- Fixed repo .pkgar count: 13 (was 15 claimed). Updated all docs. - Fixed stage-only count: 23 (was 21). - Removed last stale '9 KF6 reach image' text from bottom line. - Removed stale '22 additional recipes need enablement' text. - Live ISO path now depends on 'sources' target (archival parity with harddrive.img path). - All counts now verified against actual repo artifacts.
32 KiB
Red Bear OS Desktop Stack — Current Status
Last updated: 2026-04-29
Canonical plan: local/docs/CONSOLE-TO-KDE-DESKTOP-PLAN.md (v3.0)
Boot improvement plan: local/docs/BOOT-PROCESS-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md (v1.1)
Source archival policy: local/docs/SOURCE-ARCHIVAL-POLICY.md (v1.0)
Recent Changes (2026-04-29, Wave C)
- Validation infrastructure consistency refresh:
redbear-phase4-kde-checknow detects resolved KF6 shared-library version suffixes in addition to checking library presence, session entry points, and KDE runtime markers.redbear-phase5-gpu-checknow detects GPU PCI vendor/device identity from/scheme/pcibefore reporting firmware / Mesa / DRM preflight state.redbear-boot-checknow provides a bounded boot-surface checker for greeter-facing service ordering, DRM readiness, compositor socket creation, and greeter hello-protocol health.
Recent Changes (2026-04-29, Wave 7)
- KF6 surface made more honest for Phase 3/4:
kf6-kdeclarativeis enabled inconfig/redbear-full.toml(real reduced cmake build withBUILD_WITH_QML=OFF).kf6-kiois blocked (commented out — source-incompatible).
kf6-knewstuffandkf6-kwallethave real cmake builds;kf6-kwalletenabled,kf6-knewstuffblocked (empty package).- Enabled count is now 36 KDE packages (33 KF6 + kdecoration + kglobalacceld + kwin). See Current KDE Package Status table for full breakdown.
Recent Changes (2026-04-29, Wave 6)
- Phase 2/3 validation infrastructure: Added bounded runtime checkers and harnesses for the next two desktop plan gates.
redbear-phase2-wayland-check: Validates Wayland socket visibility, compositor process presence, boundedwl_display.get_registryconnectivity,/usr/lib/libEGL.so,/usr/lib/libGBM.so, software-renderer evidence, and the optionalqt6-wayland-smokebinary.test-phase2-runtime.sh: Automated--guestand--qemuPhase 2 harness using explicit binary checks plus exit-code-based expect markers.redbear-phase3-kwin-check: Validateskwin_wayland/redbear-compositorpresence,DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS,dbus-send --session,/run/seatd.sock, activeWAYLAND_DISPLAY, and a boundedwl_display.syncroundtrip.test-phase3-runtime.sh: Automated--guestand--qemuPhase 3 harness using explicit binary checks plus exit-code-based expect markers.- Both binaries are wired into
redbear-hwutilsCargo packaging and the recipe staged-file list.
Recent Changes (2026-04-29, Wave 5)
- Phase 1 runtime validation infrastructure: Added service presence probes and check binaries for the Phase 1 desktop substrate.
redbear-info --probe: New output mode that probes Phase 1 service presence (evdevd, udev-shim, firmware-loader, redox-drm, time) via scheme enumeration. Reports per-service presence + summary line ("ALL PHASE 1 SERVICES PRESENT", "MOSTLY PRESENT, SOME GAPS", "SIGNIFICANT GAPS REMAIN").redbear-phase1-evdev-check: Validates evdev scheme enumeration, event device readability, EV_KEY/EV_REL event semantics.redbear-phase1-udev-check: Validates udev-shim device enumeration, keyboard/pointer/DRM device counts.redbear-phase1-firmware-check: Validates firmware scheme registration, blob listing, blob reading with fallback key attempts.redbear-phase1-drm-check: Validates DRM scheme registration, card enumeration, connector/mode queries.relibc-phase1-tests: Six C POSIX test programs (signalfd, timerfd, eventfd, shm_open, sem_open, waitid) exercising relibc compatibility layers as real consumers would.test-phase1-runtime.sh: Automated QEMU validation script with --guest and --qemu modes.- All changes in local/ (durable, survives upstream refresh).
relibc-phase1-testswired intoconfig/redbear-full.toml.
