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Solus RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Solus

Solus


Last Update: 2025-05-17 18:09 UTC


Solus is a Linux distribution built from scratch. It uses a forked version of the PiSi package manager, maintained as "eopkg" within Solus, and its flagship edition uses the Budgie desktop environment. Budgie was originally developed-in-house, but is now maintained as a separate project by the Buddies of Budgie team. Solus is also available in Plasma, Xfce, and GNOME editions. The distribution is available for 64-bit computers only.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 23 (357), 6 months: 24 (401), 3 months: 34 (320), 4 weeks: 35 (300), 1 week: 44 (303)

Average visitor rating: 7.48/10 from 216 review(s).


Solus Summary
Distribution Solus
Home Page https://getsol.us/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums https://discuss.getsol.us/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://help.getsol.us/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://getsol.us/download/DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://dev.getsol.us/maniphest/
Related Websites  
Reviews 4.7: DistroWatch
4.5: DistroWatch
4.4: DistroWatchMichlFranken (German)
4.x: DistroWatchDistroWatchLinuxzasve (Croatian) • DistroWatchOrdinatechnicDedoimedoAverage Linux UserCMS CriticHeise (German) • DedoimedoDistroWatch
3: OrdinatechnicDistroWatchCMS CriticLinux.comPro-Linux (German)
2017.x: DedoimedoDarkDuckDistroWatch
1.x: DedoimedoDistroWatchFreedom PenguinLWNHecticGeek
Where To Donate, Buy or Try Donate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2025-01-26: Distribution Release: Solus 4.7
 • 2024-10-15: Distribution Release: Solus 4.6
 • 2024-01-09: Distribution Release: Solus 4.5
 • 2023-07-08: Distribution Release: Solus 4.4
 • 2021-07-11: Distribution Release: Solus 4.3
 • 2021-02-03: Distribution Release: Solus 4.2
 • 2020-01-25: Distribution Release: Solus 4.1
 • 2019-03-18: Distribution Release: Solus 4.0
 • 2017-08-15: Distribution Release: Solus 3
 • 2017-04-18: Distribution Release: Solus 2017.04.18.0
 • 2017-01-02: Distribution Release: Solus 2017.01.01.0
 • 2016-10-19: Distribution Release: Solus 1.2.1
 • More Solus releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2024-07-15 Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap support
 • 2023-04-18 Solus team planning a come-back
 • 2023-02-13 Solus project status updates
 • 2021-09-14 Solus to replace GTK in Budgie desktop
 • 2019-10-03 Solus updates supported desktops
 • 2019-03-21 Budgie 10.5 shipped with Solus 4.0
 • 2019-01-15 Solus roadmap for 2019
 • 2018-11-02 Solus team regaining account access
 • 2018-10-27 Solus founder out of contact
 • 2018-09-21 Solus updates install media
 • More Solus headlines...

