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RedBearAK edited this page Mar 3, 2025 · 55 revisions

This is a list of Linux distributions and desktop variants where I've been able to test Toshy. For those distros with release versions provided, that is just what I happened to download and test. Older or newer versions of the same distro, within reason, may also work. Or they may have major incompatibilities (each major RHEL/CentOS version has needed different special handling methods).

In some cases, like Fedora Asahi Remix, the support was reported by users.

Testing has almost entirely been on 64-bit versions of the listed Linux distros, but some 32-bit distros can still be made to work, and there should normally be no problem running Toshy on the equivalent ARM version of the same distro, on something like a Raspberry Pi. Though you will probably want a Pi 4B+ or later and at least 4GB of RAM as a minimum, unless you have an extremely lightweight desktop environment like IceWM, JWM or similar.

As noted elsewhere in the README, there is no Windows version of Toshy, unlike Kinto. But most commonly used desktop Linux distros should work at this point. Search the page for your distro name if you don't know what original distro it's based on.

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Quick Links / Table of Contents

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Fedora and Fedora Variants

  • Fedora Asahi Remix 39/40/41 (Fedora for Apple Silicon Macs)

    • Reported working by user (See Toshy issue #98)

  • Fedora 38/39/40/41/42/43 (upstream of CentOS Stream and RHEL)

    • Workstation (GNOME) works
    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)
    • KDE Plasma spin works (X11/Xorg or Wayland session)
    • COSMIC desktop environment works
    • Sway spin variant works
    • Hyprland works (tested with JaKooLit Fedora-Hyprland setup script)
    • Cinnamon works (X11/Xorg or Wayland session)
    • Other spins like Budgie, i3 should work as well

  • Nobara 38/39/40/41 (Fedora-based)

    • Tested the usual GNOME desktop variant (X11/Xorg and Wayland)
    • Many Toshy dependencies are pre-installed on Nobara
    • Nobara pre-installs the Extension Manager app. Nice!
    • Enable the AppIndicator extension (pre-installed) for tray icon
    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)

  • Silverblue / Kinoite / Bazzite 38/39/40/41 (Fedora-based immutables)

    • Package layering is used during install (can be removed later?)
    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)

  • Ultramarine Linux 38/39/40/41 (Fedora-based)

    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)
    • KDE Plasma, Budgie, Xfce ISOs should all work

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Clones, CentOS Stream

  • [ AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux ] 10 (RHEL 10 clones/compatibles)

    • Tested on "Workstation" installer choice
    • Wayland appears to be the only session type now
    • Wayland+GNOME requires shell extension (see Requirements)

  • AlmaLinux 9.3/9.4/9.5 (RHEL 9 compatible)

    • Installed from KDE "live" ISO, updated from 9.2 to 9.3
    • KDE Plasma desktop tested (Wayland session supported)
    • Some non-default (but official) repos like CRB will be enabled

  • [ AlmaLinux | Rocky Linux ] 9.2 (RHEL 9 clones)

    • Tested with "Workstation" installer choice, not "Server with GUI"
    • Default GNOME desktop tested (Wayland session requires extension)
    • KDE Plasma desktop tested (Wayland session supported)
    • Some non-default (but official) repos like CRB will be enabled

  • AlmaLinux 8.8 (RHEL 8 clone) - Partial support:

    • Tested with "Workstation" installer choice, not "Server with GUI"
    • Default GNOME desktop tested, X11/Xorg session only
    • Wayland+GNOME session NOT supported, because:
      • GNOME is old, no compatible Shell extension available
    • Install AppIndicator extension from the Software app
    • RHEL 8.x and clones probably also work in a similar manner

  • CentOS Stream 10 (RHEL 10 upstream)

    • Problems I encountered in testing CentOS Stream 10:
    • On a fresh system I had no ability to install a web browser
    • See alternative install method: One-liner install command
    • Another alternative install method:
    • Set up Flathub repo:
    • flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
    • Then install Firefox and Extension Manager from Flathub:
    • flatpak install firefox extensionmanager
    • Download and install from Toshy zip the usual way
    • Wayland+GNOME requires 3rd-party shell extension (see Requirements)

  • CentOS Stream 9 (RHEL 9 upstream)

    • Same info as the RHEL 9.x clones above
    • Tested with "Workstation" installer choice

Important

CentOS Stream 8 is now beyond end of builds (May 31, 2024).
Red Hat has disabled the mirrorlist.centos.org URL, so in order to install anything, the repo files have to be updated to change the URLs to point to the CentOS Vault. The ./prep_centos_before_setup.sh shell script will do this automatically on an existing CentOS Stream 8 system, and then will refresh the yum and/or dnf cache(s). Run the main Toshy setup afterward.

