Devlog #1: Launching AstroOS – A Lightweight, Tiling WebOS Approach

Hey everyone!

For the past few days, I was having a hard time finding the motivation to code, feeling a bit stuck with my ideas. But looking at the incredible variety of WebOS projects built for Stardance
inspired me to finally jump in and build my own.

There are amazing, feature-rich web desktops out there, but for my specific setup and workflow, I wanted to explore a different architectural path. Running a minimalist setup on a Raspberry Pi 5 under dwm, I naturally lean toward simple, hardware-friendly, and lightweight tools.

That is how AstroOS was born.

The Vision & Goals

My objective is to build a compact workspace centered around a minimalist philosophy:

• Offline-First (PWA): Designed to function entirely without an internet connection once loaded, keeping all processes local.

• Consistent Workspace: A unified environment that adapts cleanly whether I am working on a desktop PC or typing on an iPad on the go.

• Vanilla Foundations (KISS): Built using standard HTML, pure CSS (Grid/Flexbox), and Vanilla JavaScript to keep rendering overhead as low as possible.

• Tiling Window Management: While windows will start as floating elements, the long-term goal is to implement a native tiling system inspired by window managers like dwm.

• Modular Design: A simple virtual file system using IndexedDB to allow local app expanding down the road.

First Steps (The 17-Minute Spark)

To break the laziness, I forced myself to sit down and write the absolute baseline. In less than twenty minutes, the project officially started:

• Initialized the directory structure and the core files.

• Created a basic HTML with the base of the future style of windows.

Time to build. Stay tuned!