Published . Development milestone: November 1, 2026.
New windows ready to type in.
November 1 brought a keyboard-focus fix, a packaged Debian desktop tested through login, updates and rollback, and the start of an everyday development trial with practical gaps still to resolve.
Opening an app should leave you ready to type, even if the pointer is resting on an empty part of the desktop. November 1 addressed a bug that broke that simple expectation, while the Debian build moved from individual packages to a desktop that could be installed, updated and tried in everyday development work.
The longer-term choice remains open. Ecliptic may offer both Arch and Debian versions; this trial is a way to learn what each needs, rather than a commitment to replace Arch.
A new window gets the keyboard
The desktop was asking for keyboard input even while nobody was using its icons. With the pointer over empty desktop space, Hyprland could give the keyboard to that background surface and leave a newly opened window unable to receive typing. Moving the pointer off a window could also take its keyboard focus away.
The fix adds New windows get the keyboard to Settings’ Desktop page, enabled by default. The desktop now leaves the keyboard alone until it is clicked, and a new window can receive focus without moving the pointer. Desktop shortcuts still work after a click, drag or menu interaction. Turning the setting off restores the earlier behavior.
This does not remove focus-follows-mouse: moving the pointer over another window can still move focus there.
The recorded checks exercised pointer movement, clicks, typing, desktop selection, dragging, renaming and menus in both Arch and Debian virtual machines. The new preference was switched in both directions while the desktop was running. Seven new regression cases accompanied the change. Multiple monitors and physical hardware were not covered by those checks.
The fix reached the main source branch and the Debian test channel, with matching help. Shipping it as an Arch package still awaited the next release.
From packages to a complete test desktop
The Debian work now includes packages for the login screen, desktop and remaining Ecliptic apps. A clean virtual machine installed them from the test channel, restarted and reached a usable login and desktop without copying app files into place by hand.
Update checks went beyond opening the windows. An update kept a locally changed system configuration and placed the new version beside it for review. Home-folder links followed the packages, background services restarted through package triggers, and restart notices appeared when needed.
The same trial checked encrypted startup with Secure Boot enabled and a real system rollback. The earlier system came back after restarting, while the home folder stayed intact. Removal checks also found and corrected leftover generated files and dead links; personal settings, mail, contacts and keyrings were deliberately retained.
These are recorded virtual-machine results, not a claim about every computer. They also exposed a login-screen timing problem during a separate installation rehearsal. Adjusting which virtual terminal holds the login screen was followed by seven successful boots out of seven in that rehearsal.
Everyday actions through the packaged system
The packaged desktop trial exercised the actual authorization dialog: one password covered two Software installs. A newly created user could log in to a working desktop and keyring. Against the isolated test server, Mail synchronized, sent a message and received it, while Contacts exchanged changes in both directions.
Ecliptic AI’s update, software, help and network tools were checked in that environment. The local-model options also received a targeted fix: an unsupported hardware option could make the entire model check fail on Debian. The corrected check can describe those options without crashing; it does not enable the unavailable acceleration paths.
Some checks remained deliberately narrow. Monitor was opened rather than exercised deeply, Transfers had no real remote session, and screen-reader testing inspected its speech log rather than audible output. A local-model conversation on the physical graphics card was still unverified.
A development computer starts using the Debian build
The next step was a longer trial on the everyday development computer. Its Debian system was rebuilt from the channel, the home folder was transferred, and the owner began working in it with Secure Boot enabled and the NVIDIA driver running. A Software update and subsequent restart were recorded on that system.
That exposed differences a clean test home could not reveal. Vendor-app installs were missing recommended dependencies because the general package policy turns recommendations off. The helper now requests those dependencies specifically for vendor packages. A network configuration change was also prepared after connecting wired and Wi-Fi networks together made development services stop resolving. A runtime check confirmed the corrected DNS ordering; the packaged behavior after a fresh boot had not yet been observed.
Virtual-machine support needed by Cowork was checked separately, but Cowork itself had not been run successfully in the recorded trial. A source change also restores local command folders in Debian login shells, including SSH sessions; a completed end-to-end check of that change was not recorded by the cutoff.
What still needs attention
Google account setup revealed configuration that a home-folder transfer alone does not carry. Saved sign-ins were still present, but the missing computer-level setup needed a separate restoration step. The record did not yet confirm that restoration. Contacts could also show a temporary update error when its first background round ran before the keyring opened at login.
Real Mail and Contacts use, sound, Bluetooth, display switching, sleep, locking and local AI still needed fuller checks on the everyday machine. Development environments and cleanup were also unfinished. Those gaps matter more than simply reaching a desktop once.
This entry records progress through November 1. The Debian build remains a development trial, with no public installer announced and no final decision between offering one Ecliptic version or both.