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JingOS: Linux Distro Inspired by the iPad

poutine 6y ago
Apple isn’t going to like this. Good luck!
michaericalribo 6y ago
Awesome! Its exciting to see new applications of *nix OSes that are design-forward and targeted towards modern computing paradigms / platforms. I’m a grumpy graybeard who likes Arch on my laptop and Debian on my server...but cosmetics and familiar visual vocab and adopting industry ux practices—these are undeniable obstacles that must be overcome before “the year of the Linux desktop “ :)
- gh02t 6y ago
  I don't want to be too hard on this project, but is it really "design-forward" when it's blatantly and explicitly copying the look and feel of iOS/iPadOS? Originality seems like an important component of good design.
  - kstenerud 6y ago
    "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." - Steve Jobs
    - Qwertious 6y ago
      >Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' I obviously can't say what Picasso thought that meant, but I have a theory on what it actually means: "Copying" vs "Stealing" refers to how well you break it down and use the underlying components of a design. "Copying" is more or less just mimicking the feature with a few tweaks, whereas "stealing" is redesigning it from first principles based on what the best ideas in it seem to be, and making it your own. For example (not necessarily a good one, I don't claim to be a "great artist"), take regenerating health in COD: the idea appears to be removing persistence between engagements, by resetting health back to full after you've stopped being shot. Okay then, why not have regenerating ammo or regenerating grenades? Well, it looks like it's a stealth nerf against really good players - after a few fights without being killed, you have to fight without grenades, VS freshly respawned players (who statistically are the players who die more often) who do get grenades. Unless the player was conserving grenades through early fights, which is also a disadvantage (if self-imposed). Okay, what can we do with this? Well, if you're playing a highly competitive game then perhaps add "regenerating grenades", else add some sort of bonus score for getting killstreaks. If you're making a more casual game, then you can amp the regeneration effect up by giving more low/single-use items that are essentially a quiet buff for newbies who'll die before they get a kill anyway. Maybe you could add a pool of none regenerating health to limit the effectiveness of it on pro players, without removing it entirely? Like armour that you spawn with, that blocks e.g. 10% of damage but slowly breaks as you take more and more damage? Point is, this all started with regenerating health, yet now it's informing grenade stuff. If you'd just directly copy/pasted "perFrame: health++" with minimal changes then you'd miss out on a ton of useful tools here. EDIT: also, you could take the mechanic in a different direction entirely - what would happen if everyone lost health outside of battle instead of gaining health? Maybe combine that with gaining some health after every kill, so people are forced to get into battles to stay alive? Or, what if health was always regenerating, instead of only regenerating when you're not being shot at?
    - clusterfish 6y ago
      If you're gonna steal, better damn make sure your output is better than the original. Otherwise it'll have a cheap knockoff feel to it. Copying Apple's style of e.g. the settings icon is just that, copying. Nothing to be proud of, and just tells me the developer has their priorities wrong if they think this style is part of what needs stealing to give the user a good experience.
    - alpaca128 6y ago
      This quote is not from Picasso, it is in fact much older[0]. The stealing part of this phrase was more about how great artists make existing ideas their own("stealing"), reinterpreting them on the way. [0] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/
      - wyattpeak 6y ago
        That was Jobs's error, though, not the parent's. And the fact that Jobs said it is the relevant point.
    - goodcjw2 6y ago
      I guess "steal" means that it's a more advanced way of "copying", i.e. you can get away with grabbing others' idea without being noticed and can still be considered as "original". To do that, one needs to get the essence, the principle, and the deep underlying logic of another work, rather than simply copying something at the surface level.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
    Way more people use an iOS or iOS-like UI than any tradition *nix GUI. I read the parent to mean that indicates the present mobile is experience a step forward in that context.
  - eyelidlessness 6y ago
    Good design explicitly values borrowing/stealing. Unlike the tech rat race, UI design is very happy to credit inspiration.
    - gh02t 6y ago
      Sure, but I don't think this is "inspiration" so much as blatant, wholesale copying, at least if the screenshots and copy on the page are representative. ElementaryOS borrows heavily from Apple style without being an outright copy, that seems way less icky to me.
  - mickael-kerjean 6y ago
    The only thing that matter to me is can it run a terminal and can it run emacs. With the ipad/iphone failing on both those, this is quite forward to me
    - michaericalribo 6y ago
      I’m not advocating that you _should_ do this, but you definitely _could_ do _at least_: Install an ssh app (they exist for iOS. I’ve used them. They’re ok! They’d be better w a paired Bluetooth keyboard, easy to come by) Log into your server of choice—even just your personal machine on your LAN Hack away in emacs This has the added benefit of not requiring local access to files on your mobile device, or setting up yet another custom dev environment on a new system Now that I mention it, I _do_ want to try this!
bArray 6y ago
Also discussed here just 17 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580608
- timbit42 6y ago
  With only 2 comments.
someperson 6y ago
Is the project developed publicly? Where is the git repository with sources (under a FLOSS license)?
bArray 6y ago
> Available from Jan 31, 2021 So, is this going to be a paid for product? I am looking at what looks like is their GitHub page, and it's basically empty? https://github.com/JingOS-team https://github.com/JingOS-team
- pekinlcc 6y ago
  Will update Github Project before Jan 31. And the OS will be free forever. https://www.jingos.com/faq/ https://www.jingos.com/faq/
  - admax88q 6y ago
    That page doesn't really answer the question.
    - mynameisvlad 6y ago
      It links to a forum FAQ which does: https://forum.jingos.com/t/faq-about-jingos/243 https://forum.jingos.com/t/faq-about-jingos/243
      - apatters 6y ago
        If they comply fully with the GPL then this could be a great new linux distro! If they don't then I will avoid it.
- someperson 6y ago
  The popular web server Nginx started in Russia almost 20 years ago. Nobody would have used the software of such dubious origin if it was closed-source. Being open-source allowed many more eyeballs and developers which increased trust in the project. With the current geopolitical landscape, projects from Russia, China and increasingly the United States must be open-source to become widely used and trusted. If China-based JingOS aren't developing their work publicly, for most developers it may as well not exist.
  - 6y ago
xwdv 6y ago
“New Linux Distro” here just means a new graphical environment.
- brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
  Yep as it is based on Ubuntu
- pjmlp 6y ago
  With zero features for a table optimized development framework stack most likely.
alexfringes 6y ago
(null)
- Jkvngt 6y ago
  面向未来的云驱动操作系统更快速、更简单、更高效、更安全、核心技术自主可控
samwestdev 6y ago
Why do people put copyrighted words (like iPad) in their copy? Just called a tablet-style OS so Apple won't go after your ass.
- tomcam 6y ago
