💿 XeroLinux Distro 💿

🐧Info Build Status(Not ISOs)🐧

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Thank you¶

Before we begin, I would like to tell everyone of you who has supported the XeroLinux project by either getting the ISO or some merch, how much your simple act of kindness means to me. I cannot put it into words. So all am gonna say is God bless you all. I hope your kindness is reciprocated. 🙏❤️

rice

Free Demo¶

A Demo ISO is available now, free of charge are for testing purposes only, since it comes without an installer and cow-space is pretty limited (100MiB), so you won’t be able to update or install big packages. It's just for testing, so don’t try updating, it won’t work because of the space limit.

Finally, since Live Environment is not persistent, installing anything that requires a reboot, like Drivers is therefore impossible, keep that in mind before attempting to do so.

All this is great for checking out what the distro has to offer and experimenting with the setup before donating for full version. A solid way to tinker, see the tweaks in action, and dive into the details without any commitment.

Satisfied ? You can take the plunge and donate for a copy » Here.

.// The Wiki \\.

⚠️ nVidia "Nouveau" Blacklisted. ⚠️

Always update & Reboot post-install before using the Distro.

Warning

nVidia Users : Due to an ongoing issue with nouveau+wayland on those GPUs causing CPU to be pegged at 100% we’ve blacklisted the "nouveau" driver by default, so if you’re using nVidia, to get the best experience, please make sure to 1) update, 2) install the GPU drivers using the included toolkit, and then 3) reboot your computer, in that exact order. Following these steps will ensure you can fully benefit from your setup.

Installation¶

Before we dive in, it's important to note that XeroLinux features KDE Plasma & GNOME, two powerful and distinct desktop environments. While they were designed to run on a variety of systems, for the best experience, we recommend mid-range or higher hardware. That said, they can work on low-end hardware, but performance may be less than optimal.

Legacy Systems¶

Please avoid booting ISOs on on old-school computers that use legacy BIOS/MBR. It only works on newer setups with EFI/UEFI — Legacy Boot will be removed soon !

If you’re not sure what that means, just read This Article and check if your PC supports UEFI. If it doesn’t, don’t sweat it, just pick a distro made for older hardware instead. Easy as that!

Bootable Tool¶

To boot into the Distro's Live Environment, all you have to do is use the tried and true Ventoy to put ISO on & boot, that way you have Grub as fallback in case SystemD-Boot fails. If you burn using Etcher or similar tools there will be nothing to fall back to. Just an FYI.

rice

X11 is no more¶

We have moved completely to Wayland on the flagship, as we have on the Gnome Dev Spin. If you still rely on X11, please use the toolkit to re-enable it. That is a major shift by the Plasma Team, they split X11 & Wayland packages.

X11

XeroLinux Toolkit¶

I highly recommend using the toolkit (the first icon on the dock) to streamline your initial setup experience. It was designed to make the process much smoother and more pleasant. Keep in mind, however, that it's not meant to handle everything for you, just the essentials.

For more info about it check the Wiki

rice

Fingerprint Authentication¶

This guide will cover how to configure and use the fprintd fingerprint sensor on KDE, Cosmic and other DEs or WMs that do not have a built-in GUI.

Install & Enroll

Let's install the required packages & enroll fingerprints. Below we will be using fprint-cli on KDE you can use the Fingerprint enrollment GUI in settings.

sudo pacman -S fprintd
fprintd-enroll -f [finger]

Example fingers

  left-thumb
  left-index-finger
  left-middle-finger
  left-ring-finger
  left-little-finger
  right-thumb
  right-index-finger
  right-middle-finger
  right-ring-finger
  right-little-finger

Example :

fprintd-enroll -f right-index-finger

To verify :

fprintd-verify

- Configure Authentication

In order for it to work on login, lock, prompt and terminal we will have to configure it correctly.

For login, add this on top in /etc/pam.d/login...

auth    [success=1 default=ignore]  pam_succeed_if.so service in sudo:su:su-l tty in :unknown
auth    sufficient  pam_fprintd.so

For polkit, create & paste below in /etc/pam.d/polkit-1

#%PAM-1.0
auth       [success=1 default=ignore]  pam_succeed_if.so service in sudo:su:su-l tty in :unknown
auth       sufficient   pam_fprintd.so
auth       sufficient   pam_unix.so try_first_pass likeauth nullok

auth       include      system-auth
account    include      system-auth
session    include      system-auth
password   include      system-auth

for sudo add this on top in /etc/pam.d/sudo...

auth    [success=1  default=ignore] pam_succeed_if.so service in sudo:su:su-l tty in :unknown
auth    sufficient  pam_fprintd.so

Polkit (GUI) might continue to prompt for password in some DEs like Cosmic, just swipe your finger and it will authenticate. Terminal works. I hope it's implemented soon though ! As for WMs I have no idea if this works or not, I guess try it and see if it does, I don't use any.

Now reboot & benefit !!!

Supported Filesystems¶

Also, the currently supported Filesystems are, ext4 and xfs. As of June 2025 we have removed BTRFS from the choice of filesystems due to unforeseen issues with it failing to create volumes. Might bring it back later on down the line.

GUI Package Managers¶

Additionally, I'd like to point out that no GUI package managers are included by default, as I believe in giving you the freedom to choose the one that suits your workflow best. Through the provided toolkit, you can select from Octopi, or Bauh. That said, I strongly advise against installing KDE's Discover if you're aiming for stability; it's notoriously troublesome. But, as always, the final decision is yours.

Accessibility¶

Starting with the September builds, we’re including Orca, an open-source screen reader for GNOME and other AT-SPI-compliant Linux desktops. This helps users with visual impairments interact more easily with apps like GTK, LibreOffice, and web browsers.

Orca uses speech synthesis engines such as eSpeak-NG and supports refreshable braille devices via BRLTTY. It offers features like screen magnification, focus tracking, customizable verbosity, and flexible keybindings. Users can also personalize Orca through scripting and profiles.

Adding Orca improves accessibility and ensures a better experience.

Issues/Fixes¶

If at any moment while using it, you get the unkown key "%INSTALL_DB%" in local database issue during update, please run the following command in terminal :

sudo find /var/lib/pacman/local/ -type f -name "desc" -exec sed -i '/^%INSTALLED_DB%$/,+2d' {} \;

That's it. Hopefully nothing else exists.

Support/Issues¶

If you encounter any other issues or have questions directly related to the installation, feel free to reach out to me on Fosstodon or Discord. Please do not ask ok Ko-Fi. All relevant links are provided in the footer, and I'll do my best to assist you.

rice

However, if your questions are related to your specific hardware, I may not have the answers you're looking for, as my knowledge is limited to what works on my own systems. For hardware-specific queries, your best resources are the ArchWiki, or our custom ChatGPT A.I. available on Discord. As for release changelog, you can find this Here.

That's it, there ain't much to it. The rest is in your hands now. Dive into the toolkit, poke around, and see if there’s anything that catches your fancy. Just don’t blame me if you get lost in the endless sea of tweaks and options 🎉