newfocogi
dcminter
Same. Now, however: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44955159
UncleOxidant
Thanks. That's what I was hoping this was as I also mis-read it.
ryukoposting
Yeah, I clicked expecting it to be some madman who made a multitasking kernel for Arduino. What I actually got wasn't nearly as exciting.
horizion2025
Same but then I saw "only 2 GB image"
cnst
At first I thought it must have been a typo…
userbinator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arduino_boards_and_com...
Some of them are powerful enough that they could probably run a full desktop Linux comfortably.
Saris
That's what I thought too at first
tines
That’s some mentally-induced bad keming right there.
throwup238
I think it's more of a parafoveal processing effect in contextual word recognition.
AbraKdabra
I mean, it can be worse, I read the title and thought "an OS by Anduin Wrynn to help us remove that sword from Silithus".
tyre
“Why do I have this horde of zombie processes?”
null
moffkalast
"Hey they're doing a micropyth- oh.."
sampo
> AnduinOS, a one-man project from a Chinese Microsoft engineer, is quite a new Ubuntu remix that reshapes GNOME in the image of Windows 11.
> it modifies Canonical's current version of GNOME to look strikingly like Windows 11, using a collection of existing extensions and themes
sangeeth96
ex-Microsoft engineer: https://anduin.aiursoft.cn/page/about#:~:text=I%20chose%20to...
kamranjon
wow that timeline is a bit of a roller coaster:
"In 2022, my project HowToCook became enormously popular on GitHub, causing me to spend significant time maintaining it.
Unfortunately, my relationship with Lily changed. Her arrogance and disrespect led to us breaking up. I learned that people change."
...
"After moving my account and files to Suzhou, I explored GPU computing, built a Boeing 737 simulator in Suzhou Center, and reignited my relationship with Lily, looking forward to our future together."
majkinetor
I love the history, each year in paragraph or two. Really awesome.
ThinkBeat
I really wish people creating a distro, and even more so distro of a distro of a distro should not call it OS. (Debian - Ubuntu . AnduinOS)
I am alwasy happy to look at new operating system projects. It is a major hobby.
Could distros use AnduinDI AnduinUbuntu AnduinLinux. or just Anduin
I dont like getting my hopes up like that.
yjftsjthsd-h
> Could distros use AnduinDI AnduinUbuntu AnduinLinux. or just Anduin
ANAL, but I'm reasonably sure that the answer is no, they could not, because Ubuntu and Linux have trademark policies that would prevent that.
Also, I disagree; a distro, even a respin, is an operating system, they just don't have a unique kernel which sounds like what you want.
zamadatix
The last thing I'm going to care about comparing distros is whether they used the same naming pattern as Microsoft instead of Apple. To give credit to their author, it sounds like their name really is Anduin Xue and this is their OS, not that they intended for it to sound confusing. Not all that different than how Debian was named, beyond including OS at the end.
zem
I think the gp is complaining specifically about the "OS" bit; that makes it sound like a new operating system rather than a derivative linux distribution
astrange
The same naming pattern as Microsoft? Like a distro named Linux for Workgroups Lync 365?
exe34
I think I can allow it for nixos, which is such a pain in the ass (I say that affectionately) that it merits the accolade. it's an os made of nix the language and nixpkgs the package manager. it happens to use the Linux kernel and a lot of gnu stuff, so maybe it could still be called a distribution, but it's so unlike 99% of what's out there.
ginko
This is also a pet peeve of mine.
alfiedotwtf
Names could be trademarked… it’s like if I started a car company called Red, but later marketed it as RedLamborghini
_imnothere
Seeing the screenshot on the site with WPS Office seem like a huge red flag to me, while the distro might not be affiliated with WPS Office, I'll just put the link here to raise attention that WPS Office DOES NOT worth anyone's trust.
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/vz1gse/allegedly_wps...
Saris
I'm not really sure after reading through the front page why it's different from Ubuntu, it mentions flatpaks so that's one aspect.
But there's no breakdown of what other major things are different, or why to pick it over Ubuntu or [other popular distro].
ethan_smith
The key differences are: Windows 11-like UI via GNOME extensions, Flatpak-first approach instead of Snap, removal of Ubuntu telemetry, and pre-configured extensions that would otherwise require manual setup.
sambaumann
Or mint, which is a much more popular Ubuntu derivative which uses flatpaks
glenstein
It is emphatic about no telemetry, so I wondered if that was in contrast to Ubuntu (been forever since I've used Ubuntu so I don't know, unless package repository interaction counts as telemetry). But it might just mean that in contrast to Windows or even just a general sense that distinguishes it even from apps which for many are one of the bigger sources of telemetry concerns.