  The word you’re looking for is trademarked, not copyrighted. Anyway, IANAL but in the USA it’s perfectly legal to describe something as iPad-like in sales copy as long as it doesn’t look like you’re attempting to deceive the user that it is an Apple product. Practically speaking, I agree completely. Apple could just file some bullshit motion for shits and giggles and the only practical thing to do would be to take it down or get bankrupted by a baseless lawsuit.
- tyingq 6y ago
  It's not a new thing :) https://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/500004398-03-01.jpg?w=600 https://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/50000439...
- BuzzwordBingo 6y ago
  What’s the point of blatantly ripping off a design if you can’t brag about it?
- ericls 6y ago
  looks like they are in China
NiekvdMaas 6y ago
Looking at the launch video [0], this looks very professional done. Which company is behind this? I can't find any info on the site. Is this team related to Huawei? 0. https://youtu.be/3E0ADUIiFzA https://youtu.be/3E0ADUIiFzA
- deaddodo 6y ago
  I don't know if there's any shared code, but it looks like it's related to this Chinese project: https://fydeos.com/ https://fydeos.com/
  - NiekvdMaas 6y ago
    Not sure if it's the same company, but this ICP number also owns flintos.com; https://icplishi.com/%E4%BA%ACICP%E5%A4%8716065045%E5%8F%B7/ https://icplishi.com/%E4%BA%ACICP%E5%A4%8716065045%E5%8F%B7/
    - deaddodo 6y ago
      FydeOS used to be FlintOS
  - throwbacktictac 6y ago
    There is a link to https://fydeos.com/ https://fydeos.com/ at the bottom of the page. Fydeos is a friend project.
  - monsieurbanana 6y ago
    Who from HN would install a Chinese OS by choice? We have our own privacy issues from western companies, but at least we can hold them (minimally) accountable.
    - throwaway4good 6y ago
      If you are in Europe or any other place than the US, you are basically powerless to American big tech. Encouraging competition and using software from smaller companies, Chinese or not, is our only chance to level this.
hvaoc 6y ago
For Linux users, we look for credible source for something as important as Operating Systems. Usually from known entity or open source community. It would be great if you can clarify. Also since it is just getting started, you would be better off not using iPad, Apple kind of words. Instead use neutral terms like Linux OS optimized for Tablets, before it is too late. Also heavy influence of Apple Marketing on your preview video, it would serve you well if you have the actual working copy of the OS on a tablet shown as demo as well. Hope you are making that video as well.
- echelon 6y ago
  I'm scratching my head as to why they mentioned "iPad" as well. Android is already a Linux tablet OS. It's like they ignored the elephant in the room. Ubuntu also runs on tablets. (edit: this is based in Ubuntu!) Besides that point, Apple is pretty much the opposite of free computing. It's a gross comparison. Edit: Looking at their Reddit timeline, it appears as though they've made a lot of progress in a few short months, so I applaud that. I just wish people would stop trying to copy Apple at everything. It's a turn off.
  - monsieurbanana 6y ago
    > Besides that point, Apple is pretty much the opposite of free computing. It's a gross comparison. Isn't that what they said? They stated that one of the reasons to create a new OS is that Apple is a closed platform. You can't blame them to go further than that in a marketing video, it's not like they're posting anonymous comments on an internet forum.
  - mattdeboard 6y ago
    I wouldn’t have even bothered to click the link if they hadn’t used the word ipad.
  - emteycz 6y ago
    What's elephant for you is a fly for most others. My grandmother is afraid of things like Ubuntu.
  - 6y ago
tomc1985 6y ago
I wonder if this is going to be the OS of choice for flea-market iPad counterfeits/knockoffs... the Files screen even says "On my Pad" in the shown screenshot. Everything looks close enough to be able to possibly fool an untrained eye.
- iFreilicht 6y ago
  And the makers of JingOS, Jingling, are a China-based company working on the JingPad, an ARM tablet designed to run Linux OOTB. I'm sure we'll see a lot of variants of that quite soon after their release in July, and many people having fun hacking them.
  - toyg 6y ago
    Aah, that explains the name! I was banging my head trying to understand what was “jingoistic” about this OS...
    - MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
      Haha my mind thought the same thing!
- footrot 6y ago
  Pad is also a star trek throw back, and a word. I don't see why apple should have dominion on that word. Short and succinct.
  - ben_w 6y ago
    They have dominion of the word “Apple” in the context of consumer electronics, and “Pad” is easy to misread in context as “iPad”, leaving open the reasonable possibility of customer confusion. That’s basically what trademarks are both for and there to prevent.
    - seniorivn 6y ago
      This Pad thing only relevant because they copycat all up/ux It would be totally justified to call new/innovative tablet/OS a Pad
Bud 6y ago
"Inspired by"? They've directly copied all kinds of UI.
- ibejoeb 6y ago
  I suspect the name is a play on jingoism
  - solstice 6y ago
    No it isn't. See their About page
    - garmaine 6y ago
      Two things can be true.
paxys 6y ago
Looks pretty, but I'm curious why it is an entire distro instead of a desktop environment or theme. Any idea what it is based on?
- brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
  The link says Ubuntu
ericls 6y ago
why a distro? why not a desktop environment?
- iFreilicht 6y ago
  They're doing both! > JingOS is based on Ubuntu 20.04, KDE v5.75, Plasma Mobile 5.20. We will replace the framework from Plasma Mobile to JDE(Jing Desktop Environment) later this year. > The project will open-source step by step on GitHub: JingOS-team[1] So later this year, hopefully, you'll be able to install JDE on any tablet running Linux, though I suspect it won't be 100% smooth from the get-go. [1]: https://github.com/JingOS-team https://github.com/JingOS-team
janandonly 6y ago
I am happy to see projects that make Linux look beter or more user friendly. But to truly catch up with iPadOS one needs to recreate not just the UX but also powerful features that it comes with * can the Photo app recognize faces? or landscapes ? * can the Notes app do OCR on pictures and PDF’s? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25805137 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25805137 * is there an iCloud like function that synchronizes in the background? It is not just the UX that makes 70+ year olds be able to work with an iPad, it’s the whole package.
- tgv 6y ago
  What’s really difficult IMO is getting the development environment right, plus the app store. Without that, it’s nothing but another bit of eye candy.
  - epse 6y ago
    Isn't the app store and development experience exactly what people keep complaining about for Ios?
    - emteycz 6y ago
      No, non-Apple users are complaining, Apple users generally like the experience.
      - bbekiaris 6y ago
        Well in my experience people who don't complain about the App store never used any other app store in their life. For what I know they even think that the app store is Apple's invention.
        emteycz 6y ago
        Because it actually is... Android Market was introduced months after App Store. Obviously programmers know that fundamentally it's extension of some ideas from the Linux world, but that is very irrelevant to the users, and the basics of "download an application from a registry" are not what makes the great App Store experience.
Hamuko 6y ago
It looks so inspired that Apple legal might also be inspired.
- iFreilicht 6y ago
  The company making JingOS is based in China. Not sure Apple has much legal leverage there.
  - dathinab 6y ago
    You mean besides: - making it illegal to import any product having it installed - making it illegal to host a copy in the US/EU/UK and probably other places, too
    - justaj 6y ago
