v4.0.3-1 (experimental)

[github-actions[bot]]

⚠️ Experimental — not yet verified on hardware

This release is published untested on real machines. CI installs
it in a VM; a VM exposes no NPU, one graphics device and no firmware
quirks, so a VM install passing says very little about a laptop.
Real installs have failed where every check was green.

The flake route (nixos-rebuild against this repo, see the
README) is the mature one and is what to use on a machine you care
about. The ISO installer is the least mature part of the project
and it partitions the disk before it can fail.

If you install from this image, please say how it went on the
release discussion — success as much as failure. The experimental
label comes off a release only once someone has reported a
successful install on physical hardware.

What this release is

Omarchy v4.0.3, packaged for NixOS, up from v4.0.2 in
v4.0.2-12. Upstream's notes for it:
https://github.com/basecamp/omarchy/releases/tag/v4.0.3

Packages v4.0.3 changes

Upstream's install lists, v4.0.2 → v4.0.3. Each line is a decision
this port either mirrors or knowingly does not.

Added

• broadcom-wl-dkms

Removed

• broadcom-wl

A removal is the one worth reading twice: upstream dropping a package
is often a security decision, and a comment in this repo may still be
citing it as a reason for something.

Seeded config files that changed. A machine installed from this
release starts with these. One you already run keeps the copies in
your ~/.config, which are yours.

• config/kitty/kitty.conf
• default/hypr/apps/hermes.lua

Configuration changes

Defaults that changed. These take effect on a machine whose
configuration.nix says nothing about them.

• programs.nixarchy.package: "store:omarchy-4.0.2" → "store:omarchy-4.0.3"
• programs.nixarchy.tree: "store:omarchy-4.0.2/share/omarchy" → "store:omarchy-4.0.3/share/omarchy"

New options.

• programs.nixarchy.apps.aether (default {})
• programs.nixarchy.apps.openclaw (default {})

NixOS defaults this port sets. Not options of ours -- these are
settings nixarchy chooses on your behalf, and a machine that never
mentioned them follows the new value.

• now services.nixi.enable = lib.mkDefault true; in modules/home.nix
• now gpu-screen-recorder.enable = lib.mkDefault true; in modules/nixos.nix
• now zramSwap.enable = lib.mkDefault true; in modules/nixos.nix

Package changes

Packages this repo pins by hand, rather than taking from nixpkgs.

• aether 4.29.8, packaged here for the first time

Everything else

Every merged change, grouped by where in the tree it landed. This repo
writes commit subjects as full sentences, so they are already the notes.

The desktop and what it configures

• Omarchy 4.0.3, and a bump that asks instead of blocking (Omarchy 4.0.3, and a bump that asks instead of blocking #437)
• Every nixarchy desktop ships with the guide (Every nixarchy desktop ships with the guide #429)
• Two rows that could never have worked, and the checks that would have said so (Two rows that could never have worked, and the checks that would have said so #425)
• Aether builds here, and the cache carries it so nobody else builds it (Aether builds here, and the cache carries it so nobody else builds it #424)
• A machine with no swap has no headroom, and ours had none (A machine with no swap has no headroom, and ours had none #422)

Installing, and the ISO

• The machine's name stops being an input to its system (The machine's name stops being an input to its system #434)
• extraDependencies carries runtime outputs, not a build graph (extraDependencies carries runtime outputs, not a build graph #433)
• The offline rescue says what it would build, and why, with no network (The offline rescue says what it would build, and why, with no network #432)
• The two files the installer invents are written to the log (The two files the installer invents are written to the log #431)

Packaged programs and the vendored tree

• aether's updateScript was missing --flake, and the nightly said so (aether's updateScript was missing --flake, and the nightly said so #440)
• Zed was the one editor whose colours never followed the theme (Zed was the one editor whose colours never followed the theme #421)

Checks and CI

• One script owns every derived number, with --check and --fix (One script owns every derived number, with --check and --fix #445)
• The cache probe could only ever pass on the commit that pushed (The cache probe could only ever pass on the commit that pushed #442)
• The encrypted-install assertion could never pass, whatever the installer did (The encrypted-install assertion could never pass, whatever the installer did #444)
• doctor-wireless names the string it wanted and not what it got (doctor-wireless names the string it wanted and not what it got #443)
• The offline image stops being published until it can install again (The offline image stops being published until it can install again #430)
• The install log was thrown away, and it held the only answer (The install log was thrown away, and it held the only answer #426)
• A probe for a push that cannot fail, and a reason that stopped being true (A probe for a push that cannot fail, and a reason that stopped being true #428)
• CI stops rebuilding what it can already prove, and stops building what a change cannot alter (CI stops rebuilding what it can already prove, and stops building what a change cannot alter #427)

Documentation

• The bus section said the room exists but never said when to use it (The bus section said the room exists but never said when to use it #420)
• COPILOT.md said post was off while the live config had it on (COPILOT.md said post was off while the live config had it on #415)

Elsewhere

• nixpkgs: 6 app version(s) move (nixpkgs: 6 app version(s) move #441)
• Smoke-test agent-bus connectivity from the Copilot cloud agent (Smoke-test agent-bus connectivity from the Copilot cloud agent #423)
• Smoke-test agent-bus MCP connectivity from Copilot environment (Smoke-test agent-bus MCP connectivity from Copilot environment #418)

24 changes since v4.0.2-12.

