Skip to main content

​
Do you like how I dance? I’ve got Zirconium pants!

Zirconium is an opinionated Fedora bootc image that combines the power of the Niri scrollable tiling window manager with DankMaterialShell to create a usable, out-of-the-box tiling window manager experience. Zirconium desktop screenshot

​
What makes Zirconium special?

Modern tiling workflow

Built on Niri’s innovative scrollable tiling paradigm with DankMaterialShell integration

Container-native architecture

Powered by bootc for atomic updates and immutable infrastructure

Developer-focused

Optimized for container-focused development workflows and daily usage

Ready to use

Pre-configured with sensible defaults so you can start working immediately

​
Tiling window management

Zirconium uses Niri, a scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor. Unlike traditional tiling window managers, Niri organizes windows in an infinitely scrollable horizontal layout, making it natural to work with multiple workspaces and applications simultaneously. DankMaterialShell provides a beautiful, Material Design-inspired shell environment that integrates seamlessly with Niri, giving you:
  • Modern, polished UI components
  • Quick access panels and launchers
  • System status monitoring
  • Customizable theming with matugen

​
bootc-based system

Zirconium is built on Fedora’s bootc (bootable container) technology, which means:
  • Atomic updates: Your entire system is an OCI container image
  • Reliable rollbacks: Boot into previous versions if something goes wrong
  • Reproducible builds: The exact same image can be deployed anywhere
  • Easy customization: Rebase to different variants or create your own
The system is built from this Containerfile and distributed via container registries: 
FROM quay.io/fedora/fedora-bootc:44

# Install Niri from COPR
RUN dnf -y copr enable yalter/niri-git && \
    dnf -y install niri

# Install DankMaterialShell components
RUN dnf -y copr enable avengemedia/dms-git && \
    dnf -y install dms dms-cli dms-greeter
You switch between versions using simple bootc commands: 
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/zirconium-dev/zirconium:latest

​
Built for developers

Zirconium is designed primarily for container-focused development and day-to-day usage. Out of the box, you get:
  • Development tools: Git, chezmoi for dotfile management, and essential build tools
  • Container runtime: Ready for Docker/Podman workflows
  • Homebrew support: Integrated via ublue-os/brew
  • Modern terminal: Foot terminal with sensible defaults
  • Just commands: Common system tasks automated via Justfile
While Zirconium supports gaming, it’s optimized for development workflows. For a fully gaming-focused experience, consider Bazzite.

​
GPU support

Zirconium comes in multiple variants to support different hardware:
  • Standard image: AMD and Intel GPUs with open-source drivers
  • NVIDIA image: GTX 16xx and RTX series support with proprietary drivers
The NVIDIA variant currently doesn’t support Secure Boot because the kernel module is not signed. See issue #108 for tracking.

​
Customization

You have full control over your Niri and DankMaterialShell configuration. While Zirconium ships with opinionated defaults that are updated with OS updates, you’re free to customize everything to your preferences. Configuration files can be managed with chezmoi or directly edited in your home directory.

​
Get started

Ready to try Zirconium? Head over to the Quickstart guide to install it in minutes. Join the community on Discord to get help, share your setup, or contribute to the project.