writerdeckOS Community Edition 3.0

writerdeckOS Community Edition is the continuation of the original writerdeckOS project by tinkersec.

Version 3.0 updates the project for Debian 13 while preserving the original philosophy of a lightweight, distraction-free writing environment.

writerdeckOS Community Edition turns a minimal Debian installation into a simple, distraction-free, terminal-based writing environment.

Design philosophy

writerdeckOS Community Edition aims to remove distractions between the writer and their work. Rather than presenting a traditional desktop environment, the system boots directly into a text editor while still providing access to common configuration and maintenance tasks through a simple menu system. It is intended to behave more like a dedicated writing appliance than a general-purpose Linux desktop.

It is built entirely from software in Debian's official repositories. It does not add third-party repositories, download external application packages, or enable additional processor architectures.

Supported systems

• Debian 13 (Trixie)
• Debian 12 (Bookworm)

Debian 13 (Trixie) is the recommended and tested platform.
Debian 12 (Bookworm) is supported for compatibility (see important note in Installing writerdeckOS section below).
Other Debian releases may work, but are untested and the installer will display a warning, and may fail (e.g. if a dependency is missing).

Main features

• Boots directly into the configured editor through a persistent tmux session (WordGrinder by default)
• Automatic login on tty1
• Focused menu system for writing, appearance, networking, system information and power controls
• Nested Advanced menu for the terminal and Debian software maintenance
• Terminus 12x24 console font by default
• Seven coordinated display themes for the Linux console, tmux terminal area, menus and tmux status bar
• NetworkManager terminal interface
• Console mouse support through GPM for compatible editors such as Micro
• Automatic mounting of removable media with udiskie
• Guided Debian software updates
• One-second visible GRUB menu for straightforward recovery access
• Dynamic About screen showing the operating system, kernel and default editor
• Hostname set to writerdeck, giving prompts such as user@writerdeck
• Safe restart and shutdown options

Included editors

All editors are installed from Debian's repositories:

• WordGrinder (default)
• Nano
• Micro
• Neovim
• Helix
• Kakoune
• Vim
• Vi
• Joe
• Emacs

A custom executable path can also be selected from the menu.

Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing writerdeckOS Community Edition, you will need:

• A computer capable of running Debian 13 (Trixie)
• A reliable internet connection during installation
• A fresh installation of Debian 13
• A normal user account with administrator (sudo) access
• Password-protected Full Disk Encryption (LUKS), recommended if the computer will contain sensitive information

Installing Debian

writerdeckOS Community Edition is designed for a clean, minimal installation of Debian 13 (Trixie).

During the Debian installation process:

• Select Standard system utilities only.
• Do not select a desktop environment such as GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXQt, Cinnamon, MATE or LXDE.
• Do not select additional software collections unless you specifically need them.
• Consider enabling password-protected Full Disk Encryption (LUKS) to protect your files if the computer is lost or stolen.

The writerdeckOS installer adds all of the software it needs from Debian's official repositories.

Installing writerdeckOS

Sign in using the normal user account created during the Debian installation. Extract the writerdeckOS Community Edition archive, then open a terminal in the extracted folder.

ZIP archives do not always retain Linux executable permissions. To make sure the installer can be started, at the terminal, type:

chmod +x install.sh uninstall.sh scripts/wdmenu scripts/writerdeck-launch scripts/writerdeck-update scripts/theme.sh scripts/common.sh

Then, at the terminal, type:

sudo ./install.sh

The installer normally configures the account that entered the command above. To configure a different account, replace author in the following example with that account's username, then type:

sudo WRITERDECK_USER=author ./install.sh

The installer is designed to be safe to start again if necessary.

NB: If attempting to run the install script on Debian 12, you must first edit the dependencies.list file to manually comment out (i.e. add a # symbol) in front of the hx package as this is not available on Debian 12. If you really want to use Helix, after installation you can download and install a .deb installer for Helix from the project's releases page at https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases.

After installation

When installation has completed, restart the computer. On subsequent starts, writerdeckOS Community Edition will automatically sign in to the configured user account and open the selected text editor.

