Trisquel GNU/Linux

Trisquel GNU/Linux is an open source distribution of Linux based on the world’s most popular free operating system, Ubuntu, and built around the GNOME desktop environment. It comes with out-of-the-box support for English and Spanish languages.

Distributed as 32-bit and 64-bit hybrid Live DVDs

It is distributed as two Live DVD ISO-hybrid images, one for each of the supported architectures (64-bit and 32-bit). They can be written to USB flash drives or burned onto blank DVD discs, which can be used to run boot into the live environment.

Boot options

From the boot prompt of the Live DVD, you can start an existing operating system that is currently installed on the first disk drive, run a memory diagnostic test, try Trisquel without installing it, as well as to install the operating system without testing it (not recommended).

Two installation modes are provided on the boot menu, graphical and text mode. However, we recommend users to first test the distribution directly from the Live CD and then, if they like it, install it using the graphical installer provided on the desktop.

Features the GNOME desktop environment

As mentioned, the live session is powered by the GNOME desktop environment, an old version of it that is no longer supported by the GNOME Project. However, we have to admit that it looks very nice and it’s responsive, providing users with a single taskbar located on the bottom edge of the screen.

Default applications

Default applications include the Abrowser web browser, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, LibreOffice office suite, GIMP image editor, gThumb image viewer, Evince document viewer, Transmission torrent downloader, Liferea news reader, Remmina remote desktop client, and Evolution email and calendar client.

In addition, it comes with the GNOME PPP tool for configuring dialup connections, Gwibber social networking client for Twitter and Facebook, Totem movie player, Brasero CD/DVD burning software, PiTiVi video editor, Rhythmbox music player, and OggConvert audio converter.

Bottom line

All in all, Trisquel GNU/Linux is a very stable (LTS - Long Term Support) operating system that features a highly customized desktop environment and a great selection of applications. It is based on Ubuntu and designed for Windows users who want to migrate to an open source OS.

What is new in this release:

• Kernel Linux-libre 3.13 with lowlatency and bfq scheduling
• Custom desktop based on GNOME 3.12 fallback.
• Abrowser 33 as default browser, with simple Tor integration
• GNU IceCat 31 available as single-click optional install from Abrowser's homepage. Complete with many extra privacy features.
• Electrum Bitcoin Wallet preinstalled
• Moved to DVD format, now with 50+ languages and extra applications
• Improved accessibility by default

What is new in version 7.0 LTS:

• Kernel Linux-libre 3.13 with lowlatency and bfq scheduling
• Custom desktop based on GNOME 3.12 fallback.
• Abrowser 33 as default browser, with simple Tor integration
• GNU IceCat 31 available as single-click optional install from Abrowser's homepage. Complete with many extra privacy features.
• Electrum Bitcoin Wallet preinstalled
• Moved to DVD format, now with 50+ languages and extra applications
• Improved accessibility by default

What is new in version 6.0.1 LTS:

• Support for UEFI installation (amd64).
• Abrowser upgraded to v28, with improved privacy settings.
• Linux-libre updated to 3.2.0-60, 3.5 and 3.11 branches available in the repositories.
• Added open-ath9k-htc firmware to the images.
• Added all free firmware files to the netinstall images so they can be used over wifi.

What is new in version 6.0:

• Linux-Libre 3.2
• Xorg
• Abrowser 19
• GNOME 3.4
• LibreOffice 3.5

What is new in version 5.5:

• Linux-libre 3.0.0
• GNOME 3.2
• Abrowser 11
• LibreOffice 3.4.4

What is new in version 4.5:

• Linux-libre 2.6.35
• Xorg 7.5
• GNOME 2.32
• Mozilla based web browser 3.6.15
• OpenOffice.org 3.2

What is new in version 2.2:

• Trisquel 2.2 Robur is ready for download. It is the third and last maintenance update for the 2.x LTS branch, which will be supported until 2013. The 6 ISO images released today -32 and 64 bit for all three editions- include more than 200 package updates, a new and cleaner GTK theme, and four new pre-installed languages -the list now includes English, Basque, Catalonian, Chinese, French, Galician, Hindi, Portuguese and Spanish-. This language selection matches the one in Trisquel 3.0, which is almost ready for release.

What is new in version 2.1:

• We are very proud today to announce the release of the 2.1 version of Trisquel GNU/Linux in its three editions, including, for the first time, the education-oriented branch along with the domestic and enterprise ones. From this release on, the three editions include the linux-libre kernel, and lots of small improvements have been made to improve the user experience and other aspects such as security and performance. All these upgrades can be applied over an existing installation using the automated update system.