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linux app releases

these are the linux app's own changes: installation, systemd service, desktop integration, and how it reaches your journal. the solstone app runs on your linux desktop.

install the solstone app for linux

the solstone app for linux 2.0.24

october 19, 2026

Added

  • the solstone app now has its own window. open it from your app menu for status, pause and resume, journal pairing, settings and help, even without a panel icon. opening or closing the window does not start or stop intake.
  • in the window, paste a pairing link and compare your journal's mark before you confirm it. once you've paired, "open your journal" opens it in your browser.
  • if you've edited config.json by hand, saving settings from the window keeps your edits, and the window tells you when a restart is needed.
  • help lets you preview recent logs and save exactly what you read.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.23

october 18, 2026

Fixed

  • away from home, if you use the relay, the solstone app now reaches your journal through it on its first try after the connection drops. before, that first try could give up while it was still waiting on your home network, so sync showed offline for one to five more minutes.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.22

october 17, 2026

Fixed

  • the solstone app now takes in the session you're using, the one in front of the screen, for your journal, and moves to the new session when you switch, without a restart. before, it could stay on a session you were no longer using and miss the one you were. when none of your sessions is in front, it takes in nothing until one is.
  • on X11, if the file that lets apps connect to your screen is removed while you are still logged in, the solstone app keeps taking in your session for your journal.
  • on GNOME, locking your screen or logging out no longer sometimes stops the solstone app and makes it ask again to share your screen.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.21

october 16, 2026

Fixed

  • after you pair again, the solstone app no longer goes back over files your journal already holds; it confirms them with your journal instead.
  • once browser pages have gone into your journal, the solstone extension and solstone-linux status no longer say they are still waiting on this computer.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.17

october 9, 2026

Fixed

  • with journal 2.0.38 or later, the solstone app now saves your journal's current addresses each time it connects, so once it has connected after your journal's address changes, it keeps using the new one without pairing again.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.16

october 7, 2026

Fixed

  • after you pair again, a segment still on this computer is removed only when your journal confirms it holds that same segment. if your journal holds two segments with the same name, the solstone app now tells them apart by where each came from, and keeps the segment on this computer when it can't tell which one is its own.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.15

october 6, 2026

Fixed

  • a pause now lasts until you resume it, or until the time you picked runs out, even if the solstone app quits or your computer restarts. before, a restart ended the pause.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.14

october 5, 2026

Fixed

  • if you pair this computer with a different journal, a late refusal from the one you left no longer stops new moments from going to the journal you paired next.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.13

october 4, 2026

Fixed

  • after your computer wakes from sleep, new moments go into your journal at the right time and on the right day. before, they landed under a time that was off by however long the computer slept, until the solstone app restarted.
  • when this computer reaches a journal it doesn't recognize and can't read your journal's mark, solstone-linux status now says your journal's mark is unavailable right now.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.12

october 3, 2026

Added

  • the panel icon's "about" menu now shows your journal's version next to the app's, with the system each runs on when it's known. "copy" puts them on your clipboard, solstone-linux about prints the same lines, and "report a problem" fills them in too.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.11

october 1, 2026

Fixed

  • this is a security fix: setup now asks you to confirm your journal's mark, and nothing waiting on this computer goes to the journal until you confirm it's your journal. before, setup finished pairing first and only printed the mark, so anything waiting could go before you had checked it, even to a journal that wasn't yours. if setup can't ask you (run from a script, say), it now needs the mark's two words, shown in your journal's network app, with --mark. if you paired before this update, you won't be asked.
  • if a moment changes on its way into your journal, the changed files stay on this computer for another attempt.
  • a moment that's underway when you change time zones no longer lands under a mixed-up time. each new moment takes its day and time from your computer's time zone when it starts.
  • when the clocks go back an hour, intake keeps running through the repeated hour. before, it could stop.
  • on some linux setups, your time zone's name was missing from each moment. the solstone app now includes it.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.10

september 30, 2026

Added

  • the solstone app now includes your computer's time zone with each segment that goes into your journal.

