this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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OpenKylin is already starting to be implemented on government systems and private companies all around China.

Edit: This is what was written on the website.

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[–] KindaABigDyl@programming.dev 27 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Lol is it really free of Western technologies if it's running on Linux?

[–] 347_is_p69@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 year ago

I think it only uses western dependencies if they are open source. Even if linux somehow got weaponised against China (hard to imagine this as it goes against the very basics of Open Source), they could still use the older kernel releases and fork from that.

Linux kernel isn’t western or finnish, because you don’t need to trust westerners of finns to use it. Wherever you live, linux kernel is yours

[–] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 6 points 1 year ago

GNU/Linux technologies were founded in the west, but are contributed to by people all over the world. I also feel like the ideology and philosophy behind them are in stark contrast to the "western" ideologies of capitalism and imperialism.

[–] vegai@suppo.fi 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Linux has been made by a comrade from Soviet Finland, though, so it should be pure.

Proof:

[–] 77slevin@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And the kicker: the config files show 99% were extracted from Debian Linux. Own Chinese distro, my ass.

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

the config files show 99% were extracted from Debian Linux

Can you provide a source for that?

[–] TCB13@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

At least, unlike GNOME, they got the font rendering, the spacing across icons and the desktop icons right. lol

[–] Delta_44@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's commendable how every chinese UI is simply beautiful... It's almost as if they spend the majority of their budget on UI and UX stuff

[–] mfn77@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

It's nearly one to one Windows copy. I am sure it's hard to do it and do it right but at the and of the day it is still a clone.

[–] StudioLE@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I suspect it's kind of the opposite. You may have just become accustomed to Linux distros that ignore UI until the very end of development

[–] Delta_44@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Considering that they have cool transparency effects when other distros never implement them, yes

[–] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

if you like the look of windows that is...

[–] Delta_44@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hmm, I didn't explain myself so well apparently. The look of windows is "ok" but I like more consistency and simplicity, here I think linux distros shine.

But, this distro seems more "modern" and "flashy", I love new things and you don't see "cool & flashy" design often.

I'm more used to functional design (and I love it), but sometimes the "shiny" style is a welcoming change.

We've all been through the phase when we wanted 200 cool animations for a single window drag 😂

[–] inasaba@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We've all been through the phase when we wanted 200 cool animations for a single window drag 😂

RIP Compiz

[–] Delta_44@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

When I was a kid I had at least 20 cool effects for the basic stuff in the desktop... They were even well made, not gonna lie.

Functional design is the best, but that doesn't mean that the eyes doesn't want their parts

[–] gaw@lemmy.cafe 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The article is not very informative. No mentioning about package manager they use, no explanation if UKIP runs on wayland natively, etc. I guess i just have to try it myself.

[–] blackluster117@possumpat.io -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably best to not ever touch a Chinese built OS, but just look at it from a distance. At least, for the foreseeable future.

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Xenophobic fearmongering serves nobody.

Should we also avoid the Linux kernel, since it's Finnish, and Finland participates in the largest global surveillance apparatus with the USA? There's absolutely no reason to assume the distribution is any less secure or any more likely to be malicious simply due to it being developed in China or by Chinese.

Moreover, it's open-source. Use the same logic you should apply to open-source software before you accuse it of being malicious: look at the code and prove it.

[–] blackluster117@possumpat.io 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's fair.

Worked on by over 3,000 developers, 74 SIGs (special interest groups), and over 200 enterprises, openKylin has come a long way since its early releases.

74 SIGs (special interest groups), and over 200 enterprises

This is the only thing from the article that bothers me. My statement above was not meant to come across as xenophobic, but wary considering, historically, how involved China's government is with local tech companies and entities that would contribute to a project like this. Obviously, more data needs to be evaluated, but I think it's fair to be cautious.

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

My statement above was not meant to come across as xenophobic, but wary considering, historically, how involved China’s government is with local tech companies and entities that would contribute to a project like this.

This right here is where the problem is though. Simply being associated with the Chinese governement is not sufficient to assume malfeasance. Just as any of the large USA tech giants that take various forms of government funding aren't automatically assumed to be malicious simply by being associated with a "malicious" government. Hell, the Linux Foundation (Linus' employer) is almost entirely funded by really creepy USA-based tech companies that themselves receive government money for various projects or products. I don't assume baselessly that Linus would make the distribution insecure simply because he's funded by people who might want that.

Obviously, more data needs to be evaluated, but I think it’s fair to be cautious.

It is only fair to be exactly as cautious as you would be to run any other random Linux distribution: say, some random person's fork of Debian. Again, unless you have actual reason to treat it differently, doing so baselessly is rather lame and doesn't serve anyone. Of course it's fair to be catious of something as critical as an operating system; but viewing it through a biased lens doesn't make you more secure.

SIGs (special interest groups)

I'm not sure the precise definition for what counts as an SIG here, but it could mean something analagous to the Linux Foundation. It isn't necessarily suspicious. I think, from context, it's used in contrast to "enterprises"; that is, I take it to include any volunteer or not-for-profit contributions.

[–] Cynosure@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Good to hear! Hopfuly a new generation of kernel contributors comes out of this.

[–] MrPhibb@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago

I played with an early version of this 2 years or so ago, and at the time I think it was Debian based, though there's an Arch version available. Neither one worked great, particularly the Arch version, but it was a very beautiful distro, if severely lacking in features. Still, it looked like it had potential, maybe I'll play with it again.

[–] CkrnkFrnchMn@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Connection is terrible and am not taking down my VPN to d/load that.

[–] Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I think Deepin will be a better distro in the long run. OpenKylin is like the class project everyone has to contribute to, but Deepin is a work of passion.

[–] sarsaparilyptus@lemmy.fmhy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's pretty funny how they're trying to characterize a Linux distro as independence from Western tech. The closest we've gotten to that idea is TempleOS, not a Linux distro with spyware baked into it.

[–] Raphael@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

not a Linux distro with spyware baked into it.

Did you check their open source repository to see if this is true or are you just repeating liberal propaganda?

[–] luemmel@vlemmy.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is. They have full access and can indepentently continue development at any time.

[–] sarsaparilyptus@lemmy.fmhy.ml -3 points 1 year ago

If you look up, you'll be able to see my point. You might need binoculars.

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml -1 points 1 year ago

I can't imagine that baked in spyware would go unnoticed in an open source OS.

[–] Krause@lemmygrad.ml -3 points 1 year ago

a Linux distro with spyware baked into it

I'm guessing there's no proof to back this up.

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