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FreeBird, Rolling Releases and Creative Differences

Quickemu development​

During Spring 2024, Quickemu underwent major changes

  • The differences between Quickemu versions 4.9.2 thru 4.9.5 are sizeable and significant.

The release numbering may not indicate much but thousands of lines changed, as well as general commands, the API and the overall capabilities. 628 commits in total .... qe-4 92 94-changes-628

Builtins​

TO KEEP qqX STABLE, built-in releases were introduced from qqX version 1.8 onwards. All of these are based on official code and checked as working.

Quickemu has seen sporadic additions to the main code tree BUT at the start of 2026, there had been no releases since Dec 30 2024

During 2025, qqX Mod Overlays were introduced. These sit in the built-in folders and allow easy downstream patching and fixing. At the start of 2026 they have become release numbered, to reflect their growing importance.

Example of a qqX fix​

nested-vms-ubuntu-running-garuda-running-manjaro

  • nested-vms > ubuntu-running-garuda-running-manjaro

The Quickemu problem, where telescoped/nested VM grind to a halt, doesn't happen when using the qqX builtins ....

@ Jan 24 2026 There was an Upstream release, numbered 4.9.8, which was the first in over a year

In reality this was basically a catch up exercise and there are still lots of areas in which upstream is still lagging behind.

Most of the 'new' release was actually a consolidation of previous commits made during the last year, so most of the commits were already included in qqX and many of areas addressed in the release were qqX fixed a long time ago ....

The upstream work was somewhat hurried and errors were immediately spotted in some of the unreviewed additions that were tacked on during the early hours. But at least some work had happened and some attention had been given to the project.

Rolling release​

qqX features a choice of 3 easy-swap internal rolling release models: Leading Edge, Standard or Slow

Named versions are generally as follows:

  • FreeSpirit - As FreeBird, or as FreeBird but more spirited, with newer ideas and fixes if they are EXPECTED TO BE STABLE. Probably includes some official pre-release, or qqX and Community pre-release, or both.

  • FreeBird - Based on time tested FreeSpirit or on official code. Generally tested as STABLE. Contains the usual qqX additions and tweaks. May contain a few official pre-release improvements.

  • HomeBird - An older FreeBird release. Just in case of the unforeseen ....

Plus:

  • Echo - An older official quickemu release. Should generally work with qqX. May be useful?

  • System - The latest official quickemu release, as it is on the system. Use with caution. New releases can often have problems.

And:

  • Custom/Dev - Your own customised or development version. See the notes towards the end of the settings file.

REMAINS CLOSELY CONNECTED TO THE QUICKEMU SOURCE and QUICKEMU COMMUNITY

  • But protected from any unexpected API or code changes

  • And with bonus community contributions as and when needed

Floatversion​

To help with qqX, Alex developed a special piece of software to help process distro release data, called floatversion

Its use allows easy adjustments to Quickget that are not possible with standard Quickemu.

# the latest is:
floatversion -M "$(curl -sLf  "https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/" | grep 'src=')"
12.6.0

# the latest three are:
floatversion -M 3 "$(curl -sLf  "https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/" | grep 'src=')"
12.6.0  12.5.0  12.4.0

# the oldest is:
floatversion --rev -M "$(curl -sLf  "https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/" | grep 'src=')"
3.0

Mod Overlays​

The introduction of the new QuickGet overlay scripting method opened up whole new dimensions:

  • In July 2025, a FAST new Checksum and Iso check routine was added to the FreeSpirit code
ORIGINAL UPSTREAM:
quickget --version
4.9.7

quickget --check opensuse
FAIL: opensuse-16.0                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/16.0/iso/openSUSE-Leap-16.0-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.6                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.6/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.6-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.5                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.5/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.4                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.4/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.4-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.3                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.3/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.3-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.2                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.2/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.2-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.1                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.1/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.1-DVD-x86_64.iso
PASS: opensuse-15.0                       https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.0/iso/openSUSE-Leap-15.0-DVD-x86_64.iso
FAIL: opensuse-aeon                       https://mirrorcache.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/appliances/iso/opensuse-aeon.x86_64.iso
PASS: opensuse-microos                    https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-MicroOS-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
PASS: opensuse-tumbleweed                 https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso
qqX.builtins/freespirit$ ./quickget --full-check opensuse

Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-leap-Gnome             https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/openSUSE-current/live/openSUSE-Leap-15.6-GNOME-Live-x86_64-Media.iso  585cf7cfe23454324ff188b95c01bdcb26e7dd3dc139389cfe8e8b0705c3e089
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-leap-KDE               https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/openSUSE-current/live/openSUSE-Leap-15.6-KDE-Live-x86_64-Media.iso  8b386e4fc04b6921b35302464b4f60ca2a8835f8a40b749b7e8eb995625c793f
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-leap-XFCE              https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/openSUSE-current/live/openSUSE-Leap-15.6-XFCE-Live-x86_64-Media.iso  5fa12124b87b36de79323d2a53c63087d1b87b9f58afc404bb656c0b14a64581
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-leap-Rescue            https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/openSUSE-current/live/openSUSE-Leap-15.6-Rescue-CD-x86_64-Media.iso  4d6cb3b937af3c44f3e10e097b38fe390bf07f576062f1059188e84dd3ee9462
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-leap-micro-current     https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap-micro-current/product/iso/openSUSE-Leap-6.1-x86_64-Current.iso  0fb4f6d628563c63443ffb4dd2e42e6d45f0a7f9e6e6f2611e1208717cbb26be
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-slowroll-DVD           https://download.opensuse.org/slowroll/iso/openSUSE-Slowroll-DVD-x86_64-Build33.3-Media.iso  a2fe4344f459f5d9b02e43c991ba82e0d6fbaf139e9754a015ce0ebe23dcfe4b
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-tumbleweed-DVD         https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso  a251a3a044ead89481410865307a6e8373c36921cd800a369f942f2bf9df8d71
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-tumbleweed-Gnome       https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-GNOME-Live-x86_64-Current.iso  34f6131af8795304f3410335671a2f7b4f12a76adf1b802d90a7f274d346059f
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-tumbleweed-KDE         https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-KDE-Live-x86_64-Current.iso  6a3da08a14f3df1fcc66da6249f87c97355914e7c447e38dadaf8e6897a519b2
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-tumbleweed-XFCE        https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-XFCE-Live-x86_64-Current.iso  37183f2249cca0caf85fec6f109d5b0377cbfecb74b7a6c7684ccd01ce49bb40
Checksum: PASS   Iso: PASS   opensuse-tumbleweed-Rescue      https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/iso/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-Rescue-CD-x86_64-Current.iso  2f34739867111ec8259ee5c704c664bb71ad88db62fc4d115801ab89f10cc820

In Jan 2026, this became extended to the general user interface and the number of fixes to Quickemu has become become too many to easily count ...

See the qqX dev-next branch commits for full details.

Creative Differences​

qqX offers Quickemu users another option and should be seen as a complementary addition.

USERS SHOULD BE OFFERED A CHOICE AND BE ALLOWED TO DECIDE:

qqX-on-the-quickemu-wiki