FunOS: Ubuntu LTS with JWM and No Snaps

With Ubuntu LTS under the hood and JWM on top, FunOS keeps things light, snap‑free, and ready for you to assemble your own workspace.

The FOSS Force Distro of the Week — FunOS

This week we thought we’d let our hair down – what little there is of it, for me anyway – and have a little fun. We’re test-driving FunOS, a lightweight Linux distribution based on the latest Ubuntu LTS, but with Ubuntu’s software mainstay Snap removed and replaced with… well, nothing. But we’ll get to that a little further on.

It features Joe’s Window Manager — JWM for short — which makes it suitable for older hardware and users seeking a minimalist desktop environment.

According to FunOS’s founder and lead developer, Bustami Arifin, in an email to FOSS Force, the distro’s minimum system requirements are a 64-bit processor (dual-core recommended), 1 GB RAM, and 10 GB available disk space. He added that the bare minimum isn’t ideal and that users are better off with slightly higher specs, recommending a 64-bit dual core processor or better, 2 GB RAM, and 20 GB available storage.

“FunOS is designed to be lightweight and responsive, especially on older or lower-spec hardware, thanks to the JWM desktop environment,” he explained. “However, for a smoother experience — especially when running modern web browsers and multiple applications — the suggested specifications are recommended.”

With that in mind, we downloaded the latest version, which is FunOS 25.10, and placed the 1.9 GB ISO on a USB drive for installation.

Installing FunOS 25.10

FunOS uses the Ubiquity installer that’s native to Ubuntu and most Ubuntu-based distros, making the installation fairly straightforward: select your location, keyboard, disk partitions (we erased the disk to install it fresh), enter your login and password information.

The installation was relatively quick, and after the always important first update, it appears that FunOS doesn’t include a whole lot of software by default. There’s the Firefox web browser and a smattering of tools to help with various distro adjustments, but from there it drops off considerably.

And remember when we said FunOS replaced the Ubuntu-based Snap with… well, nothing?

Well, never fear, good people. For those who insist on having a ‘storefront’ type of app for adding new software, FunOS’s website has an entire page of instructions on how to add Flatpak onto your system. And if you want to be adventurous, there’s always the sudo apt install [software] route on the command line. Both work effectively and equally well.

We added via Flatpak a wide variety of apps to help make our FunOS experience an enjoyable one. This included Thunderbird, VLC media player, the GNU Image Manipulation Program (otherwise known as GIMP), and LibreOffice.

One more thing: The photograph on the default FunOS desktop is an idyllic island scene, which I changed to something a bit darker to contrast with the JWM menu. FunOS offers a wide range of options thanks to the Nitrogen wallpaper program, and the final desktop background choices were wide and varied.

Kicking the Tires

There might be a method to the madness at FunOS regarding why there isn’t a lot of software available on the original installation. It might be that FunOS is forcing users to create the system they want going forward, and that would require downloading a variety of software that fits their needs.

That said, armed with the software we installed, we started using FunOS in our regular day-to-day computer use.

FunOS 25.10 is very nimble and responsive, handling a wide variety of tasks simultaneously. This is commendable, since the distro is designed for computers with far lower specs than we were using. What was really impressive was the control we had over our system. The distro doesn’t try to be flashy or trendy by cramming in dubious features at the expense of reliability. On the contrary: the distro understands that its role is to stay out of the way as much as possible.

Everyday tasks were dealt with easily. Surfing the web, and sending and receiving emails, was a breeze. Listening to music on VLC while doing both was a joy. And while FunOS handled multitasking easily, it managed web apps like Google Docs and Google Drive effortlessly.

Final Thoughts

In a world where the maxim “more is better” seems to be standard, FunOS swims upstream against the current. The distro proves that sometimes — and, arguably, quite often — the best solution is the simpler one.

The fact that Snap was removed from FunOS and not replaced — leaving users the choice of going to a web-based Flatpak system or depending on the command line to add software — will always be a head-scratcher.

Nevertheless, FunOS — though not ideal — would be a welcome initiation to Linux for newcomers by virtue of the fact that it runs on a wide variety of hardware. The JWM window manager has an easy learning curve, and the website is chock full of information as a help source. With Ubuntu under the hood, new users could also hit up the Ubuntu wiki should they run into any problems. Intermediate users and greybeards would surely welcome the wide range of flexibility the distro offers.

The bottom line is this: as a daily driver for a wide range of users, FunOS would not disappoint.

FunOS is more than just a lightweight distro. It serves as an outlet to tap into your hardware’s full potential while breathing life into hardware that’s past its prime. You can download its ISO on the project’s download page.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for FOSS Force’s Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let us know! Offer your suggestions in the comments below (or use the “contact us” link under our masthead) and we’ll make an effort to make it so… No suggestion is too mainstream or too niche—let us know what you’d like to see!

Suddenly we’re the mood for some John Fogerty…