Bor v0.8.0: Open-source Linux desktop policy manager
Original: Show HN: Bor – Open-source policy management for Linux desktops
Why This Matters
Bor provides open-source, enterprise-style endpoint policy management for Linux fleets, a historically underserved segment.
Open-source Linux desktop policy management tool Bor released v0.8.0 on August 2, 2026. The update adds Thunderbird, Microsoft Edge for Business, and Firewalld zone policy types, a full web UI overhaul built on PatternFly 6, per-action RBAC, and a dedicated security hardening pass.
Bor v0.8.0 introduces three new policy types. The Thunderbird policy type writes a merged policies.json to enrolled desktops — matching the Firefox ESR mechanism — with tamper detection that restores external edits immediately; Flatpak installs are supported alongside RPM/DEB. The Microsoft Edge for Business type writes bor_managed.json into each Edge managed-policy directory and removes it when the last bound policy is unbound; the web UI provides a tree-based editor with JSON validation and setting previews. The Firewalld zone type manages zones on enrolled nodes by writing XML to /etc/firewalld/zones/, validating with firewall-cmd --check-config, and reloading firewalld, with tamper protection enabled.
On the administration side, Polkit rules now support variable conditions via action.lookup(), enabling match logic such as allowing mounts only for removable drives. Per-action RBAC replaces the previous single blanket permission, allowing finer-grained delegation of admin duties.
The web UI received a full modernization pass: URL routing with working back/forward navigation, a full-page policy editor at /policies/:id/edit, server-side pagination and filtering for large node fleets, type-to-confirm dialogs for destructive actions, and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance enforced via a CI lint gate.