Distribution and installation

The distribution contract declares what a SouveraineOS body is: package names, architectures, producers and installer profiles. Component repositories may build their code, but they do not choose their own release set or grow a second delivery path.

Packages are delivered through a signed archive. The profile graph is checked before release, and a future graphical installer will consume the same graph: select a ready target, obtain its declared packages, apply its boot plan and run commissioning.

Target is not installer readiness

A named body and a ready installer are separate facts. The HP ProBook is an observed x86_64 workstation with Souveraine installed, while its x86-laptop profile remains blocked pending a hardware profile and installer path. The same discipline keeps an active phone bring-up or a future Apple-mobile family from being advertised as a downloadable image.

That keeps the installer honest. It is an interface over a known release plan, not a wizard that guesses which files a device needs.

Why packages matter

A hand-copied binary can demonstrate an idea. It cannot demonstrate a system. An owned package has a producer, a version, a declared destination and an update path. SouveraineOS treats that distinction as part of the engineering, not release-day paperwork.