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.Gentoo for everyone
CalamaroOS
A universal distribution built on Gentoo Stage 3 + Systemd, now also available with OpenRC on every edition, and the Calamares graphical installer to make Gentoo accessible to everyone. Every edition ships with Flatpak, the community GURU, Brave and LibreWolf repositories enabled by default, disk encryption at install, automatic detection of other installed operating systems (OS Prober) and support for EXT4 · BTRFS · XFS · F2FS. 7 desktop environments to choose from: the power of Gentoo, without barriers — and once installed, you customize everything to your needs.
Features
- Update · November 2026 Where CalamaroOS stands A Gentoo-based distribution with the Calamares graphical installer. 14 editions: seven desktops, each with two init systems, systemd and OpenRC. 🎯 What we're doing In these weeks we're bringing all 14 editions up to the same level. Every fix found on one edition is applied to all of them, and every ISO must pass the same checks. The goal is that there are no more quality differences from one desktop to another. ✨ What the user notices Correct time zone. The installer uses your time zone: Calamares pre-selects the right one and, with no network, falls back to Europe/Rome instead of a wrong zone. Working Calamares buttons. "Support" opens the Gentoo handbook and "Donate" opens our site, even with Firefox already open. Clean installed system. No leftover users, passwords, icons or files from the live session, nor files from the machine the ISO was built on. A single network manager, with no conflicts at boot. Lighter Btrfs on disk, mounted with noatime. Safe Mode for troublesome graphics cards, identical across all editions. Encrypted disk (LUKS) with encrypted swap that keeps working from the second boot onward. Consistent dark theme, even in apps like GParted. 🧪 How we test each ISO Each ISO is installed twice: in a virtual machine and on a real PC. On the PC we use legacy BIOS boot, Safe Mode, an encrypted disk and another operating system alongside it. After the second boot an automatic check verifies more than 70 points of the installed system. An ISO is published only if there are no errors. 📊 Where we've got to systemd editions: Done LXQt (Oct 31) and LXDE (Nov 1): complete, with all fixes and all checks passed. To finish XFCE, Cinnamon and GNOME: published, to be completed with the latest fixes. To redo Plasma and MATE: published, will be rebuilt with the latest fixes. 🧭 What's left Finish the systemd editions: first Cinnamon and GNOME, then Plasma, XFCE and MATE. Then the round of the 7 OpenRC editions, with the same method. The ISOs already published can be used. The new ones will replace the old ones as they pass the checks.
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User Reviews
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5 out of 5 starshello, i really like this distro but, could you add support for open rc instead of systemd? if not i understand it but i would love to have open rc lolReply from CalamaroOSPosted 2026-05-05
I understand your request; it's a time constraint. I'm working to improve and stabilize the project; lxde, gnome and cinnamon are still missing. I'll see what I can do later. Thanks for the review. -
5 out of 5 starsI couldn't get the Nvidia driver to work, I followed the guide on the Gentoo wiki. I might be being stupid, but an ISO with this configured could be a good addition. No matter what I did, it only uses llvmpipe as the graphics driver. edit: Thanks for the guide, I managed to install it now and it's working perfectly.Reply from CalamaroOSEdited 2026-05-06
Uploaded guide file along with the iso. 1) # nano /etc/portage/make.conf ACCEPT_LICENSE="*" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" 2) Beware of the nvidia-drivers for my gtx1070 I had to mask the 595 because it doesn't work on my portage card it was clear. # echo ">x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-580.126.18" >> /etc/portage/package.mask/nvidia-drivers and set the dist-kernel flag in /etc/portage/package.use, then when you update the kernel the Nvidia drivers will automatically reinstall. # echo "x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers dist-kernel" >> /etc/portage/package.use/nvidia-drivers 3) emerge -DNuag @world (install the nvidia-drivers) 4) Configure Xorg # nvidia-xconfig 5) # nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0 6)nano /etc/dracut.conf.d/nouveau.conf # Force nouveau and drm in the initramfs for NVIDIA cards (Kepler and later) #force_drivers+=" nouveau drm drm_kms_helper " #Disable Nouveau completely in the initramfs omit_dracutmodules+=" nouveau " install_optional_items+=" /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf " # Optional but recommended hostonly="yes" 7) Add parameters to the kernel. Open /etc/default/grub and in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rw quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1" 8) generate everything: # dracut -f # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #reboot -
5 out of 5 starsTried this once Mate worked greatReally wanted .Cinnamon ,decided to try plasma.Will hook to internet right away ,reboot no internet or sound.Tried mate again same thing.Really like this suspect minor bug.Cinnamon comes out and works will be a favoite in the herd.Thanks for your time and effort.
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5 out of 5 starsI tried to install using the full encryption option after the installation finish. When I reboot it couldn’t find the encrypted drive. The installer works without the encryption option. Update review 5/16/2026. Thanks for the update since I’m trying to install this distribution on my laptop with encryption.Reply from CalamaroOSEdited 2026-05-14
Hi, we've solved the disk encryption issue. The next plasma ISO and all the others will have working disk encryption. Thanks again for the report, and have a great day. -
5 out of 5 starsnvidia driver not installing,21 stcenturyReply from CalamaroOSEdited 2026-05-06
Uploaded guide file along with the iso. 1) # nano /etc/portage/make.conf ACCEPT_LICENSE="*" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" 2) Beware of the nvidia-drivers for my gtx1070 I had to mask the 595 because it doesn't work on my portage card it was clear. # echo ">x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-580.126.18" >> /etc/portage/package.mask/nvidia-drivers and set the dist-kernel flag in /etc/portage/package.use, then when you update the kernel the Nvidia drivers will automatically reinstall. # echo "x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers dist-kernel" >> /etc/portage/package.use/nvidia-drivers 3) emerge -DNuag @world (install the nvidia-drivers) 4) Configure Xorg # nvidia-xconfig 5) # nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0 6)nano /etc/dracut.conf.d/nouveau.conf # Force nouveau and drm in the initramfs for NVIDIA cards (Kepler and later) #force_drivers+=" nouveau drm drm_kms_helper " #Disable Nouveau completely in the initramfs omit_dracutmodules+=" nouveau " install_optional_items+=" /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf " # Optional but recommended hostonly="yes" 7) Add parameters to the kernel. Open /etc/default/grub and in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rw quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1" 8) generate everything: # dracut -f # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #reboot
