diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 418329f..237f459 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
 
-# One image, built on the distribution base published by
-# https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/base-images, which owns the build
-# dependencies this used to install in a `virgin` stage of its own.
-#
 # hadolint ignore=DL3006,InvalidDefaultArgInFrom
 # BASE_IMAGE carries no default on purpose: a default would build one
 # distribution's image under another distribution's tag whenever the build arg
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 14bab8f..d64b4ac 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ export NIX_CONFIG
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
 # Base images
-# Published by https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/base-images and resolved
-# by scripts/build/base.sh; override the registry, owner or tag there.
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
 BASE_IMAGES_TAG ?= latest
 export BASE_IMAGES_TAG
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 814c232..e5d7e0c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -169,26 +169,31 @@ nix run github:kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager#pkgmgr -- --help
 
 PKGMGR can be executed **inside Docker containers** for CI, testing and isolated
 workflows.
+
 ---
 
-#### Container types
+#### Container images
 
-Two container types are available.
+One image per distribution, each installing PKGMGR as a distro-native package
+on top of the matching base image from
+[base-images](https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/base-images). Every image
+is a manifest list covering `linux/amd64` and `linux/arm64`.
 
+All images live under `ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/`:
 
-| Image type | Contains                      | Typical use             |
-| ---------- | ----------------------------- | ----------------------- |
-| **Virgin** | Base OS + system dependencies | Clean test environments |
-| **Stable** | PKGMGR + Nix (flakes enabled) | Ready-to-use workflows  |
+| Tag                         | Contains                           |
+| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
+| `pkgmgr-<distro>:latest`    | newest build for that distribution |
+| `pkgmgr-<distro>:<version>` | one release                        |
+| `pkgmgr-<distro>:stable`    | newest release marked stable       |
 
-Example images:
+`<distro>` is one of `arch`, `debian`, `ubuntu`, `fedora`, `centos`. The Arch
+image is published without the suffix as well, so `pkgmgr:stable` and
+`pkgmgr-arch:stable` are the same image.
 
-* Virgin: `pkgmgr-arch-virgin`
-* Stable: `ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/pkgmgr:stable`
-
-
-Use **virgin images** for isolated test runs,
-use the **stable image** for fast, reproducible execution.
+For a clean environment that carries the system dependencies but no PKGMGR,
+pull `base-<distro>` from
+[base-images](https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/base-images) directly.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/scripts/build/publish.sh b/scripts/build/publish.sh
index b1be3c9..df20618 100755
--- a/scripts/build/publish.sh
+++ b/scripts/build/publish.sh
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 #   REGISTRY   (default: ghcr.io)
 #   IS_STABLE  (default: false)
 #   DISTROS    (default: "arch debian ubuntu fedora centos")
-#
-# The `virgin` variant moved to https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/base-images
-# and `slim` is gone: one image per distribution, no target to pick.
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
 
diff --git a/scripts/docker/slim.sh b/scripts/docker/slim.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c27476..0000000
--- a/scripts/docker/slim.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,130 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -euo pipefail
-
-log()  { echo "[cleanup] $*"; }
-warn() { echo "[cleanup][WARN] $*" >&2; }
-
-MODE="${MODE:-safe}" # safe | aggressive
-# safe: caches/logs/tmp only
-# aggressive: safe + docs/man/info (optional)
-
-ID="unknown"
-if [ -f /etc/os-release ]; then
-  # shellcheck disable=SC1091
-  . /etc/os-release
-  ID="${ID:-unknown}"
-fi
-
-log "Starting image cleanup"
-log "Mode: ${MODE}"
-log "Detected OS: ${ID}"
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Package manager caches (SAFE)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-case "${ID}" in
-  alpine)
-    log "Cleaning apk cache"
-    if [ -d /var/cache/apk ]; then
-      du -sh /var/cache/apk || true
-      rm -rvf /var/cache/apk/* || true
-    else
-      log "apk cache directory not present (already clean)"
-    fi
-    ;;
-  arch)
-    log "Cleaning pacman cache"
-    du -sh /var/cache/pacman/pkg 2>/dev/null || true
-    pacman -Scc --noconfirm || true
-    rm -rvf /var/cache/pacman/pkg/* || true
-    ;;
-  debian|ubuntu)
-    log "Cleaning apt cache"
-    du -sh /var/lib/apt/lists 2>/dev/null || true
-    apt-get clean || true
-    rm -rvf /var/lib/apt/lists/* || true
-    ;;
-  fedora)
-    log "Cleaning dnf cache"
-    du -sh /var/cache/dnf 2>/dev/null || true
-    dnf clean all || true
-    rm -rvf /var/cache/dnf/* || true
-    ;;
-  centos|rhel)
-    log "Cleaning yum/dnf cache"
-    du -sh /var/cache/yum /var/cache/dnf 2>/dev/null || true
-    (command -v dnf >/dev/null 2>&1 && dnf clean all) || true
-    (command -v yum >/dev/null 2>&1 && yum clean all) || true
-    rm -rvf /var/cache/yum/* /var/cache/dnf/* || true
-    ;;
-  *)
-    warn "Unknown distro '${ID}' — skipping package manager cleanup"
-    ;;
-esac
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Python caches (SAFE)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-log "Cleaning pip cache"
-du -sh /root/.cache/pip 2>/dev/null || true
-rm -rvf /root/.cache/pip 2>/dev/null || true
-rm -rvf /home/*/.cache/pip 2>/dev/null || true
-
-log "Cleaning __pycache__ directories"
-find /opt /usr /root /home -type d -name "__pycache__" -print -prune 2>/dev/null || true
-find /opt /usr /root /home -type d -name "__pycache__" -prune -exec rm -rvf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Logs (SAFE)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-log "Truncating log files (keeping paths intact)"
-if [ -d /var/log ]; then
-  find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -print 2>/dev/null || true
-  find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -exec sh -lc ': > "$1" 2>/dev/null || true' _ {} \; 2>/dev/null || true
-  
-  find /var/log -type f -name "*.out" -print 2>/dev/null || true
-  find /var/log -type f -name "*.out" -exec sh -lc ': > "$1" 2>/dev/null || true' _ {} \; 2>/dev/null || true
-fi
-
-if command -v journalctl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  log "Vacuuming journald logs"
-  journalctl --disk-usage || true
-  journalctl --vacuum-size=10M || true
-  journalctl --vacuum-time=1s || true
-  journalctl --disk-usage || true
-else
-  log "journald not present (skipping)"
-fi
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Temporary files (SAFE)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-log "Cleaning temporary directories"
-if [ -d /tmp ]; then
-  du -sh /tmp 2>/dev/null || true
-  rm -rvf /tmp/* || true
-fi
-
-if [ -d /var/tmp ]; then
-  du -sh /var/tmp 2>/dev/null || true
-  rm -rvf /var/tmp/* || true
-fi
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Generic caches (SAFE)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-log "Cleaning generic caches"
-du -sh /root/.cache 2>/dev/null || true
-rm -rvf /root/.cache/* 2>/dev/null || true
-rm -rvf /home/*/.cache/* 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-# Optional aggressive extras (still safe for runtime)
-# ------------------------------------------------------------
-if [[ "${MODE}" == "aggressive" ]]; then
-  log "Aggressive mode enabled: removing docs/man/info"
-  du -sh /usr/share/doc /usr/share/man /usr/share/info 2>/dev/null || true
-  rm -rvf /usr/share/doc/* /usr/share/man/* /usr/share/info/* 2>/dev/null || true
-fi
-
-log "Cleanup finished successfully"