GoldenDog Linux
A clean KDE Plasma experience powered by the rock-solid Debian base. Built to stay out of your way.
The Story
Alexia built GoldenDog Linux as a tribute to YellowDog Linux — a legendary distribution she used to breathe new life into aging PowerPC Macs. Named after her golden retriever and the project that inspired her, GoldenDog is a clean KDE Plasma experience on a Debian Stable base — beautiful, stable, and familiar — built for everyday use and designed to stay out of your way.
When GoldenDog started growing past the testing phase, the infrastructure couldn't keep up.
A few hundred users running apt update simultaneously was enough to bring the original server down.
Professional hosting costs money, and Alexia had a clear principle: she didn't want to charge users for GoldenDog,
and she didn't want to ask for donations.
"I needed something professional. But that costs money. And I don't want to charge people for GoldenDog or ask for donations. I don't need to squeeze money out of people. So this advertising deal seemed like the most honest way for everyone to have their GoldenDog."
shrug.host handles the infrastructure. GoldenDog stays free for everyone. Developed openly by a growing community, the project welcomes contributors and users alike — and Alexia mentions us because she wants to, not because she has to. It's the kind of straightforward arrangement that doesn't require anyone to feel weird about it.
What We Host
The primary service. Bandwidth-ready for hundreds of concurrent apt update runs
without breaking a sweat. GoldenDog's packages stay available even when the distro gets popular.
goldendoglinux.org — multilingual documentation, blog, changelog, and community hub. Static site hosting with automatic SSL, fast delivery, and the same infrastructure as paying clients.
ISO images and release artifacts — served reliably so new users can actually get the distro without hitting bandwidth limits.
As GoldenDog grows from a solo project into a community-driven distribution, shrug.host scales with it — supporting the collaboration tools and contributor workflows that keep the project moving.
Visit GoldenDog Linux
GoldenDog Linux is available for download now. Find the documentation, blog, changelog, and community at goldendoglinux.org.