Fixed

  • an unfinished moment is kept if a new one would use the same folder.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.9

september 28, 2026

Fixed

  • security fix: when you paired this computer while your journal's private network was on, even over your own wifi, the solstone app sent your pairing link's one-time secret through the relay before checking it had reached your journal, so someone who could sit where the relay sits could have read the secret and used it to pair their own device. it now checks first that it's talking to your journal. please install this update before you pair again. if you paired this way, open your journal's network app and remove any device you don't recognize, including under "nothing added yet".

the solstone app for linux 2.0.8

september 25, 2026

Changed

  • the solstone app now removes a segment from this computer as soon as your journal confirms it has it, or that you removed it from your journal, instead of keeping it as long as your cache retention setting said (seven days unless you changed it), so that setting is gone. anything an earlier version kept goes on the first sync after this update, once your journal has confirmed it. the tray's count of today's segments is gone too.

Fixed

  • if a second copy of the solstone app started under the same login, what the first copy was in the middle of could fail to reach your journal, and the first copy then stopped. a second copy now refuses to start and notes why in its log.
  • a segment the app couldn't finish is now set aside on this computer until you remove it. before, it was removed after 30 days.
  • a segment you had removed from your journal is now removed from this computer too, instead of being offered to your journal again every minute.
  • one segment too large to send no longer stops older segments from reaching your journal.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.7

september 24, 2026

Fixed

  • the solstone app no longer asks your journal every minute about what your journal already holds, and no longer rereads each file still on this computer to check it.
  • a correction to the 2.0.6 notes: they said a pairing link could point at any address you can reach your journal at. a pairing link that reaches your journal directly has to use an IPv4 address, private or public. a hostname or an IPv6 address isn't accepted there.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.6

september 23, 2026

Changed

  • a pairing link can now point at any address you can reach your journal at, not only one on your local network. pairing over the internet works the same way as pairing at home: the link still carries your journal's fingerprint, and this computer still checks it before trusting anything.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.5

september 18, 2026

Added

  • setup now shows your journal's mark once pairing succeeds, so you can check it matches what your journal shows.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.4

september 16, 2026

Added

  • solstone-linux pause and solstone-linux resume work from a terminal, so pause is reachable on a desktop with no panel icon at all. pause on its own lasts until you resume; pause --minutes 30 ends on its own.
  • if something other than your journal answers where it's expected, you'll see it right away — with a way to compare what answered against your journal's own mark.

Fixed

  • when this computer's saved pairing stops working, sync now shows "pair again" instead of staying offline. when your journal is only unreachable, sync still shows offline while the app keeps trying.
  • a picture, recording or video from your journal that stopped arriving partway could show or play as if it were complete, and stay that way for up to five minutes. it now fails to load, and opening it again fetches it again.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.3

september 15, 2026

Added

  • solstone-linux panel-icon sets up the GNOME panel icon — the tray icon, where pause and resume live. if the extension is not on your machine yet, GNOME asks you to confirm and turns it on in your current session.
  • while the panel icon is missing on GNOME, the solstone app offers to set it up, once per run. "don't ask again" stops it for good.
  • installing the rpm on a GNOME machine now brings the extension with it. log out and back in once, then run solstone-linux panel-icon to finish.

Fixed

  • doctor reported the GNOME panel icon extension as working when it was installed but switched off, which is the state a fresh install leaves it in. it now reports installed, switched on, and showing separately.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.2

september 14, 2026

Fixed

  • hand-edited settings and other config entries now stay in config.json when you use the settings command or reconnect the app.
  • the tray now appears when the desktop starts after the solstone app, and returns after your desktop shell or system tray restarts.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.1

september 13, 2026

Added

  • "report a problem" in the tray now opens a support page with the app version, linux version, and current status filled in.

Changed

  • release install instructions now start at updates.solstone.app, with the package and its verification files at the same sol pbc release origin.
  • the tray now uses the held-dash mark while intake is paused.

the solstone app for linux 2.0.0

september 10, 2026

Added

  • after pairing, your journal can receive this device's current name and app version, and the connection can pick up private network access when available.
  • status now shows the current or last known version of your paired journal and refreshes it after each reconnection.

Changed

  • the tray now uses the solstone name, and its mark and status text show whether your journal is receiving, connecting, offline, or needs your attention.

