RedBear-OS/local/docs/CONSOLE-TO-KDE-DESKTOP-PLAN.md

Red Bear OS: Console → Hardware-Accelerated KDE Plasma Desktop

Version: 4.0 (2026-04-30) Replaces: v3.0 and all prior desktop-path documents Status: Canonical comprehensive implementation plan — supersedes COMPREHENSIVE-OS-ASSESSMENT.md, DESKTOP-STACK-CURRENT-STATUS.md, and all layer-specific plans.

Purpose

This is the single authoritative plan for Red Bear OS from console boot to a hardware-accelerated KDE Plasma desktop on Wayland. It consolidates all layer assessments, honest blocker analysis, and the complete implementation roadmap into one document.

It answers: what is done, what is the current state of every layer, what are the honest blockers, and what must happen, in what order, to reach a usable KDE Plasma desktop with hardware acceleration.

Executive Summary

Subsystem	Status	Evidence Class	Blockers
Kernel / Credentials	🟢 Complete	Source + build	—
ACPI boot	🟢 Complete	QEMU + bare-metal proof	Shutdown robustness
IRQ / PCI / MSI-X	🟡 QEMU-proven	Source + build + QEMU	Hardware validation
relibc POSIX	🟢 ~85% coverage	Source + Redox-target tests	Message queues, AF_UNIX
DRM / KMS	🟡 Builds, no HW	Source + build	GPU CS ioctl backend
Mesa	🟡 swrast only	Build (llvmpipe)	HW renderer cross-compilation
Wayland compositor	🟡 Bounded proof	Build + QEMU	Full compositor runtime
Input / Seat	🟢 Working	Build + QEMU	libinput deferred
Greeter / Login	🟢 QEMU proof	Build + QEMU proof	—
D-Bus	🟡 System bus only	Build + partial runtime	Session bus, user lookup
Qt6	🟢 Builds	Build (Core+Gui+DBus+Wayland)	QML JIT disabled
KF6 Frameworks	🟡 36/48 build	Build	12 blocked (QML gate)
KDE Plasma	🔴 Blocked	Stub + partial builds	QML JIT, KWin real build
Hardware GPU	🔴 Not validated	Source (CS ioctl exists)	Hardware + Mesa HW cross-compile
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth	🔴 Host-tested	Source + host tests	Hardware + native stack

Bottom Line

The OS boots to a greeter/login screen in QEMU. Software rendering works. A hardware-accelerated KDE Plasma desktop is gated on three things: (1) Qt6Quick/QML downstream proof, (2) real KWin build, (3) hardware GPU validation.

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1. Kernel & Core Infrastructure

1.1 Syscall Coverage — 35 handled, credential gaps RESOLVED

The kernel handles 35 syscalls explicitly. Remaining gaps:

Syscall	Status
setgroups, getgroups, setresuid, setresgid	✅ RESOLVED — proc scheme auth-{fd}-groups path
getrlimit, setrlimit	✅ RESOLVED — userspace stubs with defaults
clock_settime	❌ ENOSYS — needed for NTP
ptrace	🟡 Handled via proc scheme paths

1.2 Kernel Credential Model (2026-04-30)

• Context.groups: Vec<u32> — supplementary groups per-thread with process-scope propagation
• CallerCtx.groups — exposed to scheme handlers for access control
• Groups proc scheme handle — auth-{fd}-groups read/write path
• NGROUPS_MAX=65536 enforced in kernel, non-u32-aligned writes rejected
• Fork inheritance: parent groups copied to child
• Process-scope: setgroups() fans out to all threads sharing owner_proc_id

1.3 ACPI — Boot-complete, not release-grade

Working	Gaps
RSDP/SDT, MADT, APIC/x2APIC	acpid startup has panic-grade expect paths
FADT shutdown via kstop	_S5 derivation gated on PCI timing
EC byte-transaction access	DMAR orphaned in acpid source
AML mutex + widened accesses	Sleep-state beyond S5 incomplete

1.4 IRQ / PCI / MSI-X — QEMU-proven

• Architecturally sound: LAPIC/x2APIC, IOAPIC, MSI-X table mapping
• redox-driver-sys: fast PCI enumeration with capability-chain data, quirk-aware interrupt summary
• Bounded QEMU proof: MSI-X, IOMMU, xHCI IRQ
• Blocker: real hardware validation for all controllers

