SparkyLinux releases 2026.09 Tiamat with new Wayland edition

SparkyLinux has released version 2026.09, codenamed ‘Tiamat’. Based on the Debian testing branch, this semi-rolling release introduces the distribution’s first official Wayland edition featuring the lightweight Labwc compositor.

The new MinimalGUI edition is designed for power users, offering a bare-bones experience similar to Openbox but built on Wayland. This specific edition excludes certain administrative tools like Calamares, Synaptic, and APTus, requiring users to initiate installation via the terminal using the ‘sudo sparky-installer’ command.

Technical updates in this release include Linux kernel 7.2.6, though long-term support kernels (6.18.53 LTS and 6.12.111 LTS) are also available in the repositories. Other significant software updates include GCC 16, Python 3.14, KDE Plasma 6.7.4, Xfce 4.20.1, LXQt 2.4, and MATE 1.26.1. Additionally, the release includes updated versions of LibreOffice, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird ESR.