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.

One package graph

The operating-system repository owns the package manifest and its validator. They define package ownership, architecture coverage, profile composition and producer output. The SouveraineOS overview explains the installation work; the graph itself is not in the current public source snapshot.

Every current profile is explicitly blocked or planned. The manifest is evidence of an owned package and distribution contract; it is not a claim that a stable release, public package index or ready installer exists today.

Target is not installer readiness

A named body and a ready installer are separate facts. Souveraine runs on development phones and laptops; repeatable installation and commissioning remain unfinished.

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.