# 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.