GeezerVison

Hopefully we squashed the bugs, but there might still be an issue with bluetooth mouse not being picked up.

Many thanks to all antiX devs and forum members that found and fixed these bugs.
Also, many thanks to our website/forum managers in keeping us up and running despite numerous attempts to shut us down.

antiX-26.1 (Stephen Kapos) is a new release based on Debian trixie that includes 5 init systems. (runit, sysVinit, dinit, s6-rc and s6-66). Default init=runit.

We continue using window managers and the following are included.

IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and the tiling window manager – herbstluftwm

There are 2 flavours – full (c2GB) and core (c660MB) for 64bit and 32bit arch.

ProwlerGR deserves all the credit for integrating the various inits onto antiX as well as implementing the experimental turnstile.

What’s included on antiX-26.1-full

* Based on Debian 13 (Trixie), but without systemd/libsystemd0 nor elogind/libelogind0.
* eudev instead of udev
* Customised 5.10.256 kernel
* Customised 6.6.139 kernel (x64 full only)
* libreoffice
* firefox-esr
* claws-mail
* cups for printing
* pipewire/wireplumber default on 64bit full
* alsa default on 32bit full
* xmms – for playing audio
* celluloid, mpv and Xine – for playing video
* gtk-pipe-viewer – play youtube videos without a using a browser
* Evince – pdf reader

* Qogir icon theme
* arc-evopro2-theme-antix
* App Select – Much more than a launcher app.
* User Language – set up localisation of popular apps

* Reorganised menu and more entries added to the control centre – thanks Robin

* No snaps (systemd) and no flatpaks (elogind)!

So what do we have.

File managers and desktop:

* zzzFM
* rox-filer
* mc

Convert your video and audio files with:

* winff
* asunder

Connect to the net with:

* connman
* gnome-ppp (if you are still on dial-up)
* ceni

Editors:

* geany
* leafpad

Tools for remastering and creating snapshots of installed system:

* iso-snapshot
* remaster tools

General tools:

* bootrepair
* Package Installer
* Network Assistant
* User Manager
* Package Installer
* Repo Manager
* ddm-mx – install nvidia drivers

Others:

* hexchat – gui chat
* luckybackup – excellent backup tool. There’s nothing lucky about it!
* simple-scan and Xsane – for scanning documents
* transmission-gtk – torrent downloader
* wingrid-antix – turn the stacking window managers into tilers.
* Xfburn for burning cd/dvd
* connectshares-antix for network shares
* droopy-antix – an easy way to transfer files over the net.
* mirage – image viewer
* antiX Control Centre – an easy way to do just about anything!
* cherrytree – note taking application

Why not try out our included ‘cli’ apps:

* Editors: nano and vim-tiny
* Newsreader: newsboat
* Chat: irssi
* Audio player: mocp
* Video player: mpv
* Youtube video: pipe-viewer
* Torrent: rtorrent
* Cd burner: cdw
* Repair: Chroot Rescue Scan

Many in-house scripts and applications have been tweaked and further improved.
* antiX TV – antiX streaming tv receiver
* antiX Radio – antiX streaming radio receiver GUI for MPV
* Finder – Simple yad script to search for everything (Files, Installed apps, web)
* antiX SAMBA manager – Script for managing SAMBA shares in antiX control centre.
* antiX equaliser toggle – tool for activating or deactivating pipewire-equaliser »Easyeffects«
* antiX acoustic colours – script allowing to change the acoustic colour of audio output
* meld – graphical tool to diff and merge files

Cool in-house antiX apps available in the repos:

* 1-to-1-voice-antix – Voice chat between two pcs via encrypted mumble
* 1-to-1-assistance-antix – Remote access help application
* ssh-conduit – Remote resouces via an ssh encypted connection

Many thanks to all the contributors, supporters, and antiX enthusiasts.

