Carbon is a Linux distribution built around one idea: your operating system should only use what you actually need.
Most systems load dozens of background services, visual effects, and features you never touch, and they stay running whether you want them or not. Carbon starts with almost nothing switched on. During setup, you choose what you need, and the system shows you exactly how much memory each choice costs before you commit to it. Everything else stays off until you decide otherwise.
Linux has never lacked powerful tools. What it has lacked is a distribution that feels considered from the first boot to the last. Carbon is an attempt to build that. It takes proven, battle tested components (the Linux kernel, a modern Wayland compositor, standard system services) and wraps them in a single, coherent experience with its own identity, rather than asking you to assemble one yourself from a dozen different projects.
If you have used a Mac or a Windows machine before, Carbon should feel familiar from the first few minutes. If you are new to Linux entirely, it should feel like the easiest way in.
Minimal by default. A base installation targets a very small memory footprint. Features like Bluetooth, printing, and background services are opt in, not automatic.
Familiar on arrival. During first boot you choose a layout inspired by Windows, by Mac, or Carbon's own recommended design. Every choice stays fully customizable afterward.
Built for old and new hardware alike. Carbon is being developed and tested on hardware going back over a decade, not just the newest machines.
No telemetry. Carbon does not phone home. This is a permanent commitment, not a setting that might change later.
A real app ecosystem. A built in app store brings together essential tools and community made apps, the kind of quality of life software that is common on other platforms but rarely built into Linux distributions themselves.
Clear, unified settings. One settings application for the whole system. No digging through scattered configuration files to change something simple.
Carbon is early. The project is in active development and not yet ready for daily use on a primary machine. This repository will track progress openly as the first builds take shape.
If you are curious about the direction of the project or want to follow along, starring or watching this repository is the best way to stay updated.
Carbon is built on the idea that a Linux desktop can be both genuinely lightweight and genuinely polished, and that those two goals are not in conflict. Every feature included is considered against the cost it adds, and nothing ships simply because other systems include it.
Carbon is not yet at a stage where it can accept code contributions, but that will change. In the meantime, feedback, ideas, and interest are welcome through issues and discussions in this repository.
To be determined as the project matures.