      Does that also mean that you won't be able to download the distro if Apple successfully files a copyright violation against the company behind JingOS?
      - dathinab 6y ago
        Legally seen it could lead to this, I guess? But practically you could just download it from idk. a server not in the US/EU/UK, or a server in the US/EU/UK which doesn't know (or care) about the problem. Or from a torrent or similar. Furthermore (assuming Apples sues and wins a case) I don't think they will bother trying preventing a (for them) small amount of private people from using it. Through if it becomes more successful it's likely another matter. What they care about is that you can't buy a tablet of which the UI looks, feels and behaves like iOs. I just fear this might be abused by Apple or other entities as an argument why devices should be looked down and users must not be allowed to install their own Os as this would lead to all kind of fraud and lost revenue. (Just to be clear I'm fully aware that for a tech aware person this argument makes no sense, but propose it to an old politician who doesn't really understand anything IT related and they might believe you, and at least in Germany we have way to many tech incompetent politicians...) EDIT: Also in the parent post I probably should have used the term distribute inside of the EU/US/... Anyway I'm not a lawyer so the exact terminology might not be quite right.
mahrain 6y ago
This thread is full of shilling and what feels like bot posts in order to push this post to the top. Typical, sorry to say “chinglish” spelling mistakes give it away. It would be good if mods would look into this. Any way to trigger that action?
- dang 6y ago
  This comment breaks the site guidelines. If you read them you'll see that the way to "trigger mod action" is to email us, not post insinuations of shilling in the threads. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- notum 6y ago
  It's pathetically obvious and quite obnoxious. I wonder how often is the HN system gamed in the same manner but with better English? Some mod attention would definitely benefit this thread.
0df8dkdf 6y ago
JingOS is a full-function Linux based on Ubuntu Why on Ubuntu not Debian? If you forking something fork from more legit upstream distro. What are they including in Ubuntu that Debian doesn't have concerns me due to Ubuntu's track record.
denysvitali 6y ago
This could look awesome on my Pixel C!
- jasonvorhe 6y ago
  What would I have given for a second iteration on that device and form factor. Next to the 2nd Chromebook Pixel, the Pixel C was the most perfect device from Google.
  - denysvitali 6y ago
    The HW is still good after 6 (!) years! Best tablet ever, but the OS sucks. That's why we started https://github.com/pixelc-linux https://github.com/pixelc-linux
slim 6y ago
this is exactly what I was looking for. but something is suspiciously not visible in the demo video : the soft keyboard.
- input_sh 6y ago
  Absolutely agree. From my experience with other distros, navigation is flaky, but usable with some modifications. Software keyboard is always just terrible to use, making anything other than scrolling social media or reading articles/books a painful experience.
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throwaway4good 6y ago
This is great work; absolutely something the Linux world needs. Only I wish they would divert more from MacOS X / iPad OS in terms of colours and loose the reference to iPad in the marketing copy.
popcorncowboy 6y ago
Unfortunate name [0] :| or perhaps it was intended? Very clever then. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism
- hnarn 6y ago
  The company is called Jingling which seems to be a Chinese city, so I highly doubt they named it after some obscure English expression.
  - adam-a 6y ago
    While I agree it's probably not intentional the word is pretty common in British English.
    - hnarn 6y ago
      Obviously "pretty common" is, just like "obscure", completely subjective. I consider it obscure, but all I can say from looking it up is that at least according to Google Ngram, it's about 1/10 as common as "patriotism", which is saying something as that's been a declining word for a century. It's less common than "chauvinism", "sectarianism" and "xenophobia". In fact, tripling the popularity of "jingoism" still wouldn't make it as popular as any of those. It also peaked in the early 1900s and has since been on a low plateu, which again, I consider a marker of obscurity.
      - Grustaf 6y ago
        You can’t open an issue of The Economist without seeing Trump or some dictator being accused of jingoism.
        GordonS 6y ago
        And how common is it to be a reader of The Economist?
throwaway4good 6y ago
I suppose it is a matter of approach. But if you have a group with the design chops capable of producing this; then surely you can make so it doesn't look like a deliberate Apple copy? Just look at the comments here in this thread; half of the reaction is about this is a rip off of Apple and legal this and that, ignoring what a massive contribution a well-designed tablet UI is.
- Grustaf 6y ago
  Well, so far it’s only a concept video, right? A concept video where the design is taken from iPadOS whole cloth.
oaiey 6y ago
If just they would focus all this work in one desktop environment and its app instead of having yet another fork. As awesome as this is, this is no contribution to the Linux Desktop.
- captainmuon 6y ago
  But there is no single "Linux Desktop". If these people would contribute to e.g. Gnome instead, they might help improve Gnome but they couldn't realize this idea. Personally I think there is little benefit to having one single Linux desktop that is equivalent to Windows or macOS, just with a different theme and a different kernel. Desktop Linux is about choice (TM).
  - oaiey 6y ago
    Well that is a good idea. But it has a problem: dev and ux capacity. When you try to make 20 different than you split your force into 20 different projects. Apple and Microsoft do not have this problem and will therefore always lead the pack.
    - himujjal 6y ago
      Exactly my point. The Linux is all about choice argument means workforce distribution. Sure, for different hardware (RPi, Tablets, PC, Mobile etc) different distros/DEs make sense. But for a single similar hardware, (PC for example) I never understood why distros like Manjaro and KDE neon are separate. Wish those teams were together and built a kick-ass serious competitor.
      - captainmuon 6y ago
        If I use Windows, I get a certain familiar desktop. I can change the colors and the wallpaper, but that is about it. But in the Linux world, if I like a minimalistic appearance and the Gnome shell model, I use Gnome. If I want a powerful desktop that I can configure a lot, I choose KDE/Plasma. If I want something lightweight, there are plenty of choices. And why are there different distros like Manjaro, KDE Neon, Ubuntu, Fedora? This is somewhat orthognal, but they all have important differences. I don't think one "Desktop Linux" could give me the breadth of choices that multiple desktop environments can. If they were to merge and make one big enviroment, that would have to be really good because it is competing with Windows and macOS. I used to use Gnome, but since Linux is moving in the direction you describe and homogenizing under the hood (see systemd for example), I found that current desktop Linux is no longer the radical different OS - it is just an inferior alternative Windows (for me personally, at this point in time!).
533474 6y ago
Why inspired by Apple?, why not make their own thing instead of a knockoff? They r talented individuals they can totally make their own thing
- onedognight 6y ago
  Many members of this site cut their teeth reimplementing proprietary Unix from scratch, e.g. the entire GNU project. Having an open source version of something is a laudable and noteworthy goal. Often many improvements are implemented along the way, since one doesn’t have to do the original design, e.g. the entire GNU project. I for one, am happy to see this.
