Update changelog with version 0.6.0 release notes dated 2026-07-07.
Documents major additions including:
- Anaconda installer 45 ported to Arch with Live OS payload
- FWS tooling suite (fws-hello, fws-update, fws-keys, etc.)
- System recovery functionality (fws-recovery-gui and engine)
- zram swap support and firewalld enablement
- Hyprland and i3 desktop parity
Includes changelog entries for changed items (FWS branding, boot entries, compression), fixed issues (splash watchdog, low RAM handling, profile synchronization), and removed items (syslinux config).
Document the native Arch Linux build environment that has been the reference since July 2026. This section explains that build.sh and setup-aur.sh now detect and execute directly on Arch Linux, replacing the previous Windows 11 + WSL setup as the primary reference.
The Windows + WSL path remains functional with automatic fallback from Git Bash but is no longer the reference environment.
- Add FWS branding details for Anaconda installer (ANACONDA_PRODUCT* exports via .xinitrc)
- Enhance splash screen description with real-time anaconda activity monitoring and auto-diagnostic
- Document memory requirements (4 GB recommended, 2 GB minimum with zram swap)
- Clarify boot menu entries and recovery accessibility from live, GRUB, and installed system
- Add fws-recovery as GTK application with bash engine and console fallback
- Document zram swap configuration for both live and installed system
- Detail recovery system integration: GRUB entry, systemd target, polkit policy, and desktop launcher
- Update syslinux splash and DEFAULT entry documentation
- Expand merge rule warning with syslinux-linux.cfg example and BIOS boot status
- Enhance troubleshooting section with detailed recovery procedures and known issues resolutions
- Add information about splash watchdog, RAM warnings, and diagnostic auto-generation
Update the Anaconda branding removal checklist item from incomplete to completed, documenting the implementation details:
- Product name changed to FWS via ANACONDA_PRODUCTNAME and ANACONDA_PRODUCTVERSION variables
- Variables exported by live .xinitrc and read from FWS os-release
- Installation header displays "FWS 1.0 INSTALLATION"
- BIOS boot menu visual replaced with FWS splash screen
- Modified Anaconda version documented in LICENSING.md and TRADEMARKS.md
Also update the compliance date from 2026-06-17 to 2026-07-07.
Add PolicyKit authorization policy file to allow fws-recovery-gui to execute fws-recovery engine via pkexec with administrative privileges. The policy uses auth_admin_keep to require authentication only once per session.
Add a new scalable SVG icon for FWS recovery application featuring a medical cross symbol in FWS brand colors (blues) on a dark background. Icon is placed in the standard hicolor scalable apps directory.
Add desktop entry file for FWS Recovery application launcher in the installed OS. Provides bilingual (French/English) interface for system repair operations including GRUB, initramfs, and pacman restoration. The application runs as a regular user with privilege escalation handled via pkexec.
Add a new script that launches an X session with Openbox and the fws-recovery-gui application. This script is executed by startx during the FWS repair boot entry, providing a minimal graphical environment with Openbox as a fallback if the GUI crashes.
Implement a graphical interface for the FWS system recovery tool using GTK3.
Features:
- Scans for FWS installations on disk
- Provides action buttons for common repairs: GRUB reinstall, initramfs
regeneration, pacman repair, and full system repair
- Displays real-time engine output in a log viewer
- Supports both root session (live mode) and regular user (pkexec elevation)
- Includes terminal access (chroot) for manual diagnostics
- Offers system reboot/poweroff controls
The GUI replaces Arch Linux branding with FWS in output for consistency
while preserving technical identifiers (package names, file paths) for
accurate diagnostics.
Enable compressed swap in RAM (zram) for the live environment to prevent memory saturation issues on systems with limited RAM. This configuration provides necessary headroom during Anaconda installation by leveraging zram's ~3:1 compression ratio on Python heaps. The configuration is automatically copied to installed systems via LiveOS payload, maintaining this safety net post-installation on modest hardware.