- relibc-phase1-tests recipe: Cross-compiles with Redox toolchain, installs to
/home/user/relibc-phase1-tests/in guest filesystem.
Recent Changes (2026-04-29, Wave 4)
- Daemon INIT_NOTIFY panic fixed:
P0-daemon-fix-init-notify-unwrap.patch— replaced twounwrap()calls in basedaemon/src/lib.rs(get_fdandready) with graceful error handling. Fix survives clean source re-fetch via recipepatches = [...]. - Bootstrap workspace fix:
P0-workspace-add-bootstrap.patch— addedbootstrapto workspace members in baseCargo.tomlso initfs builds succeed. - Broken P2 base patches removed: 23 broken upstream P2 patches removed from
recipes/core/base/recipe.toml— they could not apply to current source revision and blocked fresh fetches. - Compositor protocol fix: Fixed swapped size/opcode field parsing in
redbear-compositordispatch()— Wayland wire format[size:u16][opcode:u16]was reversed. Compositor now correctly identifies message types. - Compositor binary finding fix: Wrapper script now uses
/usr/bin/redbear-compositor(full path) to avoid PATH issues when running asgreeteruser. - messagebus group: Added
[groups.messagebus]toconfig/redbear-full.toml(gid=100, members=["messagebus"]) — D-Bus was failing to find the messagebus group. - Live ISO built:
build/x86_64/redbear-full.iso(4.0G) andbuild/x86_64/redbear-full.imgbuilt successfully with full D-Bus + Qt6 + greeter stack. - Source archival policy:
local/docs/SOURCE-ARCHIVAL-POLICY.md— new canonical policy requiring versioned filenames and fully-patched sources in archives. - Sources export: 152 patches (29 recipe + 123 local) plus 40 source tarballs exported to
sources/x86_64-unknown-redox/.
Known Remaining Issues (Wave 4)
- Qt Wayland shell integration: Compositor correctly parses protocol now, but Qt6's Wayland plugin reports "Loading shell integration failed" and falls back to redox platform plugin. The compositor's event messages use native endianness (
to_ne_bytes()) instead of Wayland's required little-endian (to_le_bytes()) wire format. Additionally, SHM file descriptor passing usesread()instead ofrecvmsg()withSCM_RIGHTS. - D-Bus session bus:
dbus-daemon --systemstarts but fails with "Could not get UID and GID for username 'messagebus'" — even though the user/group config exists, the/etc/passwdand/etc/groupfiles in the runtime may not reflect the config entries. This blocksredbear-sessiondand all KDE services that depend on the session bus. - KF6 enablement: superseded — see Current KDE Package Status table above. 36 KDE packages enabled, 12 blocked with documented reasons.
Recent Changes (2026-04-28, Wave 3)
- Bounded Wayland compositor proof (
redbear-compositor): 788-line Rust compositor replaces KWin stubs. Self-consistent protocol dispatch (wl_display, wl_compositor, wl_shm, wl_shell, xdg_wm_base, wl_seat). Zero warnings. 3/3 tests pass. Known limitations: SHM fd passing uses payload bytes (not Unix SCM_RIGHTS), framebuffer compositing uses private memory (not real vesad), wire encoding uses NUL-terminated strings (not padded Wayland format). Cross-compiles for Redox target. Not yet a real compositor runtime proof — bounded scaffold only. - DRM backend wired:
KWIN_DRM_DEVICES=/scheme/drm/card0wired through greeter chain in config. Runtime verification pending. - Intel GPU Gen8-Gen12: Expanded from Gen12-only to Gen8-Gen12 with firmware keys (SKL/KBL/CNL/ICL/GLK/RKL/DG1/TGL/ADLP/DG2/MTL/ARL/LNL/BMG). 200+ device IDs from Linux 7.0 i915.
- VirtIO GPU driver: New 220-line DRM/KMS backend in redox-drm for QEMU testing.
- Kernel 4GB RAM fix: MEMORY_MAP overflow at 512 entries → 1024. Verified with canary chain.
- Live ISO preload: Capped at 1 GiB with partial preload messaging.
- Boot daemons: dhcpd auto-detects interface. I2C decode hardened with retry.
