Introduction to Bluefin

Deinonychus antirrhopus

docs.projectbluefin.io

Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS to set it on, and I can move the world.

-Steve Langasek

Features

Bluefin features a GNOME (Donate) desktop configured by our community. It is designed to be hands-off and stay out of your way so you can focus on your applications.

System updates are image-based and automatic. Applications are logically separated from the system by using Flatpaks for graphical applications and brew for command-line applications.

Bluefin is "An interpretation of the Ubuntu spirit built on Fedora technology"—a callback to an era of Ubuntu's history that many open source enthusiasts grew up with, much like the Classic X-Men. We aim to bring that same vibe here; think of us as the reboot. Chill vibes.

• Ubuntu-like GNOME layout.
  • Integrates the following GNOME Extensions by default:
    • Dash to Dock - for a more Unity-like dock
    • Appindicator - for tray-like icons in the top right corner
    • GSConnect - Integrate your mobile device with your desktop
    • Blur my Shell (Donate) - for that bling
    • Tailscale GNOME QS for tailscale integration
    • Search Light - provides search functionality and a macOS Spotlight-like workflow. Bound to Super-Space by default. Check the screenshot at the bottom of this page for an example
• Developer Mode - Dedicated developer mode that transforms Bluefin into a powerful cloud-native developer workstation
• Ptyxis terminal for container-focused workflows
  • Distroshelf (Donate) for container management
• Tailscale (Donate) - included for VPN along with wireguard-tools
  • Use ujust toggle-tailscale to turn it off if you don't plan on using it.
• GNOME Extensions Manager (Donate) included
• Bazaar Application Store featuring Flathub:
  • Use a familiar software center UI to install graphical software
  • Warehouse (Donate) included for Flatpak management
• Quality of Life Features
  • Starship terminal prompt enabled by default
  • Solaar - included for managing Logitech mice along with libratbagd
  • rclone (Donate) - mount nearly any remote storage service onto your local machine, great for multi-machine setups
  • restic (Donate) - A modern backup program for your files
  • zsh and fish included (Instructions) as optional shells
  • Switcheroo support for laptops with multiple GPUs
• Built on top of the Universal Blue main image - enabling straightforward sharing of benefits:
  • Extra udev rules for game controllers and other devices included out of the box
  • All multimedia codecs included
  • System designed for automatic staging of updates
    • If you've never used an image-based Linux before, use your computer normally
    • Don't overthink it—just shut your computer off when you're not using it

Default Keyboard Shortcuts

Bluefin includes several pre-configured keyboard shortcuts for enhanced productivity:

• Search Light: Super+Space - macOS Spotlight-like search functionality
• Gradia: Super+PrintScreen - Advanced screenshot and annotation tool
• Smile: Ctrl+Alt+Space and Super+. - Emoji picker and special characters