Download here

Enjoy!

anticapitalista, 29 September 2026, Thessaloniki

5.10.256-antix.1
6.1.173-antix.1 (antiX-23 x64 only)
6.6.139-antix.1 (x64 only)

5.10.254-antix.1
6.6.137-antix.1 (x64 only)

antiX-26 (Stephen Kapos) is a new release based on Debian trixie that includes 5 init systems. (runit, sysVinit, dinit, s6-rc and s6-66). Default init=runit.

We continue using window managers and the following are included.

IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and the tiling window manager – herbstluftwm

https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Testing/antiX-26/

antiX-full and antiX-core isos (32 and 64 bit) available for (hopefully final) testing before release.
We’re really looking for any show-stoppers such as boot failure, installation issues rather than quirks or minor bugs (but please report any).

Both ‘full’ and ‘core’ editions ship with 5 inits to choose from (runit, sysVinit, dinit, s6-rc and s6-66).
All iso files include a 5.10 legacy kernel.
antiX-full 64bit also includes a 6.6kernel.

‘full’ edition includes lots of software, which some may consider ‘bloat’, be we consider ‘useful’.
Software includes firefox-esr for browsing, libreoffice, mpv for video, xmms for audio.

antiX has never claimed to be minimalist, but we provide ‘core’ for those that want full control over what to install.
‘core’ does not include a graphical interface and users will need a wired connection to access the net.

Enjoy!
anticapitalista 29 January 2026

Bullet point notes for now.

* based on Debian 13 ‘trixie’
* 4 modern systemd-free init systems – runit (default), s6-rc, s6-66 and dinit (plus a golden oldie – the ever reliable sysVinit added)
* new default look
* turnstile included on the iso, but disabled when booting live
* usual ‘antiX magic’
* you *should* be able to boot live in the non-default init and it *should* then become the default after install.

Please note that user intervention will be required more than previous versions of antiX, especially if not using the default runit option.
This means that users will need to add any needed service files for the init they are using eg network-manager will also need runit-service-network-manager (and the equivalents for dinit, s6-rc and s6-66 if available).

Test it out and post feedback in this thread.

This release is unique in that it would not have existed without the cooperation of many other distro developers.
Full acknowledgement will appear in the final release. Just to say that @ProwlerGR deserves all the credit for integrating the various inits onto antiX as well as turnstile.

Here is the link to the folder to download the file: https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Testing/antiX-25/

There are bugs/known issues (it is a beta release after all) –

* IceWM control centre does not have any icons
* Package Installer needs updating, so some/many will not work (any volunteers to check and prove fixes?)
* FAQ needs updating

Enjoy!

Bullet point notes for now.

* based on Debian 13 ‘trixie’
* 4 modern systemd-free init systems – runit (default), s6-rc, s6-66 and dinit
* new default look
* usual ‘antiX magic’
* you *should* be able to boot live in the non-default init and it *should* then become the default after install.

Please note that user intervention will be required more than previous versions of antiX, especially if not using the default runit option.
This means that users will need to add any needed service files for the init they are using eg network-manager will also need runit-service-network-manager (and the equivalents for dinit, s6-rc and s6-66 if available).

Test it out and post feedback in the thread at the forums.

This release is unique in that it would not have existed without the cooperation of many other distro developers.
Full acknowledgement will appear in the final release. Just to say that @ProwlerGR deserves all the credit for integrating the various inits onto antiX.

Here is the link to the folder to download the file: https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Testing/antiX-25/

There are bugs/known issues (it is a beta release after all) –

* IceWM control centre does not have any icons
* Some missing icons in menus
* Translations may not be up to date
* Installation warnings if you do not boot and install using default mode, but will/should install ok
* Check-box – Reboot after installation fails
* No trash can on default zzzfm-icewm desktop
* s6-rc does not connect to net – install s6-rc-service-connmand in another init.

Enjoy!

I am proud to announce the release of my antiX-23.2 – init-diversity – 2025 remaster edition which includes 6 inits (sysvinit – s6-rc – s6-66 – OpenRC – dinit – runit).

