What's new in Alpine Linux 3.24, out now
The new release for includes an upgraded package, an addition of the COSMIC desktop environment, plus a new bootloader option at installation.
The Alpine Linux development team announced the release of Alpine Linux 3.24.0 this week. It brings several package upgrades, plus some new packages, and will be supported until June 2028.
What's new
- COSMIC desktop support: You can now install System76's COSMIC desktop from the community repository.
- COSMIC is similar to the GNOME desktop experience but with a celestial theme and a codebase written in Rust.
- Limine boot loader: Now when you install Alpine, you can choose Limine rather than SysLinux, GRUB, and Alpine's other boot loader options.
- Limine calls itself "a modern, secure, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager."
What's getting better
- The installer: In addition to the new Limine boot loader option, you can also make network connections with IPV6. The process of configuring a serial console is now automatic, which Alpine says will be "making headless setups smoother."
- Package upgrades: Several important packages got their versions bumped with Alpine 3.24. They include:
- GRUB 2.14
- LLVM 22
- Rust 1.96
- GNOME 50
- Go 1.26
- KDE Plasma 6.6
- Qt 6.11
- Sway 1.12
- nginx 1.30
Jordan Gloor
What's going away
- Python setuptools
pkg_resources: Sincepy3-setuptoolswas upgraded to version 82.0.0, its deprecatedpkg_resourcesmodule is now gone.- If you were using the module in your Python scripts, you need to replace it. Follow
py3-setuptools' guidance for replacements if you need help.
- If you were using the module in your Python scripts, you need to replace it. Follow
- The
qemu-binfmtservice: Theqemu-openrcinit script has dropped itsqemu-binfmtservice.- Instead, you must use user mode
binfmt.dconfig files along with thebinfmtservice.
- Instead, you must use user mode
- Several deprecated packages: Some GTK 2 and Qt5 packages are removed from Alpine 3.24, as those frameworks ahve been deprecated.
- Also, GTK+ 3.0 is now in the community repository instead of main.
Zooming out
Why this update matters: Alpine Linux is a powerful and an influential Linux distribution, being the base for postmarketOS and for a number of containers. Advancements in Alpine mean advancements for those projects, and Alpine notably is systemd-free.
My take: I really like Limine on my CachyOS desktop, so I'm glad to see it added as an installer option.
Diving in
The fineprint: Read the Alpine Linux 3.24 release notes to get details.
Get it now: You can download a fresh Alpine image at the Alpine Linux download page. If you have an existing installation, you can upgrade with apk upgrade --available. Those with the / folder and /usr folders on separate filesystems, though, need to follow special upgrade instructions.
