Linux Lite Moves to Pay What You Want Model With Version 5.6 Release

Linux Lite has just announced Linux lite 5.6, the fourth installment in their 5.x series of releases. This release brings some major changes, especially in the download process. Other, more subtle tweaks are also shown throughout the OS.

Here, we will be looking at what is new, what has changed, and how these changes may affect the future of Linux Lite.

What Has Changed in Linux Lite 5.6?

Alongside the new download model, there a few key changes. These include:

New features in the Lite Tweaks app
Updated icon theme
New wallpapers

While this list is relatively short, there are a couple of meaningful changes.

Pay Want You Want Download Model

Definitely the most impactful change, Linux Lite has moved to a “Pay what you want” download model. For those not familiar with the term, it is a system where the user is encouraged to pay to obtain a download link. Users can still enter $0 to get the download link for free, but it is not immediately clear and does not support the distro.

This move follows the footsteps of other popular distros, including ElementryOS. While I can see many users being annoyed at this change, it has also been made clear that Linux Lite would die without this change.

“This is a road I’d never thought I’d go down, but we have no choice. Either we stagnate and accept the big G’s ever-changing algorithms, or we boldly go where others have dared.”
Jerry Bezencon

In hindsight, this change was inevitable, as there is almost no other way for distributions to reasonably sustain themselves (aside from donations). Now we need to see how this change pays off for the developers of Linux Lite.

Updated Lite Tweaks App

With this update, the Lite Tweaks app gets a few improvements. One of these is the ability to completely clear the cache of the Brave web browser. It also has a new option to set Brave as the default web browser.

The second update within the Lite Tweaks app is a fix for GRUB. This tweak changes the grub entry from “Ubuntu” to “Linux Lite”. However, it should be noted that this option is only available when GRUB is controlled by Linux Lite.

Wrapping Up

If you want to try Linux Lite for yourself, you can download it from its website. If you are already running Linux Lite, you can update to version 5.6 using the instructions found on the release announcement.

While minor, this release does have a few improvements scattered around the OS. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Linux Lite can now be self-sustaining, meaning that we will continue to see more features added with every release. I think this is much better that the distro dying, don’t you?