Getting it

Omarchy 4.0.3, packaged for NixOS. One image this time.

nixarchy-v4.0.3-1-net.iso — 1.6G, downloads the desktop as it installs.
One file, no reassembly, and it needs a working network: its first
screen offers Wi-Fi if there is no cable. This is the image people
have been installing from, and it works.

The offline image is not in this release. It carried the whole
system closure and promised an install with no network at all, and
it stopped keeping that promise: the machine it produces evaluates a
closure the image does not carry, so it tries to build the world and
cannot, with no network to fall back on. The installer notices and
refuses rather than leaving a half-installed disk, but an image whose
only reason to exist is "no network needed" is not worth shipping
while it needs one. It returns when the check that installs from it
offline is green again.

sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

(--ignore-missing because one SHA256SUMS covers both images, and
nobody downloads both.)

Then write one to a USB stick and boot it. See
Fresh-machine install
for what happens next.

What's Changed

• COPILOT.md said post was off while the live config had it on by @olafkfreund in COPILOT.md said post was off while the live config had it on #415
• The bus section said the room exists but never said when to use it by @olafkfreund in The bus section said the room exists but never said when to use it #420
• A machine with no swap has no headroom, and ours had none by @olafkfreund in A machine with no swap has no headroom, and ours had none #422
• Aether builds here, and the cache carries it so nobody else builds it by @olafkfreund in Aether builds here, and the cache carries it so nobody else builds it #424
• Smoke-test agent-bus MCP connectivity from Copilot environment by @olafkfreund with @Copilot in Smoke-test agent-bus MCP connectivity from Copilot environment #418
• Smoke-test agent-bus connectivity from the Copilot cloud agent by @olafkfreund with @Copilot in Smoke-test agent-bus connectivity from the Copilot cloud agent #423
• Two rows that could never have worked, and the checks that would have said so by @olafkfreund in Two rows that could never have worked, and the checks that would have said so #425
• Zed was the one editor whose colours never followed the theme by @olafkfreund in Zed was the one editor whose colours never followed the theme #421
• CI stops rebuilding what it can already prove, and stops building what a change cannot alter by @olafkfreund in CI stops rebuilding what it can already prove, and stops building what a change cannot alter #427
• A probe for a push that cannot fail, and a reason that stopped being true by @olafkfreund in A probe for a push that cannot fail, and a reason that stopped being true #428
• The install log was thrown away, and it held the only answer by @olafkfreund in The install log was thrown away, and it held the only answer #426
• The offline image stops being published until it can install again by @olafkfreund in The offline image stops being published until it can install again #430
• The two files the installer invents are written to the log by @olafkfreund in The two files the installer invents are written to the log #431
• Every nixarchy desktop ships with the guide by @olafkfreund in Every nixarchy desktop ships with the guide #429
• The offline rescue says what it would build, and why, with no network by @olafkfreund in The offline rescue says what it would build, and why, with no network #432
• extraDependencies carries runtime outputs, not a build graph by @olafkfreund in extraDependencies carries runtime outputs, not a build graph #433
• Omarchy 4.0.3, and a bump that asks instead of blocking by @olafkfreund in Omarchy 4.0.3, and a bump that asks instead of blocking #437
• aether's updateScript was missing --flake, and the nightly said so by @olafkfreund in aether's updateScript was missing --flake, and the nightly said so #440
• nixpkgs: 6 app version(s) move by @olafkfreund in nixpkgs: 6 app version(s) move #441
• doctor-wireless names the string it wanted and not what it got by @olafkfreund in doctor-wireless names the string it wanted and not what it got #443
• The encrypted-install assertion could never pass, whatever the installer did by @olafkfreund in The encrypted-install assertion could never pass, whatever the installer did #444
• The machine's name stops being an input to its system by @olafkfreund in The machine's name stops being an input to its system #434
• The cache probe could only ever pass on the commit that pushed by @olafkfreund in The cache probe could only ever pass on the commit that pushed #442
• One script owns every derived number, with --check and --fix by @olafkfreund in One script owns every derived number, with --check and --fix #445

New Contributors

• @olafkfreund with @Copilot made their first contribution in Smoke-test agent-bus MCP connectivity from Copilot environment #418

Full Changelog: v4.0.2-12...v4.0.3-1

---

This discussion was created from the release v4.0.3-1 (experimental).