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 4.7 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Feature
Release Date 2025-01-26 2024-10-15 2023-07-08 2021-07-11 2020-01-25 2019-03-17 2018-09-20 2017-08-15 2017-04-18 2016-10-19 Release Date
End Of Life                     End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 3000-3300 2400-2900 2200-2600 1800-2100 1600-1900 1400-1500 1400-1500 1100-1200     Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Installation
Default Desktop Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, MATE Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, MATE Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, MATE Budgie, GNOME, MATE Budgie, GNOME, MATE Budgie, GNOME, MATE Budgie, GNOME, MATE Budgie, MATE Default Desktop
Package Management Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork), Snap Flatpak, eopkg (pisi fork) eopkg (pisi fork) Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 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 systemd systemd systemd Init Software
Journaled File Systems                     Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes         Multilingual
Asian Language Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes         Asian Language Support
Full Package List 4.7 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Full Package List
Package 4.7 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Package
alsa-lib (1.2.14) 1.2.13 1.2.12 1.2.9 1.2.4 1.1.9 1.1.5 1.1.5 1.1.4.1 1.1.3 1.1.1 alsa-lib (1.2.14)
amdgpu (23.0.0) 23.0.0 23.0.0 23.0.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 19.0.0 18.0.1 -- -- -- amdgpu (23.0.0)
apparmor (4.1.1)                     apparmor (4.1.1)
apt (3.1.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apt (3.1.3)
bash (5.3) 5.2.37 5.2.32 5.1.16 5.1 5.0 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 bash (5.3)
bind (9.20.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.10)
chromium (138.0.7204.100) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (138.0.7204.100)
cinnamon (6.4.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.4.10)
cups (2.4.12) 2.4.11 2.4.11 2.2.13 2.2.13 2.2.8 2.2.8 2.2.8 2.2.3 2.2.3 2.1.0 cups (2.4.12)
e2fsprogs (1.47.3) 1.47.1 1.47.1 1.47.0 1.45.6 1.44.6 1.44.6 1.44.4 1.43.4 1.43.4 1.42.13 e2fsprogs (1.47.3)
ffmpeg (7.1.1) 7.1 4.4.5 4.4.4 4.4 4.2.2 4.1.1 3.4.4 3.3.3 2.2.4 2.8.6 ffmpeg (7.1.1)
firefox (140.0.4) 134.0.2 131.0.3 114.0.1 89.0.2 72.0.2 65.0.1 62.0 55.0.1 52.0.2 49.0.1 firefox (140.0.4)
flatpak (1.16.1) 1.14.10 1.14.10 1.14.4 1.10.2 1.0.9 -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.16.1)
freetype (2.13.3) 2.13.3 2.13.2 2.13.0 2.10.4 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6.1 freetype (2.13.3)
gcc (15.1.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gcc (15.1.0)
gimp (3.0.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (3.0.4)
git (2.50.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- git (2.50.1)
glibc (2.41) 2.40 2.40 2.36 2.33 2.29 2.29 2.27 2.25 2.25 2.24 glibc (2.41)
gnome-shell (48.3) 47.3 46.5 43.5 40.2 3.34.3 3.28.3 3.28.3 3.24.3 3.24.1 -- gnome-shell (48.3)
grub (2.12) 2.12 2.12 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 2.02beta2 2.00beta2 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.18.6) 4.16.12 4.14.5 4.10.4 3.24.29 3.24.13 3.22.30 3.22.30 3.22.18 3.22.12 3.18.9 gtk (4.18.6)
httpd (2.4.64) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.64)
inkscape (1.4.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4.2)
kmod (34.2) 33 33 30 25 25 25 25 24 17 17 kmod (34.2)
krita (5.2.11) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.1.0 -- krita (5.2.11)
LibreOffice (25.2.4) 24.8.4 24.2.5 7.5.3 7.1.4 6.3.4 6.2.1 6.1.0 5.4.0 5.3.2 -- LibreOffice (25.2.4)
Package 4.7 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Package
libselinux (3.8.1) 3.7 3.3 3.3 git git git git git -- -- libselinux (3.8.1)
linux (6.15.6) 6.12.9 6.10.13 6.3.8 5.13.1 5.4.12 4.20.16 4.18.5 4.12.7 4.9.22 4.8.2 linux (6.15.6)
mariadb (11.8.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (11.8.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- 1.27.1 1.24.2 1.22.2 1.20.4 1.20.3 1.18.0 1.18.0 -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (25.1.5) 24.3.3 24.2.3 23.0.3 21.1.3 19.3.2 19.0.0 18.1.6 17.1.6 17.0.4 12.1.0 mesa (25.1.5)
mysql (9.3.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.3.0)
nautilus (48.3) 47.1 46.2 43.4 40.2 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.24.2 3.24.0 3.20.3 nautilus (48.3)
NVIDIA (575.64.03) 565.77 560.35.03 535.54.03 465.31 440.82 418.43 390.87 384.59 375.39 370.28 NVIDIA (575.64.03)
openjdk (24.0.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (24.0.1)
openssh (10.0p1) 9.9p1 9.9p1 9.3p1 8.6p1 8.1p1 7.7p1 7.7p1 7.5p1 7.5p1 7.3p1 openssh (10.0p1)
openssl (3.5.1) 3.3.2 3.3.2 1.1.1u 1.1.1k 1.0.2u 1.0.2r 1.0.2p 1.0.2l 1.0.2k 1.0.2j openssl (3.5.1)
perl (5.42.0) 5.38.2 5.38.2 5.36.0 5.32.1 5.30.1 5.28.1 5.26.2 5.24.1 5.24.1 5.22.1 perl (5.42.0)
php (8.4.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.4.10)
plasma-desktop (6.4.3) 6.2.5 6.1.5 5.27.5 5.22.2 5.17.5 -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.4.3)
postfix (3.10.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.10.3)
postgresql (17.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- 10.5 -- -- -- postgresql (17.5)
Python (3.13.5) 3.11.11 3.11.10 3.10.11 3.7.11 3.7.6 2.7.16 2.7.15 2.7.13 2.7.13 2.7.12 Python (3.13.5)
qt (6.9.1) 6.8.1 6.7.3 6.3.0 5.15.3 5.13.2 5.12.1 5.11.1 5.9.1 5.6.2 5.6.1 qt (6.9.1)
samba (4.22.3) 4.19.9 4.19.6 4.16.10 4.13.9 4.10.11 4.8.8 4.7.9 4.6.6 4.3.13 4.3.11 samba (4.22.3)
systemd (257.7) 254.23 254.18 251.15 247.7 244 239 239 218 218 218 systemd (257.7)
thunderbird (140.0.1) 128.6.0 128.3.1 102.12.0 78.11.0 68.4.1 60.5.2 60.0 52.2.1 52.0.1 45.4.0 thunderbird (140.0.1)
vim (9.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) -- -- 3.0.18 3.0.16 3.0.8 3.0.6 3.0.3 2.2.6 2.2.4 2.2.4 vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.24.0) 1.23.1 1.23.0 1.22.0 1.19.0 1.16.0 1.16.0 1.14.0 1.12.0 1.12.0 1.10.0 wayland (1.24.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.1)
xorg-server (21.1.18) 21.1.15 21.1.13 1.20.14 1.20.12 1.20.6 1.20.3 1.19.6 1.18.4 1.18.4 1.18.4 xorg-server (21.1.18)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Solus

