Contributing
Kira is organized as a small set of focused repositories under the shinigami-os organization on GitHub. Each one has a narrow, clear job.
| Repository | Contents | License |
|---|---|---|
shinigami | The Linux kernel fork and its patches | GPL-2.0 |
kira-base | The minimal bootstrap layer | GPL-2.0 |
flux | The package manager itself | GPL-2.0 |
flux-recipes | kotodama recipes for Kira's own (kira-*) packages | GPL-2.0 |
the-line | The Line, Kira's own desktop shell | GPL-3.0 |
the-line-ui | The Line's design language as a QML module, shared by the shell and the installer | GPL-3.0 |
kira-installer | The installer and the ISO that boots into it | GPL-2.0 |
kira-docs | This documentation | MIT |
Adding a package
Most software does not need a recipe at all: flux resolves any name without a kira- prefix directly against Alpine's package index, so if Alpine already carries what you want, there is nothing to contribute here.
A kotodama recipe in flux-recipes only makes sense for genuinely Kira-specific software - a new meta-package bundling a few Alpine dependencies with some Kira configuration, or a real from-source build for the rare thing Alpine doesn't carry. Either way the package name must start with kira-. See Writing a kotodama Recipe for the format, then open a pull request. Recipes are reviewed before merge against a short, fixed set of rules: a kira--prefixed directory name matching the package name, a real checksum, a direct source URL, and hooks that install into $DESTDIR rather than the live filesystem.
Kernel patches
Shinigami's patch philosophy is minimal diff from upstream, and every patch needs a documented reason. Patches are organized by category, perf/, mem/, sec/, compat/, and config/, and an upstream patch is never modified silently, if you change one, document why in the patch header.
Desktop configuration
The Line is its own repository, the-line; its recipe, kira-the-line, only fetches and installs it, so changes to the shell go there. The colours, motion and shared parts live in the-line-ui (recipe kira-the-line-ui), so a change to how everything looks belongs there. Sleex's default configuration is upstream's own sleex-user-config. Kira-only changes to it live as small build-time patches in the kira-sleex and kira-desktop-sleex recipes in flux-recipes, so a fix that every Sleex user would want belongs upstream in Sleex instead.
General workflow
- Fork the relevant repository.
- Make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request describing what changed and why.
- Expect review, Kira favors small, focused changes over large ones that touch several concerns at once.
Reporting a problem
Open an issue on the repository the problem actually belongs to, the kernel, flux, a specific recipe, the desktop configuration, or the installer. Include what you were doing, what you expected, and the exact output you got. See Troubleshooting first, in case it is already covered there.