Fixed

  • on desktops with more than one microphone, audio could come from an unused input instead of the microphone you selected. it now comes from the active microphone.
  • when your journal returned an incomplete receipt, material held on this device could be cleared before every file was confirmed. it now stays until file names, sizes, and fingerprints match.
  • the solstone app now stays active while desktop intake finishes. stopping it no longer hangs during desktop or audio cleanup, and reinstalling no longer starts a second copy.
  • Open Journal now reaches the requested page, and media starts opening without waiting for the whole file to arrive.

the solstone app for linux 1.0.2

august 1, 2026

Fixed

  • the portable installer now names the sol version it installed instead of showing the Linux distribution version in its success message.

the solstone app for linux 1.0.1

august 1, 2026

Changed

  • pairing on Linux now starts from a pair link created in your journal. after upgrading, pair this machine again; the previous journal address and key are not carried over.
  • native tar, deb, and rpm packages are now the maintained Linux releases. older PyPI versions remain available for legacy installs but do not receive new releases.

Fixed

  • on some Linux setups with USB audio, sound from the computer was missing from your journal. sol now uses the active output for system audio and keeps that sound in your journal.
  • sol now reaches your journal when your home network is out of reach instead of waiting on a local connection that will never answer. if the first connection at startup does not get through, it keeps trying without needing a restart.
  • a temporary refusal or an identity your journal no longer recognizes no longer leaves sol running with nothing arriving for the rest of the session. sol backs off and tries again, renewing its identity once when needed. a machine you removed from your journal stays removed.
  • status now reflects the current run. it no longer carries over an earlier connection or tells an unpaired owner to wait for a connection that cannot start.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.5

july 13, 2026

Fixed

  • local cleanup now recognizes segments your journal has already finished processing. when your journal takes a segment in and finishes with it, it no longer keeps the original file on hand. sol used to read that as the file having gone missing, so it re-sent the segment and never released its local copy. sol now takes it as done — after confirming the file name and fingerprint still match, so nothing leaves your machine unconfirmed.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.4

july 4, 2026

Fixed

  • stopping or restarting sol now shuts down promptly, even with an upload mid-retry. that upload used to wait out its full retry delay first; now it ends the moment you quit sol or the machine powers off. a bad retry setting in your config no longer leaves the uploader stuck, either.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.3

july 3, 2026

Changed

  • the app now calls itself sol everywhere you see it — the launcher, tray, menus, status, and notifications. your journal is the memory it keeps, and solstone is the platform underneath. the command you run stays solstone-linux; nothing about what it does changed, only what it's called.
  • segments your journal rejected or sol couldn't recover are now held for 30 days before they're removed, instead of being dropped silently. status and doctor show the count, so you can see when any are waiting.

Fixed

  • local cleanup now deletes a synced segment only after your journal confirms, file by file, that it holds everything in it. previously a segment could be cleaned up while your journal was missing part of it. if your journal can't yet confirm file by file, cleanup holds off and keeps the local copy.
  • sol now recovers on its own from situations that used to leave it quietly stalled or stopped: the first screen-share dialog being dismissed, a journal that's slow to respond or offline, and speakers muted at startup (it goes on without audio and picks it back up when a device is available). an accidental second copy now declines to run rather than disturb the one already going. a round of smaller stability improvements rides along.
  • closing the lid on a docked KDE laptop no longer makes sol go idle.
  • chat notifications now come back on their own after a network drop, and dismissing a notification no longer counts as opening it.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.2

june 29, 2026

Added

  • this observer now sends your journal a small, diagnostics-only health note alongside its regular check-in, covering its name, version, how long it's been running, and whether syncing is keeping up. it carries none of what it experiences with you: no screen, audio, file paths, or titles. just enough for you to see at a glance that an observer is alive and in good health.

Changed

  • this observer now carries the sol mark across your desktop, in the app launcher and menus. the tray status icons are unchanged.

Fixed

  • installing solstone-linux now works cleanly on current debian and ubuntu. the earlier steps could fail while rebuilding the desktop graphics libraries from scratch; the updated install reuses the ones already on your system, so it goes through.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.1

june 17, 2026

Added

  • you can now check which version you're running. solstone-linux --version prints it, so when you're following along with the release notes or asking for help, you know exactly what you have.

the solstone app for linux 0.4.0

june 17, 2026

Added

  • a new solstone-linux settings command lets you adjust how this observer behaves after setup, from one place instead of hand-editing a config file. you can change how often it makes a segment, the framerate, whether it starts paused, the chat bridge, and how long it keeps local cache. setup itself stays prompt-free; your identity and pairing are left untouched.

