# Margine OS: an atomic and super fast Linux distro I built and daily-drive on the Framework 13
**URL:** https://community.frame.work/t/margine-os-an-atomic-and-super-fast-linux-distro-i-built-and-daily-drive-on-the-framework-13/83145
**Category:** Linux
**Tags:** other-distro
**Created:** [June 21, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/margine-os-an-atomic-and-super-fast-linux-distro-i-built-and-daily-drive-on-the-framework-13/83145 "2026-06-21T15:19:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Daniel\_Grasso](https://community.frame.work/u/Daniel_Grasso)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/margine-os-an-atomic-and-super-fast-linux-distro-i-built-and-daily-drive-on-the-framework-13/83145/1 "2026-06-21T15:19:55Z")
# **Introducing Margine OS**
Hi all. Some of you might know me as the author of **Wayland Scroll Factor** , the little tool I wrote because the Framework 13 touchpad is gloriously, unusably _fast_ under Wayland and GNOME gives you no slider for it.
## **Why Margine**
It grew out of a long hunt for “the right distro,” and three projects that struck me as genuinely fresh:
- **CachyOS:** how much more responsiveness you can get out of the _same_ hardware. Real new life for older machines.
- **Fedora Atomic (the Silverblue / bootc lineage):** shipping the OS itself as a built-and-tested image gives you a level of stability and reproducibility that’s hard to get any other way, without the Debian-style trade-off where “stable” means fighting your own hardware.
- **Bluefin / Universal Blue:** the hard part of Linux is usually _after_ install: codecs, that folder of FLACs that won’t play, updates that need a terminal. Bluefin hands you a machine that works from minute one, updates quietly under the hood, and can roll back if something breaks.
## **What Margine is**
Margine builds on Bluefin DX (same atomic model, same “ready out of the box” feel) and changes the things I cared about most:
- **CachyOS kernel (BORE scheduler).** Pulled from the `bieszczaders/kernel-cachyos` COPR and **re-signed with Margine’s own key** so it boots cleanly under Secure Boot.
- **Secure Boot without the pain.** The ISO’s GRUB walks you through MOK enrollment, so you keep Secure Boot _on_ instead of disabling it. [[Install guide]](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/install-iso)
- **CPU scheduler from a GUI.** Switch between the `scx` schedulers on the fly, no config files. [[Docs]](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/cpu-scheduler)
- **Touchpad tuning GNOME doesn’t offer.** Scroll speed, pinch-zoom and pinch-rotate, via Wayland Scroll Factor with a GUI. [[Docs]](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/scroll-and-gestures)
- **Tiling out of the box.** A curated, months-vetted set of GNOME extensions. The standout is **o-tiling** , a heavily-improved, actively-maintained **fork of System76’s Pop Shell** (which System76 itself is winding down as it moves to COSMIC), with binary-tree tiling, an animated accent-colour focus border and plenty more on top. [[Docs]](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/keyboard-shortcuts)
- **Gaming when you want it.** `ujust margine-gaming-native` layers Steam, Lutris and RetroArch as native RPMs (full Proton/Wine, MangoHud/GameMode out of the box, Mesa always matching the system); a sandboxed Flatpak variant exists too. Bazzite-style, on the CachyOS base. [[Docs]](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/gaming)
- **Reproducible and signed end-to-end.** The whole build + test pipeline runs on GitHub Actions; SHA-pinned dependencies, cosign signature + SBOM, ISOs distributed torrent-first via the Internet Archive.
- Plus a clean three-folder home (`data / dev / scratch`), full-disk LUKS with optional TPM2 auto-unlock, and an experimental NVIDIA kernel I can’t test myself.
## **Performance: what we actually measured**
The one structural change worth benchmarking is the kernel, so I ran a clean A/B on the **same** laptop (Framework Laptop 13, Ryzen 5 7640U): switching only the ostree deployment between Margine and stock Bluefin DX. Same userspace, governor pinned to `performance`, start temperatures matched, median of four runs, all under a background CPU load.
CachyOS/BORE vs stock Fedora kernel, scheduler benchmark (median of runs)
| **Metric** | **Margine (CachyOS/BORE)** | **Stock Fedora** | **Δ** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Context-switch latency | 4.45 µs/op | 7.97 µs/op | **~1.8× faster** |
| Context-switch rate | 224k ops/s | 125k ops/s | **+79%** |
| Thread throughput | 88k events | 57k events | **+54%** |
| Thread latency (avg) | 4.1 ms | 6.3 ms | **55% lower** |
| Wakeup latency (p50) | 2.08 ms | 2.98 ms | **43% lower** |
| Wakeup latency (p99, tail) | 12.0 ms | 10.7 ms | ~11% higher |
CachyOS/BORE is dramatically better in the common case (throughput, median/average latency) and slightly worse at the worst-case tail. That’s the textbook BORE trade-off, and a sign the test wasn’t cherry-picked. Full method, raw data and a reproduce-it-yourself script are in the [kernel-performance docs](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs/kernel-performance).
## **The apps**
Margine started as a personal distro, and creative work is what I mainly use it for, which is why it’s so opinionated. It ships a hand-picked Flatpak set:
- **Image & design:** GIMP, Inkscape, Pinta, Darktable, Loupe
- **Audio:** Audacity, Reaper, EasyEffects (system-wide DSP), G4Music
- **Video & streaming:** OBS Studio, Showtime
- **Writing & office:** LibreOffice, Apostrophe (Markdown), GNOME Text Editor
- **Everyday & utilities:** Zen Browser, Thunderbird, Bitwarden, the GNOME suite, plus Flatseal, Warehouse, Mission Center and Déjà Dup
It’s atomic: uninstall what you don’t use. Longer term I may slim the base down and spin the creator set off into its own optional layer.
## **Links, and a small ask**
- **Site & download:** [https://margine.the-empty.place](https://margine.the-empty.place)
- **Docs:** [https://margine.the-empty.place/docs](https://margine.the-empty.place/docs)
- **Handbook** (every step of how it’s built): [https://margine.the-empty.place/handbook](https://margine.the-empty.place/handbook)
It’s a personal project, one maintainer, still young. Feedback and criticism are very welcome. And if you have NVIDIA hardware: there’s an experimental NVIDIA kernel I genuinely can’t test (no NVIDIA machine here), so a hand testing it would mean a lot.
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### Author:  [@Josh\_Orkin](https://community.frame.work/u/Josh_Orkin)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/margine-os-an-atomic-and-super-fast-linux-distro-i-built-and-daily-drive-on-the-framework-13/83145/2 "2026-08-04T01:59:07Z")
Daniel, Thanks for creating this really outstanding distro. It’s fast, stable and has the right mix of apps for my photo hobby. I’ve tried so many distributions I’ve lost count. This one works perfectly right out the box, and keeps on working day after day. Well done!
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### Author:  [@Daniel\_Grasso](https://community.frame.work/u/Daniel_Grasso)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/margine-os-an-atomic-and-super-fast-linux-distro-i-built-and-daily-drive-on-the-framework-13/83145/3 "2026-08-07T18:18:35Z")
Thanks a lot, Josh, I really appreciate it !
That’s exactly what I’m trying to build: something fast, stable, useful out of the box, and boring in the best possible way once it’s installed.
I’m really glad it’s working well for your photo workflow. Feedback like this means a lot. 😀
If something ever feels off, please write it on the Margine GitHub (issues or Discussions): I try to keep everything there, so nothing gets lost in forum threads