Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
Netrunner "Vaporware" version 23 has been made available by Blue Systems, arriving some two years after the previous milestone release. Unlike Netrunner 21, version 23 migrates to Debian Bullseye, which means it also includes the 5.10.19 Linux kernel.
As well, Netrunner 23 includes KDE Plasma 5.20, Qt 5.15.2, Firefox 102 ESR, LibreOffice 7.0.4, VLC 3.0.18, Audacious 4.0.5, Thunderbird 102.6.0, GIMP 2.10, and much more. But don't think you'll be getting a stock KDE desktop.
The developers have added a number of customizations to the desktop, such as an overview-like main menu, a unique theme that helps to make it stand out, simplified System Settings with Plasma Tweaks, a unified look for both KDE and non-KDE applications, GTK apps with standard Kwin borders, Task Manager with expanding icons, Show Desktop hot-spot in the lower right corner, and more.
One nice addition is the inclusion of the VirtualBox guest additions, which makes it easier to run the distribution as a virtual machine without having to manually install the software. This means, out of the box, you can resize your Netrunner virtual machine window, without having to first install the guest additions.
Find our more about "Vaporware" on the official Netrunner overview page and download an ISO today.
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