You might’ve heard of MX Linux. It is the most popular Linux distro according to the Distrowatch rankings. Developers of the same recently released MX Linux 21 AHS. So what exactly is AHS? In this article, let’s look at everything that’s new in MX Linux 21 AHS.
MX Linux 21 AHS: What Is AHS?
AHS stands for Advanced Hardware Support, which, according to the MX Linux blog, is a repository that allows users to install new graphics firmware such as mesa packages, Xorg drivers, etc. “The target is those users with things like newer amdgpu hardware, or later intel graphics sets, or those requiring newer mesa packages. The primary focus is the graphics stack,” AHS – MX Linux Blog.
Users will need to enable it manually, which makes the process of migrating packages to the main distro over time. Basically, the AHS repo contains untested firmware that users on newer hardware can test and give feedback to ensure better compatibility in future Linux kernel releases.
Apart from that, the release comes with updated firmware (Xorg, Mesa, and Vulkan) and Linux Kernel 5.14. Similar to vanilla MX Linux which comes with Xfce, the AHS variant also comes with the same.
If you’re on the stable MX Linux 21 release, you can install AHS. All you need to do is enable the AHS repo in the MX repo Manager, and run the upgrade command to get the software. You can download the distribution using the link given below.
