antiX-25-full-beta1available for public testing
November 5, 2025 by anticapitalista
Here is the first beta iso of antiX-25 (64bit).
Bullet point notes for now.
based on Debian 13 ‘trixie’
4 modern systemd-free init systems – runit (default), s6-rc, s6-66 and dinit
new default look
usual ‘antiX magic’
you should be able to boot live in the non-default init and it should then become the default after install.
Please note that user intervention will be required more than previous versions of antiX, especially if not using the default runit option.
This means that users will need to add any needed service files for the init they are using eg network-manager will also need runit-service-network-manager (and the equivalents for dinit, s6-rc and s6-66 if available).
Test it out and post feedback in the thread at the forums.
This release is unique in that it would not have existed without the cooperation of many other distro developers.
Full acknowledgement will appear in the final release. Just to say that @ProwlerGR deserves all the credit for integrating the various inits onto antiX.
I would like to add that if anybody would like to provide feedback directly to the devs, the official antiX forum beta testing thread can be reached at:
I will be around here as well if somebody wants to reach out
Dinit is included in the same iso, this release is very similar to my unofficial ‘init-diversity’ spin, but this time it is the official flagship antiX that offers 4 init/service managers.
After hearing positive reviews about Antix Linux, I decided to give it a try using the USB live version. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall experience:
Boot-up speed: Within just a few seconds of selecting “Antix” from the GRUB boot menu, I was greeted by the beautiful, customizable desktop – an impressive feat for a USB live session!
Pre-installed applications: The quick availability of essential tools, made it feel as if Antix had been designed with user convenience in mind. Each application launched swiftly and without any hiccups.
Menu layout organization: The menus were well-structured and logically organized, making it easy to find the desired applications or settings. The familiar, classic design gave off a nostalgic yet refreshing vibe.
Despite not delving too deep into the customization options this time around, I was particularly impressed by Antix’s out-of-the-box performance and the apparent ease of configuring one’s preferred settings. Hypnotix, although not built-in, appears to be easily installable via the command line or the Synaptic Package Manager.
Based on my initial impressions, I’m eager to explore Antix Linux further with a fresh installation on a new hard drive. Kudos to the Antix team for creating such a polished and user-friendly distribution!
This did not detect my sound for the HDMI display. However I really did not spend that much time.
Did you try the current antiX23 or the new beta antiX25?
I read somewhere that sound may not automatically configure.
BTW their preferred spelling is antiX not Antix… they do everything different … part of why I like it.
Which init system did you try?
In the new antiX25 they have made a brave move and ditched sysVinit and OpenRC, so they only offer 4 new modern init systems(runit, s6-rc, s6-66, dinit) all of which require some user configuration to go beyond the default setup.
I think they are being very progressive.
Yes, their Control Centre can do most system tasks from a gui. It can even manage starting and stopping services.
That would be IceWM… it is a Window Manager, not a DE… but it is almost as good as a DE… it has a bottom system tray, workspaces, pulldown menu and icons.
There are other Window Manager options you can choose at the login screen… eg JWM or Fluxbox. I have always been happy with the default IceWM .
Their Conky is configured really nicely… it is there but does not intrude.
antiX is definitely the best Debian based non-systemd distro. Devuan is way behind antiX, and MX only offers sysVinit.
I tried an install on a old hd but it failed I have one more drive.I give it a shot. The OS is well advanced OS. I am not sure what to really think, till I give it a real try. I did like what I was seeing.
Devuan is (or strives to be), simply Debian without systemd. Very few modifications (purely to overcome systemd dependencies) & a very limited number of packages offered over official Debian (refracta tools comes to mind, but there may be others).
antiX on the other hand derived out of Mepis, one of the most popular derivatives of Debian (pre-dating Ubuntu’s existance), which was its own fully blown distro that shared a base with Debian but with many modifications & own custom packages developed in-house.
MX started off as a spin of antiX with again a different set of customisation & package development. This was pre-systemd (& Devuan) days, MX just chose continue on having systemd available on their distro, antiX - athough had offered a (experimental) systemd version before Debian adopted it - decided against having systemd & any reliance on it.
@ProwlerGr ,
Thanks, the history is important.
I see antiX as possibly the most progressive Debian based distro. It does not compete with fancy high-end DE’s, but I suppose one could one could add KDE or Gnome if one wanted that.
Progress. I have antiX25beta1 running and have started a review.
My attempt to install AntiX-64 on a HD failed twice, with the error message saying “Cannot install GRUB.” I tried this on two old hard drives that passed SMART checks but may be nearing the end of their lives.
The installation process itself was quite interesting and offered some neat options like using ZRAM as swap space in addition to traditional swap partitions. Unfortunately, it seems that my hardware might be causing issues here.
I’ll give AntiX another shot on a newer drive once I’ve found a suitable replacement for my backup HD. In the meantime, any tips or suggestions from the community on troubleshooting GRUB installation would be greatly appreciated!
I will try that next, I should check to see if I have secure boot enable, I think not. I used the standard setup, auto setup with little options for custom. I will next try custom, it tricky with lots of buttons and stuff.
Got AntiX installed successfully by booting into the live USB and using Control Center to repair GRUB.
A few things I’m not fond of as a friendly user:
Changing secure boot mode resulted in a scary “illegal action” message, which forced me to abandon the process. I have a complex boot setup with multiple OSes, so this was concerning.
Despite my mistake, I managed to recover my system and now plan to explore AntiX further, checking out tools like WebUI, Ollama, and GNOME Connect (which should work now).
As for the software panel, it seems quite comprehensive with lots of auto-configured options. I’ll need some time to re-familiarize myself with Debian-based systems, but I’m excited to give AntiX a proper try!
You may have tried to do a uefi grub install without making an efi partition for the installer to write grub to?
You may have tried to do an MBR grub install to a GPT partitioned disk without making a bios-grub partition for it to write grub to. ?
So
What type of partition table do these old disks have… msdos or gpt?
What type of boot is your bios set to… mbr(legacy) or uefi?
OK,I see you got there… but it is worth trying to understand what went wrong.
All issues resolved! Here are the steps that worked for me:
During setup, I ensured UEFI mode in my BIOS was set to “Other OS” (not Windows).
Booted into AntiX-25 using the bootloader with no issues, without enabling UEFI specifically for Windows.
During installation, I made sure Secure Boot was disabled (and not set to “Other OS”).
After successfully installing AntiX with Secure Boot disabled:
Enabling Secure Boot and switching it to “UEFI Winblows mode” post-install will result in a red screen of death upon booting.
I Choose the disk without the bootloader. Windoze scare tactics in use
Edit: Choose the disk with the bootloader to avoid this. Windoze Scare tactics in use. I have several boatloads in my system. So Ya things can get messed. I even have unix installed. LOL