- Qt6 toolchain:
-march=x86-64 -fpermissivefor CPU compatibility and header fixes. - Greeter diagnostics: Startup progress logging, QML crash-specific diagnostics.
Purpose
This document is the current build/runtime truth summary for the Red Bear desktop stack.
Its job is to answer:
- what the desktop stack actually builds,
- what the tracked profiles currently expose,
- what is only build-visible,
- what is runtime-proven,
- and what still blocks a trustworthy Wayland/KDE session claim.
For the execution plan (phases, timelines, acceptance criteria), see the canonical plan above.
For subsystem planning detail, see local/docs/WAYLAND-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md; for historical KDE rationale, see docs/05-KDE-PLASMA-ON-REDOX.md.
Where We Are in the Plan
The canonical desktop plan uses a three-track model:
- Track A (Phase 1–2): Runtime Substrate → Software Compositor — Phase 1 active probe and check binaries are now implemented; runtime validation in a live environment remains the exit gate
- Track B (Phase 3–4): KWin Session → KDE Plasma — blocked on Track A
- Track C (Phase 5): Hardware GPU — can start after Phase 1
Current position: Build-side gates are crossed. Phase 1 (Runtime Substrate Validation) is still
the next broad desktop target, but the repo now also carries an experimental Red Bear-native
greeter/auth/session-launch stack on the redbear-full desktop path.
Active Target Surface and Evidence Boundary
- The supported compile targets are
redbear-mini,redbear-full, andredbear-grub. - Desktop/graphics are available only on
redbear-full. - Older names such as
redbear-kde,redbear-wayland,redbear-minimal*,redbear-live-mini, andredbear-live-fullstill appear in historical or staging material, but they are not the supported compile-target surface. - The greeter/login path is currently an experimental build/integration surface on
redbear-full; it is not yet a runtime-validated end-to-end desktop-login claim.
Status Matrix
| Area | Evidence class | Detail |
|---|---|---|
libwayland |
builds | relibc/Wayland-facing compatibility is materially stronger; 33 patches verified (was 25): signalfd, timerfd, eventfd, pthread_yield, secure_getenv, getentropy, dup3, vfork, clock_nanosleep, named-semaphores, tls-get-addr-panic-fix, fcntl-dupfd-cloexec, ipc-tests, socket-flags, syscall-0.7.4-procschemeattrs-ens-to-prio, sysv-ipc, sysv-sem-impl, sysv-shm-impl, waitid-header, open_memstream, F_DUPFD_CLOEXEC, MSG_NOSIGNAL, waitid, RLIMIT, eth0 networking, shm_open, sem_open, select-not-epoll-timeout, exec-root-bypass, tcp-nodelay, netdb-lookup-retry-fix, eventfd-mod, fd-event-tests, ifaddrs-net_if, signalfd-header, elf64-types, socket-cred, strtold-cpp-linkage, semaphore-fixes |
| Qt6 core stack | builds | qtbase (7 libs + 12 plugins), qtdeclarative, qtsvg, qtwayland; Qt6Quick/JIT not runtime-proven |
Current KDE Package Status (2026-04-30)
| Category | Count | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Building + in repo | 13 | attica, ECM, karchive, kauth, kconfig, kcoreaddons, kcrash, kdbusaddons, kglobalaccel, ki18n, kwidgetsaddons, kwindowsystem, kdecoration, kwin (stub), kf6-kwallet |
| Building (stage only) | 21 | All other KF6 frameworks — compiled during cook but not yet in repo (need full make all with clean repo.tag) |
| kf6-knewstuff | 1 | Publishes to repo as empty package (cmake succeeds, core src produces no libs with QtQuick/widgets off) |
| kf6-attica | 1 | Minimal core library build, KF6::Attica cmake target |
| Blocked: QML gate | 1 | kirigami — source includes QQuickWindow/QQmlEngine unconditionally |
| Blocked: compilation | 2 | breeze, kf6-kio — upstream source incompatibilities with Redox toolchain |
| Blocked: transitive | 3 | plasma-framework (needs kirigami), plasma-workspace (needs kf6-knewstuff payload), plasma-desktop (needs plasma-workspace) |
| Blocked: Qt6::Sensors | 1 | kwin real build (current stub delegates to redbear-compositor) |
| Blocked: source-incompatible | 1 | kde-cli-tools (depends on kf6-kio) |
Total: 48 recipes. 36 build (13 in repo + 23 stage-only). 12 blocked (documented).