  • CentOS Stream 8 (RHEL 8 upstream) - Partial support:

    • Tested with "Workstation" installer choice (GNOME)
    • Auto-start with systemd user services works (unlike CentOS 7)
    • GNOME X11/Xorg session works, Wayland does not
      • Choose "Standard (X11 display server)" at login
    • For tray icon support:
      • Install AppIndicator extension from GNOME Software app
    • NB: GNOME Wayland session WILL NOT WORK! Because:
      • GNOME shell too old, no compatible extension available

Important

CentOS 7 is now beyond end of life (June 30, 2024).
Red Hat has disabled the mirrorlist.centos.org URL, so in order to install anything, the repo files have to be updated to change the URLs to point to the CentOS Vault. The ./prep_centos_before_setup.sh shell script will do this automatically on an existing CentOS 7 system, and then will refresh the yum and/or dnf cache(s). Run the main Toshy setup afterward.

  • CentOS 7 (RHEL 7 clone) - Partial support:

    • You must first install python3 to run setup_toshy.py
    • GUI preferences app will not work (Tk too old for sv_ttk theme)
    • systemd "user" services are not supported in CentOS/RHEL 7
    • Auto-start at login with systemd services not available
    • Cmd+Space (Alt+F1) shortcut must be assigned to app launcher menu
    • To manually start Toshy config from tray icon menu:
      • "(Re)Start Config-Only" option will start Toshy config
      • "Stop Config-Only" option will stop background Toshy config
    • To manually start Toshy config from terminal:
      • Use toshy-config-start or toshy-debug (verbose output)
      • Use toshy-config-stop to stop a background Toshy config

  • Eurolinux 9.2 (RHEL 9 clone) - DISCONTINUED

    • Distro is now DISCONTINUED / DEAD
    • Tested with "Server with GUI" installer choice
    • Default GNOME desktop tested (Wayland session requires extension)
    • Some non-default (but official) repos like CRB will be enabled

  • Oreon 10 Core (AlmaLinux 10.x-based)

    • Default desktop is KDE Plasma 6.3+ instead of GNOME

  • Oreon Lime R2 (AlmaLinux 9.x-based)

    • Tested with "Standard" ISO
    • Standard GNOME session - needs Xremap shell extension, see Requirements

  • RHEL and RHEL clones not listed should be supportable

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux itself? Seems to work.
    • For others, try:
    • ./setup_toshy.py install --override-distro=rhel

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openSUSE (RPM-based packaging system)

  • openSUSE Leap 15.5/15.6/16.0 (SLES-based, fixed release) WORKING!

    • GNOME desktop works (Wayland session needs extension, see Requirements)
    • KDE desktop works (X11/Xorg or Wayland)
    • Other desktop choices should work, if session is X11/Xorg

  • openSUSE Aeon/Kalpa (OpenSUSE MicroOS-based, rolling release?)

    • Aeon Wayland needs GNOME shell extension (see Requirements)
    • Kalpa (KDE Plasma) fully supported
    • Uses transactional-update to install native packages

  • openSUSE Tumbleweed (rolling release)

    • GNOME desktop works (Wayland session needs extension, see Requirements)
    • KDE desktop works (X11/Xorg or Wayland)
    • LXQt Wayland session options are working (labwc session recommended)
    • Other desktop choices should work, if session is X11/Xorg

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OpenMandriva (From Mandriva/Mandrake, DNF/RPM)

  • OpenMandriva ROME 2023/2024 (rolling release variant)

    • Wayland+Plasma tested
    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)

  • OpenMandriva 5.0 (fixed release variant)

