Catbird Linux is an image-based, general purpose Linux operating system, powered by bootc and Universal Blue. It offers a pre-configured, atomic OS image that arranges your windows with Niri. It is a modern, infinite-scrollable tiling Wayland compositor.
With daily automated builds ensuring you always have the latest security patches and upstream updates, Catbird Linux provides a highly customized yet remarkably stable desktop experience.
- 🌀 Scrollable Tiling: Navigate windows on an infinite horizontal ribbon using Niri, augmented by the Noctalia desktop shell.
- 🛡️ Daily Security & Atomic Upgrades: Images are rebuilt daily (
cron: "05 10 * * *") pulling the latest upstream updates and packages. Updates apply atomically in the background. - 🇻🇳 Vietnamese Input: Out-of-the-box support via
fcitx5-lotus, automatically tracking the latest GitHub releases during the image build. - ⚡ Curated Wayland Toolstack: Ships with essential tools like Ghostty, Waybar, Rofi-Wayland/Fuzzel, SwayNC, Thunar, and more.
You must first install either the official release of Bluefin, or any other flavor of Fedora Atomic or Universal Blue Linux, then rebase to this image. You will thereby get the necessary verification keys and trust policies. The second rebase task fully installs and verifies authenticity of this customized Bluefin version:
Rebase with the "bootc switch" command for the latest images:
sudo bootc switch --enforce-container-sigpolicy ghcr.io/ab9il/catbirdlinux:latestReboot and your switch to this customized version of Bluefin will be complete.
Warning
Switching your image via bootc switch will replace your current OS base. Your home directory (~) and /etc are preserved. Always back up important data before rebasing.
Your Homebrew environment may change. Backup your packages using brew bundle dump to create a Brewfile, allowing you to easily reinstall any CLI tools after the rebase, if necessary.
To revert to your previous image at any time:
sudo bootc rollbackNiri abandons the standard grid layout for a scrollable horizontal workspace. Windows never shrink uncontrollably; instead, they tile into columns that you can scroll through effortlessly.
To make the system immediately usable, Catbird Linux pairs Niri with Noctalia, a dedicated desktop shell providing:
- An integrated status bar
- Launcher / app switcher
- Native workspace overview for the scrolling layout
The image ships with fcitx5-lotus, compiled directly from the latest release for your Fedora base.
Post-install setup:
Add the following to ~/.config/environment.d/fcitx5.conf (create if missing):
XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
SDL_IM_MODULE=fcitx
GLFW_IM_MODULE=ibus
Then launch fcitx5-configtool, add Lotus, and choose your preferred typing method (Telex / VNI / VIQR). Make sure to configure fcitx5 & to auto-start in your Niri configuration!
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catbirdlinux/
├── Containerfile # Image definitions pulling from uBlue bases
├── build_files/
│ └── build.sh # Injects packages, configs, and COPR repos
├── system_files/ # System-wide overrides (/etc, /usr)
├── .github/workflows/
│ └── build.yml # CI that builds images daily and on-push
└── image-template.env # Build environment metadata
Images are built automatically by GitHub Actions and cryptographically signed using cosign. You can verify the integrity of any downloaded image using the public key cosign.pub included in this repository.
The Project began in 2019 as "Pemmican Linux" for web scraping and data science. It encompassed several successive respins of Linux Mint, Ubuntu, and Debian, and expanded in scope to include web development and media creation tools. Original distribution was via bit torrents and traditional iso files. It carried tools useful for data science, open source intelligence gathering, and creating multimedia content.
This is the fourth generation of Catbird Linux. Since adopting image-based Linux architecture and containerized / universal application packaging, it is a system which can truly operate on the frontiers of general purpose computing. The system is now distributed as a lightweight bootc image, and users install whatever software they want via Flatpaks, AppImages, Homebrew, or Docker images.
Built with ❤️ on top of Universal Blue, Bluefin, and Nirifin.