ROSA Linux is a Linux operating system distribution, developed by the Russian company 'AO NTC IT ROSA' (). It is available in three different editions: ROSA Desktop Fresh, ROSA Enterprise Desktop, and ROSA Enterprise Linux Server, with the latter two aiming at commercial users. Its desktop computer editions come bundled with closed-source software such as Adobe Flash Player, multimedia codecs, NVIDIA drivers, and Steam.
ROSA Desktop Fresh 13.0, the latest desktop version, was released on 28 February 2025, and is available with four different desktop environments: KDE Plasma 6, GNOME, LXQt and Xfce. It also contains open source software developed in-house by ROSA, such as ROSA Image Writer or ROSA Media Player. ROSA Linux has been certified by the Ministry of Defence of Russia.
Although its main popularity is in the Russian language market, ROSA Desktop also received favorable reviews by several non-Russian online publications. German technology website Golem.de praised ROSA for its stability and hardware support, while LinuxInsider.com called ROSA "a real Powerhouse".
History ROSA originated as a fork of now defunct French distribution Mandriva Linux and has since been developed independently. The ROSA company was founded in early 2010 and released the first version of its operating system in December 2010. It initially targeted enterprise users only, but in late 2012, ROSA started its end-user oriented distribution, Desktop Fresh. Before its bankruptcy, Mandriva developed its last releases jointly with ROSA. Mandriva 2011 was also based on ROSA. Also MagOS Linux, is based on ROSA.
Version history ROSA Version Desktop environment Release date Linux kernel 2011 "Hydrogen"OpenNews: Релиз Mandriva Linux 2011 и ROSA Desktop 2011 KDE 29 August 2011 2012 LTS "Marathon"Release notes ROSA Marathon 2012 - Rosalab Wiki 13 May 2012 Desktop.Fresh 2012OpenNews: Увидел свет Linux-дистрибутив ROSA Desktop 2012 Distribution Release: ROSA 2012 (DistroWatch.com News) 19 December 2012 Desktop Fresh R1Release notes ROSA Desktop.Fresh R1 - Rosalab WikiOpenNews: Представлен Linux-дистрибутив ROSA Desktop Fresh R1 Distribution Release: ROSA 2012 R1 "Desktop Fresh" (DistroWatch.com News) 17 July 2013 Desktop Fresh R2ROSA Desktop Fresh R2 - Rosalab WikiDistribution Release: ROSA 2012 R2 "Desktop Fresh" (DistroWatch.com News) 4 December 2013 Desktop Fresh R3ROSA Desktop Fresh R3 «KDE» — Блог:Точка Росы — Rosalab Wiki ROSA Desktop Fresh R3 «GNOME» — Блог:Точка Росы — Rosalab Wiki KDE, GNOME 29 April 2014 3.10.34 Desktop Fresh R4ROSA Fresh Desktop R4 – Блог:Точка Росы – Rosalab Wiki KDE, LXDE 8 October 2014 3.14.15 Desktop Fresh R5ROSA Desktop Fresh R5 - Rosalab WikiDistribution Release: ROSA R5 "Desktop Fresh" (DistroWatch.com News)ROSA Desktop Fresh R5 – Linux-дистрибутив с KDE 4.14 – Новости (nixp.ru) KDE, LXDE, GNOME 25 December 2014 3.14.25 Desktop Fresh R6ROSA Desktop Fresh R6 - Rosalab Wiki KDE 15 July 2015 3.14.44Desktop Fresh R7ROSA Desktop Fresh R7 - Rosalab WikiROSA Fresh R7: свидетельство непростой ситуации в проекте Distribution Release: ROSA R7 "Desktop Fresh" (DistroWatch.com News)KDE 4, KDE 5, LXQt5 January 20164.1.15Desktop Fresh R8ROSA Desktop Fresh R8 - Rosalab WikiKDE 4, KDE 5, GNOME 3, MATE2 August 20164.1.25Desktop Fresh R8.1ROSA Desktop Fresh R8.1 - Rosalab WikiOpenNews: Обновление Linux-дистрибутива ROSA Desktop Fresh R8.1 KDE 422 February 20174.9 LTSDesktop Fresh R9ROSA Desktop Fresh R9 - Rosalab WikiOpenNews: Доступен Linux-дистрибутив ROSA Desktop Fresh R9 KDE 4, KDE 5, GNOME 3, LXQt1st half of 20174.9.20 LTSDesktop Fresh R10KDE Plasma 5, KDE Plasma 4, LXQt4 December 20174.9Desktop Fresh R11KDE Plasma 5, KDE Plasma 4, Xfce, LXQt15 March 20194.15Desktop Fresh R11.1KDE Plasma 5, KDE Plasma 4, Xfce, LXQt23 April 20205.4.32 Fresh 12KDE Plasma 512 October 20215.10.71Fresh 12.1KDE Plasma 5, GNOME 4112 November 20215.10.74Fresh 12.2KDE Plasma 5, GNOME 41, LXQt14 February 2022Fresh 12.3KDE Plasma 5, GNOME 42, LXQt, Xfce31 October 20225.15.75Fresh 12.4KDE Plasma 5, GNOME, LXQt, Xfce4 April 20236.1.20 LTSFresh 12.5KDE Plasma 5, GNOME, LXQt, Xfce2 April 20246.6.47Fresh 13KDE Plasma 6, GNOME28 February 20246.12.13 ROSA Chrome Version Desktop environment Release date Linux kernel 12.4 KDE Plasma 5 26 April 2023 6.1 12.5 KDE Plasma 5 30 May 2024 6.6 12.6 6 November 2024
ROSA Mobile Version Supported models Release date 1.0 11 September 2023 2.0 14 March 2025 3.0 27 April 2026
Reception LinuxBSDos.com reviewed ROSA Desktop Fresh R2 with GNOME.ROSA Desktop Fresh R2 GNOME review | LinuxBSDos.com He wrote:
LinuxBSDos.com also reviewed same version with KDE,ROSA Desktop Fresh R2 KDE review | LinuxBSDos.com and have the review about earlier version — Fresh and Marathon 2012.ROSA Desktop Fresh 2012 review | LinuxBSDos.comROSA Marathon 2012 review | LinuxBSDos.com
In October 2012, Dedoimedo wrote review about ROSA Marathon 2012:ROSA Marathon 2012 review - Ahem, Dedoimedo
Dedoimedo also wrote review about ROSA Desktop Fresh R7.ROSA R7 Desktop Fresh review - Thorny fun, Dedoimedo
Jesse Smith reviewed ROSA Desktop Fresh 2012 R1 for DistroWatch Weekly:First look at ROSA 2012 R1 "Desktop Fresh", DistroWatch Weekly
Smith also reviewed Fresh R9 version.ROSA Fresh R9, DistroWatch Weekly
References 30em
External links
ROSA Linux Wiki ROSA Linux Bugzilla ROSA Linux Forum ROSA Linux in DistroWatch