Solus
We build open source desktop experiences and the Solus operating system that is designed for home computing.
About
Solus is an open source project dedicated to building an independent and cohesive Linux desktop experience aimed at home and office use.
- We deliver continuous updates on 4 distinct editions: Budgie, GNOME, Plasma, and XFCE.
- We maintain our own kernel and toolchain, optimized for desktop users.
- We curate a central package recipe repository where everyone can learn to contribute.
- We build welcoming communities on the Solus Forum, in the Solus Matrix Rooms, and on Reddit.
- We share project news with the world through our blog posts, and on Mastodon.
- Recurring expenses, including:
- Website hosting (Digital Ocean)
- Package building infrastructure (Hetzner)
- Mass mailer service (Mailgun)
- Email and Document hosting (Google Workspaces)
- Shared account access (Bitwarden)
- Domain registration and upkeep
- Content Distribution Network (Cloudflare)
- Direct compensation of developers, for example:
- Paying Solus Staff for the time they spend on completing particularly arduous, complex or tedious tasks, such as large stack upgrades, tooling upgrades, infrastructure work, wholesale reworks of documentation, etc.
- Paying Community Contributors a bounty to solve thorny issues
- Reimbursement for hardware purchases by Solus Staff. Hardware purchases enables the following:
- Increased compatibility through direct testing of hardware components
- Increased productivity via sensible upgrades to more modern hardware that speeds up development workflows
- Other expenses at the discretion of the Solus Staff
To support Budgie Desktop development, which is separate and under the Buddies of Budgie organization, visit their Open Collective.
Our team
Tracey Clark
David Harder
Joey Riches
Reilly Brogan
EbonJaeger
Hans Kelson
Contribute
Become a financial contributor.
Financial Contributions
Want to help us test pre-release ISOs, and have access to the most up to date ISOs every month? Perks: Access to Snapshot ISOs for all editions mo... Read more
Top financial contributors
Individuals
$1,700 USD since Jun 2021
$1,400 USD since May 2021
$1,400 USD since May 2021
$1,300 USD since Oct 2021
$1,112 USD since May 2021
$1,075 USD since Jul 2021
$1,050 USD since Aug 2022
$1,015 USD since May 2021
$900 USD since May 2021
$850 USD since Dec 2021
$775 USD since May 2021
$725 USD since May 2021
$700 USD since Jul 2021
$600 USD since Feb 2024
$575 USD since Jun 2021
Organizations
$500 USD since Nov 2021
$172 USD since Aug 2021
Solus is all of us
Our contributors 681
Thank you for supporting Solus.
Tracey Clark
$1,112 USD
David Harder
$75 USD
Joey Riches
Reilly Brogan
EbonJaeger
Hans Kelson
Incognito
Crew
$1,700 USD
Reilly Brogan
Crew
$1,400 USD
Incognito
Crew
$1,400 USD
Phillip Melvin
Crew
$1,300 USD
hash
Crew
$1,075 USD
Eric Hecker
Crew
$1,050 USD
Budget
Transparent and open finances.
Credit from Billy Bowers to Solus •
Google Workspaces 2025-12-01 to 2025-12-31
$7,916.86 USD
$46,104.04 USD
$38,187.18 USD
$10,533.48 USD
Connect
Let’s get the ball rolling!
News from Solus
Updates on our activities and progress.
Updated Release Candidate ISOs for 4.8 are available for Crew, Beta Testers and Release Testers!
The first Release Candidate ISOs for 4.8 are available for Crew and Release Testers!
Monthly ISOs for November 8th published, Weekly ISOs coming next sync.