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SmartOS screenshot

SmartOS

SmartOS is an open-source UNIX-like operating system based on illumos, a community fork of OpenSolaris. It features four technologies - ZFS (a combined file system and logical volume manager), DTrace (a dynamic tracing framework for troubleshooting kernel and application problems), Zones (a lightweight virtualisation solution), KVM and bhyve (two full virtualisation solutions for running a variety of guest operating systems, including Linux, Windows, BSD and Plan9).

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Synex screenshot

Synex

Synex is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian's "Stable" branch, developed with the official Debian Live Build tool. It offers four separate desktop options with GNOME, LXDE, KDE Plasma and Xfce, all of which are composed of a rather frugal set of applications in its default state, without any development tools or offices suites.

Technical Specs Comparison
SmartOSSynex
SolarisBaseDebian (Stable), Debian (Testing)
pkgsrcPackage Managerapt / deb, flatpak
otherInit Systemsystemd
Fixed ReleaseRelease ModelFixed Release
Latest Version13
IntermediateDifficultyIntermediate
June 11, 2026Release DateDecember 21, 2025
x86_64
Architecture
x86_64
No DesktopGNOMEIceWMLXDEMATEKDE PlasmaXfce
Desktops
No DesktopGNOMEIceWMLXDEMATEKDE PlasmaXfce