The CyberDreams Platform
Real computing. No strings. Just USB sticks and common sense.
This is the heart of what we ship: the **CyberDreams Sneakernet Platform** a custom Debian-based Linux edition that was built from day one to live completely offline. No surprise updates. No cloud overlords deciding when your machine breaks.
We started with plain Debian stable because it is rock-solid, reproducible, and doesn’t try to sell you anything. Then we ripped out everything that assumes you have unlimited bandwidth and total trust in the internet. What’s left is a clean, fast, neo-retro system that feels like the machines we grew up on except it actually works in 2026 without forcing you to feed it constant data.
Technical Foundation
• Pure Debian base (no Ubuntu, no downstream garbage)
• Built with live-build so every release is 100% reproducible from source
• Complete local apt repository baked right onto the install media apt works forever with zero internet
• Our own metapackages sent to you directly with news, content and software!
How it works
• **Primarily offline** — Install once from physical media and run forever without ever needing an update. Security patches and new apps arrive on the next quarterly media pack you physically receive.
• **Sneakernet native** — File distribution, updates, and even brand-new applications happen via physical media by design. We treat external media as the real internet.
• **SMOLNET friendly** — The CyberDreams software deliberately blocks all web (http/s www) traffic by default but allows most everything else for those who choose to network their machines. We have affordable low data LTE plans.
• **Reproducible & verifiable** — Every release includes full sources and a complete local apt repository. You can rebuild the entire platform yourself if you want.
• **Neo-retro creative focus** — Tuned for real work: music, writing, graphics, coding, and offline creativity on hardware that lasts decades. It’s essentially having the world at your fingertips without it being able to have you.
• **No telemetry. No dependencies to update.** Just clean Debian packages, AppImage support, and our own metapackages.
The magic that makes Sneakernet actually fun
• Automatic udev rules that detect our special SMOLNET keysticks the moment you plug them in
• HTML index menus on every keystick so you can browse files without even opening a terminal
• One-click import/export/sync tools that make going to a kiosk to share/recieve new files as easy as getting a cup of coffee.
• AppImageLauncher pre-installed so double-clicking an .AppImage just works — no internet required
• Pre-configured for 10–15 year old hardware (and modern low-power boxes) so nothing goes to waste
How it’s different
This is not another distro you download and forget. It is a complete ecosystem:
• Bootable live/install media kits with everything pre-configured
• Preinstalled hardware options (refurbished or new) ready to go
• Quarterly physical media packs sent to your door (security, new offline tools, curated creative content)
• Automation that makes the Sneakernet aspect as easy as stopping for coffee
Everything is built, tested, and shipped from Indiana. No venture capital. No cloud dependencies. Just a few dudes living like it’s 1998 and refusing to let the internet ruin computing.
Last updated: April 2026