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Not a distribution, yet. Just Arch, GNOME and some very good scripts.

A tiling Arch desktop, ready for work in one command.

CoreDesktop takes a fresh Arch Linux + GNOME install and turns it into a keyboard-first workstation with a flexible tiling system, with the apps, developer tools, firewall, snapshots, backups and sandboxed AI agents already set up.

Install CoreDesktop What's included
CoreDesktop · 5120 × 1440 ultrawide

CoreDesktop is some scripts, not a distribution, yet. Arch Linux does the heavy lifting, so you get upstream fixes as they land, and a flexible tiling desktop that makes the most of any screen, ultrawides included.

What you get

Everything set up, nothing in the way.

One install script, safe to run again. If something fails, run it again. It skips what’s already done.

  • A tiling desktop you drive from the keyboardGNOME with the Tiling Shell extension: a flexible tiling system you can lay out however you like, Super + arrow keys to move windows, and the full mouse-friendly desktop when you want it.
  • The software you'd install anywayFrom pacman, the AUR, Flathub and mise: browsers, messaging, office, media, notes, remote desktop, database clients and local AI, plus a full developer toolchain.
  • Sandboxed AI agentsopencode, Hermes Agent, Cline Desktop and Claude Code run in a sandbox that can only change your project folder and can’t read your keys or passwords.
  • Snapshots and backupsSnapper snapshots / before every update. configure adds encrypted, daily restic backups of your home folder to your Nextcloud.
  • Safe by defaultThe ufw firewall is on, Docker can’t punch holes in it, and audit shows every open port and who can reach it.
  • One command to stay currentupdate snapshots, then updates Arch, GNOME, AUR, Flatpaks, Ruby, extensions and firmware, and tells you if a step failed.

By the numbers

A lot of setup you won’t have to do.

1 command to install, after Arch and GNOME
48 Flatpak apps, from browsers to video editing
4 AI coding agents, each in a sandbox
20 steps that update runs, in order

How it works

From USB stick to working desktop.

  1. Install Arch with GNOME

    001

    Boot the Arch ISO and run archinstall. Choose the desktop profile, GNOME, pipewire and the right GPU driver.

  2. Run one command

    002

    Open a terminal, paste the install command, and enter your password once. Then be patient: it takes a while.

  3. Configure and reboot

    003

    configure connects your Federated Core, joins your Tailscale network, sets up backups and signs in your AI agents.

Read the full install guide

The install command

Already on Arch and GNOME?

Open a terminal and paste this in.

Terminal
wget -qO- https://gitea.federated.computer/Federated_Computer/coredesktop/raw/branch/main/install.sh | bash

The scripts live in ~/.local/share/coredesktop/. Read install.sh before you run it.

Built for Federated Computer

Even better with your Federated Core.

CoreDesktop is what the Federated Computer team works on every day. Point it at your Core and it wires itself into your apps.

  • Accounts

    Calendar, contacts, files and email

    Your Nextcloud and email go into GNOME Online Accounts, your files mount in the Files sidebar, and Element points at your Core’s Matrix server.

    Connect your Core
  • Network

    Your own Tailscale network

    Join this computer to your Core’s headscale, so you can reach your other machines from anywhere.

    Set up Tailscale
  • Backups

    Encrypted, daily, off this machine

    restic backs up your home folder to your Nextcloud: 7 daily, 4 weekly and 6 monthly, with a passphrase only you keep.

    How restoring works

Questions

Good to know before you start.

Is CoreDesktop a Linux distribution?

Not yet. Today it’s a set of scripts that runs on top of a standard Arch Linux and GNOME install. Arch does the heavy lifting; CoreDesktop adds the extensions, software and configuration.

Do I need a Federated Computer account?

No. Everything except the configure steps for your Core, its Tailscale network and backups works on its own. A lot of the software is chosen for work at Federated Computer, but you may find it useful too.

What if the install fails halfway?

Run the command again. It skips what’s already done and picks up where it stopped.

Does it work on ultrawide monitors?

That’s what it’s best at. The tiling system adapts to any screen: pick a layout from the tiling icon in the top-right corner, or make your own.

Can I use KDE or some other window manager?

Yes, but you won’t be happy. CoreDesktop is meant to be an opinionated installation that leans into GNOME and everything it provides. In our opinion, GNOME offers the best combination of keyboard window management with the traditional mouse options for dragging things around, including windows. If you want another window manager like KDE, there are fantastic distributions such as CachyOS.

Can I add my own tools on top?

Yes. A sibling project is any git repository with an optional install.sh and update.sh. Install it with sibling, and every update keeps it current.

Sibling projects