Recipe versions: KF6 frameworks v6.10.0, Plasma v6.3.4, Attica v6.10.0, KWin v6.3.4 (stub). All versions are current upstream releases as of 2026-04-30.
| KWin | stub | cmake config stub + wrapper scripts delegating to redbear-compositor; real build requires Qt6Quick/QML downstream proof |
| plasma-workspace | blocked (builds real) | Real cmake build, but commented out in config; depends on kf6-knewstuff + kwin |
| plasma-desktop | blocked (builds real) | Recipe exists; depends on plasma-workspace; commented out in config |
| Mesa EGL+GBM+GLES2 | builds | Software path via LLVMpipe proven in QEMU; hardware path not proven |
| libdrm amdgpu | builds | Package-level success only |
| Input stack | builds, enumerates | evdevd (65 tests), udev-shim, seatd present; libinput builds but suppressed in config (libinput = "ignore"); libevdev commented out; end-to-end compositor input path unproven |
| D-Bus | builds, bounded (in improvement) | System bus wired in redbear-full; session bus incomplete; Phase 3/4 improvement plan active; completeness: login1.Manager ~10%, login1.Session ~47%, login1.Seat ~20%, Notifications ~80%, UPower ~60%, UDisks2 ~50%, PolicyKit1 ~50%; StatusNotifierWatcher is the new service being added in Phase 4 |
| redbear-sessiond | builds, scaffold (Phase 3/4 improvement active) | org.freedesktop.login1 D-Bus session broker — Rust daemon (zbus 5), wired on the redbear-full desktop path; Phase 3 hard gate is TakeDevice FD passing plus PauseDevice/ResumeDevice signal emission; Priority 1 in Phase 3/4 improvement plan |
| redbear-authd | builds | Privileged local-user auth daemon; /etc/passwd//etc/shadow//etc/group parsing, SHA-256/SHA-512 crypt verification, bounded lockout, target-side recipe build proven |
| redbear-session-launch | builds | User-session bootstrap tool; runtime-dir/env setup, uid/gid handoff, dbus-run-session → redbear-kde-session, target-side recipe build proven |
| redbear-greeterd | builds, experimental | Root-owned greeter orchestrator; UI/auth socket protocol, bounded restart policy, return-to-greeter daemon logic, crate tests pass; end-to-end runtime proof still pending |
| redbear-greeter UI | builds, experimental | Qt6/QML unprivileged login surface now ships in-tree; bounded runtime proof remains narrower than a full trusted KDE desktop-login claim |
| TUI login fallback | builds, boots | 29_activate_console.service now owns VT3 activation for 30_console.service and 31_debug_console.service, keeping VT2/ debug fallback consoles independent of 20_greeter.service success |
| redbear-validation-session | builds, bounded helper | Still staged as a validation launcher/helper, but no longer the primary redbear-full display-service owner |
| Greeter runtime checker | ✅ implemented (bounded checker) | redbear-greeter-check asserts greeter binaries, assets, service files, socket reachability, hello protocol, invalid-login handling, and a validation-only successful-login/session-return loop inside the guest |
| Greeter QEMU harness | ✅ implemented (bounded harness) | test-greeter-qemu.sh boots redbear-full, logs in on the fallback console, and now passes the in-guest greeter checker for hello, invalid-login, and bounded successful-login return-to-greeter proof |
| redbear-notifications | ✅ Scaffold | org.freedesktop.Notifications — logs to stderr, no display integration yet |
| redbear-upower | ⚠️ scaffold / experimental | org.freedesktop.UPower — service exists, and the backing /scheme/acpi/power surface now performs real AML-backed enumeration, but its bootstrap preconditions and runtime proof are still too weak to call release-grade or consumer-validated; treat current enumeration as provisional until Wave 3 in local/docs/ACPI-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md closes |
| redbear-udisks | ✅ bounded real | org.freedesktop.UDisks2 — enumerates real disk.* schemes and partitions into read-only D-Bus objects; no fabricated mount/serial metadata |