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dathinab 6y ago
This looks like a legal nightmare. I mean there are all kinds of protections of visual thinks like e.g. design patents. I would be highly surprised if this doesn't violate at least one or two apple hold still valid design patents or other protection mechanisms. Because lets be honest design/visual wise it's less iPad/iOs inspired but a bland clone of the iOs design on iPad with some/many minor but in the grater picture irrelevant changes.
- SmileyJames 6y ago
  It's a Chinese company
  - twelvechairs 6y ago
    > We are based in Beijing and California. from their 'about' page
    - Grustaf 6y ago
      They can still be a 100% Chinese company.
- runawaybottle 6y ago
  A bland ios clone is still miles ahead of any ui the other distros have.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- amelius 6y ago
  It's a user interface, therefore it has to be familiar. What if cars all had the steering wheel in a different location?
  - ben_w 6y ago
    Clone is a subset of familiar — you don’t need to call your story about a wizard school “Barry Trotter and the Alchemist’s Gem” just to set your audience’s expectations, for example. (I’m not a lawyer so have no idea if this JingOS legally OK or not, but there is a difference between familiar and clone).
footrot 6y ago
So if this is a good tablet design/UI, what is wrong with Gnome3?
footrot 6y ago
It must be fun writing an essay on a tablet. Do you think tablets will defeat laptops? Or do most pad users have a physical keyboard for text entry? I would be interested in the touchscreen keyboard detail here. I have Gboard on Android, has this space matured?
- yoz-y 6y ago
  > Or do most pad users have a physical keyboard for text entry? When I listened to productivity podcasts the consensus seemed to be yes, people who tend to do a lot of typing on tablets hook them up to keyboards.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Basically hybrid will win, as on the Windows side, Microsoft is winning over Android by having laptops with detachable keyboards, turning most non gamer Windows laptops into Surface Pro clones.
freebuju 6y ago
This reminds me of DeepinOS though it's intentions are a bit different. The obsession the Chinese people have with iOS is insane though from a UX/UI it seems justifiable given user demand on this front. Simple gets the job done. It explains why for ex. Xiaomi themes it's mobile OS (MIUI) to appear more iOS-ish.
retpirato 6y ago
You realize elementary os exists right? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_OS https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_OS
29athrowaway 6y ago
LibreOffice is not my go-to choice anymore for office suites on Linux. FreeOffice from SoftMaker is my choice now.
- himujjal 6y ago
  Same here. But I use onlyoffice. And its been serving me good till now. Plus I like the tabs thing. I installed it on my friend's laptop which is super old, it seems to work better than MS Office 2016 too
  - 29athrowaway 6y ago
    I have not tried OnlyOffice or WPS office, but they look as polished as FreeOffice.
0dayz 6y ago
To be honest if it doesn't install and use flatpak/snap for apps, then I think its only a glorified desktop DE.
pratio 6y ago
A lot has already been said about them copying or borrowing or just getting their inspiration from Apple, so I'll skip that. Unless they fully opensource the code it is unlikely to get any traction. And if it is really based on Linux we're likely going to see UI and UX issues, An OS is more than just a some fancy icons and modded apps. The transitions that they show in the demo are not easy to achieve as in stability of the software. It looks very clean but unlike elementary OS, it doesn't feel authentic. I don't know what obsession people have with Apple but they aren't the only company getting designs and UX right. These avenues are unfortunately killing independent and new design ideas.
- app4soft 6y ago
  The worst thing is there that title should be: "Linux Distro Inspired by the iOS". iPad is a device, not OS.
  - asidiali 6y ago
    iPad-flavored iOS is different than iPhone-flavored iOS. Even Apple calls it iPadOS: https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-14/ https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-14/ Their title seems accurate.
    - app4soft 6y ago
      iPad (device) != iPadOS (OS)
      - asidiali 6y ago
        Ok, yes, what’s your point? iPad != iPadOS != iOS which was your original modification to the title. My point is, it’s iPad specific. So iPad/iPadOS is fine here, and not iOS.
        xellisx 6y ago
        And iOS != IOS (Cisco).
dr_zoidberg 6y ago
I found it amusing how on the one side we're being told is a full-fledged Linux under the hood, and on the other side they felt it was worth noting that it comes with a native calculator app.
yewenjie 6y ago
Is there any easy to setup Linux software for touch-screen keyboard and auto detecting rotations in 2 in 1 laptops?
- maelito 6y ago
  Wondering the same thing, using an XPS 2-in-1.
- zozbot234 6y ago
  Should work out of the box in current GNOME, assuming that the hardware side is properly supported.
modmans2nd 6y ago
Perhaps a less phonetically terrible name?
gjsman-1000 6y ago
The real danger is that if the code is open-source, I could fully see knockoff or counterfeit devices taking this project, replacing the icons with rips from iPadOS, and trying to sell it.
exabrial 6y ago
I always thought, if a vendor ever wants to encroach into Apple's territory, literally all they have to do is the same formula: Commercially supported Unix operating system with a polished UI + hardware. If you want to approach the enterprise market, you need an excel and word clone. For the consumer market, a polished and solid (crash free) browser with GPU acceleration is probably the #1 feature. Obviously not that simple in practice but what certainly _doesnt_ work is sexy hardware running the turd that is windows.
chimen 6y ago
Will it receive an "update" from the supreme leader some time next year?
alexfromapex 6y ago
Why did OP use a throwaway? The timing of this is a little strange, when considering it has a Chinese element
- jaredwiener 6y ago
  A throwaway with a lot of karma and a pretty extensive history....
duckfang 6y ago
From their discord, this is just more gongkai "loot open source/GPL and be closed source"-ware
mmgutz 6y ago
Does anyone else notice how slow the UI is to render in the demos or was that marketing effects?
adultSwim 6y ago
Many comments are this post are saddening. Our racism is showing.
txbuck 6y ago
I'm both hopeful and dubious about this. Can't see this getting very far if it isn't open source, but it seems like something similar could scratch an itch I've had for a while (detailed below). ----- I love using my iPad to consume content, but damn do I sometimes wish I could just use a real desktop on it. With some caveats, of course: - Without needing an internet connection/AP - At least some kind touch support* (clicking, scrolling, gestures, etc.) - Consistent, dependable graphical fidelity/performance - Easily portable - Quick to instantiate - Clean-yet-functional UI* I've tried some wireless AP/bridge setups on a Pi4 and VNCing into it via my iPad, but they've been not-so-satisfactory for a few of the reasons listed above. Haven't given up on it -still researching/fiddling around - but definitely the biggest hurdle is going to be the UI. Gotta find that balance between functionality, simplicity, and aesthetic - preferably out of the box. Not something Linux is particularly known for. *i.e. simplified desktop/application UI so that I can do most everything using the touchscreen (in addition to the keyboard/mouse), but can still access the advanced functions, even if those specifically are only optimized for mouse/keyboard. Ideally I'd be able to show/hide functions arbitrarily in the simple mode based on if I do/don't use them. Tiled WM or similar for single-app or split-pane view mode.

