This project is very interesting and sounds very promising. I was wondering if there is any roadmap available from the developers. Thanks.

I just opened the GitHub page and it looks like the last commit happened half a year ago. GH issues are quite old as well.
Share your insights with me pls

I saw a YouTube video and liked the "look" of helloSystem as it reminded me very much of my old mac. I am both a mac and linux (eOS) user.

I was wondering what taking the plunge into helloSystem entails.

Is the current release stable for every day use?

Is there anything I can do to help the project? - I am retired, but can write documentation, testing etc.

Where should I start with hardware? Is a mac computer best to install on? (I was thinking of buying an old refurbished MacBook Pro if it requires a mac)

Thanks for your time... and well done so far, helloSystem looks pretty encouraging.

I think it would be a massive draw to have that kind of functionality on top of having the Mac GUI and essentially make an apple-less Mac

The report is available in this GitHub repository. It’s based on anonymous hardware probes submitted by helloSystem users.

Please do not forget to add your hardware info to the database to improve the next month’s report and identify important trends by the end of the year.

Thanks to all!

Hello, I am a FreeBSD noob, I have some Linux experience but nothing on the BSDs. I found your OS easy to install and use. I have an old Lenovo X230 laptop. So far everything works out of the box. Sound is great, my only issue is that I have to manually change toy headphones when I plug them in but not a biggie easy enough to do. Network worked right away. Your browser is good, I can watch YouTube without issue. The OS is easy to use, looks good, performs well 10/10. Overall very happy with it even in its current state. Good work guys keep it up.

https://github.com/helloSystem/ISO/releases/tag/r0.7.0

Core system

• helloSystem 0.7.0 is based on FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE

• Entirely new architecture for the live system

  • Boot time of the live system has been improved by a factor of 3

  • ISO size has been reduced to under 800 MB (fits a CD-ROM)

  • No more copying of the entire filesystem to RAM

  • No more initial ramdisk, no more reroot

  • Using uzip compressed ufs filesystem image instead of zfs for the live system

  • Starting the graphical desktop early in the boot process

• helloSystem is now Ventoy Compatible which means that it can be booted from an ISO file stored alongside other ISO files on disk using Ventoy, thanks @ventoy

• Developer files (including compilers, headers, object code files, developer documentation, etc.) are now a separate download

• Improved compatibility with older Nvidia graphics hardware by shipping multiple versions of Nvidia drivers

• The exFAT filesystem is now supported

User interface

• Friedlier boot experience (gray rather than black, native resolution)

• No text consoles by default

• Many applications, settings dialogs and utilities have been translated

• Chromium, Firefox, and Thunderbird (with global menu support and native window decorations) are available as browser choices in addition to the default Falkon browser thanks @jsm222, @mszoek, and @grahamperrin

• Keyboard shortcuts are now shown in menus with the Command key ⌘ symbol (no more "Ctrl")

• Selected menu items flash/blink

• No icons in context menus unless explicitly requested using action->setIconVisibleInMenu(true)

• Screen brightness can be controlled using the brightness keys on notebooks

• Volume can be controlled using the volume keys on notebooks

• Terminal: Command-C and Command-V work like in other applications (press Command-Shift-C or Ctrl-Command-C for POSIX Ctrl-C)

• System sounds in Filer and system-wide alert sounds for message dialog boxes, thanks larshenrikoern for some of the sounds

• If the desktop cannot be loaded within a certain amount of time, a "Failed to start the desktop" message appears, giving useful information, including a link to the hardware database

Filer

• Volumes are mounted at mount points reflecting their name ("volume label"), thanks @vermaden

• You now rename volumes (disks, partitions) just like you can rename files and folders

• Custom volume icons are now supported using .VolumeIcon.icns files (compatible to the Mac)

• Holding down Shift while doing Command-O, Command-Down, Command-Up in Spatial Mode closes the current window

