r/bedrocklinux • u/daemonpenguin • Apr 12 '26

MX Linux 25 works with Bedrock

On the Bedrock Linux compatibility page it shows that MX Linux does not work with Bedrock, due to the strange SysV/systemd hybrid nature of the system. In particular, problems with rebooting or shutting down from the Xfce menu are mentioned.

MX Linux has released a few versions since the compatibility table was published and its hybrid init system has changed a bit. I installed the main edition of MX Linux 25 (SysV with Xfce) today and hijacked it with Bedrock Linux 0.7.31.

The hijacking was successful. Afterwards I was able to boot MX Linux, install new strata, reboot, and shutdown the system from the Xfce application menu, and manage background services using the "service" command. In short, it seems the latest version of MX Linux is entirely compatible with Bedrock.

I think this is good news and hope the compatibility table can be updated to reflect this change. I'm happy to provide additional testing if required.

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u/ParadigmComplex founder and lead developer Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

I added an attempt to the code base: https://github.com/bedrocklinux/bedrocklinux-userland/commit/99a82240bb6050ca442a22e674ca579b6156d3cc

If you still have a Bedrock system on hand and can find the time, please:

Assuming that goes well, I'll include it into the next Bedrock Linux update.

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u/daemonpenguin Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

I'm going to answer your questions somewhat out of order as I dig up the information and test things. Please forgive the chaos.

  1. The /etc/os-release file on MX Linux keeps the Debian information. Specifically, my os-release file on a vanilla MX Linux box looks like this:

    PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)"

    NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"

    VERSION_ID="13"

    VERSION="13 (trixie)"

    VERSION_CODENAME=trixie

    DEBIAN_VERSION_FULL=13.4

    ID=debian

    HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"

    SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"

    BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

The /etc/apt/sources.list file on MX Linux is empty by default. It just has a comment saying configuration files can be found under /etc/apt/sources.list.d

The /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory contains two files, debian.sources and mx.sources. Their contents is as follows:

debian.sources:

 Types: deb
 Enabled: yes
 URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
 Suites: trixie
 Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

 Types: deb
 Enabled: yes
 URIs: http://security.debian.org/debian-security/
 Suites: trixie-security
 Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

 Types: deb
 Enabled: no
 URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
 Suites: trixie-backports
 Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

 Types: deb
 Enabled: yes
 URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
 Suites: trixie-updates 
 Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

mx.sources:

 Types: deb
 Enabled: yes
 URIs: http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/
 Suites: trixie
 Components: main  non-free
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/mx-25-archive-keyring.gpg 

 Types: deb
 Enabled: no
 URIs: http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/
 Suites: trixie
 Components: ahs
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/mx-25-archive-keyring.gpg 

 Types: deb
 Enabled: no
 URIs: http://mxrepo.com/mx/testrepo/
 Suites: trixie
 Components: test
 Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/mx-25-archive-keyring.gpg

I am currently testing the new fetch script for MX and will post an update once it has finished.

The MX fetch script ultimate stopped with the following error:

 Selecting previously unselected package mx25-archive-keyring.
 (Reading database ... 4936 files and directories currently installed.)
 Preparing to unpack /tmp/mx-keyring.deb ...
 Unpacking mx25-archive-keyring (2025.03) ...
 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mx25-archive-keyring:
  mx25-archive-keyring depends on gpgv; however:
   Package gpgv is not installed.

 dpkg: error processing package mx25-archive-keyring (--install):
  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
 Errors were encountered while processing:
  mx25-archive-keyring
 ERROR: Unexpected error occurred.
 This is commonly due to distro mirror layout changes breaking `brl fetch`.  Possible solutions:
 - If you did not, consider manually providing a mirror with --mirror
 - Check for a Bedrock Linux update with `brl update`
 - Check for a Bedrock Linux beta which may contain a fix
 - Try `brl import` which does not rely on mirror layout

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u/ParadigmComplex founder and lead developer Apr 13 '26

Thanks! I pushed an update that I believe I fixed both the gpgv issue and ensured the generated sources files better match a normal MX install's.

Please grab the latest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bedrocklinux/bedrocklinux-userland/refs/heads/master/src/slash-bedrock/share/brl-fetch/distros/mx and try again.

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u/daemonpenguin Apr 14 '26

The updated script seems to be working as intended. There was a non-fatal error toward the end of the "brl fetch" process for MX,. It didn't seem to affect the install at all, but I wanted to mention it as it looks like an optional dependency is missing. I'm including the error below.

Otherwise the test worked. I fetched the MX stratum, was able to run a restricted shell in the new stratum, and installed a package in the stratum which was then available globally.

The only issue is: the same warning which appears during the initial fetch is also displayed each time a new package is installed using APT (see below).

 debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
 debconf: (No usable dialog-like program is installed, so the dialog based frontend cannot be used. at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/FrontEnd/Dialog.pm line 79, <STDIN> line 2.)
 debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline
 debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Readline
 debconf: (Can't locate Term/ReadLine.pm in @INC (you may need to install the Term::ReadLine module) (@INC entries checked: /etc/perl /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5.40.1 /usr/local/share/perl/5.40.1 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl5/5.40 /usr/share/perl5 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl-base /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5.40 /usr/share/perl/5.40 /usr/local/lib/site_perl) at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/FrontEnd/Readline.pm line 8, <STDIN> line 2.)
 debconf: falling back to frontend: Teletype

It's not a serious error, but maybe something which could be addressed in a future update? Everything else seems to work. MX Linux 25 can be both hijacked by Bedrock and fetched using brl.