Download the ISO
Download the current x86_64 desktop image to another computer.
Installation guide
From ISO to IceWM.
Tuxenix installs from a bootable USB with Calamares. The graphical desktop stays opt-in and starts only when you type startx.
Create a bootable USB
Use Rufus on Windows, balenaEtcher on Windows/macOS/Linux, or dd on Linux. Select the downloaded ISO and your USB drive.
lsblk sudo dd if=tuxenix-dinit-desktop-latest.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
Careful: replace /dev/sdX with the whole USB device—not a partition. This erases the selected drive.
Boot the USB
Restart the target computer, open its BIOS/UEFI boot menu, and choose the USB drive. Tuxenix starts a live IceWM desktop and opens the Calamares installer.
For a clean full-disk installation: back up anything important first. In Calamares, either choose Erase disk, or use manual partitioning and set the desired Linux partition’s mount point to /, choose a filesystem such as ext4, and enable formatting. Create or select a FAT32 EFI System Partition, mount it at /boot/efi, and give it the boot/esp flag. Double-check the target disk before continuing because formatting erases its existing data.
Install with Calamares
Follow the installer to choose the disk, timezone, keyboard, user account, and password. Remove the USB when installation finishes, then reboot into Tuxenix.
Connect and start the desktop
Log in as the normal user. NetworkManager starts automatically through dinit. If Wi-Fi is not already connected, use:
nmtui
Choose Activate a connection, select the network, and enter its password. Then launch IceWM:
startx
Install a package
The installed package manager is already configured for the public Tuxenix repository. Run package installs as root:
txpk --list txpk --install package-name
See every available compiled archive in the package catalog.
How it works
Native dinit from boot to desktop
dinit is PID 1
The native service graph starts networking, device management, D-Bus, audio-state restoration, and the other enabled system services.
The desktop is opt-in
Tuxenix boots to a login prompt. The first and every later startx launches IceWM; it never forces a graphical boot.
txpk handles software
Packages come from https://tuxenix.org. Transactions use guarded extraction and rollback so active libraries are not left truncated.
Desktop essentials are included
Brave, Xorg, input support, ALSA controls, Wi-Fi tools, certificates, fonts, and locale data are ready in the desktop image.