Bluefin
Dakota (Dakotaraptor steini) is Bluefin built on GNOME OS, assembled entirely from source with Apache BuildStream and published as a bootc image. It eschews the traditional Linux distribution model — there are no RPMs — and is designed to deliver software directly from upstream sources.
This is the default Bluefin experience and is designed to be the state of the art in modern Linux bootc images.
Dakota is in late alpha. Filing issues is the whole point — every user running Dakota is part of a structured feedback loop back into upstream GNOME, freedesktop, and the kernel. Use Bluefin Classic if you are change averse.
Download and install
Bluefin Dakotaraptor
Dakota is in Alpha — take appropriate precautions.
You cannot rebase to Dakota from another image — if you're not on Dakota already, you need to reinstall from the ISO.
Each image is signed with cosign keyless signing via GitHub Actions OIDC. Verify with:
cosign verify ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota:stable \
--certificate-identity-regexp="https://github.com/projectbluefin/dakota/.github/workflows/publish.yml" \
--certificate-oidc-issuer=https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com
Image streams
Dakota uses the freedesktop-sdk version as its base version (e.g. 25.08.11 is the 11th release of the August 2025 major update).
| Tag | Stream | What it is |
|---|---|---|
:stable | Stable | GNOME 51 — production. Mon/Wed/Fri automated promotion from :testing. |
:testing | Testing | GNOME 51 — daily builds from the testing branch. Boot-check gated. |
:next | Rolling | GNOME master — the bleeding edge. Tracks gnome-build-meta master daily. |
:btw | Rolling | Alias for :next. |
# Switch to the rolling stream
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota:next
Gaming streams
The game mode images add the Open Gaming Collective kernel (sched_ext, ntsync), Steam with 32-bit compatibility libraries and controller udev rules, gamescope and the Steam Big Picture gamescope session, GameMode / MangoHud / vkBasalt, InputPlumber, and first-boot Flathub installs of Lutris, Heroic, Bottles, ProtonPlus, Protontricks, and GOverlay. The dakota:btw alias is also offered for the gaming kernel stream.
| Image | Stream | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Gaming | Stable | sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota-gaming:stable |
| Gaming | Testing | sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota-gaming:testing |
| NVIDIA Gaming | Stable | sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota-nvidia-gaming:stable |
| NVIDIA Gaming | Testing | sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota-nvidia-gaming:testing |
The feedback loop
When something breaks on your hardware, three commands flow the evidence back upstream:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
ujust report | Captures your system state and opens a pre-filled issue. |
ujust confirm <issue> | Tells the team your hardware hits the same bug — adds a hardware fingerprint, no duplicate filing. |
ujust verify <issue> | After a fix ships in a nightly, confirms it works on your machine. |
No telemetry, no phone-home. Every report is reviewed by you before it leaves your machine, lives in a gist you own, and can be deleted anytime. When three users independently run ujust verify on a fix, that issue closes with real confidence. See the full feedback loop design.
Current versions
sudo bootc switch --enforce-container-sigpolicy ghcr.io/projectbluefin/dakota:stable
Final Step: Reboot
- After running an available image switch command above, reboot to activate the deployment:sudo systemctl reboot
Further reading
- projectbluefin/dakota — README, image streams, contributor workflow in AGENTS.md
- Repo docs: build, CI, workflow, feedback loop
- Blog: Dakota Alpha 1 · Gaming Mode and Dakota Alpha 5
- GNOME OS · BuildStream · freedesktop-sdk
- Open issues for where things stand. ISO-specific issues go to projectbluefin/dakota-iso
