forge:~$ cat about

forgeOS is Arch Linux built for playing games, making games and making music. It keeps Arch's packages and rolling releases, and adds its own tuned kernel, a signed package repository of its own, a themed Hyprland desktop, and upgrades that are tested before they apply.

The kernel: linux-forgeos

forgeOS builds its own kernel from source, pinned to an exact release and verified by signature. Its kernel patches and tunings come from CachyOS; the build choices are forgeOS's:

• The current Linux release with performance patches and configuration, and the EEVDF CPU scheduler.
• Compiled for x86-64-v3 (AVX2: Intel Haswell from 2013, AMD Zen and newer) with Clang ThinLTO and -O3, not for the lowest common x86-64.
• 1000 Hz timer, full preemption, full tickless and transparent hugepages, aimed at responsiveness under load.
• sched-ext built in, so the scx userspace CPU schedulers can replace the kernel's scheduler while the system runs.
• NVIDIA open module built for this exact kernel for the live system; installed systems rebuild it automatically with DKMS when drivers update.

Every recipe change, compiler setting and source version is recorded with each build, and the recipe is published in sources/.

Tuned system settings

Much of how fast a system feels comes from kernel settings outside the kernel build. forgeos-tuning sets them from the first boot:

CPU schedulers are one command away: the scx schedulers (scx_lavd, scx_bpfland and others) are installed but off, so the kernel's own scheduler stays the default until you choose. The guide shows how.

Its own repository

forgeOS has its own pacman repository, [forgeos], served from this site. It carries the kernel, the system tuning, the desktop and its configuration, the installer, the upgrade tool, Tweaks, the calendar, and forgeOS's own applications. Every package and the database are signed with the forgeOS key, which every installation trusts through forgeos-keyring.

The repository is listed above Arch's, so forgeOS's packages take priority; everything else comes straight from Arch's mirrors. A forgeOS update and an Arch update arrive through the same command.

Built on Arch, not a fork

forgeOS does not rebuild Arch. It uses Arch's own repositories (core, extra, multilib), Arch's pacman and the same rolling updates. The Arch Wiki applies, the AUR works, and you can install any Arch package. If Arch has a problem, forgeOS has it too, and Arch's fix is forgeOS's fix.

Why Btrfs

forgeOS installs on Btrfs with separate subvolumes for the system, /home, logs, the package cache and upgrade state. That layout is what several features rest on:

• Snapshots before upgrades. A snapshot is an instant, read-only copy of the system that only stores what changes afterwards. forge system-upgrade takes one before every upgrade, so there is always a way back.
• Reinstall without losing your files. /home is its own subvolume, so the installer can replace the system and leave your files and settings where they are.
• Compression. Files are compressed with zstd as they are written: less disk space and less data to read, at almost no CPU cost.
• Checksums. Every block is checksummed, so silent disk corruption is detected instead of quietly read back.
• Instant copies. Copying a file can share its data until either copy changes, so large copies take no time or space.

What is different from a regular Arch install

For making things

Two installer options turn a gaming machine into a workstation:

The desktop

What it is not

• Not for older CPUs: the kernel needs x86-64-v3 (AVX2).
• Not for Secure Boot or BIOS-only machines yet: it needs 64-bit UEFI with Secure Boot turned off.
• Not dual-boot friendly yet: the installer uses a whole disk.