    • Wayland+Plasma tested
    • Wayland+GNOME session needs extension (see Requirements)

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Ubuntu variants and Ubuntu-based distros

  • Bodhi Linux 7.0 (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS based)

    • Desktop is Enlightenment (they call it "Moksha")
    • If you see errors in log, install package xapp

  • elementary OS 7.0/7.1/8 (Ubuntu-based)

    • Tray icons are not supported in Pantheon desktop
    • Wayland ("Secure") and X11/Xorg ("Classic") sessions supported

  • Feren OS 2023.04 (Ubuntu LTS-based)

    • Current base is Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
    • Desktop is KDE Plasma 5.25.x

  • KDE Neon (Ubuntu LTS-based)

    • X11/Xorg or Wayland+Plasma session

  • Linux Lite 7.2/7.4 (Ubuntu LTS-based)

    • Small dependency glitch. See manual fix in notes below
    • Desktop environment is Xfce

  • Linux Mint 21.1/21.2/21.3/22.0 (Ubuntu-based)

    • Cinnamon desktop (X11/Xorg or Wayland)
    • Xfce desktop (X11/Xorg only)
    • MATE desktop (X11/Xorg only)
    • All desktops can be installed on the same Mint system:
    • sudo apt install mint-meta-mate mint-meta-xfce mint-meta-cinnamon

  • Pop!_OS 22.04/24.04 LTS (Ubuntu LTS-based)

    • X11/Xorg or Wayland+GNOME (requires extension)

  • Rhino Linux (Ubuntu rolling release variant)

    • Desktop is Xfce/Unicorn (X11/Xorg)

  • Tuxedo OS 1/2/3/4 (Ubuntu LTS-based)

    • X11/Xorg is the default for Tuxedo installer
    • Wayland available in "Advanced" installer options
    • KDE Plasma desktop is the Tuxedo default/primary

  • Ubuntu official variants tested:

    • Kubuntu 22.04/23.04/23.10/24.04
      • X11/Xorg or Wayland+Plasma works
    • Lubuntu 23.04/23.10/24.04
      • Only X11/Xorg sessions currently available for LXQt
      • Upcoming Wayland+LXQt session options should work (tested on Tumbleweed)
    • Ubuntu 22.04/23.04/23.10/24.04
      • X11/Xorg or Wayland+GNOME (requires extension, see Requirements)
    • Ubuntu Budgie 23.04/24.04
      • Only X11/Xorg currently available for Budgie
      • Future Wayland+Budgie sessions might work with wlroots method
    • Ubuntu Unity 23.10/24.04
      • Only X11/Xorg sessions currently available for Unity DE
    • Ubuntu Kylin 23.10 - NOT WORKING! SEE NOTE BELOW
      • PACKAGE CONFLICT IN REPO
      • Only X11/Xorg sessions currently available for UKUI DE
    • Ubuntu Kylin 24.04 - WORKING, BUT SEE NOTE BELOW
      • Only X11/Xorg sessions currently available for UKUI DE
    • Xubuntu 23.04/23.10/24.04
      • Only X11/Xorg currently available for Xfce
      • Future Wayland+Xfce sessions might work with wlroots method

  • Zorin OS 16.2/16.3 Core/Lite (Ubuntu-based) - NOT WORKING ANYMORE!

    • BROKEN BY REPO PACKAGE CONFLICT/MISCONFIGURATION - see note in section below
    • X11/Xorg or Wayland+GNOME (requires extension)
    • NOTE: GNOME Shell on Zorin 16.x is old: 3.38
    • Xremap is the only compatible shell extension

  • Zorin OS 17/17.1 Core/Lite (Ubuntu-based)

    • X11/Xorg or Wayland+GNOME (requires extension)
    • Wayland+GNOME requires extension (see Requirements)
    • GNOME Shell is version 43.x, any extension should work now

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Ubuntu Kylin issues

Toshy can finally be installed on Ubuntu Kylin 24.04, unlike the earlier 23.10 release, which had a fatal package version conflict that I couldn't resolve (see further notes about this in the section just below this). But the UKUI desktop environment (at least in the tested 24.04 beta release) seems to have some strange issues with task switching, and with transferring keyboard focus properly after task switching. Since keymaps for an app like Peony (the default UKUI/Kylin file manager) are specific to the app class of peony-qt, the correct keymap only activates after clicking on the Peony window, even if it appears to already be the focused app (watch the highlights on the window controls).

