The MX Linux team has officially released MX Linux 25 “Infinity”, the next major version of the popular Debian-based distribution, now built on Debian 13 “Trixie”.
The new version ships in several editions—Xfce, KDE Plasma, and Fluxbox—each updated to their latest stable versions. The release includes Xfce 4.20, Plasma 6.3.6, and Fluxbox 1.3.7.
Most ISO images come with the Linux kernel 6.12 LTS from Debian’s stable repositories, while the AHS (Advanced Hardware Support) variants feature the 6.16 Liquorix kernel for better performance on newer hardware.
The major change is that all releases now include systemd by default, although SysVinit variants of the Xfce and Fluxbox editions are still available for users who prefer the traditional init system. According to developers, this will improve compatibility and simplify future maintenance.
It’s absolutely not. It tends to be bundled that way, but systemd does one thing. It does that one thing very well. There are many components that tie into it.
If you believe that defies the UNIX philosophy, then you must also believe that the kernel includes every aspect of a graphical desktop environment, just because the latter depends on the former.