Average rating
7.5
from 216 review(s)



What are your thoughts on Solus?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 4.7
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-07-13
Votes: 0


Running Solus 4.7 with the Budgie Desktop for a little bit more than 6 months now and couldn't be more satisfied.

Was looking for a rolling release distro and finally found it after a lot of distro hopping (Linux Mint, Element OS, Antergos, Linux Lite, Majaro, Sabayon and others).

The installation was quick & easy, the system runs rock solid, has a decent variety of programs & stuff you might be missing is available from flathub. Every friday new updates are offered by the dev's.

For me Solus might be the linux distro to stay ...


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.7
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-07-11
Votes: 5


Truly one of my favorite distros. I use KDE Plasma and its implementation is clean and works great. It is one of the fastest booting distros I have used out of the box. It is also lean. Even with KDE as my DE, it has only around 1000 total packages after install. Just does not have bloat.

It is rolling but not bleeding edge. It is a curated distro meaning they test more thoroughly than say Arch based. It is closer to something like openSUSE Slowroll. So while it is not bleeding edge it is also not far behind, just better tested.

It works great on gaming and for work. I have had no problem with either Nvidia or AMD drivers.

Overall it has become one of my favorites. Oh and the community is also one of my favorites. There is no gatekeeping or tribalism going. It is just people who love Linux and FOSS and just want it to all work.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.7
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-07-10
Votes: 2


I have been back and forth on installing Solus, then something else, but come back to Solus and have stayed for the most part. Using any old ad-hock computer made up from parts from various friends. I've used an old Tiger-Direct mini-tower, added an Asus B75M-A mobo with an i3 Intel CPU, 1Tb Seagate SATA-HD, 2-CD/DVD RW optical units, Logitech cordless keyboard & mouse. Additional WD-500GB SATA-HD on a WaVLINK adapter, an Epson ET-2840 scanner/printer & a Brother HL-L2305W printer and have had no issues installing, or updating Solus KDE-Plasma from day one. I did try Budgie but found it's not for me, there were things that I wanted to change that I couldn't, thus the change to the KDE offering allowing me to adjust the way I wanted.
The various comments about what packages are included, or not, in my opinion is mute. I like to have the choice of what I want to add later rather than have to uninstall everything I don't want after the installation is completed. I like Solus, it installs rather quickly, compared to a Debian install on my machine, works well and has what simple things that I need or want. And every morning when I wake up my computer it's ready to do the things that I need it to without any aggravations.


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See all 216 reader reviews of Solus...



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