--- title: AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC,... description: AstrOS, an immutable Arch-based Linux distribution featuring the COSMIC desktop environment, has entered public beta. It ships with a hashed and signed /usr... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC, and immutability, enters beta | daily.dev og:description: AstrOS, an immutable Arch-based Linux distribution featuring the COSMIC desktop environment, has entered public beta. It ships with a hashed and signed /usr... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/hcq8Xms63.png og:image:alt: AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC, and immutability, enters beta og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC, and immutability, enters beta **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 2 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary AstrOS, an immutable Arch-based Linux distribution featuring the COSMIC desktop environment, has entered public beta. It ships with a hashed and signed /usr image booted via signed UKI images for system integrity protection, similar to tooling used by GNOME OS and KDE Linux. Users can install one of four pre-made extensions, including a Steam gaming extension with a SteamOS Gamescope session. Notably, AstrOS requires TPM 2.0 for its full-disk encryption feature, which may surprise users who switched from Windows 11 specifically to avoid that requirement. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is AstrOS and what desktop environment and base does it use? AstrOS is an immutable, secure-by-default Linux distribution based on Arch Linux, using the COSMIC desktop environment. It ships its base as a hashed and signed /usr image booted through signed uki images, protecting the system from outside modification, and uses tooling similar to GNOME OS and KDE Linux. It has just entered public beta. _Developers evaluating immutable distros can follow AstrOS beta coverage on daily.dev._ ### Does AstrOS require TPM 2.0 for full-disk encryption? Yes, AstrOS requires a CPU with TPM 2.0 support to enable its full-disk encryption feature, and the OS reportedly won't run at all on hardware lacking TPM 2.0. This is notable because many users switched from Windows to Linux specifically to avoid Windows 11's TPM 2.0 requirement, making AstrOS's stance somewhat ironic for that audience. _Anyone weighing hardware compatibility before switching distros can track these requirements on daily.dev._ ### What extensions does AstrOS offer for gaming or workstation use? AstrOS ships with four pre-made extensions that users can install, or they can build their own custom extensions. One extension is dedicated to Steam gaming and includes a SteamOS Gamescope session, while users who don't need gaming support can skip that extension and run AstrOS as a pure workstation distro. _Linux users comparing gaming-ready distro setups can keep tabs on projects like AstrOS via daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@trevorsuna** · 0 upvotes > Signed system images and UKIs give an Arch-based desktop a much clearer integrity story. TPM-backed encryption is a sensible option, though making the hardware requirement and recovery path obvious will matter for the users drawn to Linux for control. --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC, and immutability, enters beta","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63"},"datePublished":"2026-08-01T01:39:49.996Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:47:32.835Z","description":"AstrOS, an immutable Arch-based Linux distribution featuring the COSMIC desktop environment, has entered public beta. It ships with a hashed and signed /usr...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/4e06c25fc8fc520fb5b615c80735e842?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/4e06c25fc8fc520fb5b615c80735e842?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"linux","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AstrOS, a distro that combines the best of Arch, COSMIC, and immutability, enters beta"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Signed system images and UKIs give an Arch-based desktop a much clearer integrity story. TPM-backed encryption is a sensible option, though making the hardware requirement and recovery path obvious will matter for the users drawn to Linux for control.","datePublished":"2026-08-01T08:40:45.826Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/hcq8Xms63#c-HZZpzSKXZ","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Trevor Suna","url":"https://daily.dev/trevorsuna","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--dZ7gXxpp--/f_auto/v1784081551/avatars/avatar_EMoP47rpuw8DNjhp6R1b6?_a=BAMAMicg0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/astros-a-distro-that-combines-the-best-of-arch-cosmic-and-immutability-enters-beta-hcq8xms63#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is AstrOS and what desktop environment and base does it use?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"AstrOS is an immutable, secure-by-default Linux distribution based on Arch Linux, using the COSMIC desktop environment. It ships its base as a hashed and signed /usr image booted through signed uki images, protecting the system from outside modification, and uses tooling similar to GNOME OS and KDE Linux. It has just entered public beta. Developers evaluating immutable distros can follow AstrOS beta coverage on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does AstrOS require TPM 2.0 for full-disk encryption?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, AstrOS requires a CPU with TPM 2.0 support to enable its full-disk encryption feature, and the OS reportedly won't run at all on hardware lacking TPM 2.0. This is notable because many users switched from Windows to Linux specifically to avoid Windows 11's TPM 2.0 requirement, making AstrOS's stance somewhat ironic for that audience. Anyone weighing hardware compatibility before switching distros can track these requirements on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What extensions does AstrOS offer for gaming or workstation use?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"AstrOS ships with four pre-made extensions that users can install, or they can build their own custom extensions. One extension is dedicated to Steam gaming and includes a SteamOS Gamescope session, while users who don't need gaming support can skip that extension and run AstrOS as a pure workstation distro. Linux users comparing gaming-ready distro setups can keep tabs on projects like AstrOS via daily.dev."}}]} ```