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AnduinOS
- codezero 1y agoI’m curious if anyone here uses this and can share their experience.
- dadrock 1y agoThe Ghost of Lindows.
- skvmb 1y agoI read this as Arduino OS. :sad_face:
- meta-level 1y agoyou're not alone it seems..
- rlue 1y agoYes, this naming is really unfortunate. It appears to be inspired by a fictional river from the LOTR-iverse: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Anduin https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Anduin
- JoshTriplett 1y agoIt appears to be the lead developer's name: https://github.com/Anduin2017 https://github.com/Anduin2017
- platevoltage 1y agoThat's what got me to click.
- ehutch79 1y agoThis feels like a lot to run on an arduino. Even the arm ones arn't hitting 100mhz.
- merelysounds 1y ago> a lot to run on an arduino This is aNduinos, unrelated to aRduino.
- mvieira38 1y agoIt's Anduin as in the fictional river from LotR
- guerrilla 1y agoSo it's just another Linux distribution? A Flatpack-based spinoff of Ubuntu?
- thesnide 1y agoflatpack, snap and all thpse docker wanabee solve the right problem the wrong way. (pseudo)static is a quick & dirty solution to a real problem. really solving it requires skills and time. which are all quite scarse given the new generation appetite for ease of use over efficiency
- magackame 1y agoWhat is the right way to solve this problem in your view? If Rust continues to take over we will end up with (truly)static everything, which doesn't look too bad.
- thesnide 1y agoDynamic linking is much better in the long run. As you can proxy things more easily if changes are needed. But it needs more ABI hygiene, and maintaing that compatibility proxy layer. Yet, I agrew that unfortunatly, it feels much more effective at first to just "freeze the whole stack in amber". Context: https://debconf25.debconf.org/talks/78-static-linking-pitfalls-harms-and-chalenges/ https://debconf25.debconf.org/talks/78-static-linking-pitfal...
- blacklion 1y agoIt looks bad: Security hole in popular library (crate) and you need to update everything (and, probably, wait till authors of software update their dependencies) instead of update one system library.
- guerrilla 1y agoLooks terrible to me. Huge waste of disk,RAM and a thousand gaping security holes waiting to happen.
- pabs3 1y ago
- whalesalad 1y agoWhy would one want to run this over Ubuntu? So much effort is wasted on producing and maintaining entire distributions when they are just another distro with a preinstalled package list and a skin?
- cosmic_cheese 1y agoDistros also represent sets of defaults and software choices (e.g. removing snap). Good defaults can make a world of difference and dramatically reduce time to usability on new installs. Besides that distros also tend to include theming that’s much more complete and versatile (works at odd UI scales and such) than themes you find online, which can also be of value. Trying to assemble all the components and poke configs in all the right places to get a coherent look is frankly a huge pain in the rear.
- whalesalad 1y agoCould that not be a script you run on a fresh Ubuntu install? I am just thinking in terms of all the heft and maintenance responsibility for maintaining this website, documentation, etc (which is all going to be virtually identical to every other documentation site), building isos, hosting them, doing releases. When the end result is just install packages a, b, c, remove snap, add this theme, add this wallapaper. that is like a script to me lol. aka ship a diff instead of shipping an entire asset.
- SR2Z 1y ago> Could that not be a script you run on a fresh Ubuntu install? It would be amazing if you could just download the combo of the script and image so you don't have to spend time configuring it :)
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- cosmic_cheese 1y agoScripts are fine for the lightest of changes but quickly become ungainly and prone to failure, plus the user has to re-run it to reapply changes after system updates.
- newfocogi 1y agoI made it half way down the page before I realized this wasn’t “ArduinOS”. I can’t be the only one.
- dcminter 1y agoSame. Now, however: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44955159 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44955159
- UncleOxidant 1y agoThanks. That's what I was hoping this was as I also mis-read it.
- Saris 1y agoThat's what I thought too at first
- tines 1y agoThat’s some mentally-induced bad keming right there.
- throwup238 1y agoI think it's more of a parafoveal processing effect in contextual word recognition.
- horizion2025 1y agoSame but then I saw "only 2 GB image"
- cnst 1y agoAt first I thought it must have been a typo…
- 1y ago
- gertlex 1y agoOnly 2 GB iso! Smaller than Ubuntu! ... I remember when Ubuntu 14.04 was 1 GB ISOs... oh that was a decade ago :(
- gummyworm 1y agoFor a long time, Ubuntu ISOs fit on a CD-ROM. Once that barrier was broken, the sizes inflated pretty rapidly IIRC.