Using Cmd+Tab to switch from another app currently results in the keyboard focus (and the app class) remaining with the previous app. So if the previous app was Mate-terminal, the keyboard shortcuts will respond as if you are still in the Mate-terminal window, until you click on the Peony window. This probably affects other apps after task switching with the keyboard.

Task switching is also broken with the 24.04 beta UKUI desktop, in the sense that you can't switch beyond the last app with the keyboard. The task switcher dialog doesn't respond to holding the modifier key and hitting Tab multiple times. This has nothing to do with Toshy (it's broken even before installing Toshy or when Toshy is disabled) and is similar to a longstanding bug in task switching on the Budgie desktop enironment. If you have any idea where to report these issues to the Ubuntu Kylin developers, please do so if you care about getting them fixed.

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Dependency conflicts in Debian/Ubuntu-based distros

I have recently (starting around mid-2024) encountered fatal (i.e., usually unfixable by me) dependency conflicts in repos of these Debian/Ubuntu-based distros:

  • Zorin OS 16.x (Ubuntu-based)
  • Ubuntu Kylin 23.10 (Ubuntu-based)
  • Deepin 25 beta (Debian-based)
  • Linux Lite 7.2/7.4 (Ubuntu LTS-based) [manually fixable, see tip below]

What has been observed has generally been packages (like libsystemd0) that have a dependency referenced with an equal sign (=) instead of greater than or equal to (>=), such that a minor variation of another package (slightly later version or just a distro-specific tag in the package version) would cause the dependency to not be met, so one or more of the necessary Toshy support packages were uninstallable. You will see the problem when attempting to install Toshy.

As far as I know, there's nothing I can do with broken dependencies between packages in a repo. Trying to force-install packages with APT while ignoring dependency conflicts would just result in a broken mess. These distros need to fix the broken dependencies in their repos. Which they do not appear to be doing on any reasonable timeline.

Earlier in the Zorin OS 16.x cycle, the Toshy installer worked fine, and Deepin 23 also worked (haven't tested since, it may be broken now). But currently Zorin OS 16.x is broken (while 17.x works) and Deepin 25 (beta) is broken in a similar way. Ubuntu Kylin, as noted above, was broken in 23.10, but 24.04 works.

I don't know that there is a central cause for these issues, but I've only ever encountered this kind of problem in recent Debian/Ubuntu-based distros, not on any other distro type supported by the Toshy installer. If you know how and where to notify repo maintainers to get any of this fixed, please do so or let me know the right way/place to notify someone.

Tip

A problem like this was observed on a clean, updated install of Linux Lite 7.2 (and now in 7.4 as well). However in that case I was able to individually apt upgrade the zenity-common and zenity packages on Linux Lite 7.2 (and 7.4), and then the Toshy setup script was able to operate without errors and complete the install.

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Debian and Debian-based distros

  • antiX 22.x/23.x (Debian-based, related to MX Linux)

    • Preliminary support, no SysVinit services yet, so no auto-start.
    • Starting only the "config script" from the tray icon menu should work now.
    • Use toshy-config-start or toshy-debug (verbose output) for manual start.
    • Only "rox-icewm" desktop verified/tested.

  • Debian 12 tested and can be made to work:

    • If you gave root a password, your user will NOT be in the sudo group!
    • If necessary, add your user to sudo group (and reboot!)
      • su - (enter root's password)
      • usermod -aG sudo yourusername
      • Save a reboot step later by also doing this:
      • usermod -aG input yourusername
      • Seriously, reboot now!
    • Then, for Wayland+GNOME:
      • Install flatpak and the Flathub repo. Instructions here:
      • Do flatpak install com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager
      • Reboot again! (So Flatpak folders are added to path.)
      • Install any compatible shell extension (see Requirements)
      • Recommended additional extensions:
        • AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem (for tray icon)
        • Logo Menu (enable power options in its settings)

  • Deepin 23 (Debian-based)

