Solus Review
Solus 4.9: An Independent Linux Desktop Built From Scratch Around Budgie
Most desktop Linux distributions start life from an existing base — Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, or Fedora — and then layer a desktop environment and a set of tools on top. Solus takes the harder road. According to its Solus page on DistroWatch, it is a Linux distribution built from scratch and classified as Independent, not derived from any parent distribution. That independence shapes everything from its package manager to its choice of flagship desktop.
The current listed release is Solus 4.9, released on April 18, 2026. Solus’s flagship edition ships with the Budgie desktop environment — a desktop originally developed in-house by the Solus team, now maintained as a separate project by the Buddies of Budgie team. DistroWatch also lists GNOME, KDE Plasma, and Xfce editions, so there is a flavor for different hardware and tastes. If you would rather start from a polished, beginner-friendly system on a familiar Ubuntu base, our Linux Mint review covers one of the most popular options in that space.
Solus 4.9 at a Glance
| Feature | What Solus Offers |
|---|---|
| Current listed release | Solus 4.9, released April 18, 2026 |
| Base | Independent — built from scratch |
| Origin | Ireland |
| Architecture | x86_64 |
| Desktop editions | Budgie (flagship), GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce |
| Package manager | eopkg, forked from the PiSi package manager |
| DistroWatch categories | Beginners, Desktop, Live Medium |
| Status | Active |
| DistroWatch popularity | Rank 40 (268 hits per day) |
| Visitor rating | 7.8/10 from 261 reviews |
All facts in this post are drawn from the Solus listing on DistroWatch.
Budgie: A Flagship Desktop With an In-House Origin Story
Budgie is what sets Solus apart visually and philosophically. Few distributions can say their default desktop was born inside their own project — Budgie was originally developed in-house at Solus before spinning out to the independent Buddies of Budgie team. The result is a desktop that feels purpose-built for the distribution rather than bolted on: a clean, modern layout aimed squarely at everyday desktop use.
The other editions are well chosen for users with existing loyalties. The KDE Plasma edition will feel familiar to anyone who has read our KDE neon review, with its deep customization and polished Qt application set. The Xfce edition follows the lightweight, traditional route described in our MX Linux review — a sensible pick for older hardware. And the GNOME edition offers the streamlined GNOME workflow for those who prefer it. Four editions from one independent base gives Solus an unusual breadth of choice.
Built From Scratch: eopkg and an Independent Base
Independence is Solus’s defining technical trait. Because it is not based on Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, or Fedora, Solus does not inherit their package ecosystems — instead it uses eopkg, a fork of the PiSi package manager maintained within the Solus project. DistroWatch tracks 228 packages for Solus (showing 52 major packages in the default view), a deliberately curated software set rather than the tens of thousands of packages a Debian or Arch derivative would pull in.
That curation is a double-edged sword worth understanding. On one hand, every package in the repository is there because the Solus team chose it, which can mean a more coherent, tested desktop. On the other, users coming from a Debian- or Arch-based system may find some niche applications missing from the repositories and need to look to Flatpak or build from source. It is a trade-off that rewards users who value a cohesive, opinionated system over maximum package count.
A Beginner-Tagged Desktop With Staying Power
DistroWatch files Solus under the Beginners, Desktop, and Live Medium categories, with an Active status — signaling that it aims to be approachable, installable from a live image, and suitable for daily desktop use. The numbers back up that positioning: a popularity rank of 40 (268 hits per day) places it comfortably in the upper tier of tracked distributions, and an average visitor rating of 7.8/10 from 261 reviews reflects a genuinely warm community reception.
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Origin matters here too: Solus is an Irish project, one of the relatively few independently built desktop distributions to sustain itself over many years without the backing of a corporate sponsor or a giant upstream base. For users who like their software with an independent streak, that provenance is part of the appeal.
The Road to 4.9: A Steady Release Cadence
Solus 4.9 arrived on April 18, 2026, continuing a steady versioned-release rhythm: 4.8 (November 29, 2025), 4.7 (January 26, 2025), 4.6 (October 15, 2024), 4.5 (January 9, 2024), and 4.4 (July 8, 2023). These snapshot releases give users periodic, tested milestones while the underlying system keeps its packages current — a curated approach that sits between the firehose of a pure rolling model and the deep freeze of a long-term-support release.
The cadence also tells you the project is alive and shipping. A distribution with an independent base lives or dies by the energy of its own maintainers, and Solus has kept to a roughly annual-or-better release pace through its 4.x series.
Who Should Try Solus?
- Linux users curious about an independent distribution — if you have only ever run Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, or Fedora derivatives, Solus is a chance to see what a from-scratch Linux desktop feels like.
- Budgie fans and the desktop-curious — the flagship Budgie edition is the natural home of the desktop, and a good way to try it in the environment it was designed for.
- Beginners who want a complete desktop — the Beginners category tag, live medium format, and curated software set aim at users who want a system that works out of the box.
- GNOME, KDE Plasma, or Xfce loyalists — each gets a dedicated edition on the same independent base, from a lightweight Xfce spin to a full Plasma desktop.
- x86_64 desktop and laptop users — Solus targets 64-bit Intel/AMD systems, so it fits the vast majority of current PCs.
Final Thoughts
Solus 4.9 is a reminder that independence is still possible in the Linux world. Built from scratch in Ireland, with its own eopkg package manager and the Budgie desktop it gave birth to, it offers something most distributions cannot: a desktop Linux experience that owes nothing to Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, or Fedora. The 7.8/10 visitor rating and a top-40 popularity rank suggest the community appreciates that effort.
It is not the right pick for everyone — the curated repository is smaller than what you would find on a Debian or Arch base, and users who want tens of thousands of packages at their fingertips may prefer something like the Arch-based system in our CachyOS review. But for users who value a cohesive, opinionated, beginner-friendly desktop with an independent spirit, Solus deserves a spot on the test-drive list.
Source: Solus page at DistroWatch. All facts cited reflect the DistroWatch listing for Solus 4.9, released April 18, 2026.