1.5 relibc POSIX — ~85% coverage, ~38 active patches

Done	Deferred
eventfd, signalfd, timerfd (recipe-applied)	POSIX message queues
SysV shm, sem (activated 2026-04-29)	SysV message queues
waitid, named semaphores	AF_UNIX sockets
ifaddrs (synthetic 2-entry)	Live interface enumeration
fcntl F_DUPFD_CLOEXEC, MSG_CMSG_CLOEXEC
getentropy, secure_getenv

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2. Hardware Enablement Stack

2.1 DRM / KMS

Component	Status	Detail
redox-drm	🟡 Builds	Intel Gen8-Gen12 + AMD device support; MSI-X/legacy IRQ fallback; 68 unit tests
libdrm	🟡 Builds	libdrm_amdgpu; AMD device support
firmware-loader	🟡 Builds	scheme:firmware; blob loading verified
GPU firmware	🟡 Partial	amdgpu/i915 blobs via fetch-firmware.sh
virtio-gpu	🟢 Builds	220-line DRM/KMS backend for QEMU
CS ioctl	🟡 Protocol exists	Private submit/wait ioctls; hardware backend returns unavailable
amdgpu	🟡 Builds	Linux AMD DC/TTM/core imported; in redbear-full

Blocker: GPU command submission backend implementation + hardware validation.

2.2 Mesa / Graphics

Component	Status	Detail
mesa	🟡 Builds	llvmpipe software renderer; EGL=on, GBM=on, GLES2=on
radeonsi (AMD HW)	🔴 Not built	Not cross-compiled for Redox target
iris (Intel HW)	🔴 Not built	Not cross-compiled for Redox target
OSMesa	🟢 Builds	Off-screen software rendering

Blocker: Mesa hardware renderer cross-compilation requires CS ioctl backend + validation hardware.

2.3 Hardware GPU — The Big Gap

What exists	What's missing
CS ioctl protocol in redox-drm	Backend implementation (submit to GPU rings)
amdgpu kernel module imported	Fence/completion signaling
firmware blobs fetched	Mesa radeonsi/iris cross-compilation
MSI-X/IRQ wired	Real AMD/Intel GPU hardware for validation

Hardware GPU is the longest-lead item. Estimated 12-20 weeks with hardware access.

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3. Desktop Stack

3.1 Wayland / Compositor

Component	Status	Detail
libwayland 1.24.0	🟢 Builds	Wayland protocol library
wayland-protocols	🟢 Builds	Protocol XML definitions
redbear-compositor	🟡 Bounded proof	788-line Rust compositor; 3/3 tests; zero warnings
kwin	🔴 Stub	Recipe downloads real source but only creates wrappers

Known compositor limitations: SHM fd passing uses payload bytes (not SCM_RIGHTS), framebuffer uses private memory (not real vesad), wire encoding uses NUL-terminated strings (not padded Wayland format).

Blocker: Qt6Quick/QML downstream proof → real KWin build → full compositor runtime.

3.2 Input / Seat

Component	Status	Detail
evdevd	🟢 Builds	scheme:evdev; 65 unit tests; event semantics verified
udev-shim	🟢 Builds	scheme:udev; device enumeration; 15 unit tests
seatd/seatd-redox	🟢 Builds	DRM lease via redox-drm; service wired
libinput	🟡 Deferred	Builds but suppressed; evdevd handles input natively
libevdev	🟡 Deferred	Header build needed

3.3 Greeter / Login — QEMU PROOF PASSES

Component	Status	Detail
redbear-authd	🟢 Builds	SHA-crypt/Argon2 auth; /etc/passwd + /etc/shadow
redbear-session-launch	🟢 Builds	Session bootstrap (uid/gid/env/runtime-dir)
redbear-greeter	🟢 Builds	greeterd + Qt6/QML UI + compositor wrapper
redbear-sessiond	🟢 Builds	org.freedesktop.login1 D-Bus broker (zbus)
Greeter QEMU proof	🟢 Passes	GREETER_HELLO=ok, GREETER_VALID=ok
redbear-kde-session	🟢 Builds	KDE session launcher

3.4 D-Bus

Component	Status	Detail
dbus 1.16.2	🟢 Builds	System bus wired; session bus partially
redbear-sessiond	🟢 Builds	login1-compatible session broker
redbear-dbus-services	🟢 Builds	.service files + XML policies

Known issue: dbus-daemon --system fails user lookup for messagebus user in some runtime configurations.

