What we have built
The first version of the system runs today, and we keep developing it:
- A Linux distribution based on Debian 13, an open-source system that no company owns.
- KDE Plasma desktop that starts in Arabic, with right-to-left writing across the whole interface.
- Arabic from the first screen: an Arabic interface, an Arabic and English keyboard, Cairo time, and openly licensed Arabic fonts (Noto and Amiri).
- Work tools: the Firefox browser and the LibreOffice office suite, in Arabic.
- Updates signed with our key from our own repository.
- A simple installer (Calamares) that sets the system up in a few steps.
We are trying it first on FoundationCX’s own machines, before we offer it to anyone.
Why this initiative
Data protection starts at the roots. If we do not control the operating system a device runs, we cannot know what leaves it or where it goes.
Our aim is an operating system whose decisions are ours, which Egyptian engineers can maintain and develop. We start with organisations that need full control over their devices and data, then move to commercial use and to competing in the local and global market. We are preparing now, rather than waiting until we have to.
We are not the first to do this. Several countries have built national systems on an open base, among them Pardus in Turkey, which is built on Debian.
The stages
- The first version on our own machines: the system runs and installs, and Arabic works in the interface and in typing.
- Everyday work tools: printing, and compatibility with the systems organisations use in Egypt.
- An update repository inside Egypt: updates reach devices from servers in Egypt, signed with our key.
- Central device management: an organisation manages all its devices and policies from one place.
- A trial with the first organisation: on its own devices and software, to learn what works and what needs a replacement.
Next in the initiative: a phone system built on the same idea, with its data on servers in Egypt.
How to take part
- If you are a developer, tester, translator or designer: write to us and tell us what you would like to contribute.
- If your organisation wants to try the system: write to us with the devices and software you use, and we will arrange a trial with you.
- The code is open source: it will be available to the public in a repository on GitHub, under the FoundationCX organisation.
We do not collect donations, and this page asks you for no data. Taking part is all by email.