1
Documented principles
A concise constitution defines what Altima is before defining what it contains.
- User sovereignty
- Local-first operation
- No hidden surveillance
- Repairability and recovery
November 2026 · A new chapter
Making Altima last forever.
A practical framework for a lasting, independent and user-owned computing future: Altima founder’s vision to a sharing community.
ALTIMA
Own the machine. Own the work. Rise above.
The six foundations
From creation to continuity.
Altima does not need a large organisation on day one. It needs a structure that lets a small trusted group understand what is sacred, what may change and how responsibility can move beyond the founder.
2
Reproducible builds
A clean machine should be able to rebuild the same Altima release from source and instructions.
- Versioned build scripts
- Signed manifests
- Automated verification
- No undocumented fixes
3
Maintainers beyond the founder
Defined roles allow trusted people to take real responsibility for parts of the system.
- Clear ownership
- Written handovers
- Deputies and successors
- Shared release authority
4
Public technical standards
Altima becomes a federation of compatible parts rather than one unknowable bundle.
- Open formats
- Documented interfaces
- Versioned specifications
- Compatibility rules
5
Governance
Routine matters stay with maintainers; major direction is shared by the Founding Circle.
- Transparent decisions
- Conflict resolution
- Published responsibilities
- Founder-to-steward transition
6
Sustainable economics
Altima earns from useful work without turning users into tenants of their own computers.
- Free foundation
- Paid capability
- Support and certification
- Optional services
How it is achieved
A practical path from solo to legacy.
Each stage should leave Altima more understandable, more transferable and less dependent upon one person’s memory.
The Altima Manifesto
26 July: Altima Day
For most of my working life, I have built systems intended to solve practical problems. Over those years, the computer changed from a tool a person could own into a terminal through which distant corporations rent back our own work.
Altima rejects that bargain.
The computer belongs to the person in front of it.
The files belong to that person. The work belongs to that person. The identity, history, applications and accumulated knowledge of that person must not exist only by permission of a distant platform.
Altima is not merely another Linux distribution. Linux and Debian are the foundations beneath it, but Altima is the complete idea built above them: an operating environment, a set of applications, a method of ownership and a declaration of digital independence.
Altima will be free at its foundation. Commercial applications and services may be offered, but payment must purchase capability, service, expertise or convenience—not the user’s right to control their own machine.
On this birthday, I am not announcing that Altima is finished. I am announcing that Altima must become capable of continuing without me.
The machine is yours. The files are yours. The work is yours.
Klaas Sybranda
Founder and Steward · 26 July 2026
This is the beginning
Build it together. Own it together. Set it free together.
Altima is open to builders, maintainers, translators, testers, refurbishers, teachers and practical people who believe technology should increase human independence—not reduce it.