An elegant Linux distribution for desktop and mobile.
RidgeOS is a modern, ARM-first Linux distribution with a fast package manager and a Wayland desktop that scales from your PC to your phone. Install prebuilt packages — and rebuild any of them from source when you want to.
$ rbootstrap init --target amd64 resolving closure … 418 packages installing rpks into disk.img … done $ rbootstrap qemu ✓ RidgeOS booted — sshd listening on :2222
A polished distribution, desktop to phone
Prebuilt packages for a system that just works, an ARM target that's treated as first-class, and one desktop that follows you across screens.
Fast binary packages
rpk installs prebuilt .rpk
artifacts, so a working system is a download away — no waiting on a
compiler to get started.
Source when you want it
Every package is a readable port. Rebuild anything from source, with your own patches or flags, whenever a stock binary won't do.
ARM-first
aarch64 is a first-class target, not an afterthought. Phones and boards get the same care and package set as the desktop.
Wayland desktop
A wlroots compositor and a Qt/QML shell ship in the box — a clean, modern desktop with no legacy X server to babysit.
Convergent
One shell, two form factors. The desktop layout on a monitor becomes a phone layout on the OnePlus 8T — same apps, same settings.
Reproducible images
A target is a system.py spec. Declare the
package set, assemble a disk image, and boot it on a VM, a PC, or a phone.
Three ways to run RidgeOS
Try it in a VM in minutes, run it on a 64-bit PC, or put a convergent desktop in your pocket on the OnePlus 8T.
Virtual machine
Boot RidgeOS in QEMU/KVM with nothing to flash and nothing to undo — the quickest way to look around.
- Runs on QEMU / KVM
- Image amd64
- Access sshd on :2222
- Setup ~5 minutes
Generic amd64 PC
Any reasonably modern 64-bit PC. The reference desktop target and the fastest hardware to run RidgeOS on.
- Architecture x86-64
- Firmware UEFI
- Graphics KMS / DRM
- Install to USB or SSD
OnePlus 8T (kebab)
A Snapdragon 865 handset running the RidgeOS kernel, U-Boot, and the convergent desktop on the phone panel.
- SoC Snapdragon 865
- Architecture aarch64
- Bootloader U-Boot
- Install by fastboot flash
From a recipe to a booting image
Every RidgeOS package comes off the same pipeline: an orchestrator walks the dependency graph, workers build in a sandbox, and a registry serves the finished packages to your system.
rfarm
The orchestrator. Walks the port graph, provisions builder scratch, and dispatches builds across the workers over ssh + rsync.
rbuild
The per-port engine. Runs each port's prepare / build / package steps inside a bubblewrap sandbox on a worker.
rserve
The package registry. Stores and reindexes .rpk
packages per architecture — the boundary between building and installing.
rbootstrap
The assembler. Reads a target spec, installs the package set into a disk image, and boots it under QEMU or writes it to a device.
Boot RidgeOS in the next ten minutes
Grab an image for your platform — a VM, a PC, or your phone — and boot it.