01 / PACKAGE OWNERSHIP
The converter orchestrates. Packages own.
The converter installs and verifies. Packages own persistent configuration, hardening, graphics support, gaming integration, desktop policy and visual identity.
Debian-based · package-owned · auditable
Security without surrendering the machine.
Sentinel Linux is being rebuilt around a simple principle: hardening should be deliberate, visible and reversible — while the system remains practical for desktop work, development, NVIDIA hardware and gaming.
Burgundy
Gold
The Sentinel principle.
Sentinel is not intended to be a pile of shell tweaks layered on top of Debian. Persistent behaviour belongs to packages, policy changes must be inspectable, and security should be compatible with the way people actually use their computers.
02 / SECURITY
Hardening must be auditable and reversible.
Sentinel's hardening model is built around explicit audit, apply, verify and restore operations. Security changes are not hidden behind an irreversible secure mode.
03 / COMPATIBILITY
Secure does not have to mean unusable.
Gaming, NVIDIA drivers, Vulkan, 32-bit runtimes, development and virtualisation are first-class considerations. Exceptions are made only when a real compatibility conflict is demonstrated.
04 / EVIDENCE
Verification is part of the product.
Sentinel is designed around release gates, package ownership, version manifests, drift checks and evidence — not the installer finished, therefore everything must be fine.
05 / MODULARITY
Hardware and profiles remain independent.
GPU support is hardware-selected. Gaming, development and cybersecurity are additive profiles rather than assumptions baked into one monolithic installation script.
06 / DEBIAN FIRST
Build with Debian, not against it.
Sentinel uses Debian as its foundation and preserves normal package-management and upgrade behaviour wherever possible, adding policy rather than replacing the operating system's core.
Designed to stay understandable.
Each layer has a defined owner. That separation is the difference between a maintainable distribution and a converter that slowly learns to control absolutely everything.
Foundation
Debian 13 · KDE Plasma · Wayland · SDDM
Repository
Signed Sentinel packages and release manifests
Security
Package-owned hardening with audit · apply · verify · restore
Hardware
GPU-aware packages for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel
Profiles
Standard · Gaming · Development · Cybersecurity
Verification
Drift audit · package ownership · read-only final release gate
Rebuild roadmap.
The project is being rebuilt deliberately from a clean Debian baseline. Historical Sentinel components are treated as reference material, not automatically inherited.
Phase 01
Live machine audit
Baseline the OS, KDE/Wayland session, hardware, NVIDIA stack, Vulkan/OpenGL, gaming dependencies, AppArmor, nftables and current sysctl state.
Complete
Phase 02
Repository audit
Classify existing package families as keep, rebuild, preserve, replace or retire. Separate the new source lineage from the historical published APT repository.
Complete
Phase 03
Converter audit
Preserve proven orchestration, repository trust, resumability, package ownership and release-gate concepts; remove MATE, LightDM, AEGIS and legacy visual assumptions.
Complete
Phase 04
Lock the new architecture
Finalise phase order, package responsibilities, manifests, profiles, state paths, NVIDIA/gaming orchestration, hardening lifecycle and verification contracts before new converter code is written.
Next
Phase 05
Build the clean converter skeleton
Implement the new Sentinel-only converter with no historical name-transition logic or embedded branding hotfixes.
Planned
Phase 06
Rebuild hardening
Migrate the policy-as-packages security model into the new sentinel-hardening owner and retain explicit rollback.
Planned
Phase 07
Graphics and NVIDIA
Add hardware-aware graphics policy and validate kernel modules, OpenGL, Vulkan and required 32-bit graphics support.
Planned
Phase 08
Gaming profile
Integrate Steam requirements, Proton/Wine compatibility, GameMode, MangoHud, controllers, audio and gaming verification without creating a security off mode.
Planned
Phase 09
Security compatibility pass
Reproduce any gaming or hardware conflicts, identify the exact policy responsible and create only the minimum documented compatibility exception required.
Planned
Phase 10–12
Fresh visual identity
Continue the lighthouse-based Sentinel identity across the OS by refining the logo system, packaging the burgundy and gold visual language, and applying it to Plasma, SDDM and related assets.
Planned
Phase 13–18
Applications, drift control, full testing and release
Reintegrate the Sentinel application suite, protect intended state, run clean conversion and gaming tests, verify upgrades and recovery, then produce the first release candidate.
Planned
Sentinel should tell you what it changed, why it changed it, who owns that change and how to put it back.
That principle shapes the converter, the package system, hardening policy and the release process. The goal is not maximum lockdown at any cost. The goal is a system whose security posture can be understood, tested and maintained.
Current website direction: a lighthouse-style Sentinel mark with a burgundy and gold operating-system palette.