Framework Sponsors CachyOS

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

The three most prevalent themes in the Hacker News discussion regarding CachyOS and Framework sponsorship are:

1. CachyOS Performance and Optimization for Gaming

Users are focused on CachyOS's purported speed advantages, particularly related to shader compilation and its overall performance on Framework hardware, often in the context of gaming.

Supporting Quote: CachyOS user "tristor" documented a minor performance gain: "I migrated from vanilla Arch to CachyOS on my Framework 13 AMD a few months back since I primarily use it for Steam gaming, and it's worked great and netted me around 3fps on average across the games I play."
Supporting Quote: The reason for the speed boost was attributed to aggressive compilation optimizations: "kachapopopow" explained, "it's compiled with similar optimizations as the kernel and has access to fast instrinsics (sse, avx)."

2. The Mixed Experience and Compatibility with Desktop Environments (KDE vs. Others)

There is a clear divergence in user experience regarding the stability and usability of the KDE Plasma desktop environment on CachyOS, with some users reporting failures and others experiencing smooth operation on the same setup.

Supporting Quote (Failure): User "whalesalad" noted issues with standard Plasma installation: "KDE Plasma doesn't work, but Hyprland and Gnome do."
Supporting Quote (Success): Conversely, "Ocerge" reported no issues with KDE Plasma, implying wider compatibility than suggested: "I use KDE Plasma and it worked just fine. In fact all of my games (including Arc Raiders) are working just fine on Proton 10..."

3. Framework's Sponsorship Strategy and Financial Health

The discussion frequently circles back to why Framework is sponsoring CachyOS and whether the company, being a hardware startup, can afford these open-source contributions, leading to comparisons with other sponsored projects like Omarchy.

Supporting Quote: "nrp" (presumably from Framework) clarified the budget behind the sponsorships: "Our total set of 2025 sponsorships and donations is around $225k, which is a fraction of a percent of our 2025 revenue. We would like to and plan to increase the funding we allocate to open source projects that our products and customers depend on in 2026. Our financials are healthy, and we see this as a good investment."
Supporting Quote: Concerns and comparisons arose regarding the impact of these sponsorships, especially contrasting CachyOS with the controversial Omarchy project: "jsheard" stated, "Even if Framework were to dismiss or overlook the controversy surrounding Omarchys creator... surely there are better ways to allocate OSS funding than sponsoring a multi-millionaire executives pet project."

🚀 Project Ideas

Proton-Cachy Optimizer Plugin for Gaming Clients

Summary

A browser extension or standalone small utility that integrates with gaming clients (Steam, Lutris) to manage and streamline the application of custom, high-performance compiler optimizations (specifically targeting shader compilation speed-ups pioneered by tools like proton-catchyos).
Core value proposition is making advanced performance tweaks easily accessible and automatically applied to the user's preferred client without manual configuration or potential instability from unsupported manual installs.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Linux gamers using Proton/Wine on any distribution, especially those frustrated by long shader compilation times.
Core Feature	Detects Proton/Wine environment, identifies the need for CachyOS-level compiler flags/intrinsics access, and injects/manages the necessary environment variables or wrappers required for rapid shader compilation, ideally offering stability profiles (e.g., "Aggressive Cachy Tune" vs. "Stable Compatibility").
Tech Stack	TypeScript/JavaScript (for a browser extension integration targeting Steam Deck UI/web layers, or a simple electron wrapper), Python (for a more robust background service interacting with game executables), leveraging existing community scripts/knowledge related to CachyOS compilation methods.
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

"I recommend installing proton-catchyos for faster shader compilation as well..." This clearly indicates a desire to leverage specific optimization techniques (proton-catchyos, kernel-like optimizations, access to sse, avx) outside of the standard CachyOS install. A tool that abstracts this complexity would be highly valued.
Focuses on a defined performance gain ("shader compilation clock in 105c" vs. lower temps/faster times), which resonates well with the highly technical HN crowd looking for tangible benchmarks.

Distro Agnostic Binary Compatibility Checker (DAC-Checker)

Summary

A diagnostic tool that scans a user's installed software stack (Proton versions, WINE versions, system libraries, Mesa drivers) and cross-references them against known issues reported specifically for Framework hardware or community builds like CachyOS to preemptively flag potential compatibility pitfalls.
Core value proposition is proactively diagnosing issues related to scaling, suspend/resume, or specific game launchers (like Battle.net) before installation or first launch, thus reducing troubleshooting time.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Linux users migrating to new hardware (like Framework) or switching specific configurations (like Wayland/X11 DEs) who want to ensure stability.
Core Feature	Input hardware ID (or OS context) and desired software (Game Name/Launcher). Outputs a report detailing known issues derived from community reports (like those in the thread) regarding trackpad scrolling, fractional scaling, suspension, or game launcher functionality on that specific configuration.
Tech Stack	Go or Rust (for a fast command-line diagnostic tool), SQLite database for storing curated issue reports sourced from community forums (like the one being discussed).
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Addresses multiple specific pain points: "How does it do with scaling? That's been one of my main pain points...", trackpad scroll speed, suspension issues, and specific launcher problems ("Wish I made the switch earlier... The only issue I've run into is getting battle.net working...").
A centralized repository for this kind of configuration-specific troubleshooting knowledge—rather than scattering fixes across Lutris, forum posts, and distro wikis—would be an essential utility.

Desktop Environment Profiler and Stability Guard for Wayland/X11

Summary

A lightweight daemon/utility that monitors the current Desktop Environment (DE) rendering backend (Wayland vs. X11) and actively manages application launch settings or configuration hooks to optimize compatibility based on user preference or known application requirements.
Core value proposition is solving the Wayland vs. X11 fragmentation headache, specifically focusing on issues like fractional scaling on Wayland while ensuring maximum performance gaming compatibility.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Users running hybrid environments or those who frequently switch between gaming/productivity needs, especially those using tiling window managers (Sway) or KDE/Gnome.
Core Feature	Profile configuration: If a game is launched, the tool can temporarily switch scaling settings or override the rendering session to XWayland/X11 if the profile dictates it; if a user is logged into Sway, it ensures fractional scaling behaves predictably across the session.
Tech Stack	Rust/C++ combined with D-Bus interfaces for DE interaction, heavily reliant on Linux desktop protocols (like `wlr-randr` principles).
Difficulty	High
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Directly addresses the DE fragmentation debate: "many games still don't play well with wayland" vs. "Wayland has been pretty solid for me - although the fractional scaling issue is going to plague us well into 2030".
A tool that abstracts these low-level display server decisions based on the application context would move Linux desktop usability forward significantly, appealing to users who value both optimized gaming and modern Wayland performance.