Introducing TitalcruiseOS 5 Essential/BLFS

TitalcruiseOS 5 Essential/BLFS

TitalcruiseOS 5 Essential is a desktop GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian 13 "Trixie" and using the Linux From Scratch book ( https://linuxfromscratch.org/ ), developed with the aim of offering a modern, lightweight and functional system, keeping only the components necessary to provide a complete desktop experience.

The Essential edition uses GNOME 48 on Wayland as its main environment and integrates systemd, NetworkManager, PipeWire, Mesa, hardware firmware, GDM3 and Plymouth , offering support for modern graphics, audio, connectivity and devices from the first boot.

The system includes a bootable Live environment, from which you can try TitalcruiseOS without installing it and directly access Calamares , the graphical installer specifically configured for TitalcruiseOS. The installation process allows you to create a system user, configure storage, install GRUB, and automatically prepare the system for the first boot.

TitalcruiseOS 5 Essential also features its own visual identity. TitalcruiseOS branding is integrated into Plymouth, GDM3, GNOME Settings, and the system's main visual resources , replacing the Debian-inherited visual presentation where appropriate.

The distribution is designed to offer a balanced desktop foundation: it does not seek to be a minimalist installation without a graphical environment, but rather to retain the essential elements of a complete desktop system while avoiding including a large number of additional applications that the user can install later according to their needs.

Main features

• Debian 13 "Trixie" as the base.

• GNOME 48.

• Wayland.

• GDM3.

• systemd.

• NetworkManager.

• PipeWire and WirePlumber.

• Table with OpenGL and Vulkan support.

• Firmware for common hardware, including Realtek and Intel.

• Plymouth with TitalcruiseOS branding.

• GRUB with UEFI support.

• Live Environment.

• Calamares as a graphical installer.

• GNOME terminal included.

• Custom GNOME default settings.

• TitalcruiseOS's own visual identity.

• System installed without Calamares or the specific components of the Live environment.

• AMD64 architecture.

• ISO of approximately 803 MB in this first functional build.

TitalcruiseOS 5 Essential was developed by Titalcruise EA and aims to provide an environment with the essentials of TitalcruiseOS. It is still in testing, so we will be releasing new updates for Essential/BLFS soon. A look at the general changelog: TitalcruiseOS 5 BLFS

Status: First working build

Architecture: amd64

Base: Debian GNU/Linux 13 "Trixie"

Environment: GNOME 48 / Wayland

ISO size: ~803 MB

[+] Base system

- Debian Trixie-based build using debootstrap.

- Minimal root filesystem as a starting point.

- Systemd and systemd-sysv configured.

- Integrated DBus.

- Locals configured with UTF-8 support.

- CA certificates included.

- System identity adapted to TitalcruiseOS.

- VERSION_CODENAME=trixie maintained for compatibility.

- Temporary hostname removed from the building system.

[+] TitalcruiseOS Repository

- Integrated official TitalcruiseOS repository.

- Repository signature configured using keyring.

- integrated base-files of TitalcruiseOS.

- integrated titalcruise-default-settings.

- integrated titalcruise-gnome-defaults.

[+] Firmware and hardware

- integrated firmware-linux-free.

- Integrated Realtek firmware.

- integrated firmware-misc-nonfree.

- Integrated Intel microcode.

- Realtek hardware support ready.

- Integrated NetworkManager.

- Integrated WPA supplicant.

- Integrated Bluetooth/BlueZ.

- integrated udev and kmod.

- Integrated UDisks2.

- Integrated UPower.

- integrated polkit.

[+] Graphics

- Integrated Wayland.

- Integrated Table 25.0.7.

- OpenGL/EGL/GBM.

- Vulkan via Mesa.

- integrated libdrm.

- XWayland included as compatibility for X11 applications.

[+] Audio

- Integrated PipeWire.

- Integrated pipewire-pulse.

- Integrated WirePlumber.

- Audio integration with GNOME ready.

