Solus 4.6 has been released, featuring the Linux display Budgie as part of the distribution. The decision has been made to develop the upcoming Solus 5 branch based on the technology of the Serpentos distribution. The project’s code is distributed under the GPLV2 license, and development is carried out using SI and VALA languages. Building with BUDGIE, GNOME, KDE Plasma, and XFCE are supported, with ISO image sizes ranging from 2.6 to 2.9 GB (x86_64).
The package manager, eopkg, a Fork of Pisi from Pardus Linux, provides familiar tools for package installation/removal, repository searching, and management. Packages are organized into thematic components, forming categories and subcategories. For example, Firefox falls under the Network.web.Browser component within the network applications category and web applications subcategory. The repository offers over 2000 packages for installation.
The distribution follows a hybrid development model, where significant releases introduce new technologies and improvements, while updates occur continually using a rolling model of package updates between major releases.
The Budgie desktop environment is based on the Gnome Shell of Gnome Shell, with plans in the upcoming Budgie 11 branch to separate desktop functionality from the information visualization layer. The Budgie Window Manager (BWM), an extended modification of the Mutter plugin, manages windows control. The panel in Budgie is similar to classic desktop panels, with all elements being applets for flexible configuration and customization.
Applets available include the application menu, task switcher, open windows area, virtual desktop viewer, power control indicator, volume control applet, system status indicator, and clock. For music playback, Rhythmbox with the alternate toolbar extension is used in Budgie and GNOME desktops. For video playback, Celluloid is used in Budgie and GNOME offices, while