- williamscales 1y agoThey used to send you free CDs to hand out if you asked!
- ale42 1y agoI hope I didn't throw away the ones I had!
- hnlmorg 1y agoThe last time I installed Ubuntu, it was from a CD. ;)
- sampo 1y ago> 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 https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/23/anduinos/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/23/anduinos/
- sangeeth96 1y agoex-Microsoft engineer: https://anduin.aiursoft.cn/page/about#:~:text=I%20chose%20to%20leave%20after%20five%20fulfilling%20years https://anduin.aiursoft.cn/page/about#:~:text=I%20chose%20to...
- kamranjon 1y agowow 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 1y agoI love the history, each year in paragraph or two. Really awesome.
- Saris 1y agoI'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].
- glenstein 1y agoIt 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 1y agoYeah 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.
- sambaumann 1y agoOr mint, which is a much more popular Ubuntu derivative which uses flatpaks
- ethan_smith 1y agoThe 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.
- dartharva 1y agoIt wants to specifically target Windows 11 users, which is strange because Windows 11 itself isn't done with targeting its own users yet.
- ThinkBeat 1y agoI 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.
- alfiedotwtf 1y agoNames could be trademarked… it’s like if I started a car company called Red, but later marketed it as RedLamborghini
- zamadatix 1y agoThe 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. https://anduin.aiursoft.cn/page/about https://anduin.aiursoft.cn/page/about
- zem 1y agoI 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
- zamadatix 1y agoThe points are are the same specific topic. A distro is a superset of the OS bit and the latter is rarely distributed without the additional software, documentation, and configuration that make up a distro so, to me, it's more than fine to me to include OS in the name. Even to switch between one Debian derivative to another it's extraordinarily rare to not reinstall the OS as part of that swap, so why not name the whole solution according to what it includes?
- astrange 1y ago
- idiotsecant 1y agoIs windows 11 really the GUI that we want to be emulating?
- dionian 1y agoright my first reaction was 'cool a more macos like linux experience, let's take a look'
- cosmic_cheese 1y ago11’s design language (Fluent) in itself isn’t bad. Personally I find it preferable over the antialiased Windows 1.x look that reigned from 8 through 10. It also implements dark mode more completely than 10 does which is nice. What makes 11 bad is all the other stuff, like ads in your start menu, taskbar losing functionality, endless background processes being added, etc. That said there really should be a DE that has built in settings that produce legally distinct but spiritually aligned XP and 7 clone environments.
- AgentK20 1y agoNo 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.
- froh42 1y agoAaaaaargh a fucking AI did translate this from English to German when I look at it. Horrible translation. Eine freundliche Distribution. Ok, fuck yes, if it is friendly, does it say good morning and good night? And ask me how I am? "Es ist eine perfekte Kombination aus Erfahrung und Ökologie." Ok, it's about ecology, so something about trees and nature and owls and bunnies? "AnduinOS ist Ihre finale Linux-Distribution!". Wait, you'll think I DIE if I use this?
- Retr0id 1y agoI think your user agent is doing the translation, but "ecology" is a weird word choice in the original(?) English version too.
- zamadatix 1y agoThere is a language picker on the site which seems to give these translations. I'm also not 100% sure if the English version was the original version either, or at least it would explain some of the word choices if it wasn't.
- numpad0 1y agoIt's static. There's a dropdown near bottom left to switch back to en-US. Looks like most of non-English versions are machine translated, except not all from the same singular version.
- encom 1y agoIt's AI translated to danish as well, and it's not good. It gets basic grammar wrong, and it just reads weird and clunky.
- jeroenhd 1y agoThere's a language dropdown at the bottom of the page. The English version seems mostly fine.
- Retr0id 1y agoMaybe this is pedantic, but with a "No telemetry at all!" headline it's weird to see two telemetry-gathering applications (Youtube, Steam) in the demo screenshots. Unless there's something to mitigate this? Edit: The headline text changes on each page refresh, most of the time it says something else.
- 0x457 1y agoWell, YouTube isn't an application is a webpage, install plugins to block tracking there. Steam is opt-in for metrics, all it does is collects hardware report. Unless I'm missing something?
