SparkyLinux 8.4 rekindles support for 32-bit PCs

In December 2022, SparkyLinux 8.4 was released, bringing back support for 32-bit PCs after a one-year hiatus. This distro, based on Debian 13 and known as the Seven Sisters, remains largely unchanged from its previous version, with only minor updates from the move from Debian 12 to Debian 13. SparkyLinux offers various desktop environments, including LXQt, MATE, Xfce, KDE, a minimal command-line edition, and a minimal GUI edition with Openbox. All of these options come with Sparky's improved package manager, Aptus.

This year, SparkyLinux is one of several Debian derivatives that offer 32-bit editions, following in the footsteps of Window Maker Live 13.2 and antiX 26, which provide older kernel versions. The 32-bit edition of SparkyLinux 8.4 was tested using the Calamares installer, which works seamlessly for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

Upon installation, users are prompted to configure locales and keyboard layouts, after which they can choose from a range of desktop environments, including a modern recreation of the old CDE called NsCDE.

The 32-bit version of SparkyLinux 8.4 requires a 686-class CPU with PAE support, and it runs comfortably on a 32-bit virtual machine with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of disk space. Although it does not support Snap or Flatpak, it does use systemd, similar to Debian. SparkyLinux 8.4 also includes its own 32-bit build of Firefox 140 ESR, which functions without issues.

This distribution could be a valuable resource for reviving older Atom-powered netbooks or serving as a lightweight option for smaller VMs, especially on more capable hardware.