SolydK

SolydK is an open source distribution of Linux that aims to be easy-to-use, providing users with a modern and familiar graphical environment that is secure, beautiful and stable. It is based on the award winning Debian GNU/Linux operating system and built around the KDE SC desktop environment.

Availability, boot options, supported platforms

The project is distributed as Live DVD ISO images, specifically designed to support both 32- and 64-bit hardware platforms. In order to boot the operating system from this ISO images, users will first need to write them to DVD discs or USB flash drives.

They're designed to boot automatically, if the user does not press a key for ten seconds. Pressing any key on your keyboard during the 10 second timeout, will reveal the boot prompt, which allows you to start the live environment with default options, without boot splash, and in compatibility mode for better hardware detection.

In addition, users can boot an existing operating system installed on the first disk drive, run a memory (RAM) diagnostic test, check the integrity of the boot medium (only if using a DVD media), as well as to reboot or shutdown the computer.

Pure KDE desktop environment, a really great set of apps

The KDE SC desktop environment seems untouched in this Linux-based operating system, providing users with a single taskbar located on the bottom edge of the screen, from where they can access the main menu, launch applications, interact with running programs, and switch between virtual desktops.

Default applications include Steam for Linux client, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client, digiKam photo management program, VLC Media Player, Amarok music player and organizer, KTorrent BitTorrent client, as well as the entire LibreOffice office suite.

Bottom line

Summing up, SolydK is a very good and stable Linux distribution that features a great graphical environment and follows a rolling-release model, which means that you will never have to reinstall the operating system in order to get new versions of installed packages.

What is new in this release:

• All SolydXK ISOs are fully updated, including the latest kernel release with the Meltodown vulnarability patch. The ISOs come with a system configuration tool called "SolydXK System Settings".
• Device Driver Manager (DDM) has been integrated.
• Debian Plymouth Manager has been integrated.
• Add new partitions to Fstab.
• Safely remove old kernel packages.

What is new in version 9 201801:

• All SolydXK ISOs are fully updated, including the latest kernel release with the Meltodown vulnarability patch. The ISOs come with a system configuration tool called "SolydXK System Settings".
• Device Driver Manager (DDM) has been integrated.
• Debian Plymouth Manager has been integrated.
• Add new partitions to Fstab.
• Safely remove old kernel packages.

What is new in version 9:

• Firefox ESR is now used from Debian repository instead of custom built and installed from the SolydXK repository.
• You can now use custom mount points in the Live Installer. Double click on a partition to select a pre-defined mount point or write your custom mount point.
• Improved command handling of SolydXK applications for the Enthusiast's Editions.
• The SolydXK scripts were moved from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin.
• Grizzler improved the /usr/bin/apt script. Run apt in terminal to see a list of commands with explanation.
• SolydX RPI has been built from scratch and is based on Raspbian.
• And many more smaller changes that I forgot to mention here

What is new in version 201703 / 9 Beta:

• Firefox ESR is now used from Debian repository instead of custom built and installed from the SolydXK repository.
• You can now use custom mount points in the Live Installer. Double click on a partition to select a pre-defined mount point or write your custom mount point.
• Improved command handling of SolydXK applications for the Enthusiast's Editions.
• The SolydXK scripts were moved from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin.
• Grizzler improved the /usr/bin/apt script. Run apt in terminal to see a list of commands with explanation.
• SolydX RPI has been built from scratch and is based on Raspbian.
• And many more smaller changes that I forgot to mention here

What is new in version 201703:

• Firefox ESR is now used from Debian repository instead of custom built and installed from the SolydXK repository.
• You can now use custom mount points in the Live Installer. Double click on a partition to select a pre-defined mount point or write your custom mount point.
• Improved command handling of SolydXK applications for the Enthusiast's Editions.
• The SolydXK scripts were moved from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin.
• Grizzler improved the /usr/bin/apt script. Run apt in terminal to see a list of commands with explanation.
• SolydX RPI has been built from scratch and is based on Raspbian.
• And many more smaller changes that I forgot to mention here

What is new in version 201701:

• Firefox ESR is now used from Debian repository instead of custom built and installed from the SolydXK repository.
• You can now use custom mount points in the Live Installer. Double click on a partition to select a pre-defined mount point or write your custom mount point.
• Improved command handling of SolydXK applications for the Enthusiast's Editions.
• The SolydXK scripts were moved from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin.
• Grizzler improved the /usr/bin/apt script. Run apt in terminal to see a list of commands with explanation.
• SolydX RPI has been built from scratch and is based on Raspbian.
• And many more smaller changes that I forgot to mention here

What is new in version 201606:

• Firefox ESR is now used from Debian repository instead of custom built and installed from the SolydXK repository.
• You can now use custom mount points in the Live Installer. Double click on a partition to select a pre-defined mount point or write your custom mount point.
• Improved command handling of SolydXK applications for the Enthusiast's Editions.
• The SolydXK scripts were moved from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin.
• Grizzler improved the /usr/bin/apt script. Run apt in terminal to see a list of commands with explanation.
• SolydX RPI has been built from scratch and is based on Raspbian.
• And many more smaller changes that I forgot to mention here

What is new in version 201512:

• Based on Debian 8.1

What is new in version 201506:

• Based on Debian 8.1

What is new in version 201501:

• For both SolydX and SolydK the theming has changed. SolydK comes with the QtCurve theme, SolydX with Greybird and both use the fabulous Evolvere icon theme. After the installation you will be presented with a complete new welcome screen and most SolydXK tools were updated as well. We hope you're going to like this new edition.