- Retr0id 1y agoIt still logs rather a lot by default, like which applications you launch and how long you use them for. Which is fine, all laid out in their privacy policy etc., but it's not clear to me where Anduin's "No telemetry at all!" promise starts and ends. Maybe "no added telemetry" would be more pedantically-correct.
- 0x457 1y agoI don't know, I understood it as "No OS level telemetry or telemetry in first-party apps". > It still logs rather a lot by default, like which applications you launch and how long you use them for. If you're talking about Steam, those are social features that can be disabled if you want to hide the fact you're playing a hentai game (NSFW) https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1ie66ix/nsfw_show_me_your_craziest_steam_game_title_you/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1ie66ix/nsfw_show_me... I'd rather OS not fuck with my application settings on its own nor do I want it to install browser plugins for me. I wish I had a dollar for every "ubuntu, but looks like windows".
- alfiedotwtf 1y agoIt’s sad that it seems some of the comments are asking “Why?”… I’d say this is a good middle ground compromise for people who want the privacy of QubesOS but with an Ubuntu experience underneath
- iAMkenough 1y agoThe reason I ask "why" is I don't understand what this does differently than a distro like Mint. There isn't really an explanation beyond "You remain anonymous to the system." All while promoting third-party software that does collect telemetry. What exactly does this distro offer that others don't?
- jeroenhd 1y agoIt looks like Windows 11. Sounds inconsequential, but a different basic look and feel are a major problem for many people when they first try Linux.
- flas9sd 1y agoit's pretty straightforward to change: a makefile, some preset variables in a .sh, then it iterates through https://github.com/Anduin2017/AnduinOS/tree/5bbd94d9c4fa455e5b8165bf1996356685a432a7/src/mods 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 1y agoThis 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
- flas9sd 1y agoaddressing that concern, the dev blog roadmap[1] lays out the plan to commonize in the 1.4 version cycle with completion in v1.5 to > .. establish our own apt software repository, managing all changes directly via dpkg. [..] This also allows other Linux distributions like Debian to install AnduinOS's customizations easily [1]: https://news.anduinos.com/post/2025/5/21/anduinos-future-development-and-roadmap https://news.anduinos.com/post/2025/5/21/anduinos-future-dev...
- muxl 1y agoThe 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. [0] - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mepis.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mepis.png
- mvieira38 1y agoIs this meant to be a Windows 11 clone on Ubuntu?
- cardanome 1y agoConsidering 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 1y agoThere'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.
- chrsw 1y agoI 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 1y agoFor 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.
- cardanome 1y agoYeah 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.
- tombert 1y agoThis 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.
- neilv 1y agoFlatpak is great for people who wish they were running Microsoft. Others can just run a distro for people who believe in open source software.
- tombert 1y agoI 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.
- j45 1y agoAgreed. 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.
- yjftsjthsd-h 1y ago> 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.
- tamimio 1y agoI have been distro-hopping since probably around 2004, whenever now someone is asking me what to recommend as a Linux, it’s as follow: - Entry level and everything you will ever need, stable, etc: Mint - Feeling adventures: go with arch or some of its arch-based distros. - Used linux before: NixOS.
- k__ 1y agoManjaro definitely has Mint vibes.
- KetoManx64 1y agoHard to recommend Nix now with how deep a hole they've dug for themselves with their leftist politics, banning of users for their political views and forcing the founder to leave the project over politics. Nix logo is now officially LGBTQ colors according to them.
- strawhatguy 1y agoOy, that's disappointing, I hadn't heard that (and yep checked the website; the logo's changed... sigh). I guess I can dismiss NixOS from my list of possible linux distros. I thought Nix's approach was an intriguing idea, but the last thing I want with my Linux distros is maintainers sidetracked with politics. It means the distro itself takes second place. Yet sometimes less is more anyway, and I've been using Void Linux recently. Feels like the linux distros I grew up with, just better.
- __MatrixMan__ 1y agoAfter a few years using nix for my projects, everything else feels flimsy. They can make the logo be a pile of poo for all I care. Maybe you're the one who is sidetracked with politics.
- strawhatguy 1y agoCool, glad it works for you, as I said, it is promising. Others might be turned off before they get started. In any case, it's a distraction, and has no business in any open source project. Inviting politics in (if that is what the Nix team is doing) puts an upper bound on the distro's reach. I got curious about it, and yeah, doesn't appear a great community, at least a year ago: https://shealevy.com/blog/2024/05/08/broken-promises-the-nix-governance-discussions/ https://shealevy.com/blog/2024/05/08/broken-promises-the-nix...