Apple isn’t going to like this. Good luck!

Awesome! Its exciting to see new applications of *nix OSes that are design-forward and targeted towards modern computing paradigms / platforms. I’m a grumpy graybeard who likes Arch on my laptop and Debian on my server...but cosmetics and familiar visual vocab and adopting industry ux practices—these are undeniable obstacles that must be overcome before “the year of the Linux desktop “ :)

gh02t 6y ago
I don't want to be too hard on this project, but is it really "design-forward" when it's blatantly and explicitly copying the look and feel of iOS/iPadOS? Originality seems like an important component of good design.
- kstenerud 6y ago
  "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." - Steve Jobs
  - Qwertious 6y ago
    >Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' I obviously can't say what Picasso thought that meant, but I have a theory on what it actually means: "Copying" vs "Stealing" refers to how well you break it down and use the underlying components of a design. "Copying" is more or less just mimicking the feature with a few tweaks, whereas "stealing" is redesigning it from first principles based on what the best ideas in it seem to be, and making it your own. For example (not necessarily a good one, I don't claim to be a "great artist"), take regenerating health in COD: the idea appears to be removing persistence between engagements, by resetting health back to full after you've stopped being shot. Okay then, why not have regenerating ammo or regenerating grenades? Well, it looks like it's a stealth nerf against really good players - after a few fights without being killed, you have to fight without grenades, VS freshly respawned players (who statistically are the players who die more often) who do get grenades. Unless the player was conserving grenades through early fights, which is also a disadvantage (if self-imposed). Okay, what can we do with this? Well, if you're playing a highly competitive game then perhaps add "regenerating grenades", else add some sort of bonus score for getting killstreaks. If you're making a more casual game, then you can amp the regeneration effect up by giving more low/single-use items that are essentially a quiet buff for newbies who'll die before they get a kill anyway. Maybe you could add a pool of none regenerating health to limit the effectiveness of it on pro players, without removing it entirely? Like armour that you spawn with, that blocks e.g. 10% of damage but slowly breaks as you take more and more damage? Point is, this all started with regenerating health, yet now it's informing grenade stuff. If you'd just directly copy/pasted "perFrame: health++" with minimal changes then you'd miss out on a ton of useful tools here. EDIT: also, you could take the mechanic in a different direction entirely - what would happen if everyone lost health outside of battle instead of gaining health? Maybe combine that with gaining some health after every kill, so people are forced to get into battles to stay alive? Or, what if health was always regenerating, instead of only regenerating when you're not being shot at?
  - clusterfish 6y ago
    If you're gonna steal, better damn make sure your output is better than the original. Otherwise it'll have a cheap knockoff feel to it. Copying Apple's style of e.g. the settings icon is just that, copying. Nothing to be proud of, and just tells me the developer has their priorities wrong if they think this style is part of what needs stealing to give the user a good experience.
  - alpaca128 6y ago
    This quote is not from Picasso, it is in fact much older[0]. The stealing part of this phrase was more about how great artists make existing ideas their own("stealing"), reinterpreting them on the way. [0] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/
    - wyattpeak 6y ago
      That was Jobs's error, though, not the parent's. And the fact that Jobs said it is the relevant point.
  - goodcjw2 6y ago
    I guess "steal" means that it's a more advanced way of "copying", i.e. you can get away with grabbing others' idea without being noticed and can still be considered as "original". To do that, one needs to get the essence, the principle, and the deep underlying logic of another work, rather than simply copying something at the surface level.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
  Way more people use an iOS or iOS-like UI than any tradition *nix GUI. I read the parent to mean that indicates the present mobile is experience a step forward in that context.
- eyelidlessness 6y ago
  Good design explicitly values borrowing/stealing. Unlike the tech rat race, UI design is very happy to credit inspiration.
  - gh02t 6y ago
    Sure, but I don't think this is "inspiration" so much as blatant, wholesale copying, at least if the screenshots and copy on the page are representative. ElementaryOS borrows heavily from Apple style without being an outright copy, that seems way less icky to me.
- mickael-kerjean 6y ago
  The only thing that matter to me is can it run a terminal and can it run emacs. With the ipad/iphone failing on both those, this is quite forward to me
  - michaericalribo 6y ago
    I’m not advocating that you _should_ do this, but you definitely _could_ do _at least_: Install an ssh app (they exist for iOS. I’ve used them. They’re ok! They’d be better w a paired Bluetooth keyboard, easy to come by) Log into your server of choice—even just your personal machine on your LAN Hack away in emacs This has the added benefit of not requiring local access to files on your mobile device, or setting up yet another custom dev environment on a new system Now that I mention it, I _do_ want to try this!

bArray 6y ago

Also discussed here just 17 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580608

timbit42 6y ago
With only 2 comments.

someperson 6y ago

Is the project developed publicly? Where is the git repository with sources (under a FLOSS license)?

bArray 6y ago

> Available from Jan 31, 2021 So, is this going to be a paid for product? I am looking at what looks like is their GitHub page, and it's basically empty? https://github.com/JingOS-team https://github.com/JingOS-team

pekinlcc 6y ago
Will update Github Project before Jan 31. And the OS will be free forever. https://www.jingos.com/faq/ https://www.jingos.com/faq/
- admax88q 6y ago
  That page doesn't really answer the question.
  - mynameisvlad 6y ago
    It links to a forum FAQ which does: https://forum.jingos.com/t/faq-about-jingos/243 https://forum.jingos.com/t/faq-about-jingos/243
    - apatters 6y ago
      If they comply fully with the GPL then this could be a great new linux distro! If they don't then I will avoid it.
someperson 6y ago
The popular web server Nginx started in Russia almost 20 years ago. Nobody would have used the software of such dubious origin if it was closed-source. Being open-source allowed many more eyeballs and developers which increased trust in the project. With the current geopolitical landscape, projects from Russia, China and increasingly the United States must be open-source to become widely used and trusted. If China-based JingOS aren't developing their work publicly, for most developers it may as well not exist.
- 6y ago

xwdv 6y ago

“New Linux Distro” here just means a new graphical environment.

brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
Yep as it is based on Ubuntu
pjmlp 6y ago
With zero features for a table optimized development framework stack most likely.

alexfringes 6y ago

(null)

Jkvngt 6y ago
面向未来的云驱动操作系统更快速、更简单、更高效、更安全、核心技术自主可控

samwestdev 6y ago

Why do people put copyrighted words (like iPad) in their copy? Just called a tablet-style OS so Apple won't go after your ass.

