Help

Where to get help

The Help entry in the applications menu opens this page. NikOS documents itself here; the desktop underneath it is Xubuntu, and Xubuntu documents that.

NikOS itself

NikOS is an Ansible playbook and the desktop configuration it applies. Anything specific to it lives on this site, at nikolareljin.github.io/nikos:

Installing and updating — choosing a version, re-running the playbook, and what to do when a run fails partway.
What's included — every role, the packages it installs and the commands it provides.
About — what the project is for, and the other projects it pulls in.
Issue tracker — anything that looks like a bug in the playbook or the desktop configuration.
Source — the playbook itself, which is the authoritative answer to "what does this actually do".

Report a problem or help build NikOS

NikOS is open to contributors. Bug reports, fixes, documentation and testing on a wide range of machines and setups all help.

Open an issue — the bug form asks for the log digest, the block at the end of the install or update log that lists every failed task with its message (how to get it).
Discussions — questions, ideas, and showing what you built on top of NikOS.
Contributing — how to set up, test and open a pull request, and the rules every change follows (verified sources only, pins in vars/versions.yml, never downgrade).
Security policy — report vulnerabilities privately, not in a public issue.

The desktop, which is Xubuntu

NikOS does not replace the desktop. It installs Xubuntu and configures it, so what you are using is Xfce as Xubuntu ships it, with a Nord theme and a different panel menu on top. Thunar, the panel, the settings manager, workspaces, keyboard shortcuts, printing and removable media are all Xubuntu, and Xubuntu documents them properly:

Xubuntu documentation — the full user guide for the desktop, its applications and its settings.
Xubuntu help and support — mailing lists, IRC and the community forums.
xubuntu.org — the project, its news and its release notes.
Xfce documentation — the upstream desktop environment, for anything below the Xubuntu layer.

Why this page and not the offline handbook? NikOS installs xubuntu-desktop-minimal rather than the full xubuntu-desktop, so the offline documentation package is not pulled in. It is about 78 MB installed and is still at version 22.04, while the site above tracks the current release. Install it if you want the handbook available without a network:

sudo apt install xubuntu-docs

Credit

NikOS owes its entire desktop to Xubuntu and to Xfce underneath it. The Plymouth boot splash is derived from Xubuntu's own theme and stays under that theme's licence — see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.