3.5 Qt6 / KF6 / KDE Plasma

Qt6

Component	Status
qtbase 6.11.0 (Core+Gui+Widgets+DBus+Wayland)	🟢 Builds — 7 libs + 12 plugins
qtdeclarative	🟡 Builds — QML JIT disabled for Redox
qtwayland	🟢 Builds — Wayland QPA plugin
qtsvg	🟢 Builds
Qt6::Sensors	🟡 Builds (dummy backend, 520KB pkgar)
QtNetwork	🟢 Re-enabled — DNS resolver hardened

KF6 Frameworks — 36 build, 12 blocked

Building (36 packages): karchive, kauth, kbookmarks, kcodecs, kcolorscheme, kcompletion, kconfig, kconfigwidgets, kcoreaddons, kcrash, kdbusaddons, kdeclarative, kded6, kglobalaccel, kguiaddons, ki18n, kiconthemes, kidletime, kio, kitemmodels, kitemviews, kjobwidgets, knotifications, kpackage, kservice, ktextwidgets, kwayland, kwidgetsaddons, kwindowsystem, kxmlgui, solid, sonnet, kcmutils, attica, kdecoration, kglobalacceld

Blocked (12 packages):

Package	Reason
kirigami	QML JIT gate — QQuickWindow/QQmlEngine headers unavailable
plasma-framework	Depends on kirigami
plasma-workspace	Depends on kf6-knewstuff payload + real kwin
plasma-desktop	Transitive — depends on plasma-workspace
kf6-knewstuff	Empty package — cmake succeeds but core source produces no libs with QtQuick off
breeze	Build issues
kde-cli-tools	Build issues
kf6-prison	Source issues
kf6-kwallet	QML/GPG disabled; not in current enabled subset
kf6-purpose	Not attempted
kf6-frameworkintegration	Not attempted
kf6-krunner	Not attempted

KWin / Plasma Session

Component	Status
kwin	🔴 Stub — real KWin v6.3.4 source downloaded, only wrapper scripts created
kwin real build	🔄 Attempted — gated on Qt6Quick/QML downstream proof
plasma-workspace	🔴 Blocked
plasma-desktop	🔴 Blocked (transitive)
Full Plasma session	🔴 Not functional

The QML JIT gate: Qt6Quick's QML engine requires a JIT compiler (QQuickWindow, QQmlEngine), which is disabled for the Redox target. Without it, kirigami (the KDE UI framework) cannot build. kirigami blocks plasma-framework, which blocks plasma-workspace, which blocks the full Plasma desktop. This is the single biggest desktop blocker.

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4. Network & Wireless

4.1 Wired Networking — Working

• Native Redox net stack present (pcid-spawner → NIC daemon → smolnetd/dhcpd/netcfg)
• redbear-netctl native command shipped
• RTL8125 autoload wired through Realtek path
• VirtIO networking in QEMU: DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS=present

4.2 Wi-Fi — Host-tested, no hardware

• Intel PCIe transport builds, 119 tests
• LinuxKPI compat with 17 modules, 93 tests
• redbear-wifictl daemon + scheme interface
• Bounded host-tested scan/connect/disconnect/profile flows
• Blocker: No Intel hardware available; MediaTek MT7921K on current host

4.3 Bluetooth — Experimental BLE-first

• Controller probe via USB, HCI init, scheme:hciN
• GATT client workflow (discover→read), 209 tests
• QEMU validation in progress

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5. Honest Blocker Map

Critical Path (ordered)

[1] Qt6Quick/QML downstream proof     → unblocks kirigami → plasma-framework
[2] Real KWin build                     → unblocks plasma-workspace → plasma-desktop
[3] Hardware GPU validation             → unblocks Mesa HW renderers
[4] ACPI shutdown robustness            → release-grade ACPI
[5] Bare-metal validation               → unblocks all hardware claims

Blocker Detail

#	Blocker	What's needed	Estimated effort	Hardware required
1	QML JIT gate	Qt6Quick/QML runtime proof with JIT disabled; unblocks kirigami → 12 KDE packages	4-6 weeks	No
2	KWin real build	Real cmake build of KWin v6.3.4; requires Qt6Quick + libinput	2-4 weeks	No
3	Plasma session	plasma-workspace + plasma-desktop cmake builds; requires kirigami + kwin	2-4 weeks	No
4	HW GPU backend	CS ioctl implementation → Mesa HW renderer cross-compile	12-20 weeks	Yes — AMD/Intel GPU
5	ACPI shutdown	Remove panic paths, deterministic _S5	2-4 weeks	No
6	Bare-metal proof	Real AMD/Intel hardware validation for all layers	4-8 weeks	Yes — AMD + Intel machines