tomcam 6y ago
The word you’re looking for is trademarked, not copyrighted. Anyway, IANAL but in the USA it’s perfectly legal to describe something as iPad-like in sales copy as long as it doesn’t look like you’re attempting to deceive the user that it is an Apple product. Practically speaking, I agree completely. Apple could just file some bullshit motion for shits and giggles and the only practical thing to do would be to take it down or get bankrupted by a baseless lawsuit.
tyingq 6y ago
It's not a new thing :) https://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/500004398-03-01.jpg?w=600 https://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/50000439...
BuzzwordBingo 6y ago
What’s the point of blatantly ripping off a design if you can’t brag about it?
ericls 6y ago
looks like they are in China

NiekvdMaas 6y ago

Looking at the launch video [0], this looks very professional done. Which company is behind this? I can't find any info on the site. Is this team related to Huawei? 0. https://youtu.be/3E0ADUIiFzA https://youtu.be/3E0ADUIiFzA

deaddodo 6y ago
I don't know if there's any shared code, but it looks like it's related to this Chinese project: https://fydeos.com/ https://fydeos.com/
- NiekvdMaas 6y ago
  Not sure if it's the same company, but this ICP number also owns flintos.com; https://icplishi.com/%E4%BA%ACICP%E5%A4%8716065045%E5%8F%B7/ https://icplishi.com/%E4%BA%ACICP%E5%A4%8716065045%E5%8F%B7/
  - deaddodo 6y ago
    FydeOS used to be FlintOS
- throwbacktictac 6y ago
  There is a link to https://fydeos.com/ https://fydeos.com/ at the bottom of the page. Fydeos is a friend project.
- monsieurbanana 6y ago
  Who from HN would install a Chinese OS by choice? We have our own privacy issues from western companies, but at least we can hold them (minimally) accountable.
  - throwaway4good 6y ago
    If you are in Europe or any other place than the US, you are basically powerless to American big tech. Encouraging competition and using software from smaller companies, Chinese or not, is our only chance to level this.

hvaoc 6y ago

For Linux users, we look for credible source for something as important as Operating Systems. Usually from known entity or open source community. It would be great if you can clarify. Also since it is just getting started, you would be better off not using iPad, Apple kind of words. Instead use neutral terms like Linux OS optimized for Tablets, before it is too late. Also heavy influence of Apple Marketing on your preview video, it would serve you well if you have the actual working copy of the OS on a tablet shown as demo as well. Hope you are making that video as well.

echelon 6y ago
I'm scratching my head as to why they mentioned "iPad" as well. Android is already a Linux tablet OS. It's like they ignored the elephant in the room. Ubuntu also runs on tablets. (edit: this is based in Ubuntu!) Besides that point, Apple is pretty much the opposite of free computing. It's a gross comparison. Edit: Looking at their Reddit timeline, it appears as though they've made a lot of progress in a few short months, so I applaud that. I just wish people would stop trying to copy Apple at everything. It's a turn off.
- monsieurbanana 6y ago
  > Besides that point, Apple is pretty much the opposite of free computing. It's a gross comparison. Isn't that what they said? They stated that one of the reasons to create a new OS is that Apple is a closed platform. You can't blame them to go further than that in a marketing video, it's not like they're posting anonymous comments on an internet forum.
- mattdeboard 6y ago
  I wouldn’t have even bothered to click the link if they hadn’t used the word ipad.
- emteycz 6y ago
  What's elephant for you is a fly for most others. My grandmother is afraid of things like Ubuntu.
- 6y ago

tomc1985 6y ago

I wonder if this is going to be the OS of choice for flea-market iPad counterfeits/knockoffs... the Files screen even says "On my Pad" in the shown screenshot. Everything looks close enough to be able to possibly fool an untrained eye.

iFreilicht 6y ago
And the makers of JingOS, Jingling, are a China-based company working on the JingPad, an ARM tablet designed to run Linux OOTB. I'm sure we'll see a lot of variants of that quite soon after their release in July, and many people having fun hacking them.
- toyg 6y ago
  Aah, that explains the name! I was banging my head trying to understand what was “jingoistic” about this OS...
  - MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
    Haha my mind thought the same thing!
footrot 6y ago
Pad is also a star trek throw back, and a word. I don't see why apple should have dominion on that word. Short and succinct.
- ben_w 6y ago
  They have dominion of the word “Apple” in the context of consumer electronics, and “Pad” is easy to misread in context as “iPad”, leaving open the reasonable possibility of customer confusion. That’s basically what trademarks are both for and there to prevent.
  - seniorivn 6y ago
    This Pad thing only relevant because they copycat all up/ux It would be totally justified to call new/innovative tablet/OS a Pad

Bud 6y ago

"Inspired by"? They've directly copied all kinds of UI.

ibejoeb 6y ago
I suspect the name is a play on jingoism
- solstice 6y ago
  No it isn't. See their About page
  - garmaine 6y ago
    Two things can be true.

paxys 6y ago

Looks pretty, but I'm curious why it is an entire distro instead of a desktop environment or theme. Any idea what it is based on?

brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
The link says Ubuntu

ericls 6y ago

why a distro? why not a desktop environment?

iFreilicht 6y ago
They're doing both! > JingOS is based on Ubuntu 20.04, KDE v5.75, Plasma Mobile 5.20. We will replace the framework from Plasma Mobile to JDE(Jing Desktop Environment) later this year. > The project will open-source step by step on GitHub: JingOS-team[1] So later this year, hopefully, you'll be able to install JDE on any tablet running Linux, though I suspect it won't be 100% smooth from the get-go. [1]: https://github.com/JingOS-team https://github.com/JingOS-team

janandonly 6y ago

I am happy to see projects that make Linux look beter or more user friendly. But to truly catch up with iPadOS one needs to recreate not just the UX but also powerful features that it comes with * can the Photo app recognize faces? or landscapes ? * can the Notes app do OCR on pictures and PDF’s? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25805137 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25805137 * is there an iCloud like function that synchronizes in the background? It is not just the UX that makes 70+ year olds be able to work with an iPad, it’s the whole package.

tgv 6y ago
What’s really difficult IMO is getting the development environment right, plus the app store. Without that, it’s nothing but another bit of eye candy.
- epse 6y ago
  Isn't the app store and development experience exactly what people keep complaining about for Ios?
  - emteycz 6y ago
    No, non-Apple users are complaining, Apple users generally like the experience.
    - bbekiaris 6y ago
      Well in my experience people who don't complain about the App store never used any other app store in their life. For what I know they even think that the app store is Apple's invention.
      - emteycz 6y ago
        Because it actually is... Android Market was introduced months after App Store. Obviously programmers know that fundamentally it's extension of some ideas from the Linux world, but that is very irrelevant to the users, and the basics of "download an application from a registry" are not what makes the great App Store experience.

