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Alpine Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux


Last Update: 2025-10-08 12:00 UTC


Alpine Linux is a community developed operating system designed for routers, firewalls, VPNs, VoIP boxes, containers, and servers. It was designed with security in mind; it has proactive security features like PaX and SSP that prevent security holes in the software to be exploited. The C library used is musl and the base tools are all in BusyBox. Those are normally found in embedded systems and are smaller than the tools found in GNU/Linux systems.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 31 (328), 6 months: 30 (336), 3 months: 40 (310), 4 weeks: 45 (334), 1 week: 29 (494)

Average visitor rating: 8.9/10 from 49 review(s).


Alpine Summary
Distribution Alpine Linux
Home Page https://www.alpinelinux.org/
Mailing Lists https://lists.alpinelinux.org/
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/
Screenshots --
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://alpinelinux.org/downloadsDistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://bugs.alpinelinux.org/
Related Websites  
Reviews 3.22: FOSS Force
3.19: Rubenerd
3.17: DistroWatch
3.9: DistroWatch
3.2: DistroWatch
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2025-05-30: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.22.0
 • 2024-12-05: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.21.0
 • 2024-05-22: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.20.0
 • 2023-12-07: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.19.0
 • 2023-05-09: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.18.0
 • 2022-11-22: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.17.0
 • 2022-05-24: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.16.0
 • 2021-11-24: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.15.0
 • 2021-01-14: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.13.0
 • 2020-05-29: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.12.0
 • 2019-12-19: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.11.0
 • 2019-06-19: Distribution Release: Alpine Linux 3.10.0
 • More Alpine releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2025-10-01 Alpine plans to merge /usr
 • 2025-07-09 Wayback nears its first development release
 • 2025-06-30 Alpine Linux begins work on Wayback
 • 2025-02-04 Alpine and freedesktop.org seeking new server hosting
 • 2023-07-31 A major Alpine package maintainer is stepping down
 • 2022-03-01 Packaging minimal images with apko
 • 2021-09-27 Drew DeVault talks about packaging software
 • 2021-04-27 Alpine may create its own service manager
 • 2018-12-20 Alpine eing ported to RISC-V
 • 2016-10-12 Alpine to use LibreSSL
 • More Alpine headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 3.22.2 3.21.5 3.20.8 3.19.9 3.18.12 3.17.10 3.16.9 3.15.11 3.14.10 3.13.12 3.12.11 3.10.6 3.6.2 3.2.2 2.7.8 1.10.6 Feature
Release Date 2025-10-08 2025-10-08 2025-10-08 2025-10-08 2025-02-13 2024-09-06 2024-01-26 2023-10-30 2023-03-29 2022-08-09 2022-03-28 2021-02-23 2017-06-17 2015-07-14 2014-05-21 2010-06-16 Release Date
End Of Life                                 End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 200-1200 200-1000 200-900 200-900 200-900 100-800 100-800 100-700 100-700 100-600 100-500 100-500 70-300       Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Default Desktop
Package Management APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK APK Package Management
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture aarch64, armhf, i486, loongarch64, ppc64, riscv, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, loongarch64, ppc64, riscv, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, loongarch64, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 aarch64, armhf, i486, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 armhf, i486, x86_64 armhf, i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC Busybox, OpenRC BusyBox BusyBox BusyBox BusyBox Init Software
Journaled File Systems ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext4 ext3 ext3 ext3 ext3 Journaled File Systems
Multilingual -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Multilingual
Asian Language Support -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Asian Language Support
Full Package List 3.22.2 3.21.5 3.20.8 3.19.9 3.18.12 3.17.10 3.16.9 3.15.11 3.14.10 3.13.12 3.12.11 3.10.6 3.6.2 3.2.2 2.7.8 1.10.6 Full Package List
Package 3.22.2 3.21.5 3.20.8 3.19.9 3.18.12 3.17.10 3.16.9 3.15.11 3.14.10 3.13.12 3.12.11 3.10.6 3.6.2 3.2.2 2.7.8 1.10.6 Package
alsa-lib (1.2.14) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- alsa-lib (1.2.14)
amdgpu (25.0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (25.0.0)
apparmor (4.1.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apparmor (4.1.2)
apt (3.1.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apt (3.1.8)
bash (5.3) 5.2.37 5.2.37 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2.15 5.1.16 5.1.16 5.1.16 5.1.16 5.1.16 5.0 4.3 -- -- 4.0 bash (5.3)
bind (9.20.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.13)
chromium (141.0.7390.76) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (141.0.7390.76)
cinnamon (6.4.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.4.13)
cups (2.4.14) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cups (2.4.14)
e2fsprogs (1.47.3) 1.47.2 1.47.1 1.47.0 1.47.0 1.47.0 1.46.6 1.46.6 1.46.6 1.46.2 1.45.7 1.46.4 1.45.5 1.43.4 1.42.13 1.42.8 1.41.9 e2fsprogs (1.47.3)
ffmpeg (8.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ffmpeg (8.0)
firefox (144.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- firefox (144.0)
flatpak (1.16.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.16.1)
freetype (2.14.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- freetype (2.14.1)
gcc (15.2.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gcc (15.2.0)
gimp (3.0.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (3.0.6)
git (2.51.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- git (2.51.0)
glibc (2.42) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- glibc (2.42)
gnome-shell (49.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (49.0)
grub (2.12) 2.12 2.12 2.12 2.06 2.06 2.06 2.06 2.06 2.06 2.04 2.06 2.02 -- -- -- -- grub (2.12)
gtk (4.20.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gtk (4.20.2)
httpd (2.4.65) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.65)
inkscape (1.4.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4.2)
kmod (34.2) 34.2 33 32 31 30 30 29 29 29 28 29 24 23 -- -- -- kmod (34.2)
krita (5.2.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (5.2.13)
LibreOffice (25.8.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- LibreOffice (25.8.2)
Package 3.22.2 3.21.5 3.20.8 3.19.9 3.18.12 3.17.10 3.16.9 3.15.11 3.14.10 3.13.12 3.12.11 3.10.6 3.6.2 3.2.2 2.7.8 1.10.6 Package
libselinux (3.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- libselinux (3.9)
linux (6.17.2) 6.12.51 6.12.51 6.6.110 6.6.110 6.1.128 5.15.166 5.15.148 5.15.140 5.10.176 5.10.131 5.15.32 4.19.176 4.9.32 3.18.18 3.10.40 2.6.32.15 linux (6.17.2)
mariadb (12.0.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (12.0.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (25.2.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mesa (25.2.4)
mysql (9.4.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.4.0)
nautilus (49.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nautilus (49.1)
NVIDIA (580.95.05) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (580.95.05)
openjdk (25) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (25)
openssh (10.2p1) 10.0p1 9.9p2 9.7p1 9.6p1 9.3p2 9.1p1 9.0p1 8.8p1 8.6p1 8.4p1 8.8p1 8.1p1 7.5p1 6.8p1 6.4p1 5.3p1 openssh (10.2p1)
openssl (3.6.0) 3.5.4 3.3.5 3.3.5 3.1.8 3.1.8 3.0.15 1.1.1w 1.1.1w 1.1.1t 1.1.1q 1.1.1n 1.1.1j -- 1.0.2d 1.0.1g 0.9.9o openssl (3.6.0)
perl (5.42.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- perl (5.42.0)
php (8.4.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.4.13)
plasma-desktop (6.4.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.4.5)
postfix (3.10.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.10.4)
postgresql (18.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postgresql (18.0)
Python (3.14.0) 3.12.11 3.12.11 3.12.11 3.11.13 3.11.11 3.10.14 3.10.13 3.9.18 -- -- -- -- -- 2.7.9 2.7.6 -- Python (3.14.0)
qt (6.10.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- qt (6.10.0)
samba (4.23.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- samba (4.23.1)
systemd (258.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- systemd (258.1)
thunderbird (143.0.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- thunderbird (143.0.1)
vim (9.1) 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.0 9.0 9.0 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.1 8.0 7.4 7.4 7.2 vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.24.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.24.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.1)
xorg-server (21.1.18) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xorg-server (21.1.18)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Alpine Linux

