Kulan OS 2.8c (build 115)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Security and activity in Kulan Fleet

• A weekly security report in Kulan Fleet: which computers need security updates or a restart, which aren't encrypted, have the firewall off, fail compliance or haven't reported for a week, plus people and the week's changes, compared with last week. Save it as a PDF
• Admin-rights reviews: everyone with administrator rights, on the computers and in Kulan Fleet, with when they last used them. The Owner keeps or takes away each one and the review is recorded; it's due every 90 days
• The activity log can be searched by date, by who and by what, and exported as a CSV file for auditors
• Who uses which computer: each computer reports which accounts use it and when each was last used (never what they do). Kulan Settings lists this under what's shared

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.8.3

Kulan OS 2.8b (build 112)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Groups and policies in Kulan Fleet

• Groups in Kulan Fleet: put an organisation's computers and people in groups (Office, Finance…), each with a policy of its own. A computer keeps to the organisation's policy and to every group it's in, and the stricter rule always wins
• USB drives: an organisation can block USB storage, or allow only the drives it approved (each one by its serial number). Keyboards, mice, phones charging and other USB devices always work
• Apps: a policy can require apps (installed from Debian or Flathub, and installed again if removed) or block them (removed and kept off). Parts of Kulan OS can never be blocked, and a computer won't remove an app if that would take other software with it
• Install an app once on one computer, or on every computer in a group
• People can be allowed on every computer in a group, including computers added to it later
• Kulan Settings shows each of the organisation's rules on this computer and, if one isn't met, why. None of this applies to a computer that hasn't joined an organisation, and leaving takes it all away (apps stay as they are)

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.8.2

Kulan OS 2.8a (build 109)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

People in Kulan Fleet

• People in Kulan Fleet: an organisation's own accounts on its computers. An admin adds someone (name, username, role, which computers), and their name is on the sign-in screen of those computers within the hour
• First sign-in with a one-time setup code, then they choose their own password straight away. The password follows them to the organisation's other computers; Kulan Fleet only ever keeps a scrambled form of it
• Roles: the Owner (who decides who the admins are, with a recovery code if their email is lost), admins (administrator rights on the computers) and employees
• Disable someone and they're locked out everywhere at the next report; remove them and their account goes, with their files kept for handover unless the admin chooses to delete them. Accounts the organisation didn't make are never touched
• Kulan Fleet can switch a computer off (5 minutes' notice) or put it in lost mode: nobody can sign in, the sign-in screen says whom to return it to, and it keeps reporting until it's released
• Every change is in the organisation's activity log, with who made it

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.8.1

Kulan OS 2.6.1 (build 93)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Instant answers, and fixes from testing 2.6

• Ask Kulan answers the time, the date, your battery and free space straight away, even before you've downloaded a model
• Saved passwords and automatic sign-in: if you sign in automatically, apps that use saved passwords (Wi-Fi, browsers, online accounts) ask for the keyring's password, because nothing unlocked it. Setup now says so, and Kulan Settings › Users offers a fix: turn off automatic sign-in (recommended), or keep it and remove the keyring's password
• Smaller restore points: they leave out apps from Flathub, the assistant's models, Docker's data and downloaded update files, which all come back from where they were downloaded
• Short names in the app grid for apps whose names were cut off, like Writer, Calc, GIMP and VLC. Search still finds the full names
• Update History shows one update as one entry
• Kulan Fleet sign-in accepts the address however it was copied, and the Kulan Assistant window shows its name and icon in the dock

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.6.1

Kulan OS 2.7 (build 100)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Ask Kulan, the app, and Kulan's own apps in the Store

• Ask Kulan, the app: a conversation with the assistant in its own window. Ask questions, or say what you'd like done, and follow up ("and the Desktop too"). Changes still wait for Do it and can be undone. Your conversations are kept only on this computer, listed at the side; turn that off or delete them in Kulan Settings › Assistant
• The Store (formerly Kulan Store): Kulan's picks are its Editor's Choice, and Kulan's own apps are listed there, starting with Kulan Fleet, installed from Kulan's own update channel. Each app's page shows what it can access and who publishes it before you install
• Plain names: Terminal, Disk Usage and Firewall in the app grid, dock and search, and Software Update names app updates the same way (Text Editor, Image Viewer, Store…)
• Kulan Settings › About shows whether 3D graphics acceleration is on, and what to do if it's off (in a virtual machine, turn on 3D in its display settings)
• Kulan Fleet: a lost computer shows a notice 20 seconds before it's erased, and switching it off then doesn't stop the erase
• The anonymous weekly count says which week it's counting, so a count near midnight on Sunday can't be counted twice

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.7

Kulan OS 2.8 test 1 (not a release)

Packages from build 40141039613 for testing on an installed Kulan OS. Not on the update channel. In Terminal: curl -fsSL https://github.com/mmohamud25/kulan-os/releases/download/v2.8-test1/kulan-test-update.sh | sh

