.1.0 -- amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.37) 5.2.37 5.2.15 5.2.15 5.1 4.4 5.0 4.4 bash (5.2.37)
bind (9.20.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.8)
chromium (135.0.7049.95) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (135.0.7049.95)
cups (2.4.12) 2.4.12 2.4.7 2.4.2 2.3.3 2.3.0 2.2.10 2.2.1 cups (2.4.12)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.3-P1 4.4.3-P1 4.4.3 4.4.2 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.3.3 dhcp (4.4.3-P1)
e2fsprogs (1.47.2) 1.47.2 1.47.0 1.46.5 1.46.4 1.45.4 1.44.5 1.43.3 e2fsprogs (1.47.2)
firefox (137.0.2) 137.0.2 118.0.1 108.0.1 91.0.2 69.0.3 65.0.1 50.1.0 firefox (137.0.2)
freetype (2.13.3) 2.13.3 2.13.2 2.12.1 2.11.0 2.10.1 2.9.1 2.7.1 freetype (2.13.3)
gcc (14.2.0) 14.1.0 13.1.0 12.2.0 11.2.0 9.2.1 8.2.0 6.3.0 gcc (14.2.0)
gimp (3.0.2) 3.0.2 2.10.34 2.10.32 2.10.24 2.10.12 2.10.8 -- gimp (3.0.2)
glibc (2.41) 2.41 2.38 2.36 2.34 2.30 2.29 2.24 glibc (2.41)
gnome-shell (48.1) 48.1 45.0 43.2 40.4 3.34.1 3.30.2 3.22.2 gnome-shell (48.1)
gnucash (5.11) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnucash (5.11)
gnumeric (1.12.59) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnumeric (1.12.59)
grub (2.12) -- -- -- -- 2.02 2.02 2.02 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.18.4) 4.18.4 4.12.3 4.8.2 4.4.0 3.24.12 3.24.5 3.22.5 gtk (4.18.4)
httpd (2.4.63) 2.4.63 2.4.57 2.4.54 2.4.48 2.4.41 2.4.38 2.4.25 httpd (2.4.63)
inkscape (1.4.1) 1.4 1.3 1.2.2 1.1 0.92.4 0.92.4 -- inkscape (1.4.1)
k3b (25.04.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- k3b (25.04.0)
kmod (34.2) 34.2 31 30 29 26 26 23 kmod (34.2)
krita (5.2.9) -- 5.0.8 5.0.8 4.4.7 4.2.7.1 4.1.7.101 -- krita (5.2.9)
LibreOffice (25.2.2) 25.2.2 7.6.2.1 7.4.3 7.1.3 6.3.2 -- -- LibreOffice (25.2.2)
linux (6.14.3) 6.14.2 6.5.5 6.1.1 5.13.13 5.3.1 4.20.10 4.8.15 linux (6.14.3)
Package 43280 40040 37860 35000 31300 27900 12430 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (11.6.2) 10.11.3 10.11.3 10.9.2 10.4.20 10.4.6 10.3.11 10.0.28 mariadb (11.6.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (25.0.4) 25.0git 23.2.0 22.3.0 21.2.1 19.2 18.2 -- mesa (25.0.4)
mysql (9.3.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.3.0)
nautilus (48.1) 48.1 45.0 43.1 40.2 3.34.1 3.30.5 3.22.1 nautilus (48.1)
NVIDIA (570.133.07) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (570.133.07)
openbox (3.6.1) 3.6.1 3.6.1 3.6.1 3.6.1 3.6.1 -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (24) 21.0.7.6.1 19.0.2.7.1 18.0.2.9.1 13.0.5 13 11.0.2 8u15 openjdk (24)
openssh (10.0p1) 10.0p1 9.4p1 9.1p1 8.7p1 8.0p1 7.9p1 7.4p1 openssh (10.0p1)
openssl (3.5.0) 3.4.1 3.1.3 3.0.7 1.1.1l 1.1.1d 1.1.1a 1.0.2j openssl (3.5.0)
perl (5.40.2) 5.40.1 5.38.0 5.36.0 5.34.0 5.28.2 5.28.1 5.24.0 perl (5.40.2)
php (8.4.6) 8.4.6 8.2.11 8.2.0 8.0.10 7.3.10 7.3.1 5.6.28 php (8.4.6)
plasma-desktop (6.3.4) 6.3.4 5.27.8 5.26.4 5.22.1 5.16.5 5.15.0 -- plasma-desktop (6.3.4)
postfix (3.10.1) 3.10.1 3.8.2 3.7.3 3.6.2 3.4.7 -- -- postfix (3.10.1)
postgresql (17.4) 15.7 15.4 15.1 13.4 11.5 9.6.12 9.6.1 postgresql (17.4)
Python (3.13.3) 3.13.2 3.11.5 3.11.0 3.9.6 3.7.4 2.7.15 -- Python (3.13.3)
qt (6.9.0) 6.9.0 6.2.1 6.2.1 5.15.0 5.13.1 5.12.1 -- qt (6.9.0)
samba (4.22.1) 4.20.2 4.18.5 4.17.4 4.14.7 4.11.0 4.9.4 4.5.3 samba (4.22.1)
systemd (257.5) 255.9 252.12 251.9 249.1 243 239 231 systemd (257.5)
thunderbird (137.0.2) 137.0.2 115.3.1 102.6.1 91.0.3 68.1.2 60.5.1 45.5.1 thunderbird (137.0.2)
vim (9.1) 9.1 9.0 9.0 8.2 8.1 8.1 8.0 vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) -- 3.0.18 3.0.17.4 3.0.16 3.0.8 3.0.6 -- vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.23.1) 1.23.0 1.22.0 1.21.0 1.19.0 1.17.0 1.16.0 1.12.0 wayland (1.23.1)
xfdesktop (4.20.1) 4.18.1 4.18.1 4.18.0 4.16.0 4.14.1 4.13.2 4.12.3 xfdesktop (4.20.1)
xorg-server (21.1.16) 21.1.16 21.1.8 21.1.6 1.20.11 1.20.5 1.20.3 1.19.0 xorg-server (21.1.16)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Clear Linux

Average rating
7.7
from 23 review(s)



What are your thoughts on Clear Linux?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 40040
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-02-03
Votes: 1


-I run Clear Linux with their LTS-kernel and it works very well for me.
-I like how if you type a command it tells you which bundle to add.
-So far among distros, none matches Clear Linux' speed
-I was hesitant at first to install this distro because I don't want it to be discontinued since it seems underground but it's actually Intel's own distro so a giant like them will not likely fall tomorrow lol
-The tweaks they've done to the kernel are so nice that Clear Linux' kernel is available in other distros such as Arch Linux
-I found myself a new home and my distro-hopping should be over for a very long time


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 39710
Rating: 1
Date: 2023-09-25
Votes: 1


A lousy software...it cleaned my disk and not install on an HP with an Intel I5.



Bye, bye, Clear Linux


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 39710
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-09-22
Votes: 1


Windows is like a bull dozer on ice; Mac OS is a chain saw; Linux Mint is a machete; Fedora is a chef's knife; Clear linux is a scalpel, and Arch is a needle, menuet os is a laser.
Each has their strengths depending on the purpose. If you're doing very limited tasks and want all the muscle of your system behind what your doing but still would like some of the modern luxuries then Clear linux is your OS, but it won't exactly be effortless. on the flip token if you're ok with giving up control and just want to play some games and watch tiktok... then windows I guess.


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