Distribution Updates
2023-09-24
Zephix v7 (Zephix-7R-x86_64) was released with major enhancements. Updated base to Debian 12.1; Heavily redesigned module creation and manipulation scripts; Renamed scripts for better convention; Added 3 new scripts - to create a custom core module, to merge 2 modules together and to extend swap space when building large modules; Added the default behaviour to automatically move the newly created modules to the correct location; Removed further unnecessary bloat from the final ISO, reducing size to 380MB; Removed firmware module and instead included a tool named isenkram which provides isenkram-autoinstall-firmware (this can be used with USB tethering to install required missing firmware); Removed traditional desktop module and instead provided seven (7) pre-built desktop modules (Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Xfce) to allow more freedom of choice; Added bc, rsync and ifrename tools; Revamped the official website to reflect all these changes and provided more information.
2022-12-26
Zephix v6 (Zephix-6R-20221226-x86_64) was released. Fixed uEFI issue of not booting on specific systems and on latest VirtualBox; Updated base to Debian 11.6 adding corrections for security issues, along with a few adjustments for serious problems; Optimised the toram boot option mechanism - to boot Zephix totally in memory, it now requires 1.5GB RAM (core, firmware and desktop modules) or 512MB RAM (core module only); Updated module creation and manipulation scripts making it much easier to create new modules without having to reboot the ISO after creating a single module and also reducing the size of each module accordingly (refer to the Customise section for more details); Updated desktop and firmware modules; Optimised boot sequence code for a cleaner and smoother boot process; Added a new feature in Zephix - on boot it searches available media for modules inside a zx directory in the root of the media itself and, if found, Zephix mounts them automatically. This feature removes the need to modify the ISO to include additional custom modules; Added a new boot option called maintenance mode - Zephix will boot in single user mode and, after entering the root password, the user can do some changes before actually continue booting the system.
2022-04-30
Zephix v5 (Zephix-5R-20220430-x86_64) was released. Updated Syslinux and GRUB boot logos to reflect more the Zephix theme; Added a toram boot option - Zephix can now be loaded totally in memory (if enough RAM is available); Changed default console font; Included the desktop and firmware modules by default in the ISO to make it more usable - this decision was taken thanks to the feedback received from various users.
2022-04-09
Zephix v4 (Zephix-4R-20220409-x86_64) was released. Updated base to Debian 11.3; Zephix now boots to text mode by default; ISO size reduced to just 325MB!; Added a startup and shutdown animation; Removed link to modules directory in / to avoid confusion; Converted ISO to HybridISO for ease of transferring to USB devices; Improved booting speed; GUI module and firmware module can now be downloaded separately; Added optional persistence mode when booting from a USB device.
2021-08-27
Zephix v3.0 (Zephix-30R-20210812-x86_64) was released. Updated base to Debian 10.10; Removed all packages from the distribution except from basic ones (text editor, calculator etc.) - users can now download their preferred modules to customise Zephix as they wish; Added a removable devices applet in the system tray; Optimised the GUI; Implemented uEFI boot using GRUB for better compatibility (Syslinux is only used for Legacy boot); Improved network manager system tray applet with automatic detection of wireless and/or wired network card and a more appealing tray icon; Improved Bluetooth compatibility and added a Bluetooth tray icon; Added Zephix Module icons; Added a printer server (CUPS); Added a direct link to the modules directory in / for ease of transfer (link is available if modules are present and mounted); ISO size reduced by 1.1GB!
2021-07-28
Zephix v2.0 (Zephix-20R-20210725-x86_64) was released. Added uEFI support for easier booting on modern computer systems. Updated the website to provide additional modules that can be optionally downloaded and added to the ISO or to the USB device. Module files have been numbered in the order they were created. Once downloaded, feel free to change the numbering as required.
2021-07-20
Zephix v1.0 (Zephix-10R-20210720-x86_64) was released.