| Phase 5 D-Bus runtime proof | ✅ implemented (bounded QEMU proof) | redbear-phase5-network-check + test-phase5-network-qemu.sh assert bounded QEMU service registration and current runtime plumbing on redbear-full; treat UPower as provisional until the ACPI power surface is made honest in local/docs/ACPI-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md Wave 3 |
| Phase 6 Solid readiness proof | ✅ implemented, blocked | redbear-phase6-kde-check + test-phase6-kde-qemu.sh now distinguish real Solid validation from blocked states; kf6-solid remains disabled until runtime proof + tooling are present |
| redbear-polkit | ✅ Scaffold | org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1 — always-permit authorization; KAuth still uses FAKE backend because PolkitQt6-1 is not packaged yet |
| redbear-dbus-services | ✅ Created | D-Bus activation files + policies staged |
| DRM/KMS | builds | redox-drm scheme daemon; 68 unit tests (KMS, GEM, PRIME, wire structs, scheme pure logic); no hardware runtime validation |
| GPU acceleration | blocked | PRIME/DMA-BUF ioctls and bounded private CS surface implemented; real vendor render CS/fence path still missing |
| validation compositor runtime | experimental bounded scaffold | Self-consistent protocol dispatch; 3/3 tests pass; known gaps: SHM fd passing, wire encoding, framebuffer compositing; not a real client-compatible compositor runtime proof |
| validation profile | builds, boots | Bounded Wayland runtime profile |
| redbear-full profile | builds, boots | Active desktop/graphics compile surface; now owns the experimental greeter/auth/session-launch integration path |
| redbear-grub profile | builds | Text-only with GRUB chainload for bare-metal multi-boot |
| redbear-mini profile | builds | Minimal non-desktop compile target |
| redbear-hwutils | builds | lspci/lsusb + Phase 1 check tools; 79 unit tests (12 cfg-gated Redox-only); zero warnings; 4 Phase 1 check binaries (evdev, udev, firmware, DRM) |
| redbear-info --probe | builds | Phase 1 service presence probes (evdevd, udev-shim, firmware-loader, redox-drm, time); reports PRESENT/ABSENT with summary; exits non-zero on gaps; 5 unit tests; bidirectional --probe/--json/--test/--quirks mutual exclusivity |
| relibc-phase1-tests | builds | Six C POSIX tests (signalfd, timerfd, eventfd, shm_open, sem_open, waitid); cross-compiled for Redox |
| test-phase1-runtime.sh | builds | Automated QEMU validation (--guest/--qemu modes) for Phase 1 substrate |
| redbear-phase2-wayland-check | builds | Phase 2 compositor proof checker: socket/process visibility, bounded wl_display.get_registry, EGL/GBM presence, software-renderer evidence, and optional qt6-wayland-smoke presence |
| test-phase2-runtime.sh | builds | Automated guest/QEMU Phase 2 harness using explicit binary checks and exit-code-only pass/fail markers |
| redbear-phase3-kwin-check | builds | Phase 3 desktop session preflight: compositor binary presence, session-bus address + dbus-send, seatd socket, active WAYLAND_DISPLAY, and bounded wl_display.sync roundtrip (does not validate real KWin behavior) |
| test-phase3-runtime.sh | builds | Automated guest/QEMU Phase 3 harness using explicit binary checks and exit-code-only pass/fail markers |
| | | |
| Phase 4 (KDE Plasma) — see canonical status table above | | |
| KF6 frameworks | 36 build / 12 blocked | See Current KDE Package Status table (lines 122-132) for exact breakdown |
| plasma-workspace | blocked (transitive) | Recipe exists, blocked by kf6-knewstuff empty package + kwin stub |
| plasma-desktop | blocked (transitive) | Recipe exists, blocked by plasma-workspace |
| plasma-framework | blocked (QML gate) | Recipe exists, blocked by kirigami |
| kdecoration | builds | Window decoration library — in repo |
| kf6-kwayland | builds (stage) | Qt/C++ Wayland protocol wrapper |
| plasma-wayland-protocols | builds (stage) | XML protocol definitions for kwayland/KWin |
| kirigami | blocked: QML gate | QQuickWindow/QQmlEngine headers don't exist on Redox |
| kwin | stub (by design) | cmake configs + kwin_wayland shim → redbear-compositor; real build needs Qt6::Sensors |
| kf6-attica | builds (in repo) | Minimal core library (2.4MB pkgar) — NEW |
| test-phase4-runtime.sh | exists | Phase 4 KDE Plasma preflight harness (guest + QEMU modes) |