Add new systemd target unit for FWS system recovery mode. This target is invoked via GRUB boot menu entry "Reparer FWS" and provides a multi-user environment with network access plus recovery session. The service includes proper dependency management to ensure getty@tty1 is properly handled.
Add systemd service unit for FWS system recovery boot mode. This service handles recovery session initialization on tty1 with fallback from GUI (via startx/openbox) to console assistant if graphical startup fails. The service is only activated via fws-recovery.target kernel command line parameter and does not interfere with normal boot processes.
Add a new GRUB menu entry script that provides system recovery functionality.
The script generates a 'Réparer FWS (récupération du système)' menu entry that boots the system into fws-recovery.target with the fws.recovery=1 marker. This allows the recovery application to launch and perform system repairs via GUI or console fallback.
The script uses the fallback initramfs for maximum hardware compatibility during recovery operations, matching the UUID-based root detection logic of the standard 10_linux script.
Add file permissions configuration for new recovery-related executables and grub module:
- fws-recovery-session executable
- fws-recovery-gui executable
- grub.d recovery module
All set with standard executable permissions (755) and root ownership.
Document the FWS recovery boot entry generated by GRUB configuration and explain how the fws-recovery.target and fws-recovery-boot.service work together. Clarify that no explicit activation is needed as the service has no [Install] section and is pulled by the target through Requires, while the desktop launcher provides an alternative way to invoke recovery.
Split monolithic script into modular functions and add subcommand interface:
- Add scan subcommand to list FWS installations
- Add repair subcommand with actions: grub, initramfs, pacman, pacman-update, all
- Add shell subcommand for chroot terminal access
- Implement support for operating on running system (no mount/chroot needed)
- Extract detection and mounting logic into reusable functions
- Add in_target() helper to execute commands in target (chroot or direct)
- Improve mkinitcpio warning documentation
- Maintain backward-compatible TUI mode when no args provided
- Enable GUI (fws-recovery-gui) to pilot repairs via subcommands
Change the description from "Une distribution Arch Linux" to "Une distribution Linux" to better reflect the project's identity and avoid limiting it to Arch Linux specifically.
Remove the outdated syslinux-linux.cfg configuration file from the baseline syslinux directory. This file is no longer needed as the project has moved away from syslinux-based boot configurations.
Add file permission entries for new recovery-related executables and grub configuration:
- /usr/local/bin/fws-recovery-session
- /usr/local/bin/fws-recovery-gui
- /etc/grub.d/42_fws-recovery
All entries set to 0:0:755 (root owner, executable).
Changed recovery mode (fws.recovery=1) to start X server with the GTK recovery application (fws-recovery-session) instead of directly launching the console assistant. This provides a graphical interface when possible, with a fallback to the console assistant if X fails to start.
Also updated comments to clarify the different recovery mechanisms on the live ISO versus the installed system.
Add memory check warning for systems with less than 2GB RAM.
Replace simple pulsing splash with active monitoring that displays:
- Real-time anaconda activity from log files
- Elapsed time and current operation
- Stall detection after 4 minutes of inactivity
- Automatic diagnostic report collection (journal, dmesg, udev status)
- Detection of GUI readiness to auto-hide splash
Add anaconda branding environment variables (ANACONDA_PRODUCTNAME,
ANACONDA_PRODUCTVERSION, ANACONDA_ISFINAL) to show "FWS" instead of
"Fedora" in installer headers and logs.
Improve splash cleanup to handle both feeder process and optional
diagnostic dialogs.
Add zenity for graphical dialogs in the installer, xterm for terminal debugging and Openbox menu entry, and fws-dnd for D&D 5e management functionality (dice, characters, grimoire, sessions, combat).
Implement a robust desktop installation retry system that handles transient network issues during the Arch installation process.
