MX Linux’s Refreshed Identity: Get Ready for MX-23 ‘Libretto’

MX Linux pays homage to its origins with a logo revamp, unveiling the highly anticipated MX-23 'Libretto' public beta.

MX Linux is one of the best desktop-oriented distros, as evidenced by the fact that since 2019 it has topped the page-hit ranking of Distrowatch. It is lightning-fast and is a perfect mixture of simplicity, reliability, ease of use, and appeal to more seasoned users.

The distro is based on Debian’s stable branch, but unlike it is an (almost) systemd-free – MX uses systemd-shim, meaning that systemd is installed, but the default init is SysVinit.

These days, the distro decided to refresh its identity, changing its logo, well known to all Linux enthusiasts for years. Here’s the reason why.

The New MX Linux logo.
The New MX Linux logo, Image credits: MX Linux

The roots of MX Linux can be traced back 20 years when, in May 1993, MEPIS released its first version. Unfortunately, ten years later, the distribution ceased to exist.

However, as is often the case in the Open Source world, one thing’s end marks another’s start. This is precisely the case with MX Linux. The distro began with a discussion about future options among members of the MEPIS community in December 2013.

Joining forces with the developers from the antiX project, MX released its initial version in March 2014.

Why am I telling you all this? Because to pay homage to their roots, and more specifically to MEPIS, which started what we knew today as MX Linux 20 years ago, the developers decided to change the distribution logo, which will now be the official MX hallmark.

And the new logo has already proudly taken its place in the just-released beta of the upcoming MX-23 release, so let’s see what they have in store for us.

MX Linux 23 ‘Libretto’ Highlights

MX Linux 23 'Libretto' beta.
MX Linux 23 ‘Libretto’ beta.

Powered by long-term supported Linux kernel 6.1, MX Linux 23 builds on the upcoming Debian 12 ‘Bookworm’ base and the MX repositories. As always before, the release uses SysVinit by default, with systemd available for installed systems.

As a fully desktop-oriented Linux distribution, the emphasis is predictably on the desktop environments MX offers, and in that spirit, users here have reason to rejoice.

MX-23 will provide the latest and greatest, specifically KDE Plasma 5.27, Xfce 4.18, and Fluxbox 1.3.7. In addition, each comes loaded with new features and improvements, which you can read about in our related articles.

Continuing with the novelties, it is worth noting that the installer now supports swapfiles and swap partitions with the typical auto installation using swapfiles by default. Besides that, the installer has received many improvements, both in the GUI part and functional.

Under the hood, the MX-Updater tool now uses Nala, a frontend for the APT command, as its default backend.

And speaking of tools, MX Linux is known for offering a whole host of them to make the user experience easier. In MX-23 ‘Libretto’ beta, many of them have received bug fixes and updates, and all tools now launch with their policy kit configurations.

Finally, if you are impatient and want to try this beta, the links to the installation ISO images are in the announcement. Of course, remember that this release is for testing purposes only.

Bobby Borisov

Bobby Borisov

Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.

Think You're an Ubuntu Expert? Let's Find Out!

Put your knowledge to the test in our lightning-fast Ubuntu quiz!
Ten questions to challenge yourself to see if you're a Linux legend or just a penguin in the making.

1 / 10

Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means:

2 / 10

Who is the Ubuntu's founder?

3 / 10

What year was the first official Ubuntu release?

4 / 10

What does the Ubuntu logo symbolize?

5 / 10

What package format does Ubuntu use for installing software?

6 / 10

When are Ubuntu's LTS versions released?

7 / 10

What is Unity?

8 / 10

What are Ubuntu versions named after?

9 / 10

What's Ubuntu Core?

10 / 10

Which Ubuntu version is Snap introduced?

The average score is 68%

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *