Frequently asked questions.

An open-source desktop operating system on Debian 13, with a Rust shell and apps built with the web. This is version 0.1.0, the first early release.

Developers and enthusiasts: people who like a small, readable system and want to build for it.

In a virtual machine. It is the easiest way to look around, and it leaves your computer untouched. See the install guide.

15 GB of disk space and 1 GB of RAM. Turn Secure Boot off before you boot the installer.

The desktop’s shell, installer and tools are. Kilne Mobile is not.

The runtime is a separate component from Splenta Inc. It’s a prebuilt binary the OS downloads. You don’t need its source to build or use Kilne.

The Kilne runtime’s license, during install. We’ll link the full text here once it’s published.

Make a web app, add a small manifest, and run kilne install. See the packaging guide.

Before an app installs, Kilne shows what it asks for. The Store puts it in plain English, and an install that asks for more than the Store showed is stopped. As with any software, install apps from sources you trust.

Yes, the Kilne Store. It installs from sources you choose and shows a review screen before anything installs.

Chromium.

Yes. It’s Debian underneath, so apt packages work, and they appear in the launcher.

No. Kilne apps are web apps, and Debian packages work through apt.

A design for the same idea on phones: no Google services, no Play Store, no Android apps. It’s a concept, there’s nothing to download yet, and unlike the desktop it won’t be open source.

The download page lists what you’ll need and will show the release the day it’s published, on GitHub.

Distribution files are Apache-2.0 and the shell is Apache-2.0 or MIT. The runtime is proprietary and accepted by license at install.

Splenta Inc.