questions people ask

safety and trust

will these change my system without asking?

every tool that writes a file takes --check first, which prints what it would do and stops. anything it would overwrite gets a .bak-<timestamp> copy. nothing sits in the background waiting for an event.

do they need root?

only where a package has to be installed, and only while you run install.sh. the tools themselves run as you. passwordless sudo is opt-in: the installer asks for your password like anything else unless you ask for the rule.

what happens if an update fails halfway?

Maid AU prints PARTIAL, names the layer that failed, and carries on with the rest instead of pretending it finished. it takes a snapshot before and after a real run, so there is a state to roll back to.

how do i remove a tool?

run its install.sh --uninstall. it removes what it copied and asks about your settings; --purge removes everything without asking. it was all written under your home directory, so that is the whole undo.

do they send anything anywhere?

no telemetry, no accounts, nothing phoning home. they talk to your own package manager, and only reach the network for a source you set up yourself. this site itself makes no network calls at all.

setup

what if my distro isn't on the list?

the tools read /etc/os-release and pick a package manager themselves, so most derivatives work untouched. when the guess is wrong, set UPDATE_PM= and it uses that instead.

do i need kde?

no, but the suite leans kde where it can: dolphin right-click entries, kde connect first for MaidShare, plasma shortcuts for the runner. elsewhere it uses what is actually installed.

do i have to install all five?

no. install the ones you want; none of them need the others. when more than one is present they notice each other, and that is the only difference.

the tools

MaidShare: does my phone need an app?

no. it picks a route on its own: kde connect if the phone is paired on the same wifi, usb/adb if there is no network, otherwise a temporary wifi page with a qr code. it tells you which one it used.

MaidShare: my phone can't open the page.

that is almost always the firewall, not the script. MaidShare prints the exact command to open the port for that session, and the link expires, so you are not leaving a hole behind.

Maid Runner: what if i don't have pyqt6?

it runs the rofi fallback instead, with one of six themes. you lose the qt window, not the search.

Maid AU: will it reboot or touch my bootloader?

no. it prints a reboot warning when one is needed and leaves the reboot to you. bootloader edits are printed exactly and never run.

Maid BT: will it fight my normal bluetooth setup?

no. it leaves pairing to your usual bluetooth tool and handles the part after that: where the sound is now, and moving it around. new behavior ships off.

Maid Helper: will it install proprietary drivers?

never. the gpu module only unblacklists the open driver and rebuilds initrd, and removing nomodeset stays a printed manual step.

the project

why no donations?

we take help instead. a tool stays alive because someone read the code and sent a fix, not because someone paid for it. if you want to keep open source going, your time is the useful thing.

can i fork it?

yes, you can fork it for your own needs.

was AI used to make this?

the five tools are built and tested by hand, on real hardware, over a lot of long nights. some docs, this site, and a fix or two have had AI help, and a person reviews every change before it lands. what we do recommend is self-hosting a local model like ollama or opencode. we do not like the big corporations' projects, for several reasons.