RakuOS Linux 44 is here, and improved.
Previous releases were functional, but they had rough edges especially around the overlay system, driver handling, and build reliability. RakuOS Linux 44 is the release where all of those systems have come together. We're confident calling this the first proper stable release of RakuOS Linux.
What's New
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Based on Fedora 44
RakuOS Linux 44 is built on Fedora 44, shipping with:
- GNOME 50
- Plasma 6.6
- COSMIC 1.0.13
CachyOS Kernel 7.0+
All editions ship with the CachyOS Kernel 7.0+, bringing the latest performance optimizations, scheduler improvements, and hardware support on top of the upstream kernel.
The Overlay System Completely Overhauled
This is the biggest change in RakuOS Linux 44 and the one that matters most to users coming from 43.
The old behavior (RakuOS Linux 43): On every image update, your overlay was wiped. The system blocked at a black screen or Plymouth while all your packages were reinstalled from scratch. No network? No usable system. This was especially painful for laptop users on spotty Wi-Fi.
The new behavior (RakuOS Linux 44):
- Your overlay is kept intact across image updates your apps stay installed and usable immediately after reboot
- Package database rebuilding now happens silently in the background after you log in
- Desktop notifications keep you informed of rebuild progress
- No network on boot? The system handles it gracefully, defers the rebuild to your next boot with a notification explaining what happened, and retries automatically for functions that require network. This ONLY applies to overlay reset operations that require a network connection.
- Image updates are now fully offline no internet connection required after an image update is installed. The RPM database merge and package list reconciliation work entirely from what's already on disk
Pre-baked overlay: First boot is dramatically faster than RakuOS Linux 43. The overlay is now fully built and baked into the image at build time. On first boot, the pre-baked state is copied directly into place no waiting for dnf, no downloads, no delay. We had attepmed to push this in 43 but had to revert and bring it back to staging to cook more, now its ready.
New Driver Model
All drivers including NVIDIA are now compiled from upstream source at image build time. No runtime DKMS, no post-install compilation, no waiting for drivers to build on your machine.
- NVIDIA: pulled directly from NVIDIA's upstream
.runpayload, compiled against the CachyOS kernel, with the initramfs baked in, always ships the latest driver - Xbox controllers (xpadneo, xpad-noone, xone), and zenergy are all pre-compiled and ready on first boot and we will continue to over time add drivers to enable more hardware on RakuOS Linux
Valve VRAM Prioritization
Valve's VRAM prioritization patches are included in the CachyOS kernel and fully wired up:
- KDE: works natively no gamescope needed, the required backend services handle it automatically
- GNOME / COSMIC: works via gamescope
RakuOS Software Major Updates
The software center received a significant overhaul across all three UIs (GTK/GNOME, Qt/KDE, COSMIC):
COSMIC UI Full Implementation The COSMIC edition now has complete feature parity with GNOME and KDE. App detail pages, add-ons popup with supported add-ons per package, system management page, update checking, and the full installed app view are all in.
GNOME Extensions Browse, install, enable, disable, and manage settings for GNOME Shell extensions directly from RakuOS Software. The dedicated extension manager app has been removed it's all built in now, including extension updates in the updates page.
KDE Plasma Add-ons (KNS) Install themes, widgets, color schemes, and other Plasma add-ons from the KDE Store directly within RakuOS Software using KNewStuff.
Web Apps
- Web app detail pages improved across all three UIs
- Installed web apps now show a Launch button that opens the app properly via its desktop entry not in a browser tab
- Lazy loading added to the web app catalog for faster browsing
Explore & Search Lazy loading added to the explore page and search across all UIs large catalogs load faster and scroll smoothly.
Flatpak Flatpak install and update handling fixed across all three UIs.
ODRS Reviews App reviews from the Open Desktop Ratings Service are now shown on compatible app detail pages ONLY.
Brave Browser
Brave Browser is now available in RakuOS Software and the Brave repository is included out of the box.
Build Pipeline & Quality Gates
Nothing ships unless it passes:
- ISO health check every image is tested before publishing, catching rpmdb corruption that container builds can miss
- Staged failure recovery if a DE image build fails, all sibling pipelines cancel and rebuild from the base. If only an ISO test fails, only that DE retries others keep going
- Nothing ships until every DE has a clean passing ISO test
This release cycle also introduced a proper staging → testing → stable merge process. RakuOS Linux 44 is the first release built and validated through a full testing pipeline before shipping.
Upgrading from RakuOS Linux 43
In-place upgrade via RakuOS Software or bootc:
Your installed packages are preserved. On the first boot after upgrading, the system automatically rebuilds them against the Fedora 44 repos. An internet connection is required for this first boot only. Every subsequent image update on RakuOS Linux 44 works completely offline after the image update. This is a one-time operation.
Note: If you had issues with RakuOS Linux 43 especially overlay problems we strongly recommend a clean install of RakuOS Linux 44. One-time setup scripts (like Ollama GPU setup) may need to be rerun after a major version upgrade.
What's Coming
No ETAs these are initiatives we're starting to work on after this release:
- Enterprise Linux editions RakuOS Linux Workstation and Server based on an Enterprise Linux base (CentOS Stream), bringing the same atomic + overlay model to a long-term stable foundation
- Bigscreen edition Plasma Bigscreen as the desktop with a gamescope Steam launcher built in, for full couch computing (TV + gaming in one image)
- Pure gamescope edition A dedicated SteamOS-style gaming image for gaming PCs and handhelds with nothing but the gaming session
Download
A proper bug tracker is coming soon but until then keep reporting any bugs/issues on the forums and our Matrix server https://matrix.rakuos.org
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