Budgie Desktop could soon become another desktop option for aerynOS, with Joshua Strobl submitting the initial packaging work needed to bring the environment to the distribution.
The pull request, opened in the aerynOS recipes repository, adds Budgie Desktop 10.10.3 along with related applications, dependencies, branding, and integration pieces for a complete setup. The work is still under review, so Budgie is not yet an official aerynOS desktop option.
According to Strobl, the submission includes the main Budgie Desktop package, a package set with recommended applications, aerynOS-specific branding based on his generic Budgie defaults template, and a patched Budgie Control Center with support for the distribution’s branding.
Several fixes are also part of the integration work. These include a patch preventing left-clicks from unintentionally triggering the labwc menu, a Budgie Desktop View fix for properly redrawing the desktop after drag-and-drop operations, and some Budgie Control Center adjustments.
The packages have been built and installed using aerynOS tooling. Strobl confirmed the desktop installs through the distro’s moss package manager and works as expected in his current testing setup. The work has been tested against aerynOS’ volatile stream.
For testing, Budgie was installed alongside KDE Plasma using Plasma Login Manager. Strobl notes that SDDM is the suggested login manager for Budgie and could be used if the desktop later gets its own installation option in Lichen, aerynOS’ installer.
The version packaged is Budgie 10.10.3, the latest release in the 10.10 series. It adds favorites to Budgie Menu, brings back the Keyboard Layout applet, lets users choose a primary monitor, introduces free placement of desktop icons, and includes further labwc integration improvements.
Budgie 10.10 itself is also a significant branch for the project, as it completed Budgie’s transition from X11 to Wayland and cleared the way for development attention to increasingly shift toward Budgie 11.
If merged, Budgie would join aerynOS’ existing desktop lineup, which currently includes GNOME, KDE Plasma, and COSMIC. Recent aerynOS updates have continued moving all three stacks forward, including KDE Plasma 6.7.5, COSMIC Desktop 1.9, and GNOME 51 in the distro’s September package refresh.
For now, the Budgie work remains a proposed integration rather than a finished addition. Reviewers may still request packaging changes before it lands.
Image credits: Joshua Strobl
