Phase 57

Audio And Local Session

m3OS supports a minimal local interactive session that feels like a system rather than a demo: there is a defined graphical session entry path, a basic terminal or launcher workflow, and audible PCM output on the supported platform.

Planned

Learning goal

Understand how audio output fits into a minimally useful graphical system.

Why this phase matters

How it works in m3OS

The roadmap entry defines the learning scope for this phase; a deeper implementation doc has not been matched yet.

How it builds on earlier phases

This phase builds on Display And Input Architecture and turns that foundation into Audio And Local Session.

Implementation outline

Choose the first supported audio target and userspace-facing API.
Implement the minimum audio-output path needed for the local-system story.
Define and wire the graphical session entry flow.
Ship at least one useful graphical client workflow, such as a terminal plus launcher.
Validate shutdown, recovery, and fallback behavior for the local session.
Update docs to distinguish the supported local-system path from later desktop ambitions.

Task progress snapshot

No checklist tasks were discovered for this phase yet.

Documentation targets

Documentation deliverables have not been listed yet.

Deferred follow-on work

Rich desktop audio routing and mixing
Media playback, recording, and advanced codecs
Multiple graphical sessions or richer display-manager features
Full desktop shell, notifications, settings panels, and broader app ecosystems

Source materials

Roadmap entry

Important code

Code spotlight cards

When the phase lands, bump kernel/Cargo.toml and any release/version references to 0.57.0.

View on GitHub

Key files

kernel/Cargo.toml — When the phase lands, bump kernel/Cargo.toml and any release/version references to 0.57.0.

How real OSes differ

Mature desktop operating systems ship with richer sound servers, multimedia stacks, login managers, and application ecosystems.
m3OS should begin with a deliberately small local-session story that proves the concept and stays operable.
The right comparison is not "does this match Linux desktop polish?" but "does this create a coherent local-system milestone?"

Success criteria

The supported target can produce audible PCM output through the documented audio contract.
There is a documented and working path into a local graphical session.
A user can launch and use at least one genuinely useful graphical client, such as a terminal.
Session shutdown, crash recovery, and fallback to administration are documented and tested.
The docs clearly distinguish this minimal local session from a broader future desktop ecosystem.

Related phases

Keep exploring the roadmap

Display And Input Architecture

m3OS gains a real display and input model: one userspace-owned display service controls presentation, keyboard and mouse events are routed through an explicit focus-aware protocol, and multiple graphical clients can coexist without raw framebuffer conflicts.

Release 1 0 Gate

m3OS defines and validates what "1.0" actually means. The phase produces an explicit support matrix, release gates, non-goals, and documentation commitments for either a headless/reference 1.0 or a broader local-system milestone if the optional graphical branch is ready.