Current version: v2.6.7
A custom Bazzite-based Linux distribution built for gaming — F-22 cockpit-inspired KDE theme with neon green HUD panel, automatic GPU optimisation, low-latency audio, and a zero-terminal firstboot experience.
Heavy W.I.P — Feedback appreciated! This is not a live OS. It needs its own drive, replaces your current OS, or runs alongside it as a dual boot. Minimum 40–50 GB free for dual boot. Can be tested in a VM first.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 64-bit x86_64 | AMD Ryzen / Intel 10th gen+ |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Storage | 40 GB SSD | 60 GB NVMe |
| GPU | AMD, NVIDIA, or Intel | AMD RDNA2+ or NVIDIA RTX |
| Boot | UEFI required | — |
Download the latest ISO from the Releases page, then flash it to a USB drive:
- Rufus — select DD image mode + GPT partition scheme
- Ventoy — copy ISO to Ventoy USB, boot and select it
- Fedora Media Writer — most reliable, always works
If you already have Bazzite installed you can switch without reinstalling:
# Step 1 — unverified image to start the transition
rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/cerberus9-dev/raptor-os:latest
systemctl reboot
# Step 2 — switch to the signed image
rpm-ostree rebase ostree-image-signed:docker://ghcr.io/cerberus9-dev/raptor-os:latest
systemctl rebootAlready on Raptor OS? Open Raptor Update Manager → Update & Reboot. Handles system image + Flatpak updates in one click. The app launcher (Kickoff) automatically rebuilds its category index after updates so blank folders never appear.
Two dialogs appear on the first login, in sequence:
-
Browser choice — Firefox (pre-installed, no download), Brave (~120 MB), or Chrome (~150 MB). Closing the dialog keeps Firefox. Shows a network check, download progress bar, and retry prompt on failure.
-
App picker — 40+ optional apps across 10 categories. Nothing is pre-ticked except VSCodium. All apps can also be installed later from Discover or
flatpak install flathub <id>.
| Category | Apps |
|---|---|
| Communication | Vesktop (Discord client — native Wayland, no Electron overhead) |
| Browser | Firefox (memory-optimised: 64 MB cache, 4 processes, tab unloading enabled) |
| Gaming | Heroic Games Launcher (Epic/GOG/Amazon), ProtonUp-Qt, Protontricks, Wine, Winetricks |
| Creative | Krita (digital painting and illustration) |
| Media | VLC (plays any format), mpv |
| Development | VSCodium, Git, Node.js, Python 3, GCC, Make, CMake |
| System | htop, KDE Partition Manager, BleachBit, Filelight, Mission Center, Flatseal |
| Overlays | MangoHud (F-22 green palette, Shift+F12), GOverlay, Gamemode |
| Category | Apps |
|---|---|
| Communication | Telegram, Signal, Slack, Zoom, Thunderbird |
| Productivity | ONLYOFFICE, Bitwarden, Joplin, MarkText, Calibre, Obsidian |
| Office | LibreOffice |
| Creative | GIMP, Inkscape, Darktable, Blender, Kdenlive, Shotcut, OBS Studio, Audacity, Boatswain |
| Development | GitHub Desktop, Pods, GCC + Make + CMake, Ninja + Meson, Neovim, GitHub CLI |
| Gaming | Bottles, Lutris, Spotify, Plex, Cartridges, Ryujinx, RPCS3, RetroArch, Chiaki |
| Privacy | ProtonVPN, KeePassXC |
| Media & Downloads | FreeTube, Parabolic, Kooha, Clapper, Amberol |
| Audio Production | EasyEffects, Helvum, LMMS, Ardour |
| System | Warehouse, Impression, CoreCtrl, btop, Variety, GNOME Boxes, Warp, Flatsweep, Upscayl, Metadata Cleaner |
- Auto GPU detection at boot via
raptor-gpu-profile.service— AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, hybrid; sets Vulkan ICD, env vars, shader cache, CPU governor per profile RADV_PERFTEST=gpl— Vulkan Graphics Pipeline Library cuts in-game shader compile stalls 30–60% on RDNA2+- Mesa GL threading via
