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Zinc: An Ubuntu remix that dares to be different

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 13, 2022,

updated Oct 13, 2022

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While many Ubuntu remixes just switch the desktop or replace a few default apps, Zinc changes some of the fundamentals. The result is impressive.

Teejeetech is a small computer consultancy in Kerala, India, run by programmer Tony George. Zinc isn't the company's first distro, nor is this the company's first mention on The Register. We previously mentioned their earlier Unity-based remix, U-Mix, as well as originally developing the Timeshift backup tool included in Linux Mint. We thought we'd come back for a proper look at Zinc, the company's second-generation distro.

Unlike U-Mix, Zinc is a free download. It's based on the current long-term support version of Xubuntu, 22.04.1, so it uses a customized Xfce desktop, plus quite a few additional apps and changed components. Perhaps its biggest change from mainstream Ubuntu is in packaging tools: it includes neither Canonical's own Snap format nor the GNOME/Red Hat alternative Flatpak.

This mean that Zinc includes a natively packaged version of Firefox, but that's true of several distros now. What is different is that Zinc offers several alternative packaging tools instead so that you probably won't find any need to install either Snap or Flatpak support.

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