Changes:
- Create fws-desktop-retry script in /usr/local/bin for manual recovery after installation
- Add DNS resolution wait loop (up to 10 attempts with 3-second intervals)
- Implement pacman retry logic with up to 3 attempts (15-second delay between retries)
- Generate /var/lib/fws/desktop-failed marker file on installation failure
- Create informative MOTD message guiding users to retry desktop installation
- Preserve FWS-specific MOTD when it contains retry instructions
This allows users to recover from network/mirror failures without reinstalling the entire system.
Replace simple serial-based menu with system detection logic using whichsys.c32 to automatically select between PXE and direct system boot. This enables dynamic boot method selection while maintaining support for both boot scenarios.
BREAKING CHANGE: Changes syslinux.cfg structure from single menu-based boot to conditional boot selection. Systems relying on the previous serial menu interface and default 'arch' label will need to adapt to the new whichsys-based selection mechanism.
Remove the custom fws-local repository section from the baseline pacman configuration. This local repository reference is no longer needed in the baseline setup.
Update the UEFI boot loader entry to reflect FWS install medium branding, add sort-key directive for boot order control, align configuration formatting, and increase udev event timeout to 45 seconds for improved hardware compatibility during boot.
Expand the ISO branding documentation to include a detailed warning about the build process where baseline configs overwrite releng configs. Add a list of critical files that must be kept in sync between both profiles (profiledef.sh, packages.x86_64, pacman.conf, efiboot/loader/entries/01-archiso-linux.conf, syslinux/syslinux.cfg) and include a verification command to detect file divergences. This prevents silent data loss from config mismatches during the build.
picom's GPU compositing causes GTK window repaint issues in virtual environments (vmwgfx/llvmpipe), resulting in black content and visual artifacts. Use systemd-detect-virt to skip picom execution on VMs while keeping it enabled on real hardware.
The rounded corners feature is sacrificed in VM environments to maintain stable window rendering.
Add desktop entry file to hide the xfce4-about application from application menus. Since xfce4-about is a dependency of Thunar through libxfce4ui and does not require a full XFCE session, this entry prevents it from appearing in application launchers by leveraging XDG_DATA_DIRS priority where /usr/local/share takes precedence over /usr/share.
Add a Python-based power menu script that works with both Hyprland (Wayland) and i3 (X11) desktop environments. Supports lock, logout, suspend, reboot, and poweroff actions with appropriate display server backends (wofi for Hyprland, rofi for i3).
Add a new GTK3-based Python application that displays an "About FWS" dialog with two tabs:
- "Le projet FWS" tab: shows project name, description, features, and home URL
- "Système" tab: displays system information including OS, kernel, desktop environment, hardware (CPU, memory, GPUs, disks)
The application detects system information from /proc, lsblk, lspci, and environment variables. It replaces the default Xfce About dialog with FWS branding.
Update package lists for Hyprland and i3 desktop environments:
- Replace thunar file manager with dolphin (KDE's file manager)
- Add kio-extras for dolphin functionality
- Replace gvfs with udisks2 for USB mounting
- Update comments to reflect new mount mechanism
This change improves consistency and provides better integration for the respective desktop environments.
Add a new power module to the polybar configuration that displays a power icon and triggers the fws-powermenu command on click. The module is styled with red foreground color and integrated into the modules-right bar.
Replace thunar file manager with dolphin for consistency.
Add power menu keybinding (Super+X) for shutdown/restart operations.
Add floating window rules for fws-hello and fws-about applications.
Import Gdk and GLib modules to properly configure window behavior.
Set deterministic WM_CLASS using GLib.set_prgname() so that i3/Hyprland
window rules targeting "fws-hello" floating window behavior work correctly.
Set window type hint to DIALOG and disable resizing to ensure the window
remains floating with its natural size instead of being stretched across
the entire workspace, which would result in unreadable layout.
Add rofi configuration file with FWS styling matching the Hyprland wofi look. Includes dark background, blue borders and selection, icon support, and Catppuccin Mocha color scheme.
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