Skip to main content

New Variants: Arch Linux (Marlin) and CachyOS (Wahoo)

· 3 min read
James Reilly
James Reilly
Maintainer

TunaOS is no longer Enterprise-Linux-only. Today we're adding two rolling-release variants to the build matrix: Marlin (Arch Linux) and Wahoo (CachyOS).

Why Rolling Release?​

The project vision is clear: erase the mystique of the Linux distribution. A "distro" is just base OS × desktop × kernel × drivers — assembled by a build factory. If that's true, it shouldn't matter whether the base is RHEL-compatible, Fedora, Ubuntu, Arch, or CachyOS. The same factory should produce them all.

🐟 Marlin — Arch Linux on bootc​

Arch Linux with the stability guarantees of bootc: atomic updates, rollback, immutable base.

  • Base: archlinux/archlinux:latest
  • Kernel: stock linux (latest stable)
  • Package manager: pacman
  • bootc: built from source (Arch doesn't package it yet)
  • Desktops: gnome, kde, cosmic, niri, xfce

How It Works​

Containerfile.arch bootcifies a stock Arch container:

  1. Builds bootc from source (~2 min Rust compile)
  2. Moves /var → /usr/lib/sysimage for pacman+ostree compatibility
  3. Installs kernel, dracut, ostree, filesystem tools
  4. Builds initramfs with bootc dracut modules
  5. Sets up composefs + ostree rootfs layout

Desktop packages come from the same manifest system — the pacman: section in each manifests/desktops/*.yaml.

🐟 Wahoo — CachyOS on bootc​

The performance variant. CachyOS ships:

  • BORE scheduler — better desktop interactivity under load
  • LTO-compiled packages — 5-15% faster binaries
  • x86-64-v3 targeting — uses modern CPU instructions (AVX2, BMI2, etc.)
  • Performance-tuned sysctl — optimized for desktop workloads

Same Containerfile.arch — it auto-detects CachyOS repos in pacman.conf and installs linux-cachyos instead of stock linux.

The Matrix​

              │ gnome │ kde  │ niri │ cosmic │ xfce │
──────────────┼───────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼──────┤
EL10          │  ✅   │  ✅  │  ✅  │   ✅   │  ✅  │
Fedora        │  ✅   │  ✅  │  ✅  │   ✅   │  ✅  │
Ubuntu        │  ✅   │  ✅  │  ✅  │   —    │  ✅  │
Arch          │  ✅   │  ✅  │  ✅  │   ✅   │  ✅  │  ← NEW
CachyOS       │  ✅   │  ✅  │  ✅  │   ✅   │  ✅  │  ← NEW

Try It​

# Build locally
just build marlin gnome
just build wahoo kde

# Or switch a running system
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/tuna-os/marlin:gnome
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/tuna-os/wahoo:kde

Both variants are marked experimental — expect rough edges. ISOs coming once the builds stabilize.

Credits​

This work stands on the shoulders of:

  • bootcrew — the reference implementation for Arch Linux on bootc. Their arch-bootc project proved the composefs-native backend works on Arch and pioneered the /var → /usr/lib/sysimage pacman migration. Our Containerfile.arch is directly based on their work.
  • jumpvi / bootc-shindig — the bootc-deb apt packages that make bootc work on Ubuntu/Debian. Without their work packaging bootc for apt-based systems, our Grouper (Ubuntu) variant wouldn't exist. The entire deb-based bootc ecosystem traces back to their packaging effort.
  • CachyOS — for maintaining performance-optimized Arch repos (BORE scheduler, LTO, x86-64-v3) and publishing Docker images we can build on.
  • Universal Blue and Project Bluefin — for proving that bootc-based desktop images work at scale and inspiring this entire approach.