development
Development
Where Almond stands, what comes next, and how we will know each step is really done.
Status ledger · 15 October 2026
- now
- 0.1 ‘Marcona’ – in progress
- built
- nothing yet
- iso
- none
- base
- Debian 13 ‘trixie’ (planned)
01 · roadmap
Roadmap
Five steps, from a first bootable image to a first stable public release. The first three take their codenames from Spanish almond varieties; 0.5 and 1.0 have not been named yet. Nothing here is marked done, because nothing is done yet.
- Almond 0.1 ‘Marcona’ First bootable Debian-based ISO Status: In progress Build configuration drafted with Debian live-build. No ISO has been built yet.
- Almond 0.2 ‘Largueta’ Custom Almond branding, wallpaper, themes, and system identity Status: Planned
- Almond 0.3 ‘Valencia’ Customized desktop experience Status: Planned
- Almond 0.5 Graphical installer and testing Status: Planned
- Almond 1.0 First stable public release Status: Planned
How a milestone counts as done
Every milestone has a list of evidence it has to produce before it is marked done. Until that evidence exists, the milestone stays ‘In progress’ or ‘Planned’, however close it looks.
For 0.1, that means an ISO hash, a build log, a package manifest, booting in both BIOS and UEFI mode, repeated boot, networking and terminal checks, and memory reports from five boots.
02 · definition of done
Definition of done
A milestone is done when it can be shown to work, not when it seems to.
This is the evidence each step has to produce first. It is written down before any of the work is finished, so it is clear in advance what each step has to show.
| Version | Evidence required before it is marked done |
|---|---|
| 0.1 ‘Marcona’ | An ISO hash, a build log and a package manifest; booting in both BIOS and UEFI mode; repeated boot, networking and terminal checks; memory reports from five boots. |
| 0.2 ‘Largueta’ | An original, licensed logo and wallpaper; a contrast review of the colour palette; screenshots. |
| 0.3 ‘Valencia’ | Usability and regression checks of the layout, the launcher, the settings and software management. |
| 0.5 | Installs on disposable disks; account and permission tests; updates that persist; bootloader and recovery validation; a security review. |
| 1.0 | A published support matrix; maintained updates; release, source and license materials; reproducible build instructions; a support process. |
Nothing is marked done yet.
Milestones · 14 October 2026
- done
- none yet
- underway
- 0.1 ‘Marcona’
- planned
- 0.2 · 0.3 · 0.5 · 1.0
03 · technical direction
Technical direction
Almond starts from Debian and will be built with Debian’s own tools.
This is the direction for now. None of it has been tested on a finished image, because there is no finished image yet.
Planned base and build
- base
- Debian Stable, currently Debian 13 ‘trixie’
- build
- Debian live-build
- edition
- AALDM first
- target
- 64-bit PCs, BIOS and UEFI
- desktop
- LXQt + Openbox on X11
- dev only
- ARM64 virtual machines
- testing
- virtual machines, before any real hardware
- apple
- native install on Apple Silicon Macs: not a goal
Debian underneath
The planned base is Debian Stable, currently Debian 13 ‘trixie’. Almond’s own work will sit on top of Debian’s packages, and every upstream package keeps its own license.
Built with live-build
Images will be built with Debian live-build, Debian’s tool for building live system images. The build configuration targets AALDM on 64-bit PCs and is meant to make one hybrid ISO for both older BIOS PCs and newer UEFI PCs. An ARM64 variant exists only for development virtual machines. Neither has produced an image yet.
A light desktop
AALDM’s planned desktop is LXQt with the Openbox window manager on X11, with no compositor and no animations. The goals are under 300 MB of memory when idle, and PCs with 1 GB where feasible. These are targets. Real numbers will be published, with the method, once there is an image to measure.
Virtual machines first
Every build will be tested in a virtual machine before it goes near real hardware:
- QEMU-based tools, such as QEMU/KVM or UTM;
- VirtualBox, where it supports the architecture.
