For those sticking to absolute free software ideals, Trisquel 12.0 was released this weekend for this Free Software Foundation (FSF) approved distribution for only containing free software and foregoing loadable microcode/firmware and running on the Linux-libre kernel even with its reduced scope in hardware support.
Trisquel 12.0 is the latest major release for this FSF-approved Linux distribution built atop a modified Ubuntu base. Trisquel 12.0 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS even with Ubuntu 26.04 LTS due to be released later this month. With Trisquel 12.0 and their modifications they are running on the GNU Linux-libre 6.8 kernel to align with the base version used by Ubuntu 24.04 LTS… A bit frustrating to see a desktop/laptop-minded distribution debuting a major release in 2026 on such a dated kernel base, especially with GNU Linux-libre already stripped down in hardware support due to their strict free software requirements. Linux 7.0 upstream meanwhile is due for release later today.
Trisquel 12.0 pulls in Ubuntu 24.04 changes like APT 3.0. The new release is using the MATE 1.26.1 desktop environment by default. GNU IceCat and ungoogled-chromium have been added to Trisquel as new web browser optiomns.
Downloads and more details on the Trisquel 12.0 release can be found via the release announcement. They say the focus on their next release will be to lay the initial groundwork for RISC-V architecture support.
