The Veteran UNIX Admins have launched Devuan GNU+Linux 6.0, codenamed Excalibur, a fork of Debian 13 Trixie that avoids the systemd init system. It uses alternative init systems like SysVinit, OpenRC, or Runit while incorporating most of Debian's features on the Linux LTS kernel 6.12. This release targets users preferring transparency over systemd's complexity.
Devuan GNU+Linux originated as a fork of Debian at the end of 2014, primarily to eliminate the systemd framework, which was developed by Lennart Poettering and has been adopted by nearly all major Linux distributions. The project aims to reduce complexity, dependencies, and potential security vulnerabilities associated with systemd.
Version 6.0 Excalibur aligns closely with Debian 13 Trixie, relying on the Linux LTS kernel 6.12 and offering a similar software scope. It dispenses with systemd in favor of more transparent init systems: SysVinit, OpenRC, or Runit. For desktop environments, Xfce serves as the default, with options including GNOME 48, KDE Plasma, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, LXQt, and various lightweight window managers. GNOME 48, which is tightly integrated with systemd, required developer adjustments to emulate certain systemd functions for compatibility.
A notable change is the adoption of Debian's merged-/usr architecture, which relocates contents from /bin, /sbin, and /lib into /usr, retaining old paths as symbolic links. This modernization contrasts with traditional Unix separations still used in BSD systems like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, where / contains essential files for minimal system operation.
Devuan maintains classic /run/utmp for login logging instead of systemd-logind, using a 32-bit time_t format that could face overflow issues in 2038. Developers view this as non-critical, expecting the distribution's end-of-life before then. Unlike BSDs, which upgraded to 64-bit time_t, Devuan postpones resolution.
Installation support drops for 32-bit x86 platforms, following Debian's lead, with images now limited to amd64. Available options include a netinst image requiring internet, CD and DVD images with desktop variants, a minimal live image for recovery, and a live desktop with non-free firmware. No RISC-V port is included yet. The next release, Devuan 7.0 Freia, will base on Debian 14.