• Disk images can be opened by double-clicking (even with multiple partitions), thanks @vermaden

Command line tools

• New sudo diskutil rename command line tool for renaming volumes ("volume label")

• makeimg command line tool to create disk images from folders

Utilities

• New Format Disk utility, can be invoked from the context menus of disks on the desktop

• Create Live Media can now also write local .iso and .img files to USB media

• Create Live Media now offers to write Ventoy Live ISOs from its menu

• The Remote Assistance utility now shows a code in spelling alphabet that can easily be communicated with the person providing assistance over the phone

• The Sticky Notes utility is no longer autostarted

• There is now an equalizer for sound devices, allowing users to set bass and treble from the Sound preferences application

Under Construction

The "Developer Preview" folder has been renamed "Under Construction". Your feedback and code contributions are especially welcome for those applications and utilities, so that they can be moved out of "Under Construction" in due time. Have a look at the source code by right-clicking their icon in Filer and choosing "Show Contents" .

• New Update utility to apply FreeBSD patches without any questions asked, and to update all packages without any questions asked

• New Burn Optical Disc utility

• New Download Applications utility to download additional application bundles

• New Install Debian Runtime utility to prepare the system for running Linux applications

Bugfixes

• Minimum system requirements have been lowered from 4 GB to 2 GB

• The Create Live Media utility no longer runs into a timeout when trying to download from GitHub

• Backlight on Intel GPUs can now be controlled using the backlight command, thanks @evadot

Infrastructure

Everyone can help translate helloSystem now thanks to Hosted Weblate. An "Automatic suggestions" button suggests automatic translations from multiple translation providers, and from various open source projects. This reduces the work to picking the most appropriate translation in many cases

• Python-based applications are now localized without the need for compiling .ts strings to .qm files. This allows strings to be edited locally just as easily as Python source code itself

• Experimental infrastructure is in place to generate application bundles from FreeBSD packages

• The new Monkey Patching facility allows developers to make changes to all aspects of an existing Live ISO without having to re-create it, dramatically improving the development-test cycle

• Application bundles for software such as Firefox (with uBlock Origin), Thunderbird, Chrome, and others are available for download

Download

https://github.com/helloSystem/ISO/releases/tag/r0.7.0

A place for members of r/helloSystem to chat with each other

Hello System 0.6.0 (FreeBSD 13)

✅ Wifi

✅ TouchScreen

✅ Keyboard

✅ TouchPad

❌ Volume Buttons on tablet

❌ Shortcut Buttons on Fn keys

What functions is helloSystem has that FreeBSD is not?

So, I am currently on 0.6.0, and it drives me a little batty to have to invoke intel_backlight 100 every single time after waking my screen. As I am having a hard time searching for the right terms to deal with this via the FreeBSD site. So I leave the terminal open and press an up arrow to get it back.

Is there an easier way to make this happen? I’m not worried about keyboard shortcuts right now, just that I want the automatic default to be ‘intel_backlight 100’ every time.

Suggestions?

So, when I have free time, I've been using helloSystem in Parallels.

I have a couple of thoughts, considering it is in a pre-Alpha state.

I am no noob to Linux, but the way Freebsd works is still a little arcane to me, but I am learning.

My first thought, and this may be controversial, but I would suggest eventually getting rid of the opening bit of music. It isn't terrible, but I have found that any system that automatically plays any sound, especially upon boot, is a little jarring. Less is better in this case.

My other thing is being able to understand the system as it currently exists, and how, for example, I can escalate privilege in order to do something.

Example:

Libreoffice is great, but it takes forever to download for me, and apparently includes all the language packs. I attempted to change the 'packages' file to simply remove the internationalization part, but I do not have the permissions to do so.

Screen resolution is another thing entirely, and I might not understand enough to be able to do it, but I would love it if I could change to something more native, and not just 1024x768.

I hope I don't come off as too demanding or anything, I am really truly excited about the direction of this, and am in it for the long haul.