[+] GNOME

- GNOME Shell 48.7.

- GNOME Session 48.

- GNOME Settings.

- Nautilus.

- GVFS.

- GNOME Control Center.

- Integration with UDisks2, UPower and polkit.

- GDM3 as the login manager.

- Wayland session as the main environment.

[+] GNOME Customization

- Integrated default configuration of TitalcruiseOS.

- Integrated Dash to Panel.

- Blur My Shell integrated.

- Integrated Desktop Icons NG.

- Bottom panel configuration.

- Dark theme settings.

- Inter font settings.

- Hatter icon settings.

- Desktop background configuration prepared.

- GNOME extension configuration included.

[+] Terminal

- GNOME Terminal integrated into the Live environment.

- GNOME Terminal is also available on the installed system.

[+] Installer

- Calamares 3.3.14 integrated.

- calamares-settings-titalcruise 1.1-4 integrated.

- Functional UEFI installation.

- Functional automatic/manual partitioning.

- Creation of a functional EFI partition.

- Creation of a functional ext4 partition.

- Support for partitioning tools.

- Support for LUKS/cryptsetup.

- Functional automatic user configuration.

- GDM configuration during installation.

- Configuration of systemd services during installation.

- Regeneration of initramfs during installation.

- Installation of a functional GRUB.

- Temporary Live environment user successfully removed

during installation.

- Calamares and their configurations removed from the installed system.

[+] Live environment

- Integrated live-boot.

- Automatic startup of the Live environment.

- Temporary user "titalcruise" configured.

- Functional automatic login.

- GNOME starts correctly from the ISO.

- Calamares available from the Live environment.

- Terminal available from the Live environment.

[+] Plymouth

- Integrated Plymouth.

- Initramfs regenerated with Plymouth.

- Custom boot theme.

- TitalcruiseOS branding applied to Plymouth.

- Functional branding both in Live and in the installed system.

[+] GRUB / UEFI

- GRUB EFI for embedded amd64.

- integrated efibootmgr.

- GRUB standalone generated for the Live medium.

- EFI.img generated.

- Functional UEFI boot.

- Custom GRUB entry for TitalcruiseOS 5 BLFS.

- Kernel and initramfs loaded correctly from the medium.

- Identification of the medium by means of a label

TITALCRUISE_5_BLFS.

[+] Branding

- Debian visual identity replaced by TitalcruiseOS

in the relevant visual resources.

- Debian PNG logos replaced.

- SVG branding resources replaced/adapted.

- GNOME Settings → About logo adapted to TitalcruiseOS.

- GDM logo adapted to TitalcruiseOS.

- Plymouth logo adapted to TitalcruiseOS.

- Visible branding on Live and installed system.

- The visual presentation of "Debian 13" has been removed

in GDM and Plymouth.

[+] ISO

- filesystem.squashfs generated using SquashFS.

- Zstandard compression.

- Kernel included in /boot.

- Initramfs included in /boot.

- EFI.img included.

- Hybrid ISO with UEFI support.

- Boot validated in VirtualBox.

- Approximate final size: 803 MB.

[ ✓ ] Validation

- Live ISO starts correctly.

- Functional automatic start.

- GNOME starts correctly.

- Functional GDM3.

- Functional Calamares.

- Complete installation validated.

- Installed system starts correctly.

- Plymouth validated in Live.

- Plymouth validated after installation.

- GDM3 validated after installation.

- User created through Calamares validated.

- Validated Live user deletion.

- Validated installed system startup.

- System startup verified as fast.

[ ! ] Earring

- Additional optimization of system size.

- Selective cleaning of unnecessary packages.

- Review of optional dependencies.

- Final polishing of themes and graphic resources.

- Final review of remaining branding.

- Definition of final version/build.

- Testing on additional physical hardware.

- Sleep, shutdown, restart, and battery tests.

- Testing different storage configurations.

- Additional network, Bluetooth, and audio tests. View them on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/download/titalcruiseos-5-blfs