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Chimera Linux

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Chimera Linux
DeveloperChimera Linux team
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Latest releaseRolling release / 7 July 2024; 3 months ago (2024-07-07)[1]
Repositoryhttps://github.com/chimera-linux/
Marketing targetGeneral purpose
Update methodRolling release
Package managerapk-tools, cports
Platformsx86-64, aarch64, ppc64le, ppc64, RISC-V
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandBSD
Default
user interface
GNOME Shell, Almquist shell
Official websitechimera-linux.org

Chimera Linux is a Linux distribution striving for the minimum complexity of system configuration while retaining and expanding on the flexibility common to general purpose Linux based systems. The distribution has no upstream and defines itself as "independent" from this perspective.

A strict default security model, employing the in-development dinit init system or the FreeBSD userland are some of the more radical approaches. Such changes would have been very hard for a distribution with an existing user base.[2][3][4][5]

Core userland from FreeBSD, the musl C library and the LLVM toolchain are employed. In this the distribution provides an alternative to the common GNU-based systems, without explicitly excluding GNU tools or GPL licensed software in general.

Re-thinking of the core components common across Linux distributions and re-thinking of their integration into an operating system are stated as intentionally pursued at the same time. This approach allows to skip the 'chicken and egg' problem of core system components development: If to interface a newly updated component to an "old" system or adapt a system to a "new" component instead.

Features

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  • LLVM as the toolchain of choice (instead of the GCC toolchain)
  • musl with mimalloc as the system C library (instead of glibc)
  • dinit as the init system (instead of systemd)
  • FreeBSD userland (instead of GNU coreutils)
  • GNOME desktop environment using Wayland for display and PipeWire for the audio stack

References

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  1. ^ "Index of /live/latest/". Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  2. ^ "Chimera Linux - About". Chimera Linux. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  3. ^ Proven, Liam. "Chimera – a Linux that isn't GNU/Linux". The Register. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  4. ^ "Chimera Linux met BSD-userland en dinit in plaats van systemd komt in maart uit". Tweakers (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  5. ^ "A Non-GNU Linux Distribution Built With LLVM & BSD Software Aims For Alpha Next Month". Phoronix. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
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