Why Macaroni OS? #

Supply a binary distro that follow the Sabayon OS ideas and permit to convert the rootfs to a pure Funtoo rootfs in a fast way if it’s needed for specific customizations or to help the distro fix issues.

You know, the world is buggy, it’s better to have a way to check and resolve the problems fast.

In the middle of the story, Macaroni OS wants to be an optimized distro for LXD containers, Docker and Singularity.

So, in summary, these are the core targets of the Macaroni OS Linux:

Macaroni Releases #

Following the core targets just described in Macaroni there are different releases:

Macaroni OS Phoenix #

The Phoenix release is the first release created and the only release at the moment for the Desktop. The codename phoenix is related to the immortal bird associated with Greek mythology that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. This is the reason I choose this name: to describe a new beginning and to remember us that also when others try to stop a dream, with the commitment it’s possible reborn and goes ahead.

In phoenix it’s used the OpenRC as an init system, it’s based on Funtoo Next (previously was based on 1.4-prime) and so:

* GCC 11.3.0
* Glibc 2.33
* Python 3.9
* LLVM 13

The desktop environments available in this release are:

Macaroni OS Eagle #

The Eagle release is born to be used in container, it’s based on Funtoo 1.4-prime with patches to integrate SystemD as an init system.

Without the need to support the Desktop, the release is been compiled with server-oriented and X-less use flags. This permits to have core packages fewer dependencies and more optimized for containers.

Like phoenix also eagle is based on Funtoo 1.4-prime and so:

* GCC 11.2.0
* Glibc 2.33
* Python 3.9
* LLVM 13

Macaroni OS Terragon #

The Terragon release is born to be used in container and it’s based on Funtoo Next that is the more innovative release of Funtoo.

Like for eagle release the terragon release is been compiled with server-oriented and X-less use flags.

Based on Funtoo Next some core packages are:

* GCC 11.3.0
* Glibc 2.33
* Python 3.9

Macaroni Repositories #

We have three different repositories for any release: a stable repository, a testing repository and, a development repository.

Hereinafter, a summary of our repositories and the packages related.

NOTE: The development repositories must be used only by the Staff and are attached to the Macaroni/Mottainai CD/CI flows. The origin server has limited bandwidth so please, use them only for emergencies and/or in collaboration with the Macaroni Team.

Macaroni Commons #

The macaroni-commons repository contains the specs for building the Macaroni OS packages common to all releases and all packages compiled without Portage integration.

In particular, in this repository are maintained the Macaroni Kernels.

Normally, this repository is installed by default and present in all Macaroni releases.

Mottainai #

The Macaroni Team supports the MottainaiCI organization and the mottainai-stable repository is used to supply the Mottainai tools and anice.

The anice PMS could be used inside other distributions and it makes sense to avoid having a macaroni-commons repository to install and upgrade it. This is the reason we have left our PMS in an independent repository.

Normally, this repository is installed by default.

Macaroni Phoenix #

The macaroni-phoenix (previous macaroni-funtoo) repository is the repository of the Phoenix release.

Normally, this repository is installed by default in all Phoenix installation.

Macaroni Eagle #

The macaroni-eagle (previous macaroni-funtoo-systemd) repository is the repository of the Eagle release.

Normally, this repository is installed by default in all Eagle installation.

Macaroni Terragon #

The macaroni-terragon repository is the repository of the Terragon release.

Normally, this repository is installed by default in all Terragon installation.

Macaroni Security #

The macaroni-security repository is the repository of the Pheonix release where we releases security updates and fast rollings packages (browsers, etc.).

It permits to release on stable branch new updates when the build cycle process of the macaroni-phoenix repository is yet in progress.

Normally, this repository is installed by default in all Phoenix installation.

Macaroni Games #

The macaroni-games repository is the repository of the Pheonix release where we releases games (Scorched3D, Wesnoth, etc.).

Macaroni Tags #

In Macaroni the tag means that a specific release is been promoted for the stable repository. Every stable repository contains only a tagged release. There are very few exceptions where I pushed packages in the stable repository that was not related to a tag, and this is been happen for emergency fixes that are been follow soon by a new minor tag.

So, we could consider Macaroni as a rolling release distribution with periodic tags and upgrades.

This choice has pros and cons:

1. A user that using stable release could easier integration their package based on known packages version and use the specific tree fetched by the tag of the macaroni-funtoo repository to build additional packages. Executing a backup of the Macaroni repository for a specific tag permits him to have a reproducible way to upgrade, install and build packages from a fixed point.

2. Having a static list of the package version for a specific tag helps IT Teams with the auditing of security issues to have uniform environments controllable.

3. Wait for a new tag for a security issue could be not an optimal condition, but from my experience, it’s often more the time to wait for a fix than the time to release a new tag. By the way, to fix this issue the idea could be to prepare a macaroni-security repository to use in these emergency cases without waiting for a new tag that could be require more time if a build cycle is in progress.

4. In the Production environment I think that it’s better to supply services over container LXD, Docker, or Singularity and thus ensure a more rapid fix of the security issues. In general, the releases Macaroni Terragon and Macaroni Eagle have a more fast build cycle and this permits us to push a more fast fix.

We want to try to follow these periodic tags on our Releases:

It’s also possible that minor releases will be tagged in addition to the scheduled tags. The Phoenix for the Desktop requires a lot of effort and testing, this is the reason why the release will be less frequent. We’re working to reorganize the tree to speed up the build cycle but this is the job of the next months.