Average rating
8.9
from 49 review(s)



What are your thoughts on Alpine Linux?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 3.19.8
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-12
Votes: 11


Alpine Linux

An extremely lightweight Linux distribution that still packs a lot of modern capabilities into it, including smooth package installation, removal and updates. I use it for small (1GB RAM) cloud servers because of its low resource requirements and smaller attack profile on installation. It would also be a good choice for old hardware or low-powered physical machines like a Raspberry Pi or a Pine Star64: it supports ARM (both 32-bit and aarch64) and RISC-V, and still supports older architectures like PowerPC and 32-bit x86 in addition to the more common x86_64.

Desktop environments work smoothly, though it does take a little effort to set one up.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 3.22.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-10
Votes: 4


Alpine Linux is a wonderful distribution if it is to be a slim operating system.
No unnecessary ballast is installed - only what is really needed.
Everything else can be added individually.
There is a lot of information in the manual or through the community.

Of course, this is not suitable for Linux beginners, as it does not run out-of-the-box.

However, if you want a fast and reliable and secure system, it is definitely worth it.

I can only recommend just trying this out.
Thanks to "setup-desktop" a graphical interface is quickly installed.
Then audio and network and the Daily-Driver is (almost) ready ^


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 3.22.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-08-15
Votes: 21


Alpine Linux is by far the best distribution for a light weight desktop. My configuration involves running sway as window manager with seatd as seat manager. Foot for the terminal, Mako for the notification server, pipewire for audio, iwd for wifi networking, wlsunset for Day/night gamma adjustments, firefox as browser, i3blocks for swaybar, fish for interactive shell, refind as boot manager and tofi as menu launcher.

Some of the major advantages of using Alpine compared to other distributions are
* no extra packages/features are installed
* no extra customizations compared to the upstream
* stable, smooth and reliable updates
* super fast boot times and package manager

Ability to understand basic linux concepts and type commands in terminal is mandatory to use Alpine Linux. If you have zero experience in linux/unix, you may find it a bit of challenge to use Alpine linux. Hardware which require proprietary binary only drivers are not supported as the OS uses Musl C library compared to glibc, used by other linux distributions.

Eventhough most commonly used software are available from official package repositories, software from flathub can also be installed to supplement them. Some websites do provide appimages that work with Alpine Linux.

This review has been written after using Alpine Linux for more than an year now. If you have working knowledge in linux and are looking for a light weight OS with supported hardware, look no further.

Before moving to Alpine Linux i have used Linux Mint and Arch Linux. When you start using Alpine Linux, you will not want change your distribution.




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See all 49 reader reviews of Alpine Linux...



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