v2.5.0

## Highlights

Dream Server 2.5.0 is the fleet-validated release for the expanded local-AI install surface.

- Multi-distro validation now covers Ubuntu 24.04/22.04, Debian 12, Linux Mint 21.3, Fedora 41, Rocky Linux 9, Arch, Manjaro, CachyOS, and openSUSE Tumbleweed in CI/container form.
- tower2 now runs an Incus VM distro lab for real systemd, network, Docker daemon, Docker Compose, and installer dry-run coverage on Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 42, Rocky 9, Arch current, and openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Strix Halo, Apple Silicon, Linux NVIDIA, Linux ARM NVIDIA, and tower2 fleet paths are documented in the public validation matrix.
- AMD runtime diagnostics and explicit AMD inference state now make Lemonade vs llama-server, host vs container, backend, health, and managed/runtime mode visible.
- Rocky/RHEL-family Docker installs now use a Docker CE CentOS/RHEL repo fallback when distro packages are unavailable.
- DNF package resolution avoids Fedora/RHEL-style `curl` vs `curl-minimal` conflicts.
- Retired LiveKit credential exposure is documented as resolved so public audit readers do not mistake retired leaked values for active secrets.

## Validation Receipt

Full fleet pass: `/home/michael/dream-fleet-test/runs/2026-05-21T15-48-27Z`

- tower2, Strix Halo, Spark, Mac mini, and M5 MacBook Pro passed install, 7/7 verify, Hermes seeded echo, UI checks, and applicable capability probes.
- Strix Halo and M5 MacBook Pro fully proved capability probes on Qwen3.6-35B-A3B; Mac mini fully proved capability probes on Qwen3.5-9B.
- tower2 and Spark deferred capability probes while still in bootstrap mode.
- Regressions: 9/9 fixtures green, 0 bugs detected, 0 PRs opened.
- Distro lab: Docker matrix passed 10/10 distros; Incus VM matrix passed 5/5 VMs with real systemd + Docker and clean installer dry-runs.

## Known Follow-up

Running `fleet-multi-distro.sh` in parallel with a heavy `dream-fleet-test` install on tower2 can cause I/O contention. This is tracked in #1314 and is not release-blocking; serialize those surfaces or add a future `--parallel-limit` flag.

See `dream-server/CHANGELOG.md` and `dream-server/docs/VALIDATION-MATRIX.md` for the full release notes and evidence trail.