AerynOS, an independent Linux distribution built from scratch and still in alpha, has released version 2026.03. Born from the ashes of Serpent OS, it comes with internally developed package management tools.

The headline feature is GNOME 50, which has been adopted by very few distributions so far. The included version is the standard release, unmodified, running exclusively on Wayland. VRR (dynamic synchronization between graphics card and monitor to eliminate micro-stuttering) and fractional scaling are enabled by default, and parental controls receive some improvements. Those preferring KDE get Plasma updated to version 6.6.3.

Two practical additions also come to the moss package manager: you can now search which package provides a specific executable, useful when a command is missing and you’re unsure where to install it from, and you can remove multiple system snapshots in a single operation. The Volatile repository, primarily used by package maintainers, is now distributed via content delivery network to reduce download times.

Worth noting: AerynOS is still in alpha and doesn’t have a graphical installer. You install it from the terminal with an active network connection. It’s not for daily desktop use, but it’s a project worth keeping an eye on.