Saris
Yeah I saw that too, but since it doesn't say how Ubuntu compares I assumed it was just a random fact they picked to put there.
For comparison the Bazzite website is fantastic for making me interested in it because it explains a lot about what it does to make my life easier!
It's good to have facts about things, but explaining how something helps the user is important too, the open source community definitely benefits from having marketing-style info IMO.
tombert
This actually looks pretty neat, particularly the integration with Flatpak.
One thing that confused me when I first went to Linux a million years ago was the difference in how you install stuff. With Windows you download an exe file, double click it, next next next finish, and you have your app installed.
With Linux, every distro is slightly different and it's almost never quite as straightforward to people. I think Flatpak has the potential to bring that kind of Windows-style of installation to the masses, and it always kind of annoyed me that Ubuntu doesn't embrace Flatpak outta the box.
abrookewood
You can also download an MSI file ... or execute a Powershell script ... or install via chocolatey ... or install via myget ... or install via winget ... or the Windows Store
Not quite as straight forward as you are suggesting.
tombert
MSI files are still basically the same experience as the exe. The rest are pretty developer-centric, except the Windows Store, which I agree is more analogous.
slim
On your mobile phone you install software like in linux, by looking it up in the store. Windows is the outlier
tombert
Sure, but it's a big outlier.
It's one of those things, I think younger people would adapt to Linux just fine because of the reason you stated, but I think people my age (or my parents' age) would have the most trouble with it. When I learned how to use a computer, outside of the Commodore 64 that I broke as a little kid, I learned to download .exe files and next next next finish to install, as did my parents.
thewebguyd
Unless you're looking for dev tools, then we are back to downloading an exe in the form of curl | bash taking over everywhere.
neilv
Flatpak is great for people who wish they were running Microsoft.
Others can just run a distro for people who believe in open source software.
TheFreim
> Others can just run a distro for people who believe in open source software.
What about Flatpak is contrary to open source software as you seem imply? Flatpak itself is free software, so is most of the software packaged with it. There are quite a few good reasons to use Flatpak, especially for developers who want to make their software available on different distributions without wanting to worry about packaging separately themselves. There are valid criticisms of it, but being somehow against open source software or being somehow related to Microsoft is not one of them.
sgc
In the spirit of conversation I will give you my take on this.
Things I hate: Flatpak, Snaps, Docker containers, SystemD (different I know, but worth a mention due to the strong emotions nonetheless). Obviously too big a topic to talk about everything, but one common theme in all of them is they are often presented as the only way to do things by the developers that use them. The projects that use them tend to be harder to customize than they should be - sometimes much harder. Some of them, like Snaps and SystemD, get shoved down my throat so I hate them with a smouldering hate! And I won't use Ubuntu or derivatives any more. If you want to make a derivative distro, use Debian, use Arch, use openSuse, use RedHat.
I don't love it when I see so many projects on github where the project is a docker image or a flatpak - instead of writing an app that I can directly install on at least some flavor of Linux, with an optional wrapper / container / package. Of course I understand why its done, but it does feel a bit antithetical to the spirit of open source if I have to do a ton of arcane work to decouple your project from these containers (all of which have obvious downsides as well as upsides) just to use it directly in an OS - which is ultimately where all this type of software runs.
Why write beautiful or useful software, and lock it in a box? Technically, of course it remains open source. Yes, I can probably laboriously take it out of the box. No, locking it in the box in the first place is not as effectively open as if it had never been placed only there in the first place. Developers who want to do this are totally free to do so - just it will rub me wrong and I won't appreciate their work nearly as much. That is a trade off I presume they know they are making for many users, so to each his own.
Practically? I have opted to avoid all flatpaks and snaps, and to only use appimages - to avoid having a variety of these tools with their variety of performance, maintenance, and security concerns to deal with on my system. I chose appimage because snaps are terrible and I much prefer the fuller inclusion of dependencies in an appimage compared to flatpaks just duplicating what a repository already does - and sharing dependencies between apps. I only use appimage if I really need a piece of software and there is no other packaging available. Similarly, I only use docker off my main device, but there are a few projects that require me to use it. I will always prefer an LXC or a VM first if I can.
That's my own little world. I know it doesn't matter. But I would guess it fits pretty close to the sentiment and practice of a lot of people.
j45
People don’t seem to understand the world doesn’t have to accept a solely form of packaging - theirs.
Flatpak might not be for me, it certainly helps get some beginners to Linux going. If they outgrow it, that’s great, or maybe they never need to.
neilv
Calling it (edit: using the term) "free software" is a great example of utterly failing to promote your own principles, and stabbing the entire mission in the face.
