Adrian Vovk, the creator of the atomic updated Carbonos distribution and the installer for Gnome OS, as well as one of the developers of Systemd-Homed and Systemd-Sysupdate, announced the initiative to convert GNOME OS from a distribution for testers and developers of GNOME into a general use distribution suitable for daily use by ordinary users.
Adrian also announced the termination of the development of the Carbonos distribution as an independent project using its package base. The Carbonos project will continue to exist, but the focus will now shift to developing it inside the GNOME project as part of GNOME OS or in the form of a branch from GNOME OS. Resources will be invested into the development of GNOME OS, which will use similar technologies as in Carbonos. The fundamental difference lies in the fact that Carbonos was developed for mass implementation, while GNOME OS is for accompanying development and testing GNOME.
Summarizing his experience with the Carbonos distribution, Adrian concluded that an operating system convenient for ordinary users should have several key properties:
- The supply of an unmodified GNOME desktop and a regular application set as offered by GNOME developers.
- Installation of additional programs in Flatpak format.
- System stability to avoid failures as a result of user actions or after installing updates, with the possibility of quick restoration through changes rollback.
- System environment invariability and atomic update through the replacement of a whole systemic image, enhancing reliability and simplifying problem diagnosis.
- Utilization of safety mechanisms such as custom encryption, verified booting, and advanced technologies like Systemd-Homed.
- Modern software stack utilizing components such as Wayland, Pipewire, XDG portals, etc.
- Flexibility and adaptability for various device form factors (PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones) with the simplicity of creating customized assemblies for specific equipment.
- User-friendly experience that removes unnecessary decisions for the user, such as choosing package formats when installing applications.