Pulsar OS Packages (PKG)

This repository contains the source packages that make up Pulsar OS. PulsarOS is fully declarative: every package is defined here, built in CI and deployed to the Inled APT repository (and the Arch repository), and then pulled into the ISO at build time.

Repository structure

Path	Description
<package>/	Debian package sources. Each folder is a package with a DEBIAN/control file, the payload files (usr/, etc/, …) and usually a prepare-assets.sh script
arch/pkgbuilds/	Arch Linux PKGBUILDs (same packages, Arch edition)
build/	Local build output: packages/ (.deb files) and pkg-staging/ (staging dirs)
package-and-deploy.sh	Builds one or all packages into .deb files and optionally deploys them to the Inled APT repo
arch/package-and-deploy.sh	Same for Arch: builds .pkg.tar.zst archives with makepkg and deploys to the Inled Arch repo
test-*.sh, test-*.py	Testing helpers to validate packages in a chroot, QEMU/installer scenarios, bootsound, etc.
.github/workflows/	CI that builds and deploys packages on tag/release

Package list

System identity & branding

Package	What it does
pulsaros-branding	System identity files: /etc/os-release, /etc/issue, hostnames. Rebrands Debian/Arch as Pulsar OS. Replaces base-files
pulsaros-theme	MacTahoe GTK theme and icon theme, compiled and packaged for Pulsar OS
pulsaros-plymouth	macOS-like Plymouth boot splash; replaces the default Debian logos
pulsaros-bootsound	Plays the official startup sound at boot via a systemd service (aplay)

Bootloaders & login

Package	What it does
pulsaros-grub	macOS-like GRUB bootloader theme and configuration
pulsaros-refind	rEFInd bootloader configuration with the macOS theme
pulsaros-sddm	SDDM as display manager with the Apple Tahoe theme (keeps gdm3 libs so GNOME screen locking still works)

Desktop / GNOME

Package	What it does
pulsaros-gnome	Selected GNOME Shell extensions plus GSchema overrides and dconf databases to get a macOS-like desktop; replaces/conflicts with Dash to Dock
pulsaros-global-menu	GNOME Shell extension: macOS-style global menu bar in the top bar (GNOME 45-50, Wayland)
pulsaros-spotlight-launcher	GNOME Shell extension: Spotlight-like search launcher icon in the top bar (GNOME 45-50, Wayland)
pulsaros-control-center-button	GNOME Shell extension: Control Center quick-settings button that opens gnome-control-center
pulsaros-effects-settings	Desktop effects switcher: toggles between Blur my Shell and Liquid Glass (acrylic glassmorphism) and auto-tunes Dash to Dock for optimal rendering
gnome-macos-remap-wayland	macOS keyboard remap for GNOME on Wayland (based on xremap)
pulsaros-spotlight-launcher	GNOME Shell extension: Spotlight-like search launcher icon in the top bar (GNOME 45-50, Wayland). Fully native Rust/GTK4 binary at /usr/bin/pulsaros-spotlight

Apps & assistants

Package	What it does
sayri	Siri-like voice assistant: a reactive orb in the top-right corner (Expo/reacticx orb in a WebKitGTK window), whisper.cpp STT, any OpenAI-compatible provider, Piper TTS, AppIndicator tray icon and a settings window to download models/voices and configure the API

System utilities & installer

Package	What it does
pulsaros-essential	Essential config and utilities: Fildem HUD, network interface config, global locales, passwordless sudo and polkit. Pulls in the core app set (droidtux, macboat, appinstall, seafari, etc.)
pulsaros-recovery	Apple-like Native Installer + Recovery Assistant (Rust/GTK4 & Python): full system installation, Btrfs subvolumes, ESP/rEFInd setup, and restoration
pulsaros-welcome	Welcome/onboarding app: Apple-like "hello" animation and guides for resolution, Bluetooth, GSConnect, USB debugging, macOS, and feedback
pulsaros-meta	Metapackage: depends on the whole Pulsar OS package set. Bump its version whenever new packages are added so existing installations pull them on update

Build dependencies

Arch Linux / CachyOS / Manjaro

sudo pacman -S --needed \
  base-devel git jq curl wget unzip rsync fakeroot \
  meson ninja sassc blueprint-compiler gettext gobject-introspection gtk-update-icon-cache cmake \
  cargo rust

cargo/rust compile the Spotlight launcher (Rust/GTK4, no Python involved); meson/ninja build the custom Nautilus.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install -y \
  dpkg-dev fakeroot jq python3-pil \
  meson ninja-build git gettext blueprint-compiler cargo rustc \
  libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev libgnome-desktop-4-dev \
  libcolord-gtk4-dev libgoa-1.0-dev libgtop2-dev \
  libpwquality-dev libnm-dev libsecret-1-dev \
  libpolkit-gobject-1-dev libmalcontent-dev \
  libaccountsservice-dev libglib2.0-dev libgsound-dev \
  libjson-glib-dev libsoup-3.0-dev libwacom-dev \
  libibus-1.0-dev libkrb5-dev libgnutls28-dev \
  libxi-dev libx11-dev docbook-xsl xsltproc

These mirror what .github/workflows/deploy-package.yml installs in CI.

Building a package

# Build a single package locally
./package-and-deploy.sh pulsaros-theme

# Build ALL packages
./package-and-deploy.sh all

# Build and deploy everything to the Inled APT repo
./package-and-deploy.sh all --deploy

Arch equivalents live in arch/:

cd arch
./package-and-deploy.sh pulsaros-theme            # single package
./package-and-deploy.sh all --deploy --branch stable

The ISO build script (/ISO) can consume the packages from this repo's build/packages/ folder with the --local flag.

Local development tips

• Test your dash-to-dock fork without cloning from GitHub: PULSAR_DOCK_LOCAL_DIR=../dash-to-dock ./package-and-deploy.sh pulsaros-gnome
• Install the Spotlight Rust binary into your session for quick testing: ./install-spotlight-local.sh (goes to ~/.local/bin)