KaOS has introduced its first release candidate for a Dinit-based ISO, marking a shift away from systemd as the primary init system.
The independent Linux distribution built around Qt has moved to a new startup stack. Dinit now serves as the init system and service manager, while Turnstile manages session and login tracking and seatd handles seat management. The change follows upstream developments that created challenges for the project. These include the removal of split /usr support in systemd 254, the loss of AUFS compatibility in later versions, and growing dependencies on systemd in KDE Plasma. KaOS has retained some systemd components for the time being. These include udev, tmpfiles, and elogind. Other updates in the RC include the replacement of SDDM with greetd and tuigreet, an updated Calamares installer for Wayland sessions, and Limine as the default bootloader. A new welcome utility called Croeso has also been added. The ISO is available now from the KaOS RC portal for testing purposes. Existing non-Dinit versions remain available.