Let's try to repurpose an incredibly widely used pre-existing term, that means almost the opposite of the essence of our entire mission, to mean our mission. And every time people tell us that's moronic, we double down. As we continue to watch people somehow totally miss the point of the mission, but surely the fact that we're mind-bogglingly self-sabotaging at advocacy can't have anything to do with that. We should totally keep stabbing ourselves in the face.
IMHO, it is one of the most shameful failures of marketing of the last century.
tombert
I run NixOS so I have my own opinions on the best way to package software. I'm just saying that I think Flatpak is, if nothing else, good for people who want to transition away from Microsoft.
My parents are both pretty smart people but I genuinely doubt that I would be successful in converting over to Linux if they have to type `sudo apt search my_package` and then `sudo apt install my_package` all the time. For people like them, who have been on windows for the last thirty years, I think that Flatpak is great.
yjftsjthsd-h
> if they have to type `sudo apt search my_package` and then `sudo apt install my_package` all the time.
As opposed to the much easier `flatpak install com.fqdn.app.name`? Don't confuse underlying package format with CLI/GUI; Synaptic, GNOME Software, Plasma Discover, etc. are fine ways to install normal packages.
j45
Agreed.
Also the majority of people like to do things with a computer other than, or rather than work on the operating system.
I like customizing my OS. But it shouldn’t be a barrier or gatekeep beginners out.
cardanome
Considering we already have Linux Mint which is Ubuntu based with the shite parts removed and where flatpacks are well supported, I wish it would say more about about the unique selling point of AnduinOS.
p1necone
There's currently a large amount of non-technical Windows users who are being told Windows 10 is going to be no longer supported, and the only way for them to switch to Windows 11 is to buy a brand new device.
Anecdotally these people are less resistant to moving to Linux instead than you'd think, and having a distro which looks exactly like windows would be useful. Although I've just been recommending Kubuntu - KDE Plasma is already pretty close to Windows, and likely to be supported for a long time unlike this.
Getting off topic now, but I think this forced sunsetting of hardware by MS is a huge misstep - desktop/laptop PCs are no longer the necessity they used to be, I feel like a large proportion of people are going to choose to switch to just using their phone/tablet full time instead of buying a new Windows PC or installing Linux. Combined with their seemingly intentional devaluing of the xbox brand they seem to be hellbent on destroying everything that gives them mindshare with regular people.
cardanome
Yeah but for these people Linux Mint is the clear recommendation. Cinnamon is pretty close to the traditional Desktop they know.
For non-technical users you want something mainstream with a big community. Sure, for me AnduinOS not being very popular would not be an issue because of the Ubuntu base and me knowing what to search for but for beginners it is better to stick something where it is easy to get help for.
chrsw
I doubt many people will switch to Linux because of the forced switch. Most people will putter along on Windows 10 until they can upgrade. It's still too much of a disruption to swith to Linux, especially for non-technical users.
p1necone
For sure - the people I mentioned anecdotally willing to switch were only willing because I was there to go through the rigmarole of making a bootable usb, changing bios boot settings and giving them a rundown of the differences in UX.
j45
I love mint, but Linux is about choice.
Best messaging and explanation wins, not best distribution.
I’m still finding it pretty remarkable this is so small, but I shouldn’t be.
skvmb
I read this as Arduino OS. :sad_face:
rlue
Yes, this naming is really unfortunate. It appears to be inspired by a fictional river from the LOTR-iverse:
JoshTriplett
It appears to be the lead developer's name: https://github.com/Anduin2017
platevoltage
That's what got me to click.
meta-level
you're not alone it seems..
flas9sd
it's pretty straightforward to change: a makefile, some preset variables in a .sh, then it iterates through https://github.com/Anduin2017/AnduinOS/tree/5bbd94d9c4fa455e... - the tree also points at the gnome-extensions it uses to create and mod the global menu.
can't be too hard to rebase onto Debian (the superior .deb distribution). I put it on 2 endof10 laptops as whatever I do every few years, kde just doesn't stick
keyringlight
This approach is something I wonder about versus the freedom to fragment with a thousand full distros, each with their own maintenance staff (and burden of supporting what they release if they want to be taken seriously) and experimenting with something. I think there's value in experimenting and exploring new directions, but it would be overall beneficial if there were efforts to consolidate or make it an easy to enable option if those branches prove valuable and compatible with the parent distro
dadrock
The Ghost of Lindows.
AgentK20
No ARM builds either, despite being based on Ubuntu, so I'm not even going to bother trying it out since I expect poor experience on an emulated x86.
muxl
The desktop background reminds me of some screens that MEPIS OS used [0] back when I was first getting into Linux in high school and the idea of live distributions blew my mind. I assume it's a coincidence people just like pyramids I guess.
I made it half way down the page before I realized this wasn’t “ArduinOS”.
I can’t be the only one.