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About Basalt Linux

Basalt Linux is a Debian-based desktop distribution built in Pakistan and maintained by Qaisar Rafique. This page covers who is behind the project, what it is built on, and how to get in touch.

Who's behind it

Qaisar Rafique

Founder & Maintainer

Pakistan

Qaisar Rafique started Basalt Linux and maintains the project: he decides what goes into each release, publishes the ISO with its checksum, and keeps this website, the wiki and the documentation running. Development happens in the open, so you can follow the work — or join it — on GitLab.

gitlab.com/basaltlinuxDiscord community

The project at a glance

What Basalt Linux is

Basalt Linux is a general-purpose distribution for everyday users. It is not a fork built from scratch: it takes Debian 13 (Trixie), adds a clean Xfce desktop and a Calamares installer, and packages the result as an installable ISO.

Version1.2 Obsidian
Base systemDebian 13 (Trixie)
DesktopXfce 4.20
InstallerCalamares
Architecturex86_64 (amd64)
Minimum hardware1 GB RAM · 10 GB disk · full requirements
Project licenseMIT (build scripts & website)
Developed inPakistan
Governance

How the project works

  • Built on Debian, not around it.Packages come straight from Debian 13 (Trixie), so Basalt inherits Debian's security updates and its package archive rather than carrying its own fork.
  • Everything happens in public. The website source, issues and merge requests live on GitLab and are open for anyone to read.
  • MIT licensed. The build scripts and this website are MIT licensed; the packages you install — kernel, GNU tools, Xfce — keep their respective licenses.
  • Checksums published. Every ISO is published with a SHA256 checksum on the download page.
  • Contributions welcome. Bug reports, fixes, translations and documentation all help — see how to contribute.
Attribution

Credits

Basalt Linux would not exist without a lot of upstream work. Credit belongs to:

  • The Debian Project — the base system, its installer tooling and the package archive every Basalt package comes from.
  • The Xfce Project — the desktop environment that ships as Basalt's default interface.
  • The Calamares team — the graphical installer used to put Basalt on disk.
  • Orchis & Papirus — the GTK theme and icon set that give the desktop its finished look.
  • The Linux kernel, GNU, and every upstream maintainer — the thousands of packages that make up the running system.
Contact

Get in touch

There is no support email — everything happens in public, so a question asked once stays searchable for the next person with the same problem.