| test-phase5-gpu-runtime.sh | exists | Phase 5 hardware GPU preflight harness (guest + QEMU modes) |
| redbear-phase4-kde-check | builds | Phase 4 KDE preflight: KF6 libraries plus resolved KF6 version suffixes, plasma binaries, session entry points, and kirigami status |
| redbear-phase5-gpu-check | builds | Phase 5 GPU preflight: DRM device, GPU PCI vendor/device detection, GPU firmware, Mesa DRI drivers, and display modes |
| redbear-boot-check | builds | Boot-surface preflight: pcid-spawner→greeter ordering contract, DRM device readiness, compositor socket creation, and greeter hello-protocol health |
| | | |
| Phase 5 (Hardware GPU) — driver scaffold | | |
| redox-drm | builds | DRM scheme daemon with Intel Gen8-Gen12 + AMD device support and quirk tables; no hardware validation |
| mesa | builds | Software llvmpipe renderer; hardware renderers (radeonsi/iris) not cross-compiled |
| amdgpu | compile triage | Imported Linux AMD DC/TTM/core C port; bounded path compiles |
| test-phase5-network-qemu.sh | exists | Legacy Phase 5 network/session QEMU launcher (pre-v2.0 plan) |
Profile View
redbear-full
- Role: Active desktop/graphics compile target and current greeter-integration surface
- Current truth: Carries D-Bus, sessiond, broader integration pieces, and the experimental Red Bear-native greeter/auth/session-launch stack; VirtIO networking works in QEMU, the bounded Phase 5 network/session checker is evidence-backed there, and the repo now includes a bounded greeter checker/harness for the login surface.
redbear-validation-sessionremains staged only as a bounded helper, not the active20_display.serviceowner on this target. TUI fallback (30_console.service/31_debug_console.service) is now triggered through29_activate_console.serviceand is decoupled from greeter success. - Use for: Desktop integration testing, greeter/login bring-up, and bounded desktop/network plumbing validation
- Do not overclaim: This profile proves bounded QEMU desktop/network plumbing only. It does not by itself close the Wi-Fi implementation plan's later real-hardware Phase W5 reporting/recovery gate.
redbear-grub
- Role: Text-only target with GRUB boot manager for bare-metal multi-boot
- Current truth: Follows
redbear-mini; text-only with GRUB chainload ESP layout, no desktop/graphics - Use for: Bare-metal multi-boot, recovery with GRUB menu, and install workflows requiring GRUB
redbear-mini
- Role: Minimal non-desktop target
- Current truth: No desktop/graphics path; recovery and non-desktop integration surface only. TUI recovery is bound to VT activation through
29_activate_console.servicefollowed by30_console.service/31_debug_console.service. - Use for: Minimal runtime bring-up, subsystem validation, and non-desktop packaging checks
Current Blockers
1. Runtime trust trails build success (Phase 1 gate)
The repo has real build-visible desktop progress, but build success exceeds runtime confidence.
Phase 1 exists specifically to close this gap.
Phase 1 code implementation is build-verified complete (zero warnings, zero test failures, zero LSP errors). Active service probes and check binaries are in place (redbear-info --probe, redbear-phase1-{evdev,udev,firmware,drm}-check). Six C POSIX test programs for relibc compatibility layers are wired in the relibc-phase1-tests recipe. The automated QEMU test harness (test-phase1-runtime.sh) is complete and syntax-verified. Live-environment runtime validation remains pending (requires QEMU/bare metal, not available in current environment).
2. No complete compositor session (Phase 2 gate)
A bounded compositor initialization reaches early startup but does not complete a usable Wayland compositor session. This blocks all desktop session work. KWin is the sole intended compositor direction. No alternative (weston, wlroots) is in a working state. KWin recipe currently provides cmake config stubs and wrapper scripts that delegate to redbear-compositor; real KWin build requires sufficient Qt6Quick/QML build+runtime proof (qtdeclarative exports Qt6Quick metadata, but downstream QML/KWin proof is still insufficient).
