Manual
How WolOS works, and how to use it.
Every page starts with what the thing is, why it works that way and how to use it, then the full reference. Written from the same documents WolOS is built from.
Start here
- Getting startedWhat WolOS is, what you need, and the first ten minutes.
- Installing WolOSErase a disk, install next to Windows or Linux, or lay out partitions by hand. Nothing is written before you confirm the summary.
- Secure BootEvery computer makes its own boot keys. At most one key screen, once, with the password boot.
- Updates and going backUpdates install next to the running system. If the new one fails to start, the old one starts on its own.
Everyday use
- SoundPipeWire with rules that keep microphones from clipping, low latency where it matters, and Bluetooth codecs that just work.
- GamesNative Steam with Proton, and Windows programs outside Steam on Wine.
- Power and sleepThe power source picks the profile; Low Power and High Power Mode override it.
- Hardware and driversOne catalogue decides the driver, firmware and options for each device.
Apps and packages
- wopkg: one tool for every sourcepacman repositories, Flatpak, AppImages, recipes and the AUR behind one command.
- Packages and pinned repositoriespacman is the package manager; every repository is pinned to the release.
- AUR lawsEach AUR package is read as a graph and checked against named laws before it installs.
- Optional modulesAI, developer, creative and console stacks, installed after the base and removable.
Make it yours
Under the hood
- Boot and install safetyTwo system slots, signed boot images, quiet boot, and an installer that only touches what it planned.
- SecurityFirewall, hardening, daily update checks, a first-use malware check and disk encryption.
- Assistants and automationScripts and AI helpers act through the same `wol` commands as people, behind an approval gate.
- System APIWhat the shell and `wol sys` read about the machine, and the rules that keep reads cheap.
- libwol: the app APIOne stable C ABI for apps in any language: windows, menus, notifications, files, power and more.
- The window serverHyprland 0.56.2 with the WolOS patches for frame pacing, idle cost and window behaviour.
- WolKernelLinux 7.3 with a small series of foreground and gaming patches, each with an off switch.
- Performance budgetsIdle cost and response times of the desktop, with targets and measurements.
- Interface guidelinesThe binding rules every WolOS app follows: one scaffold, tokens, behaviour.
Decisions
- 0016: Arch Linux base, in snapshotsWhy WolOS is built on Arch Linux packages pinned to a dated snapshot.
- 0017: One base systemWolKernel and the base userland are released together, as one version.
- 0021: wopkgOne package tool for every source, with a stable library behind it.
- 0022: AUR lawsAUR packages are judged by named laws over graphs, never called safe.
- 0023: Installer plansThe installer writes a plan, and the plan names everything it may touch.
- 0024: First-use malware checkFiles are checked the first time they run, instead of a crawler that reads the whole disk.
- 0025: Signed boot with this computer's keysEach computer makes its own boot keys at install; no shared vendor key.
- 0026: Memory SaverBackground apps give memory back and take it again as they run.
- 0027: One app cannot take the desktopPer-app limits keep the session responsive when one app runs away.
- 0028: ClamAV in its own processFull signatures are optional, fetched by you, and run apart from the guard.
- 0029: Repository splitCode, recipes and the image live apart, and there is one build path.
- 0031: Plugins, themes and layoutsFolder plugins in a sandbox, themes for every toolkit, and layouts as data.
- 0032: Optional modulesAI, developer, creative and console stacks as removable modules and Kits.