InterGenOS in One Page
The fast path. Read the 30-second version to know what InterGenOS is; read the 5-minute version to know whether it is for you. Everything else on this site is detail underneath these two.
The 30-second version
InterGenOS is a built-from-source Linux distribution with one organizing principle: security is not first — it is only. Every default is hardened, the entire boot chain is signed and checkable by you, and it ships a local AI assistant that never sends your data anywhere unless you explicitly opt in. The goal is a machine you understand, can modify, and can trust — where you never have to take a security claim on faith, because you can verify it yourself.
The 5-minute version
What it is. A security-only desktop Linux, assembled from source (Linux From Scratch lineage), shipping GNOME 49 on Wayland. It is not a general-purpose distribution with security added on — security is the lens every decision passes through.
The four pillars:
- Security as the only lens. Hardened kernel (integrity lockdown, enforced module signing), a default-deny firewall, mandatory access control, and a signed boot chain. Features that cannot be made safe are not shipped.
- You control the machine. Built from source and fully transparent: nothing about how it works is hidden. The package manager records a hash of every file it installs, so you can re-verify the whole system at any time.
- Verify, don’t trust. Every security claim is something you run a command and confirm — see Verify It Yourself. A claim you cannot check is just marketing.
- AI that stays local. InterGen is an offline-first assistant with zero telemetry. It is useful out of the box; cloud providers are opt-in and explicit, never on by default.
What ships today, honestly. The wiki is careful to separate enforced today from built and coming — for example, the boot chain is fully signed, Secure Boot has been validated end to end, and the installer stages your own Machine Owner Key and enrollment password so you can enable Secure Boot after installing; a default install still ships with firmware enforcement off. You will never find a reassuring headline here that the shipped configuration does not back up.
How to try it. The lowest-risk way to look is in a virtual machine — see Installing in a Virtual Machine. When you are ready for hardware, the FORGE installer walks you from the live environment to a verified install, and nothing is written to disk until you confirm.
Where to go from here:
- Why InterGenOS Exists — how it compares to Fedora, Arch, NixOS, Qubes, and others, and when one of those is the better fit.
- What InterGenOS Is — the full picture.
- Threat Model & Security Philosophy — who this is built to defend against, and the doctrine behind it.
- Verify It Yourself — prove the claims on your own machine.