ShaniOS 2025.11.01 Released – GNOME & Plasma Editions

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Hello everyone,

I am thrilled to announce the latest release of ShaniOS — version 2025.11.01 for both GNOME and Plasma editions. This release brings major architectural improvements with enhanced blue/green deployment, optional full disk encryption, OEM-ready out-of-box experience, streamlined installation, expanded persistent storage, and comprehensive hardware compatibility.

Downloads

OEM-Ready Out-of-Box Experience

Both editions now feature professional OEM setup capabilities for system integrators, manufacturers, and advanced users:

GNOME Edition

  • GNOME Initial Setup launches automatically when no user accounts exist on the system, running in a special session that creates new user accounts with language, keyboard, and timezone configuration

  • Integration with GDM ensures the setup process triggers on first boot when no users are present, supporting OEM provisioning workflows

  • Perfect for pre-configured systems where end users complete their own setup

Plasma Edition

  • plasma-setup: Production-ready OEM setup functionality designed specifically for vendors and system builders shipping hardware with KDE Plasma pre-installed

  • Handles user account creation, language selection, keyboard layout, timezone setup, and network configuration on first boot when no user accounts exist

  • Complements Plasma Welcome Center (which runs after first login) by handling initial account setup

Both setup tools provide a seamless first-boot experience, allowing system builders to pre-install ShaniOS and let end users configure their accounts on first power-on.

Major Installation & Deployment Improvements

Simplified Installation with os-installer

  • Optional Full Disk Encryption: LUKS2 encryption support for complete data protection

  • Entire Disk Installation Only: Streamlined to use full disk installation, removing manual partitioning options that weren’t compatible with our blue/green immutable architecture

  • Faster Setup: Optimized installation process tailored specifically for ShaniOS’s Btrfs subvolume structure

  • Required: Full disk access for proper blue/green root snapshots and subvolume management

Enhanced shani-deploy System

  • Improved Deduplication: Enhanced duperemove integration now actively deduplicates data across blue/green roots, significantly reducing disk space usage

  • Automatic fstab Management: shani-deploy now automatically handles all fstab changes during system updates

  • Intelligent Subvolume Updates: Seamlessly manages new subvolumes and bind mounts without manual intervention

  • Faster Downloads: Multi-connection downloads via aria2c for accelerated deployment

  • Smart Storage Optimization: Automatic deduplication and compression for maximum space efficiency

  • Clear Progress Notifications: Dialog-based notifications and terminal output for transparency

Enhanced Blue/Green Deployment Architecture

New Subvolume Structure: Expanded Btrfs subvolumes for better separation and persistence

  • @blue / @green - Immutable root filesystems (read-only, deduplicated)

  • @home - User data (persistent)

  • @data - Overlay storage and service state (persistent)

  • @cache - Package manager cache (shared between roots)

  • @log - System logs (persistent)

  • @flatpak - Flatpak applications (persistent)

  • @containers - Podman/Docker containers (persistent)

  • @machines - systemd-nspawn containers (persistent)

  • @libvirt - QEMU/KVM virtual machines (persistent, nodatacow)

  • @swap - Swap space (nodatacow)

Persistent Service State: New bind mounts preserve critical system service data across blue/green switches:

  • Core services: D-Bus, systemd, NetworkManager

  • Authentication: fprint, AccountsService, boltd

  • Display managers: GDM (GNOME) / SDDM (Plasma)

  • Hardware: Bluetooth, colord, upower, CUPS, SANE

  • Network services: firewalld, geoclue, Samba, NFS

Benefits:

  • OverlayFS for /etc - Configuration changes persist across deployments

  • Network settings, WiFi passwords, and Bluetooth pairings survive updates

  • Printer configurations, scanner settings, and color profiles maintained

  • Flatpak apps and containers remain available after switching roots

  • Intelligent Deduplication: Blue and green roots share identical blocks, minimizing space usage

  • Reduced Storage Requirements: Installable on devices with only 28 GB storage

GNOME Edition Highlights

GNOME 49 “Brescia” brings significant updates including Showtime as the new default video player replacing Totem, Papers document viewer replacing Evince, and enhanced Calendar with improved interface flexibility and event export capabilities. The release features new HDR wallpapers engineered for high-dynamic-range displays with Display P3 color space support, enhanced remote desktop capabilities with multitouch input forwarding, and improved GNOME Software performance with optimized Flatpak repository parsing.

  • GNOME 49 “Brescia”, Mutter 49, Nautilus 49

  • GNOME Console, GNOME Software 49

  • Lock screen media controls and updated tray icon support

  • Evolution Data Server integration

  • Baobab, Tecla text editor, improved GNOME System Monitor

  • GDM with persistent state across deployments

  • GNOME Initial Setup for OEM workflows

Plasma Edition Highlights

KDE Plasma 6.5 introduces rounded bottom window corners for Breeze-themed windows, automatic light-to-dark theme switching based on time of day, and improved HDR display support with a tweaked tone mapping curve. Notable additions include pinned clipboard items in Klipper (a feature requested 22 years ago), printer ink level monitoring, and support for overlay planes to reduce CPU usage and power draw.

  • KDE Plasma 6.5.1, KDE Frameworks 6.19.0

  • Qt 6.10.0, KWin compositor with enhanced HDR support

  • Hibernate option from login screen and improved RDP server with clipboard sharing

  • Dolphin 25.08.2, Konsole 25.08.2, Discover 6.5.1

  • plasma-setup: Professional OEM setup tool for first-boot user creation

  • SDDM with persistent state across deployments

Common System Updates

  • Linux Kernel: 6.17.6

  • Mesa: 25.2.6

  • NVIDIA Drivers: 580.95.05

  • systemd: 258.1

  • Pipewire: 1.4.9

  • GStreamer: 1.26.7

  • FFmpeg: 8.0

  • NetworkManager: 1.54.1

  • BlueZ: 5.84

  • Podman: 5.6.2 with Distrobox 1.8.1 (persistent containers)

  • Python: 3.13.7

  • Git: 2.51.2

  • GCC: 15.2.1

  • Zsh: 5.9 with Starship 1.24.0

Printer & Scanner Support

Expanded compatibility with multiple printer drivers:

  • HP (hplip-minimal)

  • Canon (cnijfilter2)

  • Epson (escpr2)

  • Brother (brlaser)

  • Generic (foo2zjs, splix, gutenprint)

  • SANE scanner support with persistent configuration

Security & Storage

  • Optional Full Disk Encryption: Protect your data with LUKS2 encryption during installation

  • Intelligent Deduplication: Automatic space-saving through duperemove in shani-deploy

  • Btrfs Compression: Transparent zstd compression across all subvolumes

Installation & Support

Both editions are signed and ready for deployment. The new streamlined installer with optional encryption, OEM setup tools, and automatic fstab management in shani-deploy make installations and updates effortless. Your system state, network configurations, paired devices, and application data persist seamlessly across blue/green deployments.

Important: ShaniOS requires full disk installation for proper blue/green architecture. Manual partitioning is not supported.

Visit the website at shani.dev or the SourceForge page for downloads and documentation.

I hope you enjoy this release! As always, feedback and contributions are welcome.

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