About ManxOS
Mission, principles, and the story behind sovereign Linux for the Isle of Man.
Mission & vision
ManxOS is a privacy-respecting, sovereign desktop Linux distribution developed by Timmisun Limited for the Isle of Man and beyond. We build on a solid open-source foundation so schools, small businesses, government teams, and everyday users can run modern computing without giving up control of their data.
Our vision is simple: a trustworthy local OS that feels familiar on day one, lasts for years on reclaimed hardware, and strengthens the Island’s digital independence.
Why now?
The Isle of Man has a clear opportunity in data sovereignty — keeping sensitive work and learning data under local and organisational control. At the same time:
- Hardware reclamation can cut costs and e-waste by refreshing business laptops instead of scrapping them.
- Education needs affordable, privacy-minded desktops that students can learn on without vendor lock-in.
- Organisations want to reduce dependence on closed ecosystems while keeping a polished, supported desktop.
ManxOS meets that moment with an Ubuntu LTS base, KDE Plasma, and branding and defaults designed for Island use cases.
Key principles
- Open source — ISO configuration, hooks, and branding sources will be published when the public repository goes live; builds aim to be reproducible with
live-build. - Privacy by design — minimal telemetry, crash reporting off by default, Snap minimized, Firefox policies tuned for tracking protection.
- Sustainability — first-class support for refurbished machines and secure wipe / re-deploy workflows.
- Education-first — approachable installer, familiar desktop, documentation and Magazine learning path for Windows migrants.
- Transparent — clear versioning, checksums, open issue tracking, and honest alpha status.
Codename: Three Legs
Version 0.1 uses the codename Three Legs — a nod to the Manx triskelion and the motto quocunque jeceris stabit (“whichever way you throw it, it will stand”).
Why Kubuntu / Ubuntu LTS?
For this phase we build on Kubuntu 24.04 LTS so reclaimed business machines get broad hardware support, long security maintenance, and a polished Plasma desktop — while ManxOS branding, defaults, privacy settings, and documentation make the product distinct.
High-level roadmap (teaser)
Honest alpha framing — timelines will firm up with funding and community capacity:
- Now — Bootable alpha ISO, branding, Calamares installer, docs & website first draft.
- Near term — Signed releases, mirrors, hardware compatibility notes, school pilot packages.
- Mid term — Education/minimal spins, workshop programme, local AI / offline tools integration (Evie / Ollama).
- Longer term — Island infrastructure footprint, institutional deployments, sustainable maintainer funding.
Team & contributors
ManxOS is led by Timmisun Limited, with an open invitation to contributors across code, documentation, testing, design, workshops, mirrors, and hardware donation.
- Source repository: coming soon
- Contributing guide
- Support the project
Get involved
| How | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Code | live-build hooks, packages, tooling, CI |
| Docs | install guides, hardware notes, translations |
| Testing | smoke-test ISOs on real hardware, file issues |
| Workshops | help run community install events |
| Mirrors | host download mirrors (IoM welcome) |
| Hardware | donate tested refurb machines for QA |
Ready to try it? Download ManxOS or read the simple install guide.