Security

writerdeckOS Community Edition is designed as a dedicated writing appliance. By default, it automatically logs in and launches the configured text editor at boot, allowing writing to begin immediately without navigating a traditional desktop environment.

This convenience means that anyone with physical access to the computer can also access your writing and other files stored on the system.

If the device will contain sensitive information, it is strongly recommended that you enable password-protected Full Disk Encryption (LUKS) during the initial Debian installation. Full Disk Encryption requires a passphrase each time the computer starts, before the operating system can boot, and helps protect data if the device is lost or stolen.

Once the encryption passphrase has been entered, writerdeckOS will continue to boot directly into the configured writing environment as normal. If Full Disk Encryption is not enabled, the system should only be used where physical access to the computer can be trusted.

Using writerdeckOS

The configured editor starts automatically after login. After leaving the editor, the terminal is shown. To open the writerdeckOS menu, at the terminal, type:

wdmenu

The main menu can open or change the editor, alter appearance settings, open NetworkManager, show system information, restart the computer, or shut it down safely. The Advanced submenu contains Terminal and Update Computer Software, keeping maintenance options available without cluttering the primary writing interface.

The chosen editor is recorded in the following configuration file:

/etc/writerdeck/editor

Appearance

The Appearance menu separates Text Size from Display Theme.

Text sizes:

• Standard — Terminus 8x16
• Small — Terminus 12x24 (default)
• Medium — Terminus 14x28
• Large — Terminus 16x32

Display themes:

• Standard — white on black (default)
• Green Screen — bright green CRT-style text on black
• IBM Green — softer green phosphor-style text on black
• Amber Screen — bright amber-like text on black
• Warm Amber — softer orange-amber text on black
• Blue Screen — pale cyan terminal-style text on black
• Light — dark text on a light background

A display theme coordinates the Linux console, the normal tmux terminal area, writerdeckOS menus and dialog boxes, and the tmux status bar. The selected theme is recorded in the following configuration file:

/etc/writerdeck/theme

It is reapplied at login and whenever the menu opens. The editor launcher reapplies the selected terminal defaults immediately before and after an editor runs. Editors that use the terminal defaults therefore inherit the selected foreground and background; editors that deliberately draw their own colour scheme may still add application-specific colours.

The font setting is stored in the /etc/default/console-setup configuration file and applied automatically. Restarting the computer will apply it if an immediate change is not possible.

Boot menu

The installer configures GRUB to display its menu for one second. This preserves a fast startup while making recovery options and older installed kernels easier to reach without relying on firmware-specific key timing.

Micro and console mouse support

The installer creates ~/.config/micro with ownership assigned to the normal writerdeckOS user, allowing Micro to save its settings without permission errors.

The Debian gpm package is installed and enabled to provide mouse support on the Linux text console. Mouse behaviour depends on the editor, hardware and virtual-machine console in use.

Hostname

The installer sets the system hostname to:

writerdeck

This produces terminal prompts such as user@writerdeck. The installer also updates the /etc/hosts file so the hostname resolves locally.

Advanced menu

The Advanced submenu contains:

• Terminal — leave the menu and return to the terminal
• Update Computer Software — run the guided Debian updater

Restart and Shutdown Computer remain directly accessible from the main menu.

Software updates

Update Computer Software performs a normal Debian package-list refresh, full upgrade, and removal of packages no longer required. Technical output is saved in the following log file:

/var/log/writerdeckos/software-update.log

Uninstallation

To remove the writerdeckOS integration, open a terminal in the extracted project folder. At the terminal, type:

sudo ./uninstall.sh

This removes writerdeckOS integration. Installed Debian packages, the hostname, and the GRUB timeout are deliberately left unchanged.

Project layout

• Commands maintained by writerdeckOS: /usr/local/bin
• Main configuration: /etc/writerdeck
• Login integration: /etc/profile.d/writerdeck.sh
• Autologin: a systemd drop-in for getty@tty1

Distribution-owned systemd service files are not edited directly.

Origins

writerdeckOS Community Edition builds upon the original writerdeckOS project by tinkersec.

Original project: https://github.com/tinkersec/writerdeckOS

Licence

writerdeckOS Community Edition is released under the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 (AGPL-3.0), continuing the licensing of the original writerdeckOS project.