- totallykvothe 1y ago"The ISO is only 2GB" 0_o
- brirec 1y agoHave you ever seen the size of modern OS installs?
- k33n 1y agoWhy do people keep doing this?
- crimsoneer 1y agobecause hackers gonna hack?
- simondotau 1y agohttps://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/ This, plus a few orders of magnitude.
- pjmlp 1y agoBecause instead of trying to improve GNU/Linux to be a solid alternative to Apple, Google and Microsoft offerings, we have politics with everyone doing their own little village. It was one of the reasons I eventually went back to Windows as main driver, yes it sucks for some things, there is M$ and all that, yet when one of my devices breaks down, I can get a replacement on the same day, without dealing with whatever snowflake hardware I need to order online that hopefully will actually support 100% of its capabilities. VMWare Workstation, and WSL nowadays, take care of whatever needs I might have on GNU/Linux related development. On Cloud side, we use whatever is the provider's custom distro, with customisations that most likely never end upstream.
- prmoustache 1y ago> yet when one of my devices breaks down, I can get a replacement on the same day, How many times has it happened in your life? Anyone who uses a computer professionally has a backup ready at all time anyway. These days it is not like it is hard to find a computer with its baseline compatible with linux anyway. An incompatible network chip issue is easily solved with a know USB compatible wifi card. Usually only people buying brand new uncommon tech/features or gaming experience issues.
- pjmlp 1y agoI use computers since 1986, UNIX in various flavours since 1992, GNU/Linux since 1995 starting with Slackware 2.0 (kernel 1.0.9, first ELF support), and to this day that is the usual answer in Linux forums. Yet, other than the Netbooks glory days, I am yet to buy a Laptop, even from Linux shops, where everything is 100% supported, or eventually doesn't get broken in some kernel update. I rather use the Linux kernel in the shape of Android/Linux, WebOS/Linux, or device specific ones like Raspberry or Cloud vendors sponsored distros, which they have to maintain themselves for their hardware. Best of all, it all works on whatever I can get on Media Markt, Saturn, FNAC, Cool Blue, Conrad, Publico, Dixons,...
- _imnothere 1y agoSeeing 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_encryptsdeletes_user_files_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/vz1gse/allegedly_wps...
- jeroenhd 1y agoIt's a Chinese distro, so it's not that surprising that they package a Chinese office solution.
- dartharva 1y agoAin't nobody outside China using WPS cloud, you don't have much to worry about from a functional point of view. I prefer OnlyOffice myself. The Russians made such a good MS Office clone even UNESCO is using it apparently: https://www.onlyoffice.com/customers.aspx?from=default https://www.onlyoffice.com/customers.aspx?from=default
- anshargal 1y agoIt's fun to see new waves of Linux UI polish attempts (like DHH's Ubuntu/Arch scripts, or this project). The Linux desktop could use some care -- and it's the kind of work a single (talented) person can actually do. The harder problem is the underlying drivers and app ecosystem. Will some third-party package actually run, or will it require qt-2 and then crash on launch? Why is the laptop's webcam upside down, or why is wi-fi dropping every 11 minutes? One-man distros rarely fix this (unless the person actually has same trouble). It takes a company, that would be willing to invest the sheer human-hours. We had Red Hat, Ubuntu -- companies that did a lot, but eventually capped their investment in the desktop. We need a new one. Until then, we'll keep getting the same experience under a new label.
- lrvick 1y agoI have in the past used solutions like these to move elderly people to Linux that cannot emotionally handle a change in icons or where they exist on screen, and would never research technical problems on their own. Generally a bad call for anyone else who will be unable to apply online advice for linux because the OS they have in front of them which is meant to imitate windows.
- sgt 1y agoKinda cute and reminds me of KDE back in the early 2000s, just with the start menu in the middle.
- paride5745 1y agoIs this the distro created by a MS employee? I wonder if this is a weird tasting the waters for an eventual MS Azure Linux Desktop Edition...
- SnuffBox 1y agoAh, one of these again. At the end of the day it comes down to: 1. No average Windows user would ever switch to Linux even if it looks similar 2. No Linux user would put themselves through a simulated Windows experience