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GNOME OS RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: GNOME OS

GNOME OS


Last Update: 2026-07-05 10:29 UTC

GNOME OS is an experimental, immutable Linux distribution that ships the latest in-development GNOME desktop, core applications and stack. It serves as a reference for developers and testers. It is designed around the modern systemd and GNU-based userland built from the Freedesktop SDK. Initially, GNOME OS used a library and set of utilities called OSTree to deploy the root filesystem and manage updates, but later migrated to "systemd-sysupdate" which offers enhanced immutability, auto-updating, adaptability, factory reset, uniformity and other modernised security properties. GNOME OS can be loaded as a live image in Boxes, VirtualBox, QEMU and other virtualisation software, but it can also be installed on a standard x86_64 hardware. The distribution does not support traditional package management; however, additional software applications can be installed via the Flatpak utility which is supported out of the box.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 61 (219), 6 months: 56 (250), 3 months: 64 (204), 4 weeks: 79 (160), 1 week: 91 (179)

Average visitor rating: 9.0/10 from 2 review(s).

GNOME OS Summary
Distribution GNOME OS
Home Page https://os.gnome.org/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-build-meta/-/wikis/gnome_os/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://os.gnome.org/ • DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-build-meta/-/issues
Related Websites  
Reviews 2025: DistroWatch • TechBloat
2024: blog.while-true-do.io
2023: It's FOSS
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
TUXEDO
TUXEDO Computers

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Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.

NovaCustom
NovaCustom PrivacyGuard Laptop

NovaCustom PrivacyGuard Laptops - Escape from Big Tech

The NovaCustom PrivacyGuard Laptop is ideal for anyone who prioritizes privacy. Comes with Dasharo coreboot open source firmware and Zorin OS Pro, free from influence of Big Tech.

Star Labs

Star Labs Systems | Laptops designed for Linux

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.


Feature 20260703.2 969881
Release Date 2026-07-04 2025-12-30
End Of Life    
Price (US$) Free Free
Image Size (MB) 2900-3000 2800-2900
Free Download ISO ISO
Installation Graphical Graphical
Default Desktop GNOME GNOME
Default Browser Epiphany Epiphany
Package Format flatpak flatpak
Package Management    
Release Model Rolling Rolling
Office Suite -- --
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64
Init Software systemd systemd
Journaled File Systems    
Multilingual    
Full Package List    
Package 20260703.2 969881
alsa-lib (1.2.16.1)    
amdgpu (25.0.0)    
apparmor (5.0.2)    
apt (3.3.1)    
bash (5.3) 5.3 5.3
bind (9.20.24)    
chromium (150.0.7871.124)    
cinnamon (6.6.8)    
cups (2.4.19)    
e2fsprogs (1.47.4) 1.47.4 1.47.3
ffmpeg (8.1.2) 7.1.3 7.1.3
firefox (152.0.6)    
flatpak (1.18.0) 1.19.0 1.16.1
freetype (2.14.3)    
gcc (16.1.0)    
gimp (3.2.4)    
git (2.55.0)    
glibc (2.43) 2.42 2.42
gnome-shell (50.3) 51.alpha 49.1
grub (2.14)    
gtk (4.22.4) 4.23.2 4.21.4
httpd (2.4.68)    
hyprland (0.55.4)    
inkscape (1.4.4)    
kmod (34.2) 34.2 34.2
krita (6.0.3)    
Package 20260703.2 969881
LibreOffice (26.2.4)    
libselinux (3.11)    
linux (7.1.3) 7.0.11 6.18.2
mariadb (12.3.2)    
mate-desktop (1.28.2)    
mesa (26.1.4)    
nautilus (50.2.2) 51.beta 50.alpha
NVIDIA (610.43.03)    
openjdk (26.0.1)    
openssh (10.4p1) 10.3p1 10.2p1
openssl (4.0.1) 3.5.7 3.5.4
perl (5.42.2) 5.42.2 5.42.0
php (8.5.8)    
plasma-desktop (6.7.3)    
postfix (3.11.5)    
postgresql (18.4)    
Python (3.14.6) 3.13.14 3.13.11
qt (6.11.1)    
samba (4.24.4)    
systemd (261.1) 261.1 259
thunderbird (152.0.1)    
vim (9.2) 9.2 9.1
vlc (3.0.23)    
wayland (1.25.0)    
xfdesktop (4.20.2)    
xorg-server (21.1.24)    

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for GNOME OS

Average rating
9.0
from 2 review(s)


What are your thoughts on GNOME OS?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):



Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 903068
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-09-06
Votes: 4


 I have been using it for a few months now, and I have always loved how the GNOME workflow operates. The interface is intuitive and allows me to be productive efficiently. I feel good using an official GNOME distro; it was a dream of mine, and now it is becoming a reality. The system, despite being in alpha, is running super well and is very lightweight, which is a significant advantage. The performance is impressive, and updates have been consistent. I can't wait for the stable version to be released, as I am eager to explore even more features and improvements.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 874646
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-07-23
Votes: 4


 Using this on a secondary device. Aside from a couple of quirks (e.g., mp4 videos missing codecs and now way I'm aware of to install them / need to manually update the metadata.json of any extension you want to use and hope for the best / no way to remove core apps so need to be hidden if you want a clean menu with only stuff you use) it's fine and and interesting to see what is upcoming in Gnome.

Has only broken on me once with the nightly updates, but you can always boot into the prior functional release


Was this review helpful? Yes No



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