Is Maze Linux based on Arch?

Yes. Maze Linux is built on Arch Linux and follows a rolling-release model, so you always get current packages. You get Arch's power without the manual assembly — a complete, hardened KDE Plasma 6 desktop is ready on first boot.

Do I have to configure the security and privacy tools myself?

No. AppArmor, the firewall, Maze Guard, auditd, Tor and VPN are already set up out of the box. Things that change how you appear on a network, like MAC randomization in Maze Cloak, are off until you switch them on. Local AI via Ollama is also ready to run, fully offline.

Can I try it without installing?

Yes. Maze ships as a Live ISO — boot it from USB and try the full desktop before installing. When you're ready, a guided installer sets it up in minutes.

Does Maze Linux collect any telemetry?

No. Maze has zero telemetry — nothing phones home and there is no tracking. Privacy is the default, not an option you have to turn on.

What are the hardware requirements?

A 64-bit (x86-64) CPU with UEFI (no BIOS/Legacy), at least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended, 16 GB for local AI) and 40 GB of disk space. Secure Boot and full-disk encryption are supported.

Is it free and open source?

Yes. Maze Linux is free to download and use, and built on open-source software. Maze's own tools are free software (GPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0, MIT). A few third-party apps it ships, such as Steam and Discord, are proprietary.

Maze Linux / Wiki

Updating

paru -Syu

Maze is a rolling release: there are no version upgrades to plan for, just a steady stream of updates.

Use paru -Syu rather than sudo pacman -Syu: a few default desktop apps (Joplin, Session, Upscayl, ONLYOFFICE, Claude Code) come from the AUR, and pacman alone never updates them. paru asks for your password itself when it needs it — do not run it with sudo.

What happens automatically on every update

What one update does

A btrfs snapshot is taken before and after the transaction (snap-pac)
If the kernel, initramfs, NVIDIA/DKMS modules or systemd changed, the Unified Kernel Image is rebuilt and re-signed with your machine's key
The boot chain is verified end to end when the transaction finishes

If something is wrong, the system tells you before you shut down — a desktop notification, a warning on every terminal login, and a shutdown inhibitor (see Diagnostics) — and tells you what the problem is. That ordering matters: a boot problem you learn about while you are still booted is an inconvenience; the same problem discovered at the next power-on is an outage.

If an update breaks something

In rough order of effort:

Undo the file that changed — Snapshots & Rollback
Boot the recovery kernel if the machine will not start — If the System Won't Boot
Ask what happened — sudo maze-doctor, see Diagnostics

Updating the Maze packages only

Maze's own packages come from the [mazelinux] repository (https://mazerepo.berkkucukk.com.tr/packages). Every package is GPG-signed and pacman refuses unsigned ones (SigLevel = Required); the signing key ships in mazelinux-keyring. A normal update covers them; nothing special is required.

New default apps reach existing machines through maze-meta: it depends on every package that makes up a Maze system, so when a package is added to the default set, your next update installs it automatically.

A note on partial upgrades

Do not use pacman -Sy <package> to install a single package against an un-updated system. On any Arch-based system this produces a partial upgrade and is a genuine way to break things. Always -Syu.