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WatuOS

Your computer becomes your business system. A minimal, hardened Linux built on a stable Linux distro, shipped as an installable image that carries everything — so nothing is downloaded at your site.

Editions

The operating system is identical in every edition. What differs is which applications are licensed to start. An edition is a commercial package, not a separate product to migrate between.

EditionApplicationsWho it is forStatus
WatuOS HR Edition 2.6.1WatuHRM, WatuTime, WatuNet, WatuVisitorAn HR department that runs payroll, attendance, leave and the front desk on one machine.Available
WatuOS School EditionWatuSchool, WatuTime, WatuVisitorA school running students, fees, academics and the gate from its own office.Available
WatuOS Business EditionWatuAccounts, WatuHRM, WatuCRM, WatuPOS, WatuStock, WatuProcure, WatuProjects, WatuMake, WatuService, WatuFleet, WatuTime, WatuNet, WatuVisitorA business that wants its books, payroll, sales, stock, buying, projects, production, service and vehicles on one machine in its own building — each application on its own or all of them keeping one set of books.In build
WatuOS NGO EditionWatuMEAL, WatuHRM, WatuAccountsProgramme monitoring alongside the HR and finance a funded organisation must report on.Planned
WatuOS Microfinance EditionWatuKopeshaA microfinance institution or SACCO that wants its loans, savings and books on a machine in its own branch.Planned
WatuOS Platform EditionEvery WatuFlex applicationLarger organisations and resellers who want everything licensable on one box.Planned

Download an edition →

What is in the box today

This is WatuOS HR Edition 2.6.1 as it ships. The right-hand list is work in progress, labelled as such rather than claimed.

In 2.6.1
  • Stable Linux distro base, installed hands-off from one image
  • Encrypted disk; unlocked by the TPM 2.0 chip where the machine has one
  • Firewall on, and no port open to the internet in any configuration
  • Every application and the database as container images inside the ISO
  • A local admin console with roles, reachable on your network
  • Applications and WatuOS updates signed by us and checked on the box before install
  • Automatic rollback if the console stops answering after an update
  • Security updates from the Linux distro installed automatically
  • Backups encrypted on the box with a passphrase your administrator chooses
Hardening in progress
  • Read-only system partition
  • Secure Boot enforced end to end
  • USB mass storage disabled by default
  • Engineer shell access closed unless opened for a support session
  • Each application reachable only through the console, not on its own port

Until these land, keep the box on a trusted office network and change any password that was shared during installation.

Two promises, and how they reconcile

WatuOS has to protect Watu — the source code must not be copyable and the licence must not be defeatable — and it has to protect you: your data stays local and the device must never become a way to watch your organisation. Those pull against each other. A device its owner cannot inspect is exactly the shape of a device that could be spying.

The resolution You cannot change what the box installs — only software signed by us will run. You can always see what the box does: what it sends, where, and who connected. The list is published on the Watu Cloud page.

Licences, and what happens when one ends

A box checks in with Watu Cloud once a day and receives its licence: which applications it may run, until when, and its support level. A licence that is ending shows a notice on the box for its last thirty days.

When a licence ends, nothing on the box stops. Staff still clock in, payroll still runs, every record stays readable. What stops is the cloud service: new applications, updates and off-site backup. A Watu Box must never leave a school or an employer unable to read its own records.

TPM 2.0 is already in the firmware of current Intel and AMD machines; it is a BIOS toggle, not a component to buy. Where a machine has none, the disk still encrypts — it simply asks for its passphrase at boot instead of unlocking itself.

An honest limit Perfect source protection does not exist against an attacker with physical possession and skill — that is true of every appliance ever built. The claim we make is the proportionate one: your staff cannot copy it, your IT contractor cannot casually copy it, and a competitor would find it cheaper to write their own.

Local-first, not local-only

Core operations run on your network and keep working through an internet outage. The connection is needed for licence activation, SMS and payments inside the applications, off-site backup, updates and new applications — and encrypted off-site backup is one of the best reasons to have it.