CalamaroOS

.Gentoo for everyone
CalamaroOS

A universal distribution built on Gentoo Stage 3 + Systemd, now also available with OpenRC on every edition, and the Calamares graphical installer to make Gentoo accessible to everyone. Every edition ships with Flatpak, the community GURU, Brave and LibreWolf repositories enabled by default, disk encryption at install, automatic detection of other installed operating systems (OS Prober) and support for EXT4 · BTRFS · XFS · F2FS. 7 desktop environments to choose from: the power of Gentoo, without barriers — and once installed, you customize everything to your needs.

Features

CalamaroOS: where we are (October 2026) It has been a while since I last wrote here, but the project is more active than ever. In the last few weeks I have been going through how the ISOs are built and how every installation is checked afterwards, from top to bottom. What has changed: Every ISO now gets an automated test. After installation, a script checks dozens of points on virtual machines and real PCs, including legacy BIOS, Safe Mode and encrypted disks. All 14 editions (7 desktops × OpenRC and systemd) are being brought in line one by one, so that every fix reaches all of them. GNOME: Restart and Shut Down now work from the login screen. Multi-boot: the entries for other systems found by os-prober are now correct and they boot. Security: every installation gets its own system ID, sudo always asks for the password, and no files from the build machine are left in the image. Every ISO shows its build date and time in the boot menu and in the installer. Safe Mode is more robust on difficult graphics cards. If you are using an ISO downloaded before October, please move to the new version of your edition as soon as it is out. New ISOs will follow step by step, starting with Plasma OpenRC, which is already available. Once this review is finished, updates will come more often again. Thanks to everyone who follows the project: we are working hard.

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humrand Posted 2026-05-05

hello, i really like this distro but, could you add support for open rc instead of systemd? if not i understand it but i would love to have open rc lol

Reply from CalamaroOS

Posted 2026-05-05

I understand your request; it's a time constraint. I'm working to improve and stabilize the project; lxde, gnome and cinnamon are still missing. I'll see what I can do later. Thanks for the review.
mago Edited 2026-05-07

I couldn't get the Nvidia driver to work, I followed the guide on the Gentoo wiki. I might be being stupid, but an ISO with this configured could be a good addition. No matter what I did, it only uses llvmpipe as the graphics driver. edit: Thanks for the guide, I managed to install it now and it's working perfectly.

Reply from CalamaroOS

Edited 2026-05-06

Uploaded guide file along with the iso. 1) # nano /etc/portage/make.conf ACCEPT_LICENSE="*" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" 2) Beware of the nvidia-drivers for my gtx1070 I had to mask the 595 because it doesn't work on my portage card it was clear. # echo ">x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-580.126.18" >> /etc/portage/package.mask/nvidia-drivers and set the dist-kernel flag in /etc/portage/package.use, then when you update the kernel the Nvidia drivers will automatically reinstall. # echo "x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers dist-kernel" >> /etc/portage/package.use/nvidia-drivers 3) emerge -DNuag @world (install the nvidia-drivers) 4) Configure Xorg # nvidia-xconfig 5) # nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0 6)nano /etc/dracut.conf.d/nouveau.conf # Force nouveau and drm in the initramfs for NVIDIA cards (Kepler and later) #force_drivers+=" nouveau drm drm_kms_helper " #Disable Nouveau completely in the initramfs omit_dracutmodules+=" nouveau " install_optional_items+=" /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf " # Optional but recommended hostonly="yes" 7) Add parameters to the kernel. Open /etc/default/grub and in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rw quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1" 8) generate everything: # dracut -f # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #reboot
pcr1reg Edited 2026-05-09

Tried this once Mate worked greatReally wanted .Cinnamon ,decided to try plasma.Will hook to internet right away ,reboot no internet or sound.Tried mate again same thing.Really like this suspect minor bug.Cinnamon comes out and works will be a favoite in the herd.Thanks for your time and effort.
marc41 Edited 2026-05-16

I tried to install using the full encryption option after the installation finish. When I reboot it couldn’t find the encrypted drive. The installer works without the encryption option. Update review 5/16/2026. Thanks for the update since I’m trying to install this distribution on my laptop with encryption.

Reply from CalamaroOS

Edited 2026-05-14

Hi, we've solved the disk encryption issue. The next plasma ISO and all the others will have working disk encryption. Thanks again for the report, and have a great day.
trando Edited 2026-04-10

nvidia driver not installing,21 stcentury

Reply from CalamaroOS

Edited 2026-05-06

Uploaded guide file along with the iso. 1) # nano /etc/portage/make.conf ACCEPT_LICENSE="*" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" 2) Beware of the nvidia-drivers for my gtx1070 I had to mask the 595 because it doesn't work on my portage card it was clear. # echo ">x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-580.126.18" >> /etc/portage/package.mask/nvidia-drivers and set the dist-kernel flag in /etc/portage/package.use, then when you update the kernel the Nvidia drivers will automatically reinstall. # echo "x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers dist-kernel" >> /etc/portage/package.use/nvidia-drivers 3) emerge -DNuag @world (install the nvidia-drivers) 4) Configure Xorg # nvidia-xconfig 5) # nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0 6)nano /etc/dracut.conf.d/nouveau.conf # Force nouveau and drm in the initramfs for NVIDIA cards (Kepler and later) #force_drivers+=" nouveau drm drm_kms_helper " #Disable Nouveau completely in the initramfs omit_dracutmodules+=" nouveau " install_optional_items+=" /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf " # Optional but recommended hostonly="yes" 7) Add parameters to the kernel. Open /etc/default/grub and in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rw quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1" 8) generate everything: # dracut -f # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #reboot