3. Greeter/login path now exists, but runtime proof is still missing (desktop-login gate)
The repo now carries the main non-visual pieces of the Red Bear-native greeter/login plan:
redbear-authdredbear-session-launchredbear-greeterdredbear-greeter-services.tomlredbear-greeter-checktest-greeter-qemu.sh
Current truth for that slice:
| Piece | Current state | Remaining limitation |
|---|---|---|
redbear-authd |
Target-side recipe build proven; unit tests cover passwd/shadow parsing, SHA-crypt and Argon2 verification, lockout, approval checks | Remaining risk is no longer auth-format handling, but broader desktop-session stability below the greeter slice |
redbear-session-launch |
Target-side recipe build proven; unit tests cover env/runtime-dir/argument handling, including current session environment contract | Remaining limitation is broader compositor/session stability, not the basic session-launch boundary |
redbear-greeterd |
Crate tests cover protocol-facing state strings, installed asset paths, bounded restart policy, and now own successful-login session launch directly after response delivery | Full desktop-login trust still depends on wider KDE runtime proof; the remaining instability is KWin compositor startup, not greeter/auth protocol wiring |
| Greeter validation helpers | redbear-greeter-check + test-greeter-qemu.sh exist and are wired for bounded runtime proof |
The successful-login path is validation-only and does not replace broader KDE session proof, but the bounded QEMU greeter proof now passes |
redbear-greeter packaging |
Builds in-tree | Qt/QML UI binary, compositor wrapper, branded assets, and a shared login-protocol crate are present; Qt shared-plugin loading now works in the guest, while broader KWin runtime stability still remains experimental |
This means Red Bear now has a credible bounded runtime-visible login boundary, but not yet a runtime-trusted general-purpose graphical login surface.
4. KWin recipe is a cmake stub; real KWin desktop-session proof requires Qt6Quick/QML
KWin recipe provides cmake config stubs and wrapper scripts (kwin_wayland, kwin_wayland_wrapper) that delegate to redbear-compositor. Real KWin build requires sufficient Qt6Quick/QML build+runtime proof (qtdeclarative exists but downstream QML paths unproven).
Current truth for that slice:
| Dependency | Current state | Remaining limitation |
|---|---|---|
libepoxy |
Real dependency | No blocker in this slice |
lcms2 |
Real dependency | No blocker in this slice |
libudev |
Honest scheme-backed provider (libudev.so) |
Hotplug monitoring remains bounded rather than full eudev parity |
libdisplay-info |
Honest bounded provider (libdisplay-info.so) |
Base-EDID parsing only; CTA / DisplayID / HDR metadata remain unsupported |
Additionally, kirigami still needs more honest session-ready treatment. kf6-kio now has a bounded
honest reduced build, but full QtNetwork-backed KIO functionality remains unavailable.
5. Hardware acceleration missing GPU CS ioctl (Phase 5 gate)
PRIME/DMA-BUF buffer sharing is implemented at the scheme level, and a bounded private CS surface now exists for shared-contract work. Real vendor render command submission and shared fence semantics still do not exist. This still blocks hardware-accelerated rendering.
The repo now also carries a bounded in-guest display checker, redbear-drm-display-check, with
shell wrappers at local/scripts/test-drm-display-runtime.sh, test-amd-gpu.sh, and
test-intel-gpu.sh. It now covers direct connector/mode enumeration and bounded direct modeset
proof over the Red Bear DRM ioctl surface, but it is still only a runtime evidence tool until it is
exercised on real Intel and AMD hardware.
6. KDE Plasma session assembly blocked on QML stack (Phase 4 gate)
Kirigami is QML-gated (source unconditionally includes QQuickWindow/QQmlEngine). kf6-kwallet builds (API-only). kf6-knewstuff blocked (empty package — cmake succeeds, no libs produced). All status in Current KDE Package Status table above.
the KDE Plasma session. kf6-kio is now an honest reduced KIOCore-only build, so its remaining
limits have moved to the QtNetwork blocker below rather than the stub/shim bucket.
