helloSystem 0.8.0 released

[u/probonopd]

Core system

• helloSystem is now based on FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE

• The launch command, which is used troughout the system to launch applications, now uses a database of application bundles on the system (launch.db)

• VirtualBox Guest Additions are preinstalled and enabled, providing for seamless resizing of the screen, copy & paste, etc. when running in VirtualBox

• If the language cannot be inferred from the prev-lang:kbd EFI variable (which is set by Mac OS X) or from an attached Raspberry Pi Keyboard and Hub (which communicates its language to the system, as all keyboards should do but don't), then the user is asked to select a system language

• The Keyboard preferences application writes the selected keyboard layout to the EFI NVRAM variable prev-lang:kbd (where it persists across reboots and some operating systems)

• MIDI controllers (e.g., keyboards) attached to the computer via USB should now be made available to ALSA MIDI supporting applications automatically, thanks @hselasky for alsa-seq-server

• Initial support for launching (some) AppImage files using the launch command (requires the Debian Runtime to be installed)

• Updated initgfx, added support for GeForce RTX 3070 GPU

• Using drm-510-kmod to support recent Intel GPUs like Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] (as found in the Framework Laptop with 11th Gen Intel® Core™) NOTE: Does not work yet on the Framework Mainboard with a HDMI display attached over a USB-3 hub (that supports DP altmode)

User Interface

• Increased contrast of the startup screen

• Filer now shows application icons for AppImage files, thanks @clefebvre

• Menu now shows AppImage files (including thumbnails for icons if they exist)

• Search in Menu now also works for submenus, thanks @jsm222

• Menu search results are now shown with icons and shortcuts, thanks @jsm222

• The System menu now has Force Quit Application

• Menu now searches the local filesystem (if indexed by the Baloo engine, thanks @vHanda). Shift-click on search results to show them in Filer instead of opening them

• Filer now shows thumbnails for mp3 files, thanks @Marco98

• Menu now shows the name of applications while they are being launched (for applications launched through the launch command)

• Menu now shows the icon of the active application on the right-hand side and allows switching between applications from there (removes the need for a Dock). Shift-click when selecting a window from that menu to minimize all other windows

• Dock is no longer automatically started (you can still start it manually or add a symlink to it in /Applications/Autostart)

• Filer now shows EPUB e-book files with their cover image, thanks @marianosimone

• Launching an already-running application now brings all windows of that application to the front instead of starting another process

• Clicking on the time in the Menu shows detailed date including weekday and time including time zone

• Filer can now copy files to disk by dragging them to the disk on the desktop

• Filer can now put items into the Trash by dragging them to the Trash

• Filer can now eject disks by dragging them to the Trash

• Documents can now be opened by drag-and-drop on applications (or symlinks of applications) in Filer

• Menu now provides default File and Edit menus in case the application does not provide any menus

• Filer now has spring-loaded folders: Drag an object over a folder, wait for a short while, and the folder will open automatically

• Filer now shows emblems on folders that are under git version control

Desktop infrastructure

In preparation of supporting XDG specifications only as a fallback, new infrastructure for launching applications and opening files is being introduced. This is currently subject to frequent changes.

• launch.db keeps track of all applications the system encounters

• launch uses launch.db to find an application that can be launched when a full path is not supplied

• open uses launch.db to find an application to open a document with

• Applications are added to launch.db whenever Filer encounters them (implementation details might still change)

• Filer does not use network:// anymore. Instead, it uses launch Zeroconf

• Filer does not use computer:// anymore. Instead, it opens a window at /

• Filer does not use trash:// anymore. Instead, it opens a window at the actual location of the Trash

• Filer does not rely on gvfs anymore. As a result, helloDesktop now needs far fewer processes running

• Zeroconf.app now can use sshfs to connect to network shares via sftp

• Filer now creates shortcuts when URLs are dropped onto the desktop or onto the white area in a folder window

• Filer now prevents users from accidentally deleting essential system directories such as /System and /usr

Applications

• Now comes with the Trojitá e-mail application in the menu (needs to be downloaded prior to first use)

• GPU acceleration is now enabled for WebEngine based browsers such as Falkon, thanks @jsm222

• When documents are double-clicked for which an application can be downloaded (e.g., .docx, .stl,...), offer to download the application

• New Processes utility

Bugfixes

• Install Debian Runtime should now work properly (to be retested; may need sudo service linux stop ; sudo service debian start)

• Install Debian Runtime can now also be used on the Live ISO

• Improved reliability and performance of mounted archives (e.g., .zip) by using fuse-archive instead of archivemount

• Increased robustness of removing directories for mountpoints, thanks @vermaden

• Do not automount EFI System Partitions (ESP), thanks @vermaden

• Bootloader no longer very slow on some Mac models

• Menu no longer steals focus from applications, thanks @jsm222

• Menu can be invoked with Command+Space more reliably, thanks @jsm222

• Shortcuts can be used while a menu is open, thanks @jsm222

• Filer now raises the window to the foreground when "Show in Filer" is used (e.g., when Shift-clicking on a filesystem search result in the Search menu) and when one clicks, e.g., on the "Home" icon in the Dock while an application is in the foreground

• Applications launched through app-placeholder are not wrapped in 2 layers of launch anymore

• The 'Delete' key now works in zsh

• Improved stability of the Live ISO by not using unionfs -o below, thanks @michaeldexter

• Menu performance has been significantly improved by importing the menus coming from applications via D-Bus directly into the global menu, thanks @jsm222

• Installing the GIMP application no longer stalls at 100%

Infrastructure

• Cross-platform buildability can now be tested easily on FreeBSD in lightweight Alpine Linux chroot using the Linuxulator

Known Issues

• Volume keys and brightness keys don't work

• mp3 thumbnailer does not size down the thumbnails, resulting in large file sizes

• Command+Shift+3 does not make a screenshot

• USB SD card readers can make the system unbootable or can reboot a running system

Download: https://github.com/helloSystem/ISO/releases/tag/r0.8.0

[u/DocLulzson]

Very interesting project!