Path to Software-Rendered KDE Plasma (Blocks 1-3)

Qt6Quick proof (4-6w) → KWin real build (2-4w) → Plasma session (2-4w)
                                                          ↓
                                              Software-rendered KDE Plasma on Wayland
                                              Total: 8-14 weeks

Path to Hardware-Accelerated KDE Plasma (Blocks 1-6)

Software-rendered path (8-14w)
    + GPU CS ioctl backend + Mesa HW cross-compile (12-20w, parallel)
    + Hardware validation (4-8w, parallel)
                                                          ↓
                                              Hardware-accelerated KDE Plasma on Wayland
                                              Total: 20-34 weeks

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6. What Changed Since v3.0 (2026-04-29 → 2026-04-30)

Change	Impact
Credential syscalls implemented	setgroups/getgroups/initgroups/RLIMIT functional. Unblocks polkit, dbus, logind, sudo.
Kernel groups process-scoped	setgroups() propagates to all process threads. NGROUPS_MAX enforced.
CallerCtx.groups added	Schemes can now check supplementary group membership for access control.
Kernel readback for getgroups	Cache is repopulated from kernel after exec/crash.
setrlimit returns proper errors	EINVAL for unknown resources, EPERM for process limits.

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7. Configuration Surface

config/redbear-full.toml enables the desktop-capable target:

• 36 KDE packages (33 kf6-* + kdecoration + kglobalacceld + kwin); 12 blocked/ignored
• mesa + libdrm (software GPU stack, swrast only)
• qtbase + qtdeclarative + qtwayland + qtsvg + qt6-wayland-smoke
• seatd + redbear-authd + redbear-session-launch + redbear-greeter
• dbus + firmware-loader + redox-drm + evdevd + udev-shim
• redbear-compositor (real Rust Wayland compositor)
• plus inherited packages from redbear-mini profile

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8. Evidence Model

Evidence Class	What It Means
Source	Code exists in tree
Host build-verified	cargo check zero warnings on Linux
Redox build-verified	make r.* successful on x86_64-unknown-redox
Runtime-validated	Exercised in QEMU
Hardware-validated	Exercised on real AMD/Intel hardware

Current highest evidence bar reached: QEMU runtime proof for greeter/login, bounded compositor, D-Bus system bus, evdevd/udev-shim, DRM scheme enumeration.

No component has hardware validation. All hardware claims remain evidence-qualified.

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9. Subsystem Plans (Reference)

This document is the authority. Subsystem plans remain for deep-dive detail:

Plan	Covers
KERNEL-IPC-CREDENTIAL-PLAN.md	Kernel credential syscalls, IPC, RLIMIT — Phases K1-K2,K4 complete
IRQ-AND-LOWLEVEL-CONTROLLERS-ENHANCEMENT-PLAN.md	PCI/IRQ/MSI-X/IOMMU quality
ACPI-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md	ACPI shutdown, power, sleep states
RELIBC-IPC-ASSESSMENT-AND-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md	relibc IPC surface
DRM-MODERNIZATION-EXECUTION-PLAN.md	DRM/KMS modernization
WAYLAND-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md	Wayland compositor stability
DBUS-INTEGRATION-PLAN.md	D-Bus architecture
GREETER-LOGIN-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md	Greeter/login design

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10. Stale Docs Deleted (This Pass)

File	Reason
COMPREHENSIVE-OS-ASSESSMENT.md	Consolidated into this document
DESKTOP-STACK-CURRENT-STATUS.md	Consolidated into this document
AMD-FIRST-INTEGRATION.md	Historical — AMD and Intel are equal-priority targets
HARDWARE-3D-ASSESSMENT.md	Historical — consolidated into §2
DMA-BUF-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md	Historical — consolidated into §2
INPUT-SCHEME-ENHANCEMENT.md	Historical — consolidated into §3.2
BOOT-PROCESS-ASSESSMENT.md	Historical — consolidated into §1
LINUX-BORROWING-RUST-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md	Historical — consolidated into §2
QT6-PORT-STATUS.md	Historical — consolidated into §3.5
REDBEAR-INFO-RUNTIME-REPORT.md	Historical — validation infrastructure now standard
RELIBC-COMPREHENSIVE-ASSESSMENT.md	Historical — consolidated into §1.5
RELIBC-COMPLETENESS-AND-ENHANCEMENT-PLAN.md	Historical — consolidated into §1.5
RELIBC-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md	Historical — consolidated into §1.5