About Defenestra
It Started With a Broken Computer#
The story of Defenestra starts at an engineering and innovation company where most of the machines were running Windows 7. The boss’s computer was getting old. Zoom was telling him his CPU wasn’t supported anymore, and he needed a fix.
He pointed at a new CPU that was listed as compatible with his motherboard. We ordered it, installed it, and it didn’t work. The motherboard threw a CPU error and wouldn’t even turn on. Worse, when we put the old CPU back in, the motherboard wouldn’t work with that either. The upgrade had bricked the machine.
So we went bigger. New motherboard, new CPU, new memory. A full overhaul. The parts came in, we swapped everything out, and powered it on.
Windows 7 loaded up, bluescreened, and went offline. We tried rebooting, Windows tried to repair itself, and it failed. The new hardware was too different. Windows 7 couldn’t handle it.
Why Not Try Linux?#
Time for a new operating system. The obvious choice was Windows 10, but the boss wasn’t a fan. He didn’t want the forced updates, the tracking, or the bloat. So we suggested something different: “How about Linux?”
He had one question. Would Linux force him to do things the way Windows did? The answer was no. Linux gives you control over your own computer, even if you want to do something the system thinks is a bad idea.
We installed Kubuntu on the machine. Over the next few months, we got calls with questions as he learned the new system. Then the calls stopped. He had figured it out. Most of his apps, including Zoom (the whole reason this started), worked perfectly.
The One App That Didn’t#
There was one problem. Rhino 3D, a CAD application he used for design work, didn’t have a Linux version. It didn’t work through Wine either. We got tasked with making it run.
We tried every virtual machine solution we could find. The regular ones were too slow for 3D work because they emulate a graphics card instead of using the real one. The solution that actually worked was graphics passthrough, handing a real GPU directly to Windows running inside a virtual machine and using Looking Glass for the display.
It worked great. But it was a nightmare to set up.
Building Hyperpane#
We proposed a new product internally: Hyperpane. The idea was simple. Take everything we had learned about graphics passthrough and make it easy. No manual configuration, no hours of troubleshooting. Just a tool that sets it all up for you.
We built it over the next few years, working on it between other projects during downtime. By the time we had a working product, we realized we needed a proper home for it. Publishing a software product under an engineering company name didn’t make sense.
Enter Defenestra#
The team came together and started a new company: Defenestra, LLC (/dɛfɛˈnɛstrə/). The original goal was simple: publish and sell Hyperpane.
But like all simple plans, it grew. We kept finding more problems that people face when switching to Linux, and we kept building tools to solve them. Data migration, system utilities, device management, system recovery. What started as one product became a full suite.
Defenestra exists to give people and companies back their freedom. To let them own their data, control their computers, and switch to Linux without leaving anything behind.
We built it for ourselves first. Now we’re building it for everyone.