Frequently asked, slightly answered

Is this just NixOS with a theme?

No. NixOS is the base — like Ubuntu is Debian with a sensible release schedule — but argentumOS ships two first-party apps written from scratch (System Settings, App Store), a custom installer flow, custom Plymouth boot, a curated default desktop, and a deliberate policy against requiring the terminal for anything routine.

You can configure NixOS yourself to look like argentumOS. You'll have a great time. We'll see you in three weekends.

Why NixOS and not Arch / Debian / Fedora?

Atomic updates and reliable rollbacks. If something breaks, the user reboots and picks the previous generation from the boot menu. That property is hard to fake on top of a traditional package manager. The cost is build complexity, and the build complexity is our problem, not yours.

Why Flatpak for apps and not Nix packages?

Because asking a user to wait for a system rebuild every time they want to try a new app is not a real plan. Flatpak ships fast, sandboxes properly, updates per-app, and Flathub already has the apps people actually want. Nix is excellent for the system. Flatpak is excellent for the applications. We use both.

Will my hardware work?

Probably. argentumOS uses the standard Linux kernel with the standard set of firmware blobs (linux-firmware), and Cinnamon as the desktop. If a piece of hardware works on Ubuntu, it almost certainly works here. Boot the live ISO and check Wi-Fi, sound, and brightness before installing. That's the time to find out.

Can I install AppImage / .deb / .rpm files?

AppImages — yes, they run anywhere, just chmod +x and run them (or use an AppImage launcher from Flathub).

.deb and .rpm — no, those are package formats for other distros and we are not pretending to be one. If the app you want only ships as a .deb, see if there's a Flatpak; there usually is.

Can I open a terminal?

Yes. We're not monsters. The terminal is in the menu. It runs bash. Knock yourself out.

The rule is the OS should not require it for normal use. Having one is fine. Needing one to fix Wi-Fi is not.

How do I update the system?

System Settings → System → "Check for updates." It does the thing.

Behind the scenes this runs nixos-rebuild. You don't need to know that. You can if you want.

Can I dual-boot?

You can, but the installer doesn't ship a dual-boot wizard yet. For now: install Windows first, leave free space, install argentumOS into the free space. GRUB will pick up both. If this sentence sounded like instructions, you're already power-user-adjacent and you'll be fine.

What's the release cadence?

Slow. On purpose. We'd rather skip a month than ship a broken update. NixOS gets two stable channels per year and we track those; the apps and theme update more often, but you'll never wake up to a UX overhaul.

Is there a community?

GitHub issues, for now. If something breaks, that's where it goes. Describe what you tried to do without the terminal. If the workaround you found involved the terminal, that's the bug.

Why "argentum"?

It's Latin for silver. Cohesive dark theme with a metallic accent. We're not over-thinking the etymology and neither should you.

Who makes this?

sinisterMage, hosted under the Celestia Foundation. One person, one project, one strong opinion about save buttons.

xoxo