Keru OS
An independent, source-only Linux distribution built around one idea: you don't install a system, you craft one.
This repository holds the operating system itself — the installer, the ISO build tooling, the profile system, and the build pipeline. The two things Keru depends on live in their own repositories:
- kama — the package manager (a shell script)
- kama-packages — the recipe repository
What is Keru
Every package on Keru is built from source by Kama, a deliberately small package manager that simply runs the commands in each recipe. No binary packages, no opaque package machinery. The whole system — toolchain included — is compiled from original source, and the install image is assembled by hand rather than with a stock tool like archiso.
Runit handles services. The standard Linux kernel drives the hardware.
nmtui manages networking. Nothing you didn't ask for ends up on the disk.
The differentiator: craft your system at install time
Keru's installer is a TUI that walks you through designing your exact machine before it ever boots:
- init system — Runit (default), s6, OpenRC, systemd
- C library — glibc or musl
- filesystem — ext4, btrfs, xfs, zfs, f2fs
- kernel — linux, linux-lts, linux-hardened
Swappable at install time, fixed at first boot. The system that lands on your disk is precisely the one you chose.
Repository layout
installer/ TUI installer — writes make.conf from your choices
iso/ from-scratch ISO build tooling (xorriso + squashfs + syslinux)
profile/ make.conf template (the swappables + build flags)
scripts/ build pipeline: build-root, mkfs-root, common helpers
docs/ design docs + the recipe format spec
Building
The three repos should sit next to each other (or point at each other via
KAMA_DIR / PKGS_DIR / PKGDIR):
~/dev/
├── KeruOS/
├── kama/
└── kama-packages/
Then, from KeruOS/:
make install # run the TUI installer
# or, headlessly:
sh scripts/build-root.sh # build a rootfs into /tmp/keru/root
make iso # assemble an install image
Requires the sibling kama and kama-packages repos to be present.
Status
Design + scaffolding. Nothing is building end-to-end yet.
License
AGPL-3.0