Basalt Linux is built entirely from free and open-source software. This page documents the licensing of the project itself and its major components. For our approach to data and privacy, see the Privacy Policy.
Basalt Linux is built entirely from free and open-source software. The distribution integrates thousands of software packages from the Debian repositories, each governed by its own license. In accordance with standard Linux distribution practice, this page documents the licensing of Basalt Linux's original components and its major upstream dependencies.
Unless otherwise noted, all original code, branding assets, build scripts, and configuration files created by the Basalt Linux project are licensed under the MIT License. The full text of this license is reproduced below.
The original content produced by the Basalt Linux project — including the build system, installer configuration, branding, and documentation — is made available under the MIT License. This means you are free to:
The only requirement is that the original copyright notice and permission notice be included in all copies or substantial portions of the software.
Basalt Linux incorporates software from many upstream projects. Each component retains its own license, listed below for the major components of the distribution.
| Component | License | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| Linux Kernel | GPL-2, with syscall exception | kernel.org |
| GNU Toolchain & Core Utilities | GPL-3 / LGPL-3 | GPLv3 · LGPLv3 |
| Xfce Desktop | GPL-2 / LGPL-2.1 | xfce.org |
| GTK & GLib | LGPL-2.1-or-later | gtk.org |
| Systemd | LGPL-2.1-or-later | systemd.io |
| X.Org / Wayland | MIT | wayland.freedesktop.org |
| GRUB Bootloader | GPL-3 | gnu.org |
| Calamares Installer | GPL-3 | calamares.io |
Thousands of additional packages included in Basalt Linux are sourced from the Debian repositories. Each package carries its own license, as determined by its upstream authors — including GPL-2, GPL-3, LGPL-2.1, LGPL-3, MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, MPL-2.0, and zlib/libpng.
For full per-package license information, consult the documentation included with each package (typically in /usr/share/doc/<package>/copyright on an installed system) or visit the Basalt Linux GitLab repository.
This license applies to all original Basalt Linux project code, including the build system, branding, configuration files, and website content. Upstream components retain their own licenses as described above.
MIT License Copyright (c) 2024-2026Basalt Linux Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
"Basalt Linux" and the Basalt logo are trademarks of the Basalt Linux project. The MIT License covers the project's code and documentation, but does not grant permission to use the Basalt name or logo in ways that imply endorsement by the project. If you distribute a modified version, please avoid branding it as "Basalt Linux".