After that, the first real test PC is a 2011 office desktop, booted only from a USB stick.
ARM64 is not Apple hardware
The ARM64 variant is only for development virtual machines. ARM64 is not a target of any planned version, running in ARM64 VMs does not mean support for Apple hardware, and native installation on Apple Silicon Macs is not a goal.
Long term: going independent
Debian is the starting point, not the destination. Versions 0.1 to 1.0 are built on Debian Stable. After that, Almond plans to replace what it borrows, one layer at a time:
- An Almond package repository for Almond’s own software, on top of Debian.
- Building packages from source on Almond’s own build system.
- A fully independent Almond, no longer based on Debian.
Independence has a real cost: every package then needs its own maintenance, security fixes and build servers. Each step will only start once the one before it works and can be maintained. No dates are promised.
04 · editions
Editions: decided and open
Two editions are defined: AALLDM for newer PCs and AALDM for older and low-power 64-bit PCs. AALDM comes first; AALLDM will be designed separately, later.
Here is what has been decided for each one and what is still open, so that nobody mistakes a plan for a decision.
When we say an edition is light or fast, we will publish the numbers behind it – idle memory, boot time, disk use – with the method, so anyone can repeat the test.
Edition · large
AALLDM
A All Large Linux Distribution Model
The large edition, for newer PCs.
- desktop
- not chosen
- hardware
- minimum not decided
- cpu
- architectures open
- timing
- after AALDM
Edition · little
AALDM
A All Little Distribution Model
The little edition, for older and low-power 64-bit PCs. Debian 13 no longer supports installing on 32-bit PCs, so AALDM will need a 64-bit PC.
- desktop
- LXQt + Openbox on X11
- hardware
- minimum not decided
- memory
- goal: idle under 300 MB
- cpu
- 64-bit PCs (amd64)
- timing
- first: 0.1 ‘Marcona’
05 · almond pure
Almond Pure
The look of AALDM: flat, warm, and light enough for old PCs.
The design was approved on 14 October 2026 as a set of design mockups. These are some of the first real icon files made from it.
Alongside them in the repository are folder icons in seven colours, window themes in Light, Dark and Ocean, the Almond Launcher, set to open with the Super key, and wallpapers. All of it exists as source files only. None of it has been tested in a running system yet.
From the Almond Pure icon theme
Home
Documents
Downloads
Pictures
Music
Videos
Launcher
Files
Terminal
Settings
Software
Updates
06 · development log
Development log
Dated entries for things that have actually happened, newest first. Plans live on the roadmap above; this list is only for what is already true.
- AALDM build configuration and the first Almond Pure source files published: icon theme with folder colours, window themes, the Almond Launcher and wallpapers. Not built or tested yet.
- AALDM chosen as the first edition: LXQt with the Openbox window manager on X11, for 64-bit PCs.
- Almond Pure, the visual design for AALDM, approved as a set of design mockups.
- First public repositories published on GitHub under the MIT License: almond-linux (the build configuration) and almondlinux.github.io (this website).
- Long-term direction decided: start on Debian, then become a fully independent distribution step by step.
- Release codenames chosen from Spanish almond varieties: ‘Marcona’ for 0.1, ‘Largueta’ for 0.2 and ‘Valencia’ for 0.3.
- Two editions defined: AALLDM for newer PCs and AALDM for older and low-power 64-bit PCs.
- The AlmondLinux organisation is created on GitHub.
- The almond logo is adopted as the official mark.
- First draft of the build configuration written: a live-build setup for an ARM64 UEFI virtual machine, a desktop package list, an image-identity hook and a guarded build script. Checked at the time: shell syntax, and that the build script refuses to run outside Linux. Not yet checked: package resolution, image generation, booting, networking, security defaults and installation. Later the same day this draft was replaced by the AALDM configuration for 64-bit PCs; ARM64 remains only for development VMs.
Newest first. That’s the whole log so far.
07 · follow along
Follow along
The main repository is github.com/