VitruvianOS

ext4, OpenGL, and the new media2 kit

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three things landed in the tree recently and they’re worth a short note.

Raw images now ship on ext4

We used to build raw images on XFS. XFS handles xattrs well, and Vitruvian uses xattrs everywhere for BFS-style metadata, so it felt right at the time. The move to ext4 is more about what ext4 has become than about anything wrong with XFS.

Modern ext4 has ea_inode, which lets a single attribute take up a whole inode instead of the spare space in the file’s own inode. That means larger attrs don’t spill and don’t fragment. Together with large_dir and metadata_csum, ext4 covers our metadata needs.

VitruvianOS 0.5.0

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is the login and media release. 0.4.1 got the filesystem talking to Tracker. 0.5.0 gets the desktop talking to real users and starts wiring up a real audio pipeline.

Changelog

Multi-user login. Janus now runs a pre-auth chain as a dedicated vos_login sysuser, launches the greeter, and after PAM authentication respawns the graphical stack as the real user. Autologin is still supported for CI images via a kernel cmdline flag.
FirstBootPrompt on live media. Fresh live ISO boots straight into the language picker and Try/Install screen.
Sender-UID gate on B_LAUNCH_JOB. The kernel plumbs the sender’s UID into BMessage, and janus refuses cross-user job launches.
Locale and keymap picked in the greeter carry into the desktop, and for the Installer into the installed target.
Media2 kit merged. BSoundPlayer, BMediaFile, BMediaTrack, BMediaRecorder, BParameterWeb reimplemented on top of PipeWire and GStreamer. Very early, it builds and links and the plumbing is in place, but it isn’t stable yet. The Sounds preferences preflet is included with the same caveat.
Game kit updated on top of media2 (BGameSound family).
Storage kit gains GetStatX for real creation-time via statx(2). Legacy GetStat still works.
Ctrl+Alt+Del now opens the shutdown dance instead of hard-rebooting. The registrar bridges systemd for logout / shutdown / reboot. Live ISOs no longer hang for 90 seconds at power-off.
getty@tty1 masked on the graphical path so no pre-auth sysuser gets a shell before the greeter. getty@tty2 stays as recovery.
NodePreloader skips its warm-up on live media, cutting cold-boot time.
Node monitor V-Race kernel bugs fixed (fanotify mark teardown UAF, vref drop-after-unlock).
App icon loading race in Deskbar fixed.
DoCatalogs sweep, 80+ apps and preflets now install their translation catalogs, so non-English UIs actually get translated.
Installer text refreshed.
First GPU back buffer path lit up on the DRM backend. Not on by default yet, the cross-thread rendering context and the software fallback for drivers that refuse hardware acceleration still need work.
Cursor and dirty-region fixes, plus assorted small visual glitches.
Improvements to wait_for_thread semantics and the nexus kernel module’s thread-exit path.
As always, lots of small fixes.

Downloads

Architecture	ISO	Raw
amd64	Vitruvian-0.5.0-amd64.iso	Vitruvian-0.5.0-amd64.raw
arm64	Vitruvian-0.5.0-arm64.iso	Vitruvian-0.5.0-arm64.raw

GitHub release page

VitruvianOS 0.4.1

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is the filesystem release. However, from this point on the majority of the system nervous system is now connected and Tracker is receiveing filesystem notifications. For the time being we suggest not using this release outside vm or on a computer where you have a partition you care about.

Changelog

Fixed various filesystem and Tracker related issues. Now Tracker can be effectively used to manipulate directories and files.
Node monitor surgery to get it able to sustain realistic workloads.
File opening through apps now works.
General improved stability of Tracker and Deskbar fs-related menus.
All problems with apps being stuck in Deskbar on quit are fixed.
Enabled Tracker Add-Ons and Templates.
Implemented userland and kernel level mechanisms to ensure virtual references interoperability for inter app communication.
Add GLTeapot using mesa surfaceless backend, still buggy but will run and you can drag it.
Fixed Tracker in navigation mode (going to be default next release).
Lots of performance improvements visible.
Implemented XDG Trash.
Improved startup and shutdown speed including janus improvements.
Memory usage improvements and memory leak fixes.
Fixed a problem with app_server and racy area resizing that couldn’t possibly work on Linux (fixes BBitmap crashes completely).
Added prototype caps-based ports for secure file handle passing.
Screen can now change resolution.
Improved app_server drawing performance.
Switch default raw images filesystem to EXT4 (see upcoming development article in v-os.dev)
Introduced initial support for building makefile based apps inside vitruvian.
As always lots of little fixes impossible to enumerate.

Be patient.

Introducing the Janus Privileged Launcher

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You know how on a normal Linux desktop you need a display manager to log in, and then a bunch of services start in the background, Vitruvian works differently but not too much. It uses a privileged launcher called janus that does all of that and more.

Its job is to bring up the entire Vitruvian desktop and keep it running until shutdown. It replaces a display manager, it replaces a traditional init style service launcher, and it does a bunch of low level hardware coordination that neither of those normally handles.

VitruvianOS 0.4.0

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A broad foundation release: better hardware support, a saner desktop session, and a more reliable build pipeline.

What’s new from 0.3.2

Desktop session manager (janus). Vitruvian now starts, manages, and shuts down its servers through a proper session manager instead of ad-hoc scripts. Logins and reboots are cleaner and more predictable.

