OrionOS

A BeOS-inspired Linux desktop built from scratch in C. Custom window manager, panel, app launcher, settings panel, package manager, and graphical installer — all running on Arch Linux, shipped as a bootable ISO.

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What it is

OrionOS is a complete desktop environment built on X11/Xlib with a dark navy aesthetic. It ships as a bootable ISO you can try live or install to disk. Every shell component is written in native C with no toolkit dependency — just Xlib and Xft.

Components

Binary	Name	Description
orionwm	OrionWM	Stacking window manager — titlebars, 3-button decorations, snap-to-edge, Alt+Tab switcher
oriondeskbar	OrionDeskbar	Sidebar panel — clock, task list, workspace switcher, XEMBED system tray, CPU/RAM status
orionlauncher	OrionLauncher	App launcher — reads .desktop files, category tabs, live search
nebula	Nebula	Settings panel — Display, Appearance, Input, and About tabs
orionpkg	OrionPkg	Package manager — lists available updates, runs pacman -Syu with live log
orioninstall-gui	Installer	Graphical installer wizard — disk, timezone, keyboard, user, progress
orionwallpaper	Wallpaper	Sets or restores the desktop wallpaper

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Building the ISO

Requirements: Docker Desktop (Mac/Windows/Linux)

./build-iso.sh

Output: dist/orionos-YYYYMMDD.iso

The build runs entirely inside a Docker container — no Arch Linux install required on the host. First build downloads ~700 MB of packages and takes 10–20 minutes. Subsequent builds are faster thanks to Docker layer caching.

What the build does

1. Starts from archlinux:latest
2. Installs archiso and all build tools
3. Compiles all OrionOS binaries inside the container
4. Assembles an archiso profile with the full package set
5. Bakes in the Plymouth boot splash (dark navy + accent blue)
6. Produces a hybrid ISO bootable on UEFI and legacy BIOS hardware

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Flashing to USB

Balena Etcher (recommended): https://etcher.balena.io — drag the ISO, pick the USB, flash.

Command line:

# Find your USB drive
diskutil list          # macOS
lsblk                  # Linux

# Flash (replace diskN / sdX)
sudo dd if=dist/orionos-*.iso of=/dev/diskN bs=4m   # macOS
sudo dd if=dist/orionos-*.iso of=/dev/sdX  bs=4M    # Linux

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Booting

Boot from the USB. OrionOS starts the live desktop automatically.

• Live user: orion / Password: orionos
• Intel Mac: Hold Option at startup to select the USB boot device
• WiFi: broadcom-wl driver loads automatically
• Trackpad: tap-to-click and two-finger natural scroll enabled by default
• Audio: PipeWire + SOF firmware for Intel HDA

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Installing to disk

Right-click the desktop → App Launcher → find Install OrionOS, or run sudo orioninstall-gui from a terminal.

The wizard walks through:

1. Disk selection — lists all disks ≥ 4 GB with model and size
2. Timezone & Keyboard — searchable timezone list (37 zones), 20 keyboard layouts
3. User account — hostname, username, password
4. Review — erase warning before anything is written
5. Installing — live progress bar and log output
6. Done — reboot prompt

The installer auto-detects UEFI vs legacy BIOS and sets up systemd-boot or GRUB accordingly.

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Desktop usage

Right-click menu

Right-click anywhere on the desktop:

Item	Action
App Launcher	Open the application grid
Terminal	Launch Alacritty
File Manager	Open Thunar
Text Editor	Open Mousepad
Web Browser	Open Firefox
System Monitor	htop in a terminal
Volume Control	pavucontrol
System Settings	Open Nebula
Software Updates	Open OrionPkg
Display Settings	arandr
Change Wallpaper	Reset to default wallpaper
Restart OrionWM	Restart the window manager
Quit OrionOS	End the session

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Alt + F1	Open app launcher
Alt + F4	Close focused window
Alt + F9	Minimize focused window
Alt + F10	Toggle maximize
Alt + Tab	Visual window switcher
Super + ←	Snap window left half
Super + →	Snap window right half
Super + ↑	Maximize window
Super + ↓	Restore window
Super + S	Open Nebula (System Settings)
PrintScreen	Full screenshot → ~/Pictures
Shift + PrintScreen	Region screenshot → ~/Pictures
XF86MonBrightness↑↓	Screen brightness
XF86AudioMute	Toggle mute
XF86AudioLowerVolume	Volume down
XF86AudioRaiseVolume	Volume up

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Settings (Nebula)

Open with Super+S, right-click → System Settings, or nebula &.

Tab	Controls
Display	Resolution (cycles via xrandr), DPI (96/144), Brightness
Appearance	Reset wallpaper, open ~/Pictures, shows active theme info
Input	Key repeat delay + rate, tap-to-click, natural scrolling
About	Version, component list, platform info

Changes are staged and applied when you click Apply (or press Enter).

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Software Updates (OrionPkg)

Open with right-click → Software Updates or orionpkg &.

• Runs checkupdates on launch to list available upgrades
• Shows package name, current version, and new version
• Update All runs pkexec pacman -Syu with a live log and progress bar
• Refresh re-checks without restarting the app

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Included software

Category	Application
Browser	Firefox
Office	OnlyOffice
Files	Thunar
Terminal	Alacritty
Video	mpv
Images	Viewnior
PDF	Evince
Text editor	Mousepad
Audio	PipeWire, pavucontrol
Network	NetworkManager, nm-applet
Bluetooth	bluez, blueman
Compositor	picom
Notifications	dunst
Clipboard	parcellite (tray icon + history)
Screenshots	scrot
Icons	Papirus Dark

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Building from source

Requires an Arch Linux system (or container) with libx11, libxft, and fontconfig development headers.

make          # build all components
make install  # install to /usr/local (run as root)

Individual components:

make -C wm        # orionwm
make -C deskbar   # oriondeskbar
make -C launcher  # orionlauncher
make -C nebula    # nebula
make -C orionpkg  # orionpkg
make -C installer # orioninstall-gui + orioninstall

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Project layout

OS/
├── wm/               orionwm — window manager (C/Xlib)
├── deskbar/          oriondeskbar — panel (C/Xlib/Xft)
├── launcher/         orionlauncher — app grid (C/Xlib/Xft)
├── nebula/           nebula — settings panel (C/Xlib/Xft)
├── orionpkg/         orionpkg — package manager GUI (C/Xlib/Xft)
├── installer/
│   ├── orioninstall-gui.c  graphical installer wizard
│   └── orioninstall        backend install script
├── themes/
│   ├── OrionOS/      GTK 2/3 theme
│   ├── picom.conf    compositor config
│   └── orionwallpaper  wallpaper setter script
├── iso/
│   └── docker/
│       ├── Dockerfile      Arch Linux-based ISO builder image
│       └── entrypoint.sh   full build pipeline
├── build-iso.sh      one-command ISO build
└── Makefile

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Component naming

OrionOS components are named after stars in the Orion constellation.

Name	Role
OrionWM	Window manager
OrionDeskbar	The panel (three icons like Orion's belt)
Nebula	Settings panel
Rigel (planned)	Native file manager

Release names follow Orion's belt stars: v1 Mintaka, v2 Alnitak, v3 Alnilam.

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License

MIT