From 71db7fd6eca4daf24aa35d523bf145c27ae0b6b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: ekklesia Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:40:43 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] docs: open the classroom v2 architecture experiment Records the exact stable base commit, the fact that the development host cannot create a VM, and the first measurement worth having: Debian 13 already ships Plasma 6.3.6. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 --- docs/classroom-v2-experiment.md | 79 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 79 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/classroom-v2-experiment.md diff --git a/docs/classroom-v2-experiment.md b/docs/classroom-v2-experiment.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..741d851 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/classroom-v2-experiment.md @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +# Classroom v2 architecture experiment + +An open re-evaluation of the whole Ekklesia Classroom desktop stack, with +reliability as the first requirement. Nothing here reaches a stable, canary +or hyprland room, and nothing here changes the development host. + +## Base + +| | | +| --- | --- | +| branch | `experiment/classroom-v2` | +| base commit | `aadb1b881977b0eb25e1ca10e060977bed31a48f` | +| base subject | *fix: keep the system print dialog in front of the window that rendered it* | +| `VERSION` at base | `0.1.44` | + +That commit is the published **stable** build, verified rather than assumed: +`repo/stable/manifest.json` names `ekklesia-classroom_0.1.44_amd64.deb` with +sha256 `7de568...81041`, and the copy in `repo/packages/` hashes to exactly +that. The branch is not built on `experiment/hyprland`; `git ls-files` on it +contains no Hyprland file. + +## What the experiment must not do + +* No change to the development host's OS, packages, partitions or bootloader. +* No in-place distribution upgrade or migration. +* No touching stable, canary, or a real classroom machine. +* Alternate operating systems get a disposable environment or a written VM + specification, never the host. + +## The development host, as found + +Recorded because it bounds what can be tested here. + +| | | +| --- | --- | +| OS | Debian 13 trixie (13.5), kernel 6.12.90 | +| machine | already a VM — root is `/dev/vda2`, GPU is `bochs-drm`, CPU is `QEMU Virtual CPU` | +| nested virtualisation | **none** — `/dev/kvm` does not exist | +| libvirt / qemu / VirtualBox | not installed | +| containers | Docker 26.1.5, cgroup v2, `/dev/uinput` present | +| resources | 6 vCPU, 11 GiB RAM, 160 GiB free | + +**Consequence: this session cannot create a virtual machine.** There is no +KVM and no hypervisor. Every alternate OS or desktop that needs real +hardware-level isolation has to be either tested in a container or written up +as a VM specification for someone with a hypervisor to run. The previous +Hyprland milestone hit the same wall and used containers; that lab worked, and +this experiment extends it rather than inventing a new one. + +## Hypothesis being tested + +> The classroom's reliability problems — a shell that vanished in production, +> no minimised-window feedback, secondary windows fighting the main browser, +> and a growing pile of compositor glue — are all symptoms of having written a +> desktop environment by hand. A mature integrated desktop already solves each +> one, and Debian 13 already ships one. + +`apt-cache policy` inside a throwaway `debian:trixie` container, on the same +archive the classroom already tracks: + +| package | Debian 13 version | +| --- | --- | +| plasma-workspace | 4:6.3.6-2 | +| plasma-desktop | 4:6.3.6-1 | +| kwin-wayland | 4:6.3.6-1 | +| pipewire / wireplumber | 1.4.2 / 0.5.8 | +| vlc | 3.0.23 | +| cups | 2.4.10 | +| chromium | 152.0.7977.82 | +| firefox-esr | 140.15.0esr | + +So a full Plasma 6.3 desktop is available **without leaving Debian**, which +means the entire `.deb`/apt OTA investment survives the change. That is the +first thing that has to be checked, because if a better desktop required +Fedora or Arch, this experiment would have to stop at a VM specification. + +## Status + +See the checkpoint log at the end of this document.