Tangential DE

Based on Debian 12 (Bookworm)
Stable and secure

Tangential DE is a customized installation of Debian, "the universal operating system." It uses a slow, traditional release model that emphasizes stability and security. It'll run on almost anything, but it might not have the most current software.

Installation

  1. Download Debian 12.8 "netinst" ISO:
    Torrent | Direct | Release Notes
  2. Create installation media and boot it up
  3. Install Debian with whatever settings you like, but I suggest:
    • Leave the "root" password empty – ignore the warnings; it's better to disable the "root" account and use "sudo" for administration – screenshot
    • Unselect the "Debian desktop environment" and "...Gnome" in the software selection screen – this will give you a minimal command-line system; the KDE Plasma environment will be installed later – screenshot
  4. Once the installation is complete, reboot and log in
  5. Download and execute the Tangential DE installer script:
    wget https://tangential.scottbradford.us/tande-install; chmod +x ./tande-install; ./tande-install
  6. Choose your packages and let the script do its work
  7. Reboot into Tangential DE

View or download the installer script and post-install package


KDE Plasma

It's good

GUI Pkg. Mgmt.

It's easy

Sane Defaults

It's normal

Useful Software

It's ready


Default Settings

Scott has strong opinions about these things.

Tweaked Theme
Based on Breeze Twilight
Boot Splash
Plymouth enabled!
Better Defaults
No bouncing cursor
Light By Default
Even in stubborn apps
Password Asterisks
Feedback in sudo!
Flatpak Enabled
Software options galore

Use Xorg (X11) display system by default. Wayland session available from login screen.

Manage software with Discover by KDE; native and Flatpak packages supported.

Plasma environment uses the Tangential Breeze theme, a modified version of Breeze Twilight.

Windows file sharing preconfigured with Samba; share straight from the file manager!

Plasma double-click mode; bouncing-cursor disabled; floating taskbar disabled.

Use the thumbnails app switcher; hot corners at top left and right to trigger the overview.

Disable session saving; disable unnecessary shutdown and logout confirmation screens.

Modified default Konsole (terminal) profile; 120x40 characters & always-visible tabs.

Night color (blue filter) enabled; starts at 10:00 p.m. and ends at 7:00 a.m.

Dolphin (file manager) set to details mode with 22px icons; Git integration enabled.

Password feedback enabled in sudo. The aster****s are so beautiful. I love them.

Skip the boot menu during startup. Hold down the space key during boot if you need it.

Tangential branding for the boot splash, Plasma splash, menu icon, neofetch, and more.

Override most apps that default to dark modes, including GIMP, VSCode, and Shotcut.

Remove or hide a bunch of useless cruft apps from the base distro or KDE Plasma.


Package Install Sets

Core Applications (required)

Discover & Synaptic
Install and update software
Firefox
It's a good web browser
Haruna & SMPlayer
Good media players
OneDrive (+ GUI)
OneDrive access and sync
Rclone (+ Browser)
Multi-cloud access and sync
SpeedCrunch
High-precision calculator
Thunderbird
Email, calendar, etc.
Terminal Apps
mc, rsync, tmux, etc.

Additional Font Packages (preselected)

Free and Useful
DejaVu, Lato, OpenSans
Classical, Printable
EB Garamond
Google Core
ChromeOS Core, Noto, etc.
Microsoft Core
Arial, Times New Roman, etc.
Even More!
Liberation, Ubuntu

Everyday Applications (preselected)

Calibre
E-book management
GIMP & Inkscape
Image design & editing
LibreOffice
It's an office suite
qBittorrent
File sharing & downloads
Remmina & RustDesk
Remote access tools
Spotify
It has the music

Creative Applications (preselected)

Audacity
Audio editing tool
Blender
3D and animation
LibreCAD & FreeCAD
2D and 3D drafting
Darktable
Photo processing workflow
Scribus
Desktop publishing
OBS & Shotcut
Video streaming & editing

Scientific Applications (preselected)

Google Earth Pro
Satellite imagery
Gramps
Genealogy software
QGIS & QMapShack
Mapping and GIS
Siril
Astro-photo processor
Stellarium
Astronomy software

Internet Applications (preselected)

Google Chrome
It's still pretty good
KDE Falkon
Fast, modern browser
KGet
Bulk file downloads
Microsoft Edge
It's a browser
Links, Lynx, Netsurf
Console & lofi browsers
TorBrowser
Super-private browser

Software Development (preselected)

FileZilla
FTP software
Git & Git-Cola
Version control tools
Okteta
Hex viewer & editor
PyCharm Community
Powerful Python IDE
Visual Studio Code
Flexible editor and IDE
Network Analysis
SoapUI, Wireshark, ZAP, Nmap
The Usual Stuff
Node.js, NPM, PIP, etc.
Other Tools
Klogg, wxFormBuilder, etc.