/etc/drirc.d/— offloads GL API calls to a background thread (~10–20% throughput on CPU-bound games) WINE_FULLSCREEN_FSRandDXVK_ASYNCnot set globally — caused flickering in OpenGL games (Project Zomboid). Set per-game in Steam launch options instead
- Raptor Cortex — GTK4 performance manager with three modes, correct per-mode
vm.swappiness(5/30/180), CPU governor, PCIe ASPM, NVMe, and audio power settings kernel.sched_wakeup_granularity_ns=1000000— 1 ms wakeup granularity vs kernel default 3 ms; reduces input and frame latencykernel.sched_autogroup_enabled=1— groups game + threads as one scheduler entity vs background daemons- irqbalance — installed and managed by Cortex; suspended during game sessions, restarted on exit
/dev/cpu_dma_latency=0during game mode — keeps CPU in shallow C-state, eliminates 100–300 µs wake latency spikes- Gamemode daemon — use
ENABLE_GAMEMODE=1 %command%in Steam; suspends 17 background services on launch
- Akonadi masked — KDE PIM database server disabled by default (saves 200–500 MB); re-enable with
systemctl --user unmask akonadiserver.service - tracker-miner-fs masked — GNOME file tracker redundant alongside KDE Baloo (saves ~80 MB)
- plasma-browser-integration masked — browser tab sync disabled by default (saves ~80 MB)
- Baloo: filename-only indexing — full-text content indexing disabled, 1 thread max; sufficient for search, fraction of the RAM
- Background service caps — Baloo 128 MB, KDE Connect 96 MB, kactivitymanagerd 96 MB, kwalletd 96 MB
- ZRAM — zstd compression,
min(RAM/2, 8 GB), priority 100,discardenabled vm.page-cluster=0— single-page reads from ZRAM (avoids decompressing 8 pages when 1 is needed)vm.watermark_boost_factor=0— no sudden reclaim bursts during gameplayvm.min_free_kbytes=131072— 128 MB free-page reserve prevents allocation stalls- Optimize Memory Now in Cortex — reclaims real app memory (Firefox/Vesktop heap) via cgroup v2
memory.reclaim - journald capped — 64 MB runtime, 200 MB disk; ModemManager masked
- PipeWire 512-sample quantum (~10.7 ms at 48 kHz) — stable under gaming GPU load, no static
api.alsa.headroom=0for outputs — eliminates the 170 ms buffer mismatch that caused crackling- Auto-suspend disabled on all audio devices — no pop/click between sounds
- Auto-restart for PipeWire and WirePlumber with burst limiting (max 5 restarts/min)
- BBR congestion control + CAKE qdisc — lower ping variance under concurrent downloads
- 128 MB TCP socket buffers, socket busy-polling (50 µs spin for low-latency UDP), TCP fast-open
- Cloudflare DoT — ~10 ms DNS vs ~40–80 ms ISP default
fs.file-max=2097152— prevents file descriptor exhaustion on modded games
- Buttons — Minimize
_, Maximize□, Close×on the right; App Menu on the left - Titlebar double-click — maximises the window (KDE default is shade)
- Click to raise — clicking anywhere on a window brings it to front
- Edge snap — drag to screen edge to snap/tile (equivalent to Windows Aero Snap)
KWin LatencyPolicy=0— submits compositor frames immediately, reducing display latency
- Panel — near-black
#0a0e12background with a neon green#33FF33glow edge - Accent colour —
#33FF33throughout: selection highlights, window decoration borders, links, active titlebar - Font — JetBrains Mono (monospaced, consistent with cockpit displays)
- Radar Arc widget — optional panel widget; add via right-click panel → Add Widgets → search "Radar"
See changelog.md for full version history.