alt Hacker NewsCalling a custom Linux build a brand-new OS is like a car tuner claiming they built a new car. You didn't build the engine or the chassis; you just tuned it and gave it a custom paint job. It's exactly like a hairdresser - they aren't creating a new human being, they're just cutting, coloring, and styling an existing one. It's a Linux distribution, i.e., a "distro," not a new OS!
> tuned it and gave it a custom paint job
The way to interact with the OS is significantly different from almost all other Linux distros. There is no shell, no DE. This feels like a lot more than "a custom paint job".
Is Ubuntu an OS? Mint?
Neither have built the package managment system, or the kernel, the DE(s), the utilities (maybe some but certainly not all).
What about CentOS? Or Bazzite? Or even Android?
Is macOS an OS, or "a custom BSD distro"?
And if none of those are OSs, does a Linux-based OS even exist? If not, what's the point of the distinction?