Hamuko 6y ago

It looks so inspired that Apple legal might also be inspired.

iFreilicht 6y ago
The company making JingOS is based in China. Not sure Apple has much legal leverage there.
- dathinab 6y ago
  You mean besides: - making it illegal to import any product having it installed - making it illegal to host a copy in the US/EU/UK and probably other places, too
  - justaj 6y ago
    Does that also mean that you won't be able to download the distro if Apple successfully files a copyright violation against the company behind JingOS?
    - dathinab 6y ago
      Legally seen it could lead to this, I guess? But practically you could just download it from idk. a server not in the US/EU/UK, or a server in the US/EU/UK which doesn't know (or care) about the problem. Or from a torrent or similar. Furthermore (assuming Apples sues and wins a case) I don't think they will bother trying preventing a (for them) small amount of private people from using it. Through if it becomes more successful it's likely another matter. What they care about is that you can't buy a tablet of which the UI looks, feels and behaves like iOs. I just fear this might be abused by Apple or other entities as an argument why devices should be looked down and users must not be allowed to install their own Os as this would lead to all kind of fraud and lost revenue. (Just to be clear I'm fully aware that for a tech aware person this argument makes no sense, but propose it to an old politician who doesn't really understand anything IT related and they might believe you, and at least in Germany we have way to many tech incompetent politicians...) EDIT: Also in the parent post I probably should have used the term distribute inside of the EU/US/... Anyway I'm not a lawyer so the exact terminology might not be quite right.

mahrain 6y ago

This thread is full of shilling and what feels like bot posts in order to push this post to the top. Typical, sorry to say “chinglish” spelling mistakes give it away. It would be good if mods would look into this. Any way to trigger that action?

dang 6y ago
This comment breaks the site guidelines. If you read them you'll see that the way to "trigger mod action" is to email us, not post insinuations of shilling in the threads. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
notum 6y ago
It's pathetically obvious and quite obnoxious. I wonder how often is the HN system gamed in the same manner but with better English? Some mod attention would definitely benefit this thread.

0df8dkdf 6y ago

JingOS is a full-function Linux based on Ubuntu Why on Ubuntu not Debian? If you forking something fork from more legit upstream distro. What are they including in Ubuntu that Debian doesn't have concerns me due to Ubuntu's track record.

denysvitali 6y ago

This could look awesome on my Pixel C!

jasonvorhe 6y ago
What would I have given for a second iteration on that device and form factor. Next to the 2nd Chromebook Pixel, the Pixel C was the most perfect device from Google.
- denysvitali 6y ago
  The HW is still good after 6 (!) years! Best tablet ever, but the OS sucks. That's why we started https://github.com/pixelc-linux https://github.com/pixelc-linux

slim 6y ago

this is exactly what I was looking for. but something is suspiciously not visible in the demo video : the soft keyboard.

input_sh 6y ago
Absolutely agree. From my experience with other distros, navigation is flaky, but usable with some modifications. Software keyboard is always just terrible to use, making anything other than scrolling social media or reading articles/books a painful experience.

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throwaway4good 6y ago

This is great work; absolutely something the Linux world needs. Only I wish they would divert more from MacOS X / iPad OS in terms of colours and loose the reference to iPad in the marketing copy.

popcorncowboy 6y ago

Unfortunate name [0] :| or perhaps it was intended? Very clever then. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism

hnarn 6y ago
The company is called Jingling which seems to be a Chinese city, so I highly doubt they named it after some obscure English expression.
- adam-a 6y ago
  While I agree it's probably not intentional the word is pretty common in British English.
  - hnarn 6y ago
    Obviously "pretty common" is, just like "obscure", completely subjective. I consider it obscure, but all I can say from looking it up is that at least according to Google Ngram, it's about 1/10 as common as "patriotism", which is saying something as that's been a declining word for a century. It's less common than "chauvinism", "sectarianism" and "xenophobia". In fact, tripling the popularity of "jingoism" still wouldn't make it as popular as any of those. It also peaked in the early 1900s and has since been on a low plateu, which again, I consider a marker of obscurity.
    - Grustaf 6y ago
      You can’t open an issue of The Economist without seeing Trump or some dictator being accused of jingoism.
      - GordonS 6y ago
        And how common is it to be a reader of The Economist?

throwaway4good 6y ago

I suppose it is a matter of approach. But if you have a group with the design chops capable of producing this; then surely you can make so it doesn't look like a deliberate Apple copy? Just look at the comments here in this thread; half of the reaction is about this is a rip off of Apple and legal this and that, ignoring what a massive contribution a well-designed tablet UI is.

Grustaf 6y ago
Well, so far it’s only a concept video, right? A concept video where the design is taken from iPadOS whole cloth.

oaiey 6y ago

If just they would focus all this work in one desktop environment and its app instead of having yet another fork. As awesome as this is, this is no contribution to the Linux Desktop.

captainmuon 6y ago
But there is no single "Linux Desktop". If these people would contribute to e.g. Gnome instead, they might help improve Gnome but they couldn't realize this idea. Personally I think there is little benefit to having one single Linux desktop that is equivalent to Windows or macOS, just with a different theme and a different kernel. Desktop Linux is about choice (TM).
- oaiey 6y ago
  Well that is a good idea. But it has a problem: dev and ux capacity. When you try to make 20 different than you split your force into 20 different projects. Apple and Microsoft do not have this problem and will therefore always lead the pack.
  - himujjal 6y ago
    Exactly my point. The Linux is all about choice argument means workforce distribution. Sure, for different hardware (RPi, Tablets, PC, Mobile etc) different distros/DEs make sense. But for a single similar hardware, (PC for example) I never understood why distros like Manjaro and KDE neon are separate. Wish those teams were together and built a kick-ass serious competitor.
    - captainmuon 6y ago
      If I use Windows, I get a certain familiar desktop. I can change the colors and the wallpaper, but that is about it. But in the Linux world, if I like a minimalistic appearance and the Gnome shell model, I use Gnome. If I want a powerful desktop that I can configure a lot, I choose KDE/Plasma. If I want something lightweight, there are plenty of choices. And why are there different distros like Manjaro, KDE Neon, Ubuntu, Fedora? This is somewhat orthognal, but they all have important differences. I don't think one "Desktop Linux" could give me the breadth of choices that multiple desktop environments can. If they were to merge and make one big enviroment, that would have to be really good because it is competing with Windows and macOS. I used to use Gnome, but since Linux is moving in the direction you describe and homogenizing under the hood (see systemd for example), I found that current desktop Linux is no longer the radical different OS - it is just an inferior alternative Windows (for me personally, at this point in time!).

533474 6y ago

Why inspired by Apple?, why not make their own thing instead of a knockoff? They r talented individuals they can totally make their own thing

onedognight 6y ago
Many members of this site cut their teeth reimplementing proprietary Unix from scratch, e.g. the entire GNU project. Having an open source version of something is a laudable and noteworthy goal. Often many improvements are implemented along the way, since one doesn’t have to do the original design, e.g. the entire GNU project. I for one, am happy to see this.