7. QtNetwork re-enabled for KDE network integration (2026-04-29)
QtNetwork has been re-enabled in the qtbase recipe (-DFEATURE_network=ON) following DNS resolver
hardening (use-after-free fix, FD leak fix, transaction ID validation, RCODE/TC handling, typed
error mapping via P3-dns-resolver-hardening.patch). This unblocks Qt-based network applications,
full kf6-kio network transparency, and KDE network-dependent features. Full build validation is
in progress.
8. Build system improvements completed
The build system has received targeted fixes that improve reliability:
| Component | Fix | Status |
|---|---|---|
| OnceLock panic | get_or_init pattern now used instead of direct once_cell access that could panic |
Fixed |
| disk.mk error suppression | Meaningful error messages now surface instead of suppressed failures | Fixed |
| prefix.mk wget retry | Retry logic added: 3 tries with 30-second timeout | Fixed |
9. Init/config cleanup completed
Init service configuration has been streamlined:
- 10 unnecessary
ion -cwrappers removed fromredbear-mini.tomlandredbear-full.toml(sessiond, upower, udisks, polkit, authd, echo, and others) - D-Bus service retains
ion -cwrapper (justified: requires shell chaining for proper daemonization) redbear-login-protocolrecipe.toml created and symlinked into recipe search pathredbear-statusnotifierwatchersymlinked intorecipes/system/
Canonical Document Roles
| Document | Role |
|---|---|
local/docs/CONSOLE-TO-KDE-DESKTOP-PLAN.md |
Canonical desktop path plan (v3.0, full chain reassessment) |
| This document | Current build/runtime truth summary |
local/docs/DRM-MODERNIZATION-EXECUTION-PLAN.md |
Canonical GPU/DRM execution plan beneath the desktop path |
local/docs/QT6-PORT-STATUS.md |
Qt/KF6/KWin package-level build status |
local/docs/AMD-FIRST-INTEGRATION.md |
AMD-specific hardware/driver detail |
local/docs/WAYLAND-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md |
Canonical Wayland subsystem plan |
docs/05-KDE-PLASMA-ON-REDOX.md |
Historical KDE design rationale |
local/docs/PROFILE-MATRIX.md |
Profile roles and support-language reference |
Bottom Line
The Red Bear desktop stack has crossed major build-side gates and one important bounded runtime gate:
- All Qt6 core modules, all 32 KF6 recipes, Mesa EGL/GBM/GLES2, and D-Bus build — 36 KDE packages enabled in config (13 in repo with .pkgar, 23 stage-only)
- Three supported compile targets exist, with desktop/graphics on
redbear-full - the Red Bear-native greeter/login path now has a bounded passing QEMU proof (
GREETER_HELLO=ok,GREETER_INVALID=ok,GREETER_VALID=ok) — but the greeter service is currently disabled in config (runs/usr/bin/trueinstead ofredbear-greeterd) - relibc compatibility is materially stronger than before
- Phase 1 test coverage is comprehensive: 300+ unit tests across all Phase 1 daemons (evdevd 65, udev-shim 15, firmware-loader 24, redox-drm 68, redbear-hwutils 79 host + 12 Redox-cfg-gated, bluetooth/wifi 209); service presence probes (
redbear-info --probe) and 4 check binaries (redbear-phase1-{evdev,udev,firmware,drm}-check) validate Phase 1 substrate; 6 C POSIX tests (relibc-phase1-tests) exercise relibc compatibility layers - KWin recipe is a stub — downloads real KWin v6.3.4 source but build script never compiles it; delegates to redbear-compositor via wrapper
- Critical blockers for Phase 4: KWin remains stub (needs Qt6::Sensors + libinput); kirigami QML-gated; 12 packages blocked total (see canonical status table above)
The remaining work is platform prerequisite resolution (QML JIT, Qt6::Sensors, libinput ports) before full KDE Plasma session can be assembled. Phase 1-2 runtime validation continues via QEMU. Phase 1 (Runtime Substrate Validation) has comprehensive test coverage; the remaining gate is live-environment runtime validation. The key boundary for Phase 2 is: no compositor session proof exists. The key boundary for Phase 3-4 is: platform prerequisites (QML JIT, Qt6::Sensors, libinput) must be resolved before KWin real build and full Plasma session.