Real Hardware Apps (not preselected)

Folding@Home
Distributed computing
Synergy 3
Keyboard & mouse sharing
VirtualBox
System virtualization tool

Questions

I hope you read the warning! This is a hobby project that comes with no tech support and no warranty. I can't really help you. However, there are countless resources on the Internet to help you learn about GNU/Linux operating systems and troubleshoot problems.

Tangential DE is a customized version of Debian 12 "Bookworm." Resources and instructions for Debian should work exactly the same way on a Tangential DE system. Resources for Debian-derived systems like Ubuntu may help too. Here are some links:

There are many possible reasons why Tangential DE could fail to install.

If the failure occurred during the initial Debian installation, consult the Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide for information and troubleshooting tips.

If Debian installed successfully and booted up, but then something went wrong with the Tangential DE installation script, you may be able to determine what happened by reviewing the installer log at ~/tande-install.log.

Tangential DE has both Xorg (X11) and Wayland installed. You can choose either one in the selector at the bottom-left of the login screen. It'll remember the last one you picked.

Xorg (X11) is the preselected default because some of the remote access software I use requires it. The situation is improving rapidly now that multiple major distributions are switching to Wayland as their defaults. I hope to follow suit and make Wayland the default soon, but I'm still waiting for a couple hold-outs.

If you want to use Tangential DE as a multi-boot system (for example, to run Windows and Linux on the same machine), you can . . . but it's not tested and that's not really what it's intended for. Scott is only using Tangential DE in virtual machines or as a machine's sole operating system.

If you decide to do it anyway, refer to the base system's guidance. You'll at least need to change the bootloader settings, since Tangential DE has the boot menu disabled (set to a zero-second timeout) by default. Aside from that, it should work . . . probably.

Tangential DE is based on Debian. Its primary software management system is apt, which has been preconfigured with the official repositories (main, contrib, and non-free), the backports repository, and third-party repositories from Mozilla and abraunegg. Additional repositories from Google, Microsoft, and Oracle may be enabled depending on what package sets you selected during installation. The system also includes the Flatpak package manager preconfigured with the Flathub repository.

From the command line, you can manage native packages with apt and Flatpak packages with flatpak.

From the graphical interface, you can manage both native and Flatpak packages with Discover by KDE. The system will notify you if updates are available. You can also manage native packages (but not Flatpack packages) with Synaptic.


The apps listed below are either unavailable or outdated in the repositories, so they are installed manually if their package group is selected. Some will notify or install updates on their own, but most must be managed manually (if you care about keeping them up-to-date).

  • Core packages:
  • Everyday applications:
    • RustDesk – non-repository apt package
  • Software development applications:
  • Real hardware applications:

Don't worry. Scott Bradford will never die.… Though I guess he could lose interest in the project.

Tangential DE is just Debian with some tweaks. Don't think of it as a "true" distribution, but as a customized installation of the one it was built on. You'll keep getting updates as long as the base distribution makes them available. If you want to "revert" to the base system, you can:

  • Set the KDE Plasma theme to something other than Tangential Breeze.
  • Set the Plymouth bootsplash theme to something other than Tangential.
  • Uninstall the "tande-custom" package.

This should leave the system in a working state with nothing but residual settings from Tangential DE, which can be deleted if you come across them or if they cause any issues.

Yes! Tangential DE adds three executable command-line scripts in /usr/bin:

  • jfuEXPERIMENTAL, use with care!Just f***ing update software from all supported package systems
  • tangential-apply-branding – Sets the system name and icon to Tangential DE (runs as an automated process on startup)
  • tangential-reset-user-defaults – Re-applies the default user customizations apps (may overwrite some of your preferences!)

That's not a question. And what's wrong with you? Are you some kind of sociopath? I do not understand why people want to go back to the dark ages (heh) of computing. But go ahead, set things up however you want.

The Tangential Breeze theme for Plasma is based on Breeze Twilight, which uses light mode for apps and dark mode for the taskbar and main menu. You can switch over to Breeze Dark for the dark, depressing, sociopathic experience if that's what you like.

Tangential DE will override some apps that stubbornly default to dark mode no matter how the system is set up. These include Blender, GIMP, PyCharm, Shotcut, Visual Studio Code, and others. When possible, I configured them to follow the user's preferences. When that option wasn't available, I set it to use light mode . . . but you can always change it in the app's settings.