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| | ---
layout: page
title: Spectrum, a step towards usable secure computing
no_heading: true
nav_order: 0
---
<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2019-2020, 2022, 2024 Alyssa Ross <hi@alyssa.is> -->
<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Valentin Gagarin <valentin@gagarin.work> -->
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0 OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-or-later -->
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later -->
<a href="logo" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 0.5em 0">
<img class="logo" src="logo/logo_html.svg" width="70" height="70" alt="Spectrum logo">
<img class="no-logo" srcset="logo/logo140.png 140w" src="logo/logo70.png" width="70" height="70" alt="Spectrum logo" hidden loading="lazy">
</a>
<h1>Spectrum — a step towards <em>usable</em> secure computing</h1>
<p>
Spectrum is a project to create a computer operating system, based on
the principle of security by compartmentalization. It aims to have a
lower barrier to entry and to be easier to use and maintain than other
such systems.
<p>
By isolating each application in a virtual machine, Spectrum prevents
untrusted software from accessing what you haven't explicitly allowed
or disrupting other applications.
<p>
Persistent data will be managed centrally, while preserving boundaries
between compartments. This means that the system can still be thought
of as a whole, rather than many virtual machines each becoming a
system of its own.
<h2>Design philosophy</h2>
<p>
Spectrum is an upstream-first project. Wherever possible, we aim to
participate in cross-project collaboration to move the entire free
desktop ecosystem forward, rather than designing Spectrum-specific
solutions. This reduces the amount of software that Spectrum as a
small project is solely responsible for maintaining. It also derisks
the project — even if Spectrum does not achieve all its goals, our
efforts will have resulted in improvements across the board of free
desktop systems.
<p>
Spectrum is free software, currently under active development. If you
are interested
in <a href="/doc/contributing/">contributing</a>,
we'd love to have you.
<h2>Funding</h2>
<p>
Spectrum is mostly funded through individual donations
on <a href="https://github.com/sponsors/alyssais">GitHub Sponsors</a>
and <a href="https://liberapay.com/qyliss">LiberaPay</a>. Additional
funding is provided
by <a href="https://www.ngi.eu/about/ngi-zero/">NGI Zero</a>, an
initiative by the Digital Single Market of the European Commission.
<nav>
<h2>Further reading</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="motivation.html">Motivation for Spectrum</a>
<li><a href="design.html">Design</a>
<li><a href="bibliography.html">Bibliography</a>
</ul>
<h2>Published software</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="software/cloud-hypervisor">Cloud Hypervisor with
virtio-gpu support</a>
</ul>
<h2>Development progress</h2>
<p>
A weekly development update is posted to
the <a href="/doc/contributing/communication.html#spectrum-discuss">discuss@spectrum-os.org</a>
mailing list, which has
online <a href="https://inbox.spectrum-os.org/spectrum-discuss">archives</a>.
<h2>Getting involved</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/doc/contributing/communication.html">Matrix/IRC
and mailing lists</a>
<li><a href="https://spectrum-os.org/git">Git repositories</a>
<li><a href="doc/">Documentation</a>
<li><a href="doc/contributing/index.html">Contributing to Spectrum</a>
<li><a href="https://pad.lassul.us/s/mDfFPvHjA">Bugs and upcoming projects</a>
<li><a href="https://cryptpad.fr/kanban/#/2/kanban/view/yLtGXWLV6U7X5+Z1ay+oXKZMrSacqQe+51nXZYRh3ck/">Upstream bug/patch tracking</a>
</ul>
</nav>
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