01
It has to suck less
dwm, st, dmenu, slock and tabbed: configured in C, compiled in. The suckless philosophy of simplicity, clarity and frugality.
Abyss Linux — by MrZaKaRiA
Abyss Linux: the suckless Linux desktop
A minimalist, rolling-release, systemd-free desktop built on Void Linux and the suckless tools: small programs you can read in an afternoon. dwm, patched and themed in Abyss purple, one Menu for everything else, and about 300 MB of RAM at idle. Release 27.0 is out for x86_64 and aarch64.
SCROLL
~300 MB idle
The idle desktop: dwm, a status bar with CPU, RAM and the clock, and nothing you did not ask for.
runit, no systemd
A service is a directory with a run script. Boot takes seconds.
x86_64 + aarch64
PCs, laptops and virtual machines, plus Apple Silicon virtual machines and ARM64 boards.
MIT licensed
Scripts, overlay and docs. Free to download, read and change.
/ 05
Small programs, compiled in.
The pieces of the desktop, each one small enough to read.
- dwm 6.8
- st
- dmenu
- slock
- tabbed
- runit
- XBPS
- xbps-src
- Void Linux
- PipeWire
- rofi
- lf
- dunst
- sxhkd
- xmenu
- vim
- mpv
The desktop
Nothing runs that you didn't ask for
dwm, patched and themed in Abyss purple, with a status bar showing CPU, RAM and the clock, and one Menu button for everything else. HiDPI is handled for you: Xft.dpi is set automatically, at 2× in Apple Virtualization.
- dwm 6.8 with systray, status2d, vanitygaps, scratchpad, attachaside and autostart
- About 300 MB of RAM at idle
- Apps, files, settings, tools and power in a single xmenu tree
Keyboard first
Your hands never leave the keys
Super is the mod key. dwm grabs the essentials, sxhkd takes Super+Alt+letter, and media keys just work through PipeWire. Super+F1 shows every shortcut.
- Super+Return opens a terminal, Super+Esc the Abyss menu
- Super+p runs anything with dmenu, Super+Alt+r launches apps with rofi
- Super+` toggles the scratchpad, Super+Shift+l locks the screen, Super+1…9 jumps to a tag
Rolling updates
One command. Everything current.
The Void base, your apps and the Abyss suckless builds update together with sudo xbps-install -Su. The patched dwm, st and dmenu come from the Abyss PMR, a signed XBPS repository built by GitHub Actions, so new suckless releases arrive without a new ISO.
- abyss-dwm 6.8, abyss-st 0.9.3, abyss-dmenu 5.4
- abyss-slock 1.7, abyss-tabbed 0.9, abyss-wmname 0.1
- No big-bang upgrades every six months
Philosophy
Five hard requirements. Zero compromises.
The rules Abyss Linux was built to, in the order they are written on its site.
02
Rolling release
No big-bang upgrades every six months. One command keeps everything current.
03
No systemd
runit: a service is a directory with a run script, and boot takes seconds.
04
Minimal by default
Start from almost nothing and add only what you need.
05
Not a fork
100% Void underneath: Void's repositories, kernel and tools, with its own package manager XBPS and its own build system xbps-src.
Licence
Free and open
A community project, MIT licensed for its scripts, overlay and docs. It is not affiliated with Void Linux or suckless.org.
The story
Why Abyss exists.
“For years I hopped from distro to distro. I wanted small programs I can read in an afternoon. A rolling release. No systemd. A minimal base. And not a fork of a fork. Void Linux met every one. Abyss is the desktop I built on top of it, packaged so anyone can use it.”
— MrZaKaRiA, creator of Abyss Linux
Abyss is the desktop side of the same Linux work MrZaKaRiA does for businesses. For servers, see Linux server management, or get in touch about a project.
Install
Five steps. About five minutes.
The installer is Void's own void-installer with Abyss changes: one-step automatic UEFI partitioning, a removable EFI fallback for virtual machines that forget NVRAM entries, and a clean login on first boot.
01
Boot the ISO
The boot is silent and lands on the desktop. Hold Esc or Shift to see the GRUB menu.
02
Open the installer
Menu (top right), then Install Abyss Linux. It opens in a large, dark, high-contrast terminal.
03
Answer three questions
Hostname, root password and your user account. Then Partition, auto.
04
Install
GPT, a 1 GB EFI partition and an ext4 root. The live system is copied, so no network is needed.
05
Reboot
Remove the ISO, log in on tty1, and the desktop starts on its own.
Requirements
What Abyss Linux 27.0 needs.
Released 20 October 2026. Verify the download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS (on macOS: shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS).
- x86_64 (UEFI or BIOS): PCs, laptops, VirtualBox, VMware, QEMU/KVM and Hyper-V. ISO of 1.59 GB.
- aarch64 (UEFI): Apple Silicon virtual machines (Apple Virtualization, UTM, Parallels), ARM64 servers and boards. ISO of 1.58 GB.
- 2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended) and 16 GB of disk.
- The live session boots straight to the desktop as the user anon; the password is printed on abyss.mrzakaria.com.
FAQ
Abyss Linux: the questions people ask.
Short answers, taken from the project's own site.
A minimalist, rolling-release, systemd-free Linux desktop built on Void Linux and the suckless tools (dwm, st, dmenu, slock and tabbed), made by MrZaKaRiA.
2
Is it a fork of Void Linux?
No. It is 100% Void underneath: Void's repositories, kernel and tools. Abyss adds the desktop, its patched suckless builds and an installer on top.
3
How do I keep it up to date?
Run sudo xbps-install -Su. The Void base, your apps and the Abyss suckless builds update together.
4
Which init system does it use?
runit. A service is a directory with a run script, and there is no systemd.
5
Does it run on Apple Silicon?
Yes, as a virtual machine: the aarch64 ISO boots under UEFI in Apple Virtualization, UTM and Parallels, and on ARM64 servers and boards.
6
Is it free?
Yes. Abyss Linux is a community project; its scripts, overlay and docs are MIT licensed. The ISOs are on GitHub Releases.
Ready when you are
Ready to descend?
Download Abyss Linux 27.0 for x86_64 or aarch64 from GitHub, verify it, and boot it. The full tour, the shortcuts and the release notes are on abyss.mrzakaria.com.
