Introducing matrixOS, an Immutable Gentoo-Based Linux Distro
It was only a matter of time before a developer decided one of the most challenging Linux distributions needed to be immutable.
You've probably never heard of matrixOS because it's new. What it is, however, is not new. In fact, the developer, Fabio Erculiani, has taken two pieces of technology, Gentoo Linux and immutability, and combined them to form a distribution that sounds quite appealing.
Imagine getting the high-level customization of Gentoo, with the rock-solid security that comes with immutability? Intrigued? I know I am.
If Fabio Erculiani sounds familiar, it's because he was behind Sabayon Linux, which aimed to make Gentoo easier for users to install.
According to the matrixOS GitHub page, "Our two main goals are: Reliability: Providing a stable, immutable base system through OSTree, which allows for atomic upgrades and rollbacks.
Gaming-Friendly: Shipping with the Steam loader, Lutris, and optimizations to get you gaming on both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs with minimal fuss...and our motto is: emerge once, deploy everywhere."
A Gentoo-based, immutable, gaming-friendly Linux distribution? Sign me up.
As far as features, you can expect things like the latest Mesa and NVIDIA drivers; coolercontrold and liquidctl; Btrfs on /boot and / with zstd compression; auto-resizing on first boot,; ntfsplus driver; UEFI SecureBoot support with easy-to-install certificates; Steam, Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, and Docker available immediately; and Google Antigravity for AI-assisted coding.
There is a download link on the GitHub page that takes you to a site filled with image files for matrixOS. This new matrixOS is not to be confused with the older matrixOS, which was Debian-based and featured the Trinity Desktop Environment.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Introducing matrixOS, an Immutable Gentoo-Based Linux Distro
It was only a matter of time before a developer decided one of the most challenging Linux distributions needed to be immutable.
-
Chaos Comes to KDE in KaOS
KaOS devs are making a major change to the distribution, and it all comes down to one system.
-
New Linux Botnet Discovered
The SSHStalker botnet uses IRC C2 to control systems via legacy Linux kernel exploits.
-
The Next Linux Kernel Turns 7.0
Linus Torvalds has announced that after Linux kernel 6.19, we'll finally reach the 7.0 iteration stage.
-
Linux From Scratch Drops SysVinit Support
LFS will no longer support SysVinit.
-
LibreOffice 26.2 Now Available
With new features, improvements, and bug fixes, LibreOffice 26.2 delivers a modern, polished office suite without compromise.
-
Linux Kernel Project Releases Project Continuity Document
What happens to Linux when there's no Linus? It's a question many of us have asked over the years, and it seems it's also on the minds of the Linux kernel project.
-
Mecha Systems Introduces Linux Handheld
Mecha Systems has revealed its Mecha Comet, a new handheld computer powered by – you guessed it – Linux.
-
MX Linux 25.1 Features Dual Init System ISO
The latest release of MX Linux caters to lovers of two different init systems and even offers instructions on how to transition.
-
Photoshop on Linux?
A developer has patched Wine so that it'll run specific versions of Photoshop that depend on Adobe Creative Cloud.