What is new in version 201411:

• The Home Editions were upgraded to the latest Upgrade Pack and the Business Editions were upgraded with the latest security updates. This time I will not list the version changes of the major applications, but limit myself to the most important changes.
• The Live Installer now supports multiple drives which will give you the ability to install the home directory to a separate drive rather then another partition.

What is new in version 201407:

• Debian has started to move testing to systemd. The Home Editions use systemd while the Business Editions continue to use sysvinit. For the Home Editions, you will notice the difference during boot, but especially during shut down which now takes a lot less time. We can still need your help to improve boot time, though. Samba is on by default, and that is causing no significant improvement in boot time.
• If you're really into optimizing boot time, you can start by analyzing the output of these commands...
• systemd-analyze blame
• systemd-analyze critical-chain
• As from the last update kdenext was removed from SolydK. We are now tracking Debian KDE.
• The multimedia repository (deb-multimedia) has been removed from the ISOs. Some of the multimedia packages, and some codecs were added to our own repository. These packages might, or might not be legal to use in your country, but you can install them by checking the Multimedia check box during the installation. This option is selected by default.
• The current multimedia repository is still available, and you can continue to use it. If you want to remove the multimedia repository from your current system, and replace them with a Debian equivalent, you can use Grizzler's script as described in this tutorial: http://forums.solydxk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4367
• The KDE Display Manager (KDM) has been replaced with LightDM. If you want to replace KDM with LightDM on your current system, you can follow this tutorial: http://forums.solydxk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4368.

What is new in version 201405:

• KDE:
• KDE has been updated to version 4.12.4
• Kernel:
• Kernel updated to version 3.13-1
• Firefox and Thunderbird:
• Firefox has been updated to version 29.0, and Thunderbird to version 24.5
• Both come with these add-ons:
• Locale Switcher to switch installed language packs.
• Firefox comes with Adblock Plus.
• Thunderbird comes with the Lightning Calendar, and more.
• LibreOffice:
• LibreOffice has been updated to version 4.1.5-2.
• Plymouth:
• The SolydXK Plymouth theme has been changed, and the Plymouth Manager has been adapted accordingly.

What is new in version 201401:

• KDE:
• KDE has been updated to version 4.12.1
• LibreOffice:
• LibreOffice has been updated to version 4.1.4-2
• Firefox and Thunderbird:
• Firefox has been updated to version 26.0, and Thunderbird to version 24.2.0
• Community packages:
• These packages were added to the community repository:
• grub-customizer, kdeconnect, plasma-mediacenter, xfce-theme-manager, xfwm4compositeeditor

What is new in version 201311:

• SolydK Business Edition has been created for businesses and organizations with stability and security in mind. While the home editions of SolydXK were developed to be stable and still having the latest software available, the SolydK Business Edition has been developed to provide "Long Term Support" based on Debian Stable.
• SolydK Back Office has been added to the Business Editions, and like SolydK BE, it is now based on Debian Stable.
• The Home Editions consist of the 32-bit, and 64-bit editions of SolydX, and SolydK, including the SolydXK Multi DVD. They are still based on Debian Testing with our well-known Update Packs.

What is new in version 201308:

• SolydX:
• The default start menu has been replaced by the Whisker menu.
• This menu has a built-in search function, and you can easily change your favorite programs list.
• The network manager Wicd has been replaced by Network Manager.
• Network Manager supports mobile broadband by default.
• SolydK:
• KDE has been upgraded to version 4.10.5
• For a detailed description, read here: http://www.kde.org/announcements/4.10.
• SolydK Back Office:
• The CRM software Zurmo has been upgraded to version 2.0.21

What is new in version 201306:

• Thanks to some forum users these applications are now localized to Spanish, Catalan, German and Dutch:
• Device Driver Manager (DDM)
• Debian Plymouth Manager
• LightDM Manager
• Software Manager
• Welcome Screen
• If you want to help translating, you can start with this simple tutorial: http://forums.solydxk.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=678
• Steam Installer was removed, and Steam installed. Thus leaving out a step to install Steam before you can start playing.
• Blueman was removed from SolydX. It showed in the system stray even when you don't have Bluetooth running. So, if you want to use Bluetooth on SolydX, you can simply install Blueman with the Software Manager, or run this command in the terminal:
• sudo apt-get install blueman
• Java was upgraded to the latest version.
• The .NET implementation for Linux, Mono, was removed from SolydK. Very few people use it, and it's automatically installed if a package you need relies on it.