Chimera Linux, a Linux distro with the soul of FreeBSD

Chimera Linux

Without a doubt, something that I like and can say "I love" about Linux and the free software world in general are the rare combinations that one comes across, be it in distributions, applications, utilities, etc. And it is well said that for a product there is a consumer, and this is something that applies very well to Linux.

Leaving aside all the fuss on the part of this server, I am pleased to share with you this note, which from the title caught the attention of many of you as it did mine, and although it really is not something out of this world or worth making so much fuss about, what I did find was quite interesting and appropriate to share here on the blog.

The topic I will talk about a little is about Chimera Linux, which is a Linux distribution that is currently in “beta” state, which took “only” three years of continuous work.

Chimera Linux is a distribution that stands out other for combining the Linux kernel with FreeBSD utilities. Among the main components of the system, the dinit system manager and the musl C standard library stand out, while the entire system is compiled using Clang.

Focus of the project is offer an alternative, minimalist and efficient distribution, that takes advantage of less complex tools than those offered by GNU, taking inspiration from the development of Void Linux. Chimera Linux adopts a rolling release development model, ensuring constant updates and a continuous flow of improvements.

Among the features that define this distribution are:

  • FreeBSD Utilities: They are used instead of traditional GNU tools such as coreutils, findutils, diffutils, sed and grep, to reduce complexity and optimize performance on lightweight systems.
  • Memory and storage: The memory allocation functions in musl have been replaced by mimalloc, which is known for its efficient performance. Additionally, it uses ZFS as the default filesystem, while the /var partition is stateless, meaning it does not retain data between reboots.
  • Multimedia and graphics: The distribution adopts PipeWire to manage multimedia streams and uses Wayland as the default graphical system in desktop environments.
  • Architectural compatibility: Live boot images are available for a wide variety of architectures, including x86_64, ppc64le, aarch64, riscv64, and ppc64, with GNOME and KDE versions.

Chimera Linux offers various options for installing programs additional features through the use of binary packages and a proprietary system for compiling from source code called cports, written in Python. Currently, the system supports approximately 2800 ports, which provides a wide variety of software ready to be installed or compiled.

About the compilation environment in cports, It is mentioned that this runs inside a separate, unprivileged container, created with bubblewrap (used in flatpak) which ensures an additional layer of security by isolating the build process from the main system. This is especially relevant to prevent problems arising from malware or unforeseen configurations during package building.

For binary package management, Chimera Linux oruses the Alpine Linux package manager, APK, as it is a lightweight and efficient tool known for its performance. Additionally, Flatpak support gives users the option to install desktop applications in a sandbox format, ensuring both portability and application security.

Finally, It is worth mentioning that within the plans that are in mind For work this year, the following is planned:

  • Complete system registry review
  • Support for assembly units in service management
  • Support for network mounts in service management
  • Better cgroups support and progress towards elogind removal
  • Support for service-based timers
  • Reviewing service configuration files
  • Switch to dbus-broker as system and session bus provider

For Interested in learning more about it, you can check the details in the following link.


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