MX Linux
Debian stable with Xfce and a toolbox of friendly utilities. Quietly excellent on older machines.
Facts
- Family
- debian
- Based on
- Debian 13
- Release model
- Semi-rolling on Debian stable
- Current
- 25.3 Infinity
- Init system
- systemd, with a sysVinit option
- Default desktop
- Xfce
- NVIDIA
- A driver installer in the MX tools.
- Systemd-free
- Yes
- 32-bit support
- No
- As of
- 2026-10-09
On the DistroWatch top 10
Debian with a Swiss Army knife taped to the side.
MX Linux is built from Debian 13 and the antiX project, by a joint effort from Greece and the USA. The name is an M from MEPIS and an X from antiX, the two communities behind it. MX-14 appeared on 2014-03-24, and the current release is MX-25.3 Infinity from 2026-09-20. It runs systemd by default but ships sysVinit on the same ISO, a choice few distros offer. Desktops are Xfce, KDE and Fluxbox, and the minimum is a polite 1 GB of RAM and 15 GB of disk. On DistroWatch it was the top distro of the year six years running, from 2019 to 2024, until CachyOS took 2025.
How the chooser scores it
Scores run from 1 to 5, and 5 is best for the user. They are opinion with a spreadsheet.
- StabilityStability: 5 out of 5
- Easy installEasy install: 4 out of 5
- Daily comfortDaily comfort: 4 out of 5
- Docs and helpDocs and help: 4 out of 5
- Fresh softwareFresh software: 2 out of 5
- GamingGaming: 3 out of 5
- DevelopmentDevelopment: 3 out of 5
- Old hardwareOld hardware: 4 out of 5
- ControlControl: 4 out of 5
- LightnessLightness: 4 out of 5
- NVIDIA, recent cardsNVIDIA, recent cards: 4 out of 5
- NVIDIA, older cardsNVIDIA, older cards: 4 out of 5
Caveats
- Ships with systemd by default; sysVinit is an option, not the main path.
- Xfce is practical rather than pretty.
Community
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