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dathinab 6y ago

This looks like a legal nightmare. I mean there are all kinds of protections of visual thinks like e.g. design patents. I would be highly surprised if this doesn't violate at least one or two apple hold still valid design patents or other protection mechanisms. Because lets be honest design/visual wise it's less iPad/iOs inspired but a bland clone of the iOs design on iPad with some/many minor but in the grater picture irrelevant changes.

SmileyJames 6y ago
It's a Chinese company
- twelvechairs 6y ago
  > We are based in Beijing and California. from their 'about' page
  - Grustaf 6y ago
    They can still be a 100% Chinese company.
runawaybottle 6y ago
A bland ios clone is still miles ahead of any ui the other distros have.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
amelius 6y ago
It's a user interface, therefore it has to be familiar. What if cars all had the steering wheel in a different location?
- ben_w 6y ago
  Clone is a subset of familiar — you don’t need to call your story about a wizard school “Barry Trotter and the Alchemist’s Gem” just to set your audience’s expectations, for example. (I’m not a lawyer so have no idea if this JingOS legally OK or not, but there is a difference between familiar and clone).

footrot 6y ago

So if this is a good tablet design/UI, what is wrong with Gnome3?

footrot 6y ago

It must be fun writing an essay on a tablet. Do you think tablets will defeat laptops? Or do most pad users have a physical keyboard for text entry? I would be interested in the touchscreen keyboard detail here. I have Gboard on Android, has this space matured?

yoz-y 6y ago
> Or do most pad users have a physical keyboard for text entry? When I listened to productivity podcasts the consensus seemed to be yes, people who tend to do a lot of typing on tablets hook them up to keyboards.
pjmlp 6y ago
Basically hybrid will win, as on the Windows side, Microsoft is winning over Android by having laptops with detachable keyboards, turning most non gamer Windows laptops into Surface Pro clones.

freebuju 6y ago

This reminds me of DeepinOS though it's intentions are a bit different. The obsession the Chinese people have with iOS is insane though from a UX/UI it seems justifiable given user demand on this front. Simple gets the job done. It explains why for ex. Xiaomi themes it's mobile OS (MIUI) to appear more iOS-ish.

retpirato 6y ago

You realize elementary os exists right? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_OS https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_OS

29athrowaway 6y ago

LibreOffice is not my go-to choice anymore for office suites on Linux. FreeOffice from SoftMaker is my choice now.

himujjal 6y ago
Same here. But I use onlyoffice. And its been serving me good till now. Plus I like the tabs thing. I installed it on my friend's laptop which is super old, it seems to work better than MS Office 2016 too
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  I have not tried OnlyOffice or WPS office, but they look as polished as FreeOffice.

0dayz 6y ago

To be honest if it doesn't install and use flatpak/snap for apps, then I think its only a glorified desktop DE.

pratio 6y ago

A lot has already been said about them copying or borrowing or just getting their inspiration from Apple, so I'll skip that. Unless they fully opensource the code it is unlikely to get any traction. And if it is really based on Linux we're likely going to see UI and UX issues, An OS is more than just a some fancy icons and modded apps. The transitions that they show in the demo are not easy to achieve as in stability of the software. It looks very clean but unlike elementary OS, it doesn't feel authentic. I don't know what obsession people have with Apple but they aren't the only company getting designs and UX right. These avenues are unfortunately killing independent and new design ideas.

app4soft 6y ago
The worst thing is there that title should be: "Linux Distro Inspired by the iOS". iPad is a device, not OS.
- asidiali 6y ago
  iPad-flavored iOS is different than iPhone-flavored iOS. Even Apple calls it iPadOS: https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-14/ https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-14/ Their title seems accurate.
  - app4soft 6y ago
    iPad (device) != iPadOS (OS)
    - asidiali 6y ago
      Ok, yes, what’s your point? iPad != iPadOS != iOS which was your original modification to the title. My point is, it’s iPad specific. So iPad/iPadOS is fine here, and not iOS.
      - xellisx 6y ago
        And iOS != IOS (Cisco).

dr_zoidberg 6y ago

I found it amusing how on the one side we're being told is a full-fledged Linux under the hood, and on the other side they felt it was worth noting that it comes with a native calculator app.

yewenjie 6y ago

Is there any easy to setup Linux software for touch-screen keyboard and auto detecting rotations in 2 in 1 laptops?

maelito 6y ago
Wondering the same thing, using an XPS 2-in-1.
zozbot234 6y ago
Should work out of the box in current GNOME, assuming that the hardware side is properly supported.

modmans2nd 6y ago

Perhaps a less phonetically terrible name?

gjsman-1000 6y ago

The real danger is that if the code is open-source, I could fully see knockoff or counterfeit devices taking this project, replacing the icons with rips from iPadOS, and trying to sell it.

exabrial 6y ago

I always thought, if a vendor ever wants to encroach into Apple's territory, literally all they have to do is the same formula: Commercially supported Unix operating system with a polished UI + hardware. If you want to approach the enterprise market, you need an excel and word clone. For the consumer market, a polished and solid (crash free) browser with GPU acceleration is probably the #1 feature. Obviously not that simple in practice but what certainly _doesnt_ work is sexy hardware running the turd that is windows.

chimen 6y ago

Will it receive an "update" from the supreme leader some time next year?

alexfromapex 6y ago

Why did OP use a throwaway? The timing of this is a little strange, when considering it has a Chinese element

jaredwiener 6y ago
A throwaway with a lot of karma and a pretty extensive history....

duckfang 6y ago

From their discord, this is just more gongkai "loot open source/GPL and be closed source"-ware

mmgutz 6y ago

Does anyone else notice how slow the UI is to render in the demos or was that marketing effects?

adultSwim 6y ago

Many comments are this post are saddening. Our racism is showing.

txbuck 6y ago

I'm both hopeful and dubious about this. Can't see this getting very far if it isn't open source, but it seems like something similar could scratch an itch I've had for a while (detailed below). ----- I love using my iPad to consume content, but damn do I sometimes wish I could just use a real desktop on it. With some caveats, of course: - Without needing an internet connection/AP - At least some kind touch support* (clicking, scrolling, gestures, etc.) - Consistent, dependable graphical fidelity/performance - Easily portable - Quick to instantiate - Clean-yet-functional UI* I've tried some wireless AP/bridge setups on a Pi4 and VNCing into it via my iPad, but they've been not-so-satisfactory for a few of the reasons listed above. Haven't given up on it -still researching/fiddling around - but definitely the biggest hurdle is going to be the UI. Gotta find that balance between functionality, simplicity, and aesthetic - preferably out of the box. Not something Linux is particularly known for. *i.e. simplified desktop/application UI so that I can do most everything using the touchscreen (in addition to the keyboard/mouse), but can still access the advanced functions, even if those specifically are only optimized for mouse/keyboard. Ideally I'd be able to show/hide functions arbitrarily in the simple mode based on if I do/don't use them. Tiled WM or similar for single-app or split-pane view mode.