Kulan OS 2.6 (build 90)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Your phone, your backups, and a lighter Kulan for 4 GB computers

• Phone link: share files and links with your phone, see its notifications here, and read and send texts from the computer. Install it from Kulan Settings › Phone (about 5 MB), install KDE Connect on the phone, and pair. Works best with Android; on iPhone, files and the clipboard. Nothing listens on the network until you install it, and it can be switched off there
• Backups in one place: Kulan Settings › Backups backs up your files to a USB drive or another disk, encrypted and automatically, and brings back everything or an earlier version of one file
• Lighter mode for computers with 4 GB of memory: on by itself there, with fewer effects, file search that never gets in the way, and more compressed memory. Kulan Settings › Battery and power switches it
• Ask Kulan does more: find photos from last week, list the biggest files, find duplicate files, set timers, add to your to-do list, fix Bluetooth and printers, and back up now. Speak your question with the microphone button, or ask about text on the screen, such as an error message. And an Ask Kulan button in the top bar
• Clipboard history pastes for you: pick something you copied earlier and it goes straight into the app you were using
• Quick Note and To-do say when they can't save, and have Undo after you delete something
• Counting computers, privately: once a week Kulan OS sends only its version, PC or Mac, and roughly how long it's been installed, so we know how many computers to support. No ID and nothing about you. Switch it off in Kulan Settings › Privacy, where What's sent shows the exact report
• For organisations (Kulan Fleet, now in Kulan Settings › Add-ons): policies for automatic updates, the firewall, the screen lock and encryption; each computer's apps; a Needs attention list; an activity log; and erasing a lost or stolen computer, only when its user allowed it and its disk is encrypted
• Every update is now tested by installing the previous release and updating it, the way Software Update does, before it reaches you

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.6

Kulan OS 2.5 (build 81)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

Ask Kulan, a faster desktop and a more powerful Terminal

• Ask Kulan: press Shift+Cmd+Space (Shift+Windows key+Space on a PC) and ask anything, or say what you'd like done. It answers from what it can see on this computer ("why is my laptop slow?"), tidies Downloads or the Desktop into folders, sets reminders that come even after a restart, fixes Wi-Fi and sound, checks what's using space and changes settings. It shows you first and waits for Do it, and most things can be undone. Kulan Assistant runs on this computer: nothing you type leaves it
• Apps ready sooner: a couple of minutes after you sign in, while the computer is idle, Kulan OS gets Firefox, Files, Terminal and Kulan Settings ready, so the first time you open them is as quick as the next. Only with memory to spare, never on battery, and the memory is given back whenever anything needs it
• A more powerful Terminal: Ctrl+R searches everything you've typed before, Ctrl+T finds a file, "z" jumps to folders you use, nicer file listings with eza, and ripgrep, fd, bat and btop built in
• One search: Cmd+Space finds apps, files, every setting (printers and sharing too, with nothing listed twice) and sums, and its last result, Ask Kulan, opens Ask Kulan with what you typed
• The kulan command: kulan info shows this computer at a glance, kulan update installs updates, kulan doctor checks for common problems and says how to fix them, and kulan settings opens any page
• Ask Kulan Assistant in the Terminal: ask how to do something with kulan ask, and after a command fails press Alt+K to hear why and how to fix it. It runs on this computer
• Missing commands: type one that isn't installed and the Terminal says which package has it
• Printers in Kulan Settings: see each printer and what it's doing, pick the default, print a test page, pause it or cancel waiting pages, and add a printer found on your network or plugged in, without drivers for most modern printers
• TPM unlock (Kulan Settings › Security › Start-up): on computers with a TPM 2.0 chip and Secure Boot on, type a short PIN at start-up instead of the long disk password, and the chip locks itself after repeated wrong guesses. The disk password still works whenever the chip says no

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.5

Kulan OS 2.4.1 (build 67)

Download from https://os.kulangroup.com/download/ (PC: kulan-os-amd64.iso, Apple Silicon Macs and ARM: kulan-os-arm64.iso).
Check a download with sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing; SHA256SUMS.sig is signed with the update channel's key (https://os.kulangroup.com/apt/kulan-archive-keyring.gpg).

A simpler Software Update

• Software Update, simpler: Automatic Updates and Update History at the top, one clear status in the middle, and More Details on the Kulan OS website. Updates show by the names you know, like Firefox or Encryption, instead of package codes
• The Kulan OS website: os.kulangroup.com has the downloads, an install guide (including keeping Windows), what's new in every version, and help

Full notes for every version: https://os.kulangroup.com/whats-new/#v2.4.1

Kulan OS 2.3 test 4 (not a release)

Packages from build 39719898104 for testing on an installed Kulan OS. Not on the update channel. In Terminal: curl -fsSL https://github.com/mmohamud25/kulan-os/releases/download/v2.3-test4/kulan-test-update.sh | sh