Display and input

The graphics backend works on more GPUs and handles multi-seat hardware transitions cleanly. Keyboard input now uses the native Linux keymap system, so non-US layouts and special keys start to behave the way you’d expect.

VitruvianOS 0.3.2

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the release of Vitruvian OS 0.3.2. This is a bit of an anticipated release in preparation of big changes for the next.

We would like to thank everyone again for the encouraging amount of support!

What you will find in the new ISO:

Stability fixes
Pulse, DiskProbe, ActivityMonitor and other apps are beginning to work.
Devices enumeration (fs features start appearing)
Lots of minor fixes

You can download the iso at the following link:

VitruvianOS 0.3.1

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As promised we are pleased to announce the release of Vitruvian OS 0.3.1.

We would like to thank everyone for the encouraging amount of support for the first public release of Vitruvian.

What you will find in the new ISO:

Resolved most problems with icons.
Lots of new apps and preferences
Double buffering in app_server
Fixed BIOS Machines Boot
Improved general stability
Tracker fixes
Kernel fixes

What happened during development (that we still didn’t release):

Support Vitruvian on DistroWatch

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If you like Vitruvian, you can help it out in just a few seconds.

Go to DistroWatch, find Vitruvian in the list, and click “Recommend” next to it. That’s all, no login needed.

Thank you!

VitruvianOS: Interview with the team

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Interview with the Vitruvian OS founder

Following our release announcement (link below), we’re happy to share an interview with the Vitruvian founder about the project future and philosophy:

An interview with Dario Casalinuovo — From BeOS to VitruvianOS

Download VitruvianOS 0.3.0: v-os.dev VitruvianOS 0.3.0 Announcement: 0.3.0

Join the community: Telegram | GitHub

VitruvianOS 0.3.0

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

VitruvianOS — is an operating system built on Linux that is inspired by the BeOS. After years of quiet development, we’re thrilled to announce the first public release of VitruvianOS 0.3.0.

This is a milestone moment—not just for us.

Why Now?

We started the first experiments in 2019, but the first announcement was more of a quiet signal to the few people who might care.

Porting a BeOS-compatible runtime on top of Linux isn’t like repackaging existing tools. We built the entire infrastructure from scratch—a sophisticated layer that allows the Tracker, Deskbar, and the rest of the Vitruvian experience to run as fully native Linux applications.

Building a Haiku Runtime on Linux: The Road So Far

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

One of the core challenges in building V\OS is bridging two worlds: the Linux kernel’s POSIX model and the BeOS/Haiku API’s distinct approach to system services (messaging, node monitoring, virtual filesystems, and more). This post gives a brief look at how we are approaching it.

The Kernel Bridge

Rather than running a BeOS kernel, Vitruvian implements the missing pieces as Linux kernel modules. The nexus module brings BeOS-style node monitoring to Linux’s fsnotify subsystem, translating filesystem events into the B_NODE_MONITOR messages that BeOS/Haiku applications expect. This allows Tracker, the file manager, to watch directories and respond to changes in real time, exactly as it would on native Haiku.

Vitruvian OS: Project (Re)Announcement

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Vitruvian: an operating system built on Linux that brings the elegance and simplicity of BeOS to modern hardware.

Vitruvian is in active development. Daily builds will be soon available for early adopters who want to follow progress. The system boots on modern x86-64 hardware, runs a Linux kernel, and includes a working BeOS/Haiku API compatibility layer.

About Vitruvian

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What is VitruvianOS?

Vitruvian, also known as V\OS, is the human-centric Operating System. Built on Linux and inspired by BeOS, it brings the elegance and simplicity of a classic operating system to modern hardware without sacrificing the power and hardware support that Linux provides.

Custom-built kernel modules deliver a responsive, low-latency desktop experience. The BeOS/Haiku API is supported on Linux with minimal to no changes required to application source code.

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Get in Touch

The best way to reach the Vitruvian team is through our community channels.

GitHub Issues: github.com/VitruvianOS/Vitruvian/issues: bug reports, feature requests, questions
Telegram Chat: t.me/vitruvian_official_chat: general discussion and support
Telegram Updates: t.me/vitruvian_official: announcements and project news
Mailing List: freelists.org/list/vitruvian

Donate

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Donate

Vitruvian is developed by volunteers in their spare time. If you find the project useful and want to support its development, donations are welcome.

Even a small donation such as the price of a coffee in your country can change the world. Donations are not only about financial stability but also helpful to charge developer’s motivation that can be lacking at times.

Support VitruvianOS through one of the following platforms:

Download

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Download VitruvianOS

Latest Release

The current release is always available from GitHub:

Download latest release

Release notes for each version are on the Releases page.

Build from Source

To build the system from source, follow the instructions in the wiki:

Build Instructions

Install

See the How To Install guide for writing images to USB drives and first boot instructions.

System Requirements

x86-64 or arm64 processor (RISC-V in progress)
512 MB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
1 GB disk space

Getting Help

If something breaks, open a ticket on GitHub Issues or ask in the Telegram chat.

FAQ

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What is VitruvianOS?

Vitruvian is an operating system based on Linux, inspired by the BeOS. It brings the BeOS/Haiku API and desktop philosophy to modern hardware, running on a Linux kernel with custom kernel modules.

Is it based on Haiku?

Partially. Vitruvian uses the Linux kernel and implements the BeOS/Haiku API compatibility layer on top of it. It is inspired by both BeOS and Haiku but is an independent project built from the ground up where we picked the best available open source components.

Screenshots

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000