The developers of the Raspberry Pi project have introduced a new version of the Raspberry Pi OS distribution on 2025-10-01 (Raspbian), based on the Debian 13 package base. Approximately 35,000 packages are available in the repository. The desktop environment is based on the labwc compositing server, using the wlroots library from the Sway project. Three builds are prepared for download: a minimal build (476 MB) for server systems, a basic desktop version (1.2 GB), and a full version with an additional set of applications (3.4 GB). Builds are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. An update for the old version of Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy), built on the Debian 12 package base, is also provided.
Key changes:
- The transition to the Debian 13 package base has been made (previously Debian 12 was used). The Linux kernel continues to use version 6.12.
- A new theme, along with a new set of icons, GTK themes, and a collection of wallpapers for the desktop, has been proposed. By default, the Nunito Sans Light font is used instead of the Piboto font that has been used for the last ten years.
- A unified Control Centre configurator has been added, replacing separate programs for configuring system parameters, display, keyboard, mouse, printing, desktop appearance, and panels. Switching between different settings sections is done via tabs. Each section is designed as a dynamically loaded plugin.
- The functionality of the Bookshelf application has been expanded, providing an interface for navigating through the collection of electronic versions of magazines and books distributed by Raspberry Pi Press. The model for providing free versions of materials has changed — initially, access to free versions of new releases is granted to subscribers of the Raspberry Pi Magazine, and after a few months to all other users. Recently published books, currently available only to subscribers, are marked with a lock icon in the interface.
- The installation of packages that form the system image with a desktop has been made more modular. To convert a full desktop build to a lite version and vice versa, as well as to create customized images, packages forming different builds are grouped into sets of meta-packages. Meta-packages allow the creation of the required user environment on top of the minimalist image of Raspberry Pi OS Lite or the removal of unnecessary functionality to free up space in the full Raspberry Pi OS build. Available meta-packages:
- rpd-wayland-core and rpd-x-core are the core components of the desktop environment based on Wayland and X11.
- rpd-wayland-extras and rpd-x-extras are advanced utilities for Wayland and X11, such as remote desktop applications and screenshot tools.
- rpd-theme - themes.
- rpd-preferences - configurator.
- rpd-applications - basic applications (Geany editor, Python development environment Thonny, Firefox, and Chromium).
- rpd-utilities - additional software set (Raspberry Pi Connect, SD Card Copier, Bookshelf, Text Editor, and Image Viewer).
- rpd-developer - libraries and tools for developers.
- rpd-graphics - packages for working with graphics and video, such as FFmpeg and GStreamer.
Source: opennet.ru
