Open source

What’s open source, and what isn’t.

The shell, installer and tools of the Orus OS desktop are open source. Two components, the runtime and the Cerlus browser, use a different license, and we explain it here.

What’s open

• The desktop distribution files are licensed under Apache-2.0.
• The shell is licensed Apache-2.0 or MIT.
• The source is available to download and read on GitHub (github.com/splentainc/orus).

The runtime and Cerlus: Business Source License 1.1

The runtime is the engine that runs your web apps. It’s made by Splenta Inc. and is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1. You can use it in production to run applications, including as the runtime of an operating system. You can’t offer the runtime itself, or something substantially similar, to others as a standalone product or hosted service. Each version becomes Apache-2.0 four years after its first public release.

The Business Source License is a “source-available” license. It isn’t an open-source license under the Open Source Initiative’s definition, which is why we call it out on its own. The Cerlus browser is under the same license. The installer shows the full license text, and it is included with the system.

Orus Mobile

Orus Mobile is not open source. The desktop is. We’d rather say that plainly than let one sentence cover both.

Built on other open-source work

Debian, labwc and wlroots, Chromium, React, Vite and Tailwind, and the Geist and Inter fonts, among others. See Legal for notices.