    • NOTE: Long delay before services start (Zenity/GTK error?)
    • [NB: Deepin 25 has dependency error in repo - see note in section above]

  • Kali Linux 2023/2024 (Debian-based)

    • Tested with default desktop of Xfce
    • GNOME & KDE Plasma available in Kali installer

  • LMDE 5/6 (Linux Mint Debian Edition)

    • Default desktop is Cinnamon, works

  • MX Linux 21.x/23.x (Debian-based, related to antiX)

    • Preliminary support, no SysVinit services yet, so no auto-start.
    • Starting only the "config script" from the tray icon menu should work now.
    • Use toshy-config-start or toshy-debug (verbose output) for manual start.
    • Choosing advanced options and booting with systemd will work fine.

  • PeppermintOS (Debian-based)

    • New release based on Debian 12 tested
    • Desktop is Xfce4 v4.18

  • Q4OS 5.2/5.3/5.4/5.5/5.6/5.7 (Debian-based)

    • Trinity desktop ISO tested.
    • KDE Plasma (5.27) ISO should also work.

  • Window Maker Live 0.96 (Debian-based)

    • Tray icon may not auto-load at login. Gdk error?
    • Tray icon can be reloaded from the application finder.

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Arch, Arch-based and related distros

  • Arch Linux in general? (maybe, needs more testing)

    • Installer will try to work on any distro that identifies as arch

  • ArcoLinux (Arch-based)

    • ArcoLinuxL ISO (full installer) tested
    • Multiple desktops tested (GNOME, KDE, others)
    • X11/Xorg and Wayland (all working Wayland environments)
    • plasma-wayland-session can be installed
    • See FAQ Re: Application Menu shortcut fix

  • CachyOS (Arch-based)

    • All the usual DEs should work, just like other Arches
    • Tested with MATE
    • Wayland+GNOME needs shell extension (see Requirements)

  • EndeavourOS (Arch-based)

    • Most desktop environments should work in X11/Xorg
    • Wayland+GNOME needs shell extension (see Requirements)
    • KDE (Plasma) desktop works in X11/Xorg and Wayland
    • plasma-wayland-session can be installed

  • Garuda Linux (Arch-based)

    • KDE Dr460nized works
    • KDE Lite also works
    • Wayland+GNOME needs shell extension (see Requirements)
    • Xfce, Cinnamon, i3wm, Qtile should work (not tested)
    • Sway should work (not tested)
    • Hyprland works

  • Manjaro (Arch-based)

    • GNOME desktop variant tested
    • Xfce desktop variant tested
    • KDE Plasma desktop variant tested
    • plasma-wayland-session can be installed
    • See FAQ Re: Application Menu shortcut fix

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Independent distros

  • Solus 4.4/4.5/4.6/4.7 (eopkg)

    • Budgie ISO tested, GNOME and MATE should work without issue
    • KDE Plasma Wayland working

  • Void Linux (xbps, rolling release) - PARTIAL SUPPORT

    • Void doesn't use systemd, no Runit service scripts provided

    • Options to start the manual keymapper config script:

      • Tray icon menu: Re/Start Config-Only
      • Terminal command: nohup toshy-config-start &
      • Runit service script to run terminal command
      • Put a desktop entry file in ~/.config/autostart

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Unsupportable distros?

Some Linux distros will probably never work with Toshy in its current form, or will be very difficult to support due to circumstances like certain dependencies being completely unavailable, or requiring everything to run from a container, or other reasons. Oh, and Toshy is really only focused on "desktop" distros, it's not really intended to be run on something like a headless "server" with no graphical environment involved. All of the environment detection and app-specific keymapping is sort of pointless if there's no window context to be found because you're just in a TTY.

Here's a list of some distros that have given me particular difficulties.

  • KaOS Linux (Arch-related)

    • Singular focus on Qt, many common dependency packages like zenity and anything related to GTK were missing.

  • PCLinuxOS (independent distro)

    • I don't even recall the details, but I gave up on supporting this distro. From what I remember it had something to do with packaging or available packages.

  • NixOS (independent distro)

    • Toshy's file locations and structure makes it difficult to integrate with the declarative package management mechanisms used by NixOS. There's an issue thread about it if you think you have some idea how to fix that.

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