Download link: antiX-23.2_init-diversity_2025-remaster-edition
x64 in filename denotes 64-bit,
x86 in filename denotes 32-bit (i386)

user: demo
passwd: demo
root passwd: root

A big thanks to calciumsodium, masinick, and ile for testing and reporting bugs on the original 20250510 and 20250512 iso’s.
All iso’s from 20250514 onwards have all critical bugs addressed and any iso after this version may have a few different versions of software installed.

A special thanks also to eric from Obarun for providing guidance about getting 66 properly working on antiX, which in my humble opinion is the pinnacle of this respin.

From a users point of view, you will not notice much of a difference from the original spin apart from the presence of dinit and the new dialogbox GUI that I ported from runit and s6-rc – but from a developers/maintainers point of view the leap is very huge:

This release is much more than just another respin as it includes a lot personal work from myself to port various packages and scripts from upstream and other distro’s.
I must mention that a lot of effort has been put to create a turnkey solution in terms of packaging the various services to handle dependencies and create the proper scripts to enable/start them.

To install from a clean antiX-23.2_x64-full.iso or antiX-23.2_386-full.iso you can use the following script and adapt to your taste
(NOTE: Repo lines have changed from previous spin)

#!/bin/bash

echo "adding ProwlerGr init-diversity repo"
wget http://init-diversity.duckdns.org:8080/--gpg-key/init-diversity-repo.gpg -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/init-diversity-repo.gpg
echo "deb http://init-diversity.duckdns.org:8080/ init-diversity antix
deb-src http://init-diversity.duckdns.org:8080/ init-diversity antix" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/init-diversity.list
echo "renaming runit (if it exists) for a safe upgrade"
if [ -e /sbin/runit ]; then mv /sbin/runit /sbin/runit-bak; fi
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y dist-upgrade
echo "adding sysvinit related packages"
sudo apt -y install sysvinit-init-diversity
echo "adding s6-rc related packages"
sudo apt -y install s6-rc-init-diversity s6-rc-service-connmand s6-rc-service-slimski s6-rc-dialogbox-manager
echo "adding s6-66 related packages"
sudo apt -y install s6-66-init-diversity 66-service-connmand 66-service-slimski
echo "adding dinit related packages"
sudo apt -y install dinit-init-diversity dinit-service-connmand dinit-service-slimski dinit-dialogbox-manager
echo "adding openrc related packages"
sudo apt -y install openrc-init-diversity
echo "adding development packages for compiling software from ProwlerGr repos"
sudo apt -y install build-essential git-buildpackage dh-exec lintian libexecline-dev libglib2.0-dev po4a lowdown dh-runit libaudit-dev libcap-dev libpam0g-dev meson dh-sysuser doc-base libdbus-1-dev libcryptsetup-dev libblkid-dev libmount-dev libfdisk-dev libpolkit-gobject-1-dev libfido2-dev antix23-desktop-files iso-template-init-diversity
echo "restoring runit (if it was renamed to runit-bak)"
if [ -e /sbin/runit-bak ]; then mv /sbin/runit-bak /sbin/runit; fi
echo "adding runit related packages - this is best to be done last"
sudo apt -y install runit-init-diversity runit-service-boot-module runit-service-connmand runit-service-slimski runit-service-dbus runit-service-udevd runit-service-manager


Changelog:

Sysvinit:
– Bumped to 3.14-4 (backported from Trixie)
– A new metapackage sysvinit-init-diversity has been introduced to allow sysvinit to be installed alongside other inits

OpenRC
– Bumped to 0.56-1 (backported from Trixie) & modified dependencies to remove conflicts with sysv-rc
– A new metapackage “openrc-init-diversity” has been introduced to allow OpenRC to be installed alongside other inits.
– Another metapackage “openrc-init” has been introduced for those who wish to use OpenRC as the sole or default init on their system (or don’t care for other inits).

