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Solus


Last Update: 2023-01-30 01:13 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 a custom desktop environment called "Budgie", developed in-house. The Budgie desktop, which can be set to emulate the look and feel of the GNOME 2 desktop, is tightly integrated with the GNOME stack. The distribution is available for 64-bit computers only.

Average visitor rating: 7.18/10 from 141 review(s).


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

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 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
 • 2016-09-07: Distribution Release: Solus 1.2.0.5
 • 2016-06-20: Distribution Release: Solus 1.2
 • 2016-03-02: Distribution Release: Solus 1.1
 • 2015-12-27: Distribution Release: Solus 1.0
 • More Solus releases...

  Headlines:
 • 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
 • 2018-06-27 Solus polishes desktop tools
 • 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 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Feature
Release Date 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$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 1800-2100 1600-1900 1400-1500 1400-1500 1100-1200     Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Installation
Default Desktop 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) eopkg (pisi fork) Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice -- 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               Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes         Multilingual
Asian Language Support Yes Yes Yes         Asian Language Support
Full Package List 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Full Package List
Package 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Package
abiword (3.0.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- abiword (3.0.5)
alsa-lib (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 (1.2.9)
amdgpu (23.0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.15) 5.1 5.0 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 bash (5.2.15)
bind (9.18.15) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.18.15)
chromium (114.0.5735.90) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (114.0.5735.90)
cups (2.4.2) 2.2.13 2.2.8 2.2.8 2.2.8 2.2.3 2.2.3 2.1.0 cups (2.4.2)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.2 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.3.2 4.3.2 4.3.2 dhcp (4.4.3-P1)
e2fsprogs (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 (1.47.0)
firefox (113.0.2) 89.0.2 72.0.2 65.0.1 62.0 55.0.1 52.0.2 49.0.1 firefox (113.0.2)
freetype (2.13.0) 2.10.4 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6.1 freetype (2.13.0)
gcc (13.1.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gcc (13.1.0)
gimp (2.10.34) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (2.10.34)
glibc (2.37) 2.33 2.29 2.29 2.27 2.25 2.25 2.24 glibc (2.37)
gnome-shell (44.1) 40.2 3.34.3 3.28.3 3.28.3 3.24.3 3.24.1 -- gnome-shell (44.1)
gnucash (5.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnucash (5.1)
gnumeric (1.12.55) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnumeric (1.12.55)
grub (2.06) 2.04 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 2.02beta2 2.00beta2 grub (2.06)
gtk (4.10.3) 3.24.29 3.24.13 3.22.30 3.22.30 3.22.18 3.22.12 3.18.9 gtk (4.10.3)
httpd (2.4.57) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.57)
inkscape (1.2.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.2.2)
k3b (23.04.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- k3b (23.04.1)
kmod (30) 25 25 25 25 24 17 17 kmod (30)
krita (5.1.5) -- -- -- -- -- 3.1.0 -- krita (5.1.5)
libreoffice (7.5.3) 7.1.4 6.3.4 6.2.1 6.1.0 5.4.0 5.3.2 -- libreoffice (7.5.3)
linux (6.3.5) 5.13.1 5.4.12 4.20.16 4.18.5 4.12.7 4.9.22 4.8.2 linux (6.3.5)
Package 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (10.11.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (10.11.3)
mate-desktop (1.26.1) 1.24.2 1.22.2 1.20.4 1.20.3 1.18.0 1.18.0 -- mate-desktop (1.26.1)
mesa (23.1.1) 21.1.3 19.3.2 19.0.0 18.1.6 17.1.6 17.0.4 12.1.0 mesa (23.1.1)
mysql (8.0.33) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (8.0.33)
nautilus (44.2) 40.2 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.24.2 3.24.0 3.20.3 nautilus (44.2)
NVIDIA (530.41.03) 465.31 440.82 418.43 390.87 384.59 375.39 370.28 NVIDIA (530.41.03)
openbox (3.6.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (20.0.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (20.0.1)
openssh (9.3p1) 8.6p1 8.1p1 7.7p1 7.7p1 7.5p1 7.5p1 7.3p1 openssh (9.3p1)
openssl (3.1.1) 1.1.1k 1.0.2u 1.0.2r 1.0.2p 1.0.2l 1.0.2k 1.0.2j openssl (3.1.1)
perl (5.36.1) 5.32.1 5.30.1 5.28.1 5.26.2 5.24.1 5.24.1 5.22.1 perl (5.36.1)
php (8.2.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.2.6)
plasma-desktop (5.27.5) 5.22.2 5.17.5 -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (5.27.5)
postfix (3.8.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.8.0)
postgresql (15.3) 13.3 -- -- 10.5 -- -- -- postgresql (15.3)
Python (3.11.3) 3.7.11 3.7.6 2.7.16 2.7.15 2.7.13 2.7.13 2.7.12 Python (3.11.3)
qt (6.5.1) 5.15.3 5.13.2 5.12.1 5.11.1 5.9.1 5.6.2 5.6.1 qt (6.5.1)
samba (4.18.3) 4.13.9 4.10.11 4.8.8 4.7.9 4.6.6 4.3.13 4.3.11 samba (4.18.3)
systemd (253.4) 247.7 244 239 239 218 218 218 systemd (253.4)
thunderbird (102.11.2) 78.11.0 68.4.1 60.5.2 60.0 52.2.1 52.0.1 45.4.0 thunderbird (102.11.2)
vim (9.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vim (9.0)
vlc (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 (3.0.18)
wayland (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 (1.22.0)
xfdesktop (4.18.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.18.1)
xorg-server (21.1.8) 1.20.12 1.20.6 1.20.3 1.19.6 1.18.4 1.18.4 1.18.4 xorg-server (21.1.8)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Solus

Average rating
7.2
from 141 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.
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: 4.3
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-04-22
Votes: 66


Everything was great until the January server crash , now works again with the return of the founder and the Budgie dev back , first update after almost 4 months , awesome .

I'm using the main "flavor" with the Budgie DE , it is lightweight and very stable , comparing to other version for example kde or GNOME , i love so much the budgie and i install it on my secondary distro in my pc the Nobara 37 (fedora 37 customized for games) and the budgie their isn't as stable as it is on SOLUS . The main difference vs fedora is the semi-rolling release since it will update weekly and after some internal testing first , for the last 2 years that i have it as my main NEVER had broken after an upgrade (in compare to Arch based distros)

Highly recommend it but for newer users i would suggest to wait for a month to be fully distribute any upgrades needed and then do the jump.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.3
Rating: 5
Date: 2023-03-30
Votes: 14


RIP Solus...

I was very happy with Solus since 2018. Recent catastrophe with leadership has sent this one spiraling downhill. Unfortunately, there has not been an update since January, and the website had an outage that lasted a couple of weeks. Overall, my experience has been great, but with needing to be on an up-to-date machine and no future in sight for this distro, sadly I'm onto the next one.

Hope to see this one come back in the near future as the dev has briefly mentioned on Twitter, but even there it seems like it will not be likely.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.3
Rating: 2
Date: 2023-03-28
Votes: 0


Please, if you want a distro with up to date packages but stable and with a secure future, just choose openSUSE, Fedora, or Void.


While these distros have their flaws, they are more likely to survive and not die out than Solus.

Many people in the linux community don't like distros that are backed by a company, but for me it is nice. It allows me not to worry about if my distro is going to malfunction or die just because a few project leaders left. For example, Ubuntu has lost many community members but that does not stop the distro. If you want a community based distro choose Debian, Arch and Void.


If a distro has been without any updates for 2 months, then that means it is not reliable.


For Solus to get back up, its developers need to Communicate more about what's happening. I mean if the distro is discontinued, tell us. If the infrastructure can't be recovered tell us. We need news about what's happening.

There's a reason why distros like openSUSE and Fedora are rising in popularity. Its because they are more communicative and less likely to die.

So, in this present day basically, there is no reason to choose Solus over Fedora, openSUSE and Void. The performance of Solus is now present in most other distros out there. And how do you expect new users to use an almost 2 year iso while other beginner distros, like Ubuntu and Linuxmint, have up to date installation images?

TLDR: Don't use Solus. Its like flagging a dead horse at the moment.



Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 141 reader reviews of Solus...


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