quine-linux/README.md

quine-linux

Quine distro of Linux based on uBlue Aurora

Building

Containerfile builds a custom bootc image on top of ghcr.io/ublue-os/aurora:stable, layering in everything under overlay/, plus a kmod-builder stage that compiles the CS8409 mic-fix kernel module (see Hardware-specific patches below).

Taskfile.yml (requires task) is the supported way to drive all of this — run task with no arguments to list what's available. Notably:

• task build-image — builds the image locally (podman build, as root).
• task build-iso — builds a bootable install ISO from that image via bootc-image-builder, landing in output/bootiso/install.iso.
• task build-installer-iso — builds an install ISO using a custom Anaconda installer environment (installer/Containerfile) instead of stock Fedora's, landing in output/bootc-installer/install.iso. See docs/patched-anaconda-installer.md for forking/patching Anaconda itself.
• task test:stage / task test:boot — stage the locally-built image as this machine's next boot target (bootc switch), optionally rebooting into it immediately. The fast way to test a change — especially the kernel module — against the real running system, without building an ISO or reinstalling anything.
• task revert — rolls back to the previously-booted deployment and reboots, undoing a test:boot switch (or any other deployment change) if something's wrong.

Equivalently, by hand:

podman build -t quine-linux -f Containerfile .

An ISO can then be generated from the built image with bootc-image-builder.

overlay/

Files here mirror their path on the root filesystem and are baked into the image via COPY overlay/ / in the Containerfile.

• overlay/etc/... — local/admin config. On the ostree-based image, content shipped here becomes the default /etc and is still locally overridable (3-way merged on upgrade), same as any package-installed /etc file.
• overlay/usr/lib/systemd/... — vendor-shipped units. /usr is replaced wholesale on each image build/upgrade, so anything here always matches the image and isn't meant to be hand-edited on a running system.

overlay/etc/gitconfig

System-wide git config so every user on the box gets main as the default init branch, not master.

overlay/etc/systemd/system/rpm-ostree-cleanup.{service,timer}

Weekly, runs as root via systemd (not cron/sudoers): rpm-ostree cleanup -rb (drops rollback deployment and any pending deployment). Enabled at build time via RUN systemctl enable in the Containerfile.

overlay/etc/systemd/journald.conf.d/size-cap.conf

Continuous 500M journal retention cap instead of a periodic vacuum job.

overlay/usr/lib/systemd/user/disk-cleanup.{service,timer}

Weekly, runs as the user, no privilege needed: podman system prune -af, flatpak uninstall --unused -y, clears ~/.cache. Auto-enabled for every user via overlay/usr/lib/systemd/user-preset/90-quine-linux.preset — no manual systemctl --user enable needed.

overlay/etc/systemd/system/cs8409-intmike-power-fixup.service

Hardware-specific fixup for the iMac19,2 internal mic (see below).

Hardware-specific patches

docs/ and patches/ hold write-ups and out-of-tree kernel module patches for hardware quirks on the machines this image runs on, that don't fit anywhere else in this repo:

• docs/imac19-2-mic-fix.md — the internal mic on iMac19,2 capturing near-silence despite maxed gain; root cause, fix, and current verification status.
• patches/snd-hda-codec-cs8409/ — the vendored driver source and patch backing that fix, built into Containerfile's kmod-builder stage.