Dinit:
– Bumped to 0.19.4 (built from upstream)
– A new metapackage “dinit-init-diversity” has been introduced to allow dinit to be installed alongside other inits.
– A new metapackage “dinit-init” has been introduced for those who wish to use dinit as the sole or default init on their system (or don’t care for other inits).
– A new GUI “Dinit-Dialogbox-Manager” has been developed based on dialogbox (similar to the runit-service-manager)
– A few sample services have been packaged in a manner to handle service & package dependencies.

s6-66:
– Bumped to 66 version 0.8.0.2 (built from upstream) – This is an upgrade & incompatible to the previous 0.7.0.0 version which was present in last years spin
– A new metapackage “s6-66-init-diversity” has been introduced to allow s6-66 to be installed alongside other inits.
– Metapackage “s6-66-init” is available for those who wish to use s6-66 as the sole or default init on their system (or don’t care for other inits).
– Numerous services have been packaged in a manner to handle service dependencies – package dependencies & compilations automatically with updated maintainer scripts.

s6-rc:
– Bumped to newer versions of skalibs – execline – s6 – s6-rc – s6-linux-init – s6-linux-utils – s6-portable-utils.
– A new metapackage “s6-rc-init-diversity” has been introduced to allow s6-rc to be installed alongside other inits.
– Metapackage “s6-rc-init” is available for those who wish to use s6-rc as the sole or default init on their system (or don’t care for other inits).
– The whole ecosystem has been reconfigured & therefore incompatible with last years version due to the following reasons:
– A new optimised boot-module has been created which has dropped the majority of the previous bash scripts (from sysvinit) that were present in last years spin.
– Everything now is mostly execline (which is lean & mean to steal @anticapitalista’s line)
– The s6-db-reload script has been ported from Artix & is available to handle database compilations.
– Numerous services have been packaged in a manner to handle service dependenies – package dependencies & compilations automatically with assistance of the above tool
– The s6-rc-dialogbox-manager (former s6-rc-service-manager) has been reconfigured to utilise the same tool for compilations

Runit:
– Bumped to 2.2.0-3 (backported from Trixie)
– A new metapackage “runit-init-diversity” has been introduced to allow runit to be installed alongside other inits.
– The already available “runit-init” is there for those who wish to use runit as the sole or default init on their system (or don’t care for other inits).
– A new boot module has been created allowing for runit to be run pure without reliance on sysvinit folders or scripts
– A few services have been packaged in a manner to handle service & package dependencies.

A couple of notes on runit:

I understand the packaged services weren’t necessary for antiX as @anticapitalista already includes the service files in packages.
However antiX has chosen to use post-install scripts to forcibly remove sysvinit scripts – which is very bad for a multi init system & also breaks the dpkg/apt database.

In other words if you have runit installed & you do an upgrade on a package (eg slimski as an example), the post-install script will remove the sysvinit script if it detects /sbin/runit, so you won’t be able to enable slimski for sysvinit or OpenRC.
As a workaround one should rename /sbin/runit to eg /sbin/runit-bak, do the apt upgrade or apt install & then reinstate /sbin/runit to maintain the full multi-init system.

The packaging format I have provided is my humble suggestion to the antiX developers for future runit service packaging which includes sysvinit blockers instead of removing sysvinit scripts.
Refer to post-176918 about sysv blockers under /etc/runit/override-sysv.d
These runit-service packaged scripts (with their blockers) can be either be absorbed by the main packages – or – neater to be kept separate & added as dependencies to the main packages.
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The following init systems are available for running on antiX: sysVinit, runit, s6, s6-66 and Dinit.

antiX-23 series (bookworm base)

4.19.0-324-1.0antix.1
5.10.230-1.0antix
6.1.118-antix.1 (x64 only)
6.6.62-antix.1 (x64 only)

antiX-22 series (bullseye base)

4.19.0-324-1.0antix.1
5.10.230-1.0antix

antiX (sid/testing)

4.19.0-324-1.0antix.1
5.10.230-1.0antix
6.1.118-antix.1 (x64 only)
6.6.62-antix.1 (x64 only)