antiX 26.1 keeps a systemd-free Debian 13 alive, with five init systems and 32-bit
antiX 26.1, released in late September 2026, updates the lightweight Debian 13 “Trixie”-based distribution with no systemd or elogind, five init systems to choose from, and still-maintained 32-bit images. If you are reviving old PCs or want a minimal base whose init you control, antiX is a serious option; otherwise, stay on standard Debian.
Late September 2026. antiX published version 26.1, a maintenance update to its lightweight distribution built on Debian 13 “Trixie”. Five init systems. The distribution offers runit (the default), SysVinit, dinit, s6-rc, and s6-66. Zero systemd. Neither systemd, nor libsystemd0, nor elogind ships — eudev replaces udev. Why it matters: at a time when nearly every distribution has surrendered to systemd, antiX proves a systemd-free path is still maintained, viable, and even comfortable.
What antiX 26.1 ships
antiX 26.1 is first and foremost a bug-fix release: users of antiX 26 do not need to reinstall, a simple update suffices. The base remains Debian 13, but the distribution deliberately diverges on everything touching init and session management.
On the kernel side, the lineup ships a customized Linux 5.10.256 across all images, while the 64-bit Full edition adds a Linux 6.6.139. The choice of the 5.10 kernel — an old but maintained LTS branch — is deliberate: it favors stability and compatibility with old hardware over novelty. The interface relies on lightweight window managers — IceWM by default, with Fluxbox, JWM, and the tiling herbstluftwm — rather than a full desktop environment.
Two editions are offered: Full, around 2 GB, with a ready-to-use application set (LibreOffice 25.2.3, Firefox ESR 140.16, Claws Mail 4.3.1, CUPS 2.4.10, MPV 0.40), and Core, around 660 MB, for building a minimal system yourself. Both exist in 64-bit and 32-bit — a rarity, since antiX is one of the last major distributions still publishing official 32-bit images.
The heart of the matter: choosing your init
antiX’s positioning comes down to an explicit rejection of systemd. The distribution replaces the udev daemon with eudev, removes elogind and libelogind0, and lets the user pick among five init systems. runit remains the default, but SysVinit, dinit, s6-rc, and s6-66 are available at install time — a choice that exists nowhere else in the mainstream distribution world.
That choice has a cost antiX also accepts: Snap and Flatpak are not included, because they depend on systemd and elogind respectively. It is a direct, documented consequence of the anti-systemd stance. For a user installing packages through apt or Debian repos, that changes nothing; for anyone counting on Flatpak for recent applications, it is a real friction to know about before installing.
The benefit is measured in control and lightness. A system without systemd reduces the boot path to a simple, observable, editable script and uses less memory at startup. That is what keeps antiX a recurring choice for old PCs, low-RAM machines, and environments where you want to understand exactly what is running.
The five init systems are not cosmetic variations. SysVinit is the script-based ancestor, simple but sequential — each service waits for the previous one. runit adds lightweight daemontools-style supervision, where each service is a monitored process that gets restarted. dinit adds supervision with declared dependencies between services. s6-rc and s6-66 bring the s6 suite, oriented toward supervision and fine-grained service management. The common thread is philosophical: none of these centralizes as many responsibilities as systemd — which is precisely the argument of antiX users, who prefer a base where each brick does one thing.
Who it is for, and what you have to accept
antiX 26.1 is not a “for everyone” distribution. It targets three profiles: the old-hardware reviver, who wants to give a ten-year-old PC a second life; the minimalist, who prefers a 660 MB base to a multi-gigabyte image; and the init purist, who insists on keeping control over how their system boots.
There are trade-offs to accept. The offered kernels (5.10 and 6.6) are older than those in cutting-edge distributions: stability is paid for with weaker support for recent hardware. The absence of Flatpak and Snap limits access to applications packaged outside the repos. And the community, though loyal, is smaller than Debian’s or Ubuntu’s: support happens more on the forum and the documentation than through massive channels.
The release notes even flag a known limitation — a detection issue with some Bluetooth mice — a reminder that a lightweight distribution does not always enjoy the same hardware coverage as a heavyweight one. It is not disqualifying, but it belongs in the decision.
In practice, antiX shines on hardware where other distributions stall: a machine with 2 GB of RAM and an old spinning disk boots in seconds and idles at a few hundred megabytes, leaving room for a browser and a couple of applications. That is the niche it has owned for years — not desktops in the abstract, but the specific shelf of aging laptops and netbooks that would otherwise be e-waste. For a homelabber, a family member’s old machine, or a kiosk that just needs to run one program, that is a concrete, repeatable win.
antiX versus MX Linux and the other systemd-free options
antiX is not alone in the niche, and it helps to place it. MX Linux, its sister distribution, sits on the same Debian base and shares antiX’s in-house tools, but aims at a broader audience: Xfce by default, systemd available as an option, richer images. antiX is the hard core — the minimal, systemd-free, Xfce-free base that MX Linux inherits. If MX Linux is the comfortable compromise, antiX is the radical version.
Against the other systemd-free options, the position sharpens. Devuan reworks Debian by replacing systemd with SysVinit or OpenRC, but stays closer to Debian in size and tooling. Alpine is minimal but is not glibc — a real incompatibility for some binaries. Void Linux offers runit and its own package manager (xbps), but on a non-Debian base. antiX combines what the others separate: Debian compatibility, the absence of systemd, five init systems to choose from, and 32-bit images.
What really sets antiX 26.1 apart is the attention paid to old hardware: the 5.10 and 6.6 kernels, the 660 MB Core image, the lightweight window managers, and 32-bit support make it one of the last refuges for a PC that modern distributions have abandoned. That is not a marketing argument, it is a real utility — and it is what keeps the project alive.
Verdict
If you have an old PC to revive, antiX 26.1 is one of the best answers today: a solid Debian 13 base, a 660 MB Core image, 32-bit images for the oldest machines, and a memory footprint that lets the hardware breathe. If you want a systemd-free system whose init you control, take antiX and pick your init at install time — it is the only mainstream distribution offering that choice. If you are looking for a modern workstation with the latest applications, stay on standard Debian or a Flatpak-friendly distribution: antiX’s refusal of Snap and Flatpak, and its deliberately conservative kernels, will cost you more than you gain. The lesson of antiX goes beyond its own case: the choice of init is not a nostalgia detail, it is a real degree of freedom — and someone is still maintaining it. For the machines it targets, that freedom is the whole point.