Known Limitations

linuxlive is early. Everything below is known; nothing here needs reporting again, but an issue with new details is always welcome. The README's "Spike results" section has the technical detail behind each item.

What linuxlive can't do yet

Limitation	What it means for you
The installer erases a whole disk	"Install" (desktop icon or boot menu) puts your distro on one disk and erases everything on it: no dual boot, no partition choice, no encryption.
Fedora-based installs need the internet	They install the system image the build published to ghcr.io (publish-image: true), and installed systems update from it. A build that didn't publish its image can't install. Ubuntu-based ISOs install offline.
Nothing is saved in the live session	There's no persistent storage. Files, settings and apps added in the live session are gone after shutdown; install to keep them.
64-bit Intel and AMD only	No ARM builds. Macs with Apple silicon can't boot the ISOs.
No kernel choice	Each base brings its own kernel. Beyond the desktop, apps and branding, you change the rest with extras: packages, files, scripts and GitHub code.
20 apps in the catalog	Only apps listed in the catalog can go in a spec. New apps are easy to add; see Writing a Spec: Apps.
Big ISOs	The example ISOs are 2.7 to 2.9 GiB on Ubuntu and 4 to 4.5 GiB on Fedora. The Fedora KDE example doesn't fit on a single-layer DVD (4.7 GB), so use a USB stick.
GitHub keeps ISOs for a limited time	A build from the template keeps its ISO for 7 days (you can change that). linuxlive.com hosts the examples' and the Library's ISOs.

Not tested yet

Where	Status
Real hardware	An Ubuntu-based ISO has been booted and installed on a real PC; Fedora-based installs have only run in QEMU (in CI). Reports from real machines are very welcome; see Testing and Booting: Reporting a problem.
Secure Boot on real PCs	It works with Secure Boot firmware in QEMU, using each base's signed boot chain, but hasn't been tried on a real PC.
GNOME on Fedora, KDE on Ubuntu	These compile and pass the unit tests but aren't built or booted in CI. They should work.
VirtualBox	Only the TestOS Ubuntu ISO has been tried in VirtualBox.
Ventoy and "ISO mode" USB writers	Untested. Use a tool that writes the image byte for byte (Rufus in DD mode, Fedora Media Writer, balenaEtcher, dd).

Known problems in the live session

Problem	Affects	Harm
plymouth-start.service was reported as failed once. It hasn't happened since, and the build now fails if any system service fails. The cause isn't known.	Fedora Cinnamon	None seen: the session started normally.
An occasional SELinux denial early in boot (systemd reading a uevent socket opened before the policy loaded). It appeared in 3 of 7 Fedora KDE CI runs up to 2026-10-11.	Fedora	None seen; it looks like a harmless race, but that isn't confirmed.
The boot splash may show as a text screen with your distro's name instead of your logo.	VirtualBox, Ubuntu	Cosmetic. It happens when early graphics aren't available.
The initramfs is about 265 MB, because one image serves both live and installed boots.	Fedora	Boots take a little longer to load.

Planned

Roughly in order: "Build it for me" (linuxlive.com builds a distro without a GitHub repository of your own), presets (ready-made app sets), and ARM64. Kernel and init choice come later.