Changed

  • this observer's settings now live under ~/.config/solstone-linux/, where linux tools expect config to be. if you're upgrading, the move happens on its own the first time you run, with nothing to redo: no re-setup, no re-pairing. your segments stay exactly where they are.

the solstone app for linux 0.3.3

june 16, 2026

Fixed

  • the tray status submenu now refreshes its values every time you open it. the segment countdown, cache size, captures today, uptime, and sync line had been showing stale values on reopen on some desktops; they now reflect the current state each time you open the menu.

the solstone app for linux 0.3.2

june 16, 2026

Changed

  • the tray status now tells the truth about sync. it shows "connected" only when this observer has genuinely reached your journal with nothing left to send, and clearly says when it's offline, needs updating, or needs to re-authorize, instead of looking fine while quietly falling behind. the same honest status carries across the tray, status, and doctor.

Fixed

  • setup no longer asks for a journal url under any path. if you ran into a lingering "journal url" prompt during setup, that's gone — setup connects to your local journal automatically, and solstone-linux setup --server-url <url> still points at a journal you reach directly.

the solstone app for linux 0.3.1

june 15, 2026

Changed

  • chat notifications now use the journal's current callosum connection path, with the observer key still sent in the authorization header.

the solstone app for linux 0.3.0

june 14, 2026

setup is now zero-config: the observer connects to your journal automatically,

with no url to type.

Changed

  • setup no longer asks for a journal url. if your journal runs on another machine you reach directly, set its address with solstone-linux setup --server-url <url>.

the solstone app for linux 0.2.0

june 13, 2026

setup is now hands-off: the first time the observer runs, it connects itself

to your journal automatically, with no separate key step.

Changed

  • first run sets itself up. earlier versions asked you to create and paste a key to connect the observer to your journal. now the observer introduces itself to your journal on first run and remembers the connection on its own. you go straight from install to observing, with no manual key step.

the solstone app for linux 0.1.1

june 2, 2026

A focused maintenance release: two reliability fixes and a round of

install-instruction corrections from fresh-machine testing on Fedora,

Debian, and openSUSE.

Fixed

  • Idle monitors no longer silently drop observations. When a monitor produced no frames during a segment (a static screen with nothing changing on it), GStreamer still wrote a header-only WebM file. Those empty files were finalized, uploaded, and then failed to process in your journal — so that monitor's segment was lost without any signal. The observer now drops these empty recordings at the source and emits an observe.stream_silent event (logged at WARNING) so the gap is visible instead of silent.
  • Install no longer clobbers your system icon theme. On GNOME, install-service was writing a stray index.theme into the shared hicolor icon directory, which shadowed the system index and caused unrelated app icons to render as the solstone diamond. The installer now drops only the solstone status icons (the system index already declares their directory) and self-heals any previously broken install on the next install-service run. A foreign or unreadable index.theme is left untouched.

Documentation

  • Corrected the Fedora and Debian system-dependency lines after fresh-box install testing: dropped packages that do not exist in their repos (gstreamer1-plugin-pipewire on Fedora, gir1.2-gdk-4.0 on Debian) and hoisted the cairo / pycairo build toolchain onto the main install line so a fresh install succeeds in one shot. Added gstreamer1.0-tools to the Debian line — gst-launch-1.0 is required for screen recording and is not pulled in transitively.
  • Added a verified openSUSE dependency block and mirrored the corrected dependency lists between README.md and INSTALL.md.
  • Updated the install path to lead with pipx install solstone-linux, then solstone-linux install-service, then solstone-linux setup.

Internal

  • The release script now tags the commit and cuts a GitHub release only on a production PyPI run; a TestPyPI run no longer leaves a tag or public release behind.

the solstone app for linux 0.1.0

may 19, 2026

First public release of solstone-linux — the Linux desktop observer

for your solstone journal.

solstone-linux runs as a systemd user service in your GNOME Wayland

session. It experiences screen and audio along with you, holds short

segments locally, and uploads them to your journal in the background.

Install paths

  • From PyPI: pipx install --system-site-packages solstone-linux, then solstone-linux install-service to register the systemd unit.
  • From a clone: git clone this repo and run make install-service for development or unreleased changes.

Both paths rely on host packages for PyGObject, GStreamer with the

PipeWire plugin, PipeWire itself, pactl, and xdg-desktop-portal

with ScreenCast support. PyGObject and the GStreamer bindings ride

along from system site-packages — that is why --system-site-packages

matters.