I’m Anduin, the sole maintainer of AnduinOS.
Recently, I noticed by chance that AnduinOS made it onto Distrowatch's trending list. Additionally, my server is overwhelmed daily by numerous multithreaded downloads, which left me astonished, wondering how I possibly deserved this attention. After reviewing community feedback and comments, I felt inclined to share more about the system's development journey and its background, and also to engage with the community more thoroughly.
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=trending
First, yes, I am indeed a Microsoft employee. I work full-time at Microsoft as an engineer, though my work isn't related to Windows. Thus, my financial situation is stable, and I currently have no plans to commercialize this project. Fundamentally, AnduinOS isn't meant to be a commercial endeavor anyway. It was simply a toