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Solus RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Solus

Solus


Last Update: 2024-02-02 02:44 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.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 31 (290), 6 months: 25 (323), 3 months: 18 (410), 4 weeks: 34 (276), 1 week: 32 (286)

Average visitor rating: 7.48/10 from 183 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 4.5: DistroWatch
4.4: DistroWatch • MichlFranken (German)
4.x: DistroWatch • DistroWatch • Linuxzasve (Croatian) • Distrocrunch • DistroWatch • Ordinatechnic • Dedoimedo • Average Linux User • CMS Critic • Heise (German) • Dedoimedo • DistroWatch
3: Ordinatechnic • DistroWatch • CMS Critic • Linux.com • Pro-Linux (German)
2017.x: Dedoimedo • DarkDuck • DistroWatch
1.x: Dedoimedo • DistroWatch • Freedom Penguin • LWN • HecticGeek •
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try Donate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 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
 • 2016-09-07: Distribution Release: Solus 1.2.0.5
 • 2016-06-20: Distribution Release: Solus 1.2
 • 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 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Feature
Release Date 2024-01-09 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$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 2200-2600 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 Free Download
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Installation
Default Desktop 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) eopkg (pisi fork) Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite 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 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd Init Software
Journaled File Systems                   Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes         Multilingual
Asian Language Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes         Asian Language Support
Full Package List 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Full Package List
Package 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9999 3 2017.04.18.0 1.2.1 Package
abiword (3.0.5) 3.0.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- abiword (3.0.5)
alsa-lib (1.2.11) 1.2.10 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 (1.2.11)
amdgpu (23.0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.21) 5.1 5.1.16 5.1 5.0 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 bash (5.2.21)
bind (9.18.24) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.18.24)
chromium (122.0.6261.128) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (122.0.6261.128)
cups (2.4.7) 2.2.13 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 (2.4.7)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) -- 4.4.2 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) 1.47.0 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 (123.0.1) 121.0 114.0.1 89.0.2 72.0.2 65.0.1 62.0 55.0.1 52.0.2 49.0.1 firefox (123.0.1)
freetype (2.13.2) 2.13.2 2.13.0 2.10.4 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6.1 freetype (2.13.2)
gcc (13.2.0) 13.2.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gcc (13.2.0)
gimp (2.10.36) 2.10.36 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (2.10.36)
glibc (2.39) 2.38 2.36 2.33 2.29 2.29 2.27 2.25 2.25 2.24 glibc (2.39)
gnome-shell (45.4) 45.2 43.5 40.2 3.34.3 3.28.3 3.28.3 3.24.3 3.24.1 -- gnome-shell (45.4)
gnucash (5.5) 5.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnucash (5.5)
gnumeric (1.12.57) 1.12.55 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnumeric (1.12.57)
grub (2.12) 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 2.02beta2 2.00beta2 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.14.0) 4 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 (4.14.0)
httpd (2.4.58) 2.4.58 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.58)
inkscape (1.3.1) 1.3.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.3.1)
k3b (24.02.0) 23.08.4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- k3b (24.02.0)
kmod (32) 31 30 25 25 25 25 24 17 17 kmod (32)
krita (5.2.2) 5.1.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.1.0 -- krita (5.2.2)
LibreOffice (24.2.1) 7.6.4.1 7.5.3 7.1.4 6.3.4 6.2.1 6.1.0 5.4.0 5.3.2 -- LibreOffice (24.2.1)
linux (6.8) 5.15.145 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 (6.8)
Package 4.5 4.4 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 (11.2.3) 10.6.15 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (11.2.3)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.27.3 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 (24.0.2) 9.0.0 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 (24.0.2)
mysql (8.3.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (8.3.0)
nautilus (45.2.1) 45.2 43.4 40.2 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.26.4 3.24.2 3.24.0 3.20.3 nautilus (45.2.1)
NVIDIA (550.54.14) -- 535.54.03 465.31 440.82 418.43 390.87 384.59 375.39 370.28 NVIDIA (550.54.14)
openbox (3.6.1) 3.6.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (21.0.2) 17 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (21.0.2)
openssh (9.7p1) 9.6p1 9.3p1 8.6p1 8.1p1 7.7p1 7.7p1 7.5p1 7.5p1 7.3p1 openssh (9.7p1)
openssl (3.2.1) 3.1.4x 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 (3.2.1)
perl (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 (5.38.2)
php (8.3.4) 8.1.22 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.3.4)
plasma-desktop (6.0.2) 5.27.10 5.27.5 5.22.2 5.17.5 -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.0.2)
postfix (3.9.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.9.0)
postgresql (16.2) 16.1 -- -- -- -- 10.5 -- -- -- postgresql (16.2)
Python (3.12.2) 3.10.13 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 (3.12.2)
qt (6.6.2) 6.6.1 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 (6.6.2)
samba (4.19.5) 4.17.12 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 (4.19.5)
systemd (255.4) 253.15 251.15 247.7 244 239 239 218 218 218 systemd (255.4)
thunderbird (115.8.1) 115.6.0 102.12.0 78.11.0 68.4.1 60.5.2 60.0 52.2.1 52.0.1 45.4.0 thunderbird (115.8.1)
vim (9.1) 9.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.20) 3.0.20 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 (3.0.20)
wayland (1.22.0) 1.22.0 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 (1.22.0)
xfdesktop (4.18.1) 4.18.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.18.1)
xorg-server (21.1.11) 21.1.10 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 (21.1.11)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Solus

Average rating
7.5
from 183 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: 4.5
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-03-05
Votes: 14


I've been using solus with Plasma desktop for the last 4 months and so far I've had no excuses to move away from it. I am not a power user but I've been using linux for quite some time. I use solus for every day normal usage and been using it for taking online courses on python, etc.
I always wanted to use a rolling linux distribution not necessarily with cutting edge software but reasonably updated applications that also offers not so heavy on plasma desktop and solus fits perfectly for what I need.
The Software Centre can use some polish and better user friendliness and features however, it still does the job. I could give it a full 10 but since every linux distributions in my opinon could use some improvements including solus, I think a 9 is better suited. I appreciate the work and hope the team continue to improve upon it.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.5
Rating: 5
Date: 2024-02-26
Votes: 0


I'm someone that has relied on grub for booting, even through the transition to uefi and gpt. I have a slightly better grasp of how it all tries to work, but distros like Solus, which I just installed, baffle me. Solus puts its boot stuff, including the kernel and initrd, on the invisible efi partition. I've seen this before only with extreme niche distro Paldo. It makes it impossible for grub's os-prober to provide an entry for the os that chooses this way of doing things. In Solus' case, their os-prober didn't find a thing before dying. At least it didn't become the actual boot loader...

I didn't spend much time with Solus this time (I've tried it a few times over the years), but it seemed fine. Plasma worked fine, the usual sparse repo selection still there. Ultimately it was not a keeper for me, mainly due to the hoop jumping necessary to boot it.



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 4.5
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-01-25
Votes: 72


After saying I'd give up in my previous review due to NVMe drives not being read in the installer, I decided to give it one more try since the newest version switched to Calamares. Seems to have been the magic bullet for fixing my install issues, as the installer was ready at ramming speed with the partitions on my NVMe drive. Also seemed to configure EFI properly for once.

Now that I'm in the system, everything seems to work fine for me out of the box. No complaints on my end now. Repos maybe a little sparse but we also have flatpak to compensate. Only wish is that they had more 3rd party source install support.


Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 183 reader reviews of Solus...


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