x86_64 | Built from source | Signed end to end

A Linux distribution built from source. Every package.

LE-OS is an independent Linux distribution. It has its own package manager, its own signed repository and its own installer. Nothing is repackaged from another distribution: every package comes from a recipe, built from the upstream source in a clean chroot.

lpm, a pacman-style package manager written in Rust. Install, upgrade, remove, build, nothing more mysterious than that.
Every package and every repository index carries an OpenPGP signature, checked before anything touches your disk.
One image for UEFI and BIOS. A guided installer, and Wi-Fi straight from the live system.

Download 2026.11.03 Read what it isn't

1.6 GiB ISO, x86_64, released 3 November 2026. Verify it before you trust it.

What it is

A small, current, honest base system.

The parts you would build yourself if you had a few spare months. We did, so you don't have to.

Package manager

lpm does one job.

Installs from signed repositories, tracks every file it owns, keeps your edited configuration files (new defaults land next to them as .lpmnew) and never touches your home directory. Transactions survive a crash halfway through.

lpm install, lpm upgrade, lpm remove, lpm build. If you know pacman, you know lpm.

Packages

Built from source, in the open.

Each package is a short recipe: a package.toml and a build.sh. Sources are pinned by SHA-256 after their upstream signature has been checked, then built in a clean chroot as an unprivileged user.

The recipes are public. Read exactly how your compiler was built.

Trust

Signed, with a keyring you can inspect.

Packages and indexes are signed by a packager key. The packager key is certified by a master key that lives offline. lpm refuses unsigned or badly signed packages by default, and the trusted keys ship in a package of their own, le-os-keyring.

Base

Current components, no surprises.

A recent Linux kernel with a generic configuration and firmware for common hardware, systemd, glibc, GCC, OpenSSH and GnuPG. 123 packages in the core repository today, every one updated by rebuilding its recipe.

What it isn't

Better you read this here than find out at 2am.

Not a desktopThere is no graphical environment yet. You get a console, SSH, and a package manager. Fine for servers, VMs and tinkering, not for your parents' laptop.
Not bigThe core repository has 123 packages. If what you need isn't there, you write a recipe. That is the point of the project, but it is still work.
Not production-readyOne maintainer, no security team, no long-term support branch. Run it on machines you can reinstall without crying.
Not an Arch forklpm borrows ideas from pacman and the ISO tooling from archiso, but the code, the packages and the repositories are LE-OS's own. Arch packages and the AUR will not install.
Not Secure Boot signedThe bootloader is not signed by Microsoft or anyone else. Turn Secure Boot off.
Not for dual bootThe installer takes a whole disk and erases it. No resizing, no partition editor. Use a spare disk or a VM.
Not for every CPUx86_64 only. No 32-bit, no ARM.

Download

One image. CD, USB stick, UEFI or BIOS.

LE-OS 2026.11.03

current release

Download ISO (1.6 GiB) Signature

Released: 3 November 2026
SHA-256: de29f5b1757391076f3276026a118ae22b59db2e8921ffbb86f5684bf7f430fa
Signing key: 2F5C B8C5 B91C 5529 C2F0 B8EB E753 B942 92FE 3B10
Public key: le-os-signing-key.asc
Archive: Earlier releases and test builds

You need

An x86_64 PC or virtual machine, UEFI or BIOS
A disk of 8 GiB or more that may be erased
A USB stick of 2 GB or more, or a VM that boots ISOs
Internet during installation: packages come straight from the repository, signed and current

Verify

Check it before you boot it.

The checksum proves the download is complete. The signature proves it is ours. gpg should report a good signature from the fingerprint above; a warning that the key is not certified is normal until you sign it yourself.

# in the directory with the ISO, the .sig, sha256sums.txt and the key
sha256sum -c sha256sums.txt
gpg --import le-os-signing-key.asc
gpg --verify le-os-2026.11.03-x86_64.iso.sig le-os-2026.11.03-x86_64.iso

sha256sums.txt for this release.

Install

Five steps, one of them waiting.

Write the image to a USB stick

On Linux, find the stick with lsblk and write it. Everything on the stick is erased.
```
dd if=le-os-2026.11.03-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
```
On Windows, use Rufus and pick DD image mode when it asks. ISO mode breaks the boot loader. In a VM, attach the ISO as a CD drive.
Boot it

Turn Secure Boot off, then boot from the stick. The live system logs you in as root on the first console. The same image starts on UEFI and on BIOS.
Get online

Wired networks work by themselves (DHCP). For Wi-Fi:
```
iwctl device list
iwctl station wlan0 connect "Your network"
```
The installed system keeps the network you connected to here.
Run the installer

le-os-install asks for the disk, host name, time zone, keyboard, a root password and an optional user (who gets sudo), shows a summary and only erases the disk after you type its name.

Installing many machines? le-os-install --example > install.toml, edit it, then le-os-install --config install.toml. Passwords go in as hashes: le-os-install --hash-password.
Reboot and keep it current

Remove the stick and reboot. From then on, lpm upgrade brings everything up to date and lpm search finds what else there is.

Source

All of it is public.

Read it, build it, send a fix.

Repository	What	Licence
le-os/lpm	The package manager and the maintainer tools	GPL-2.0-or-later, tools 0BSD
le-os/recipes	Every package recipe in core	0BSD
le-os/installer	le-os-install	GPL-2.0-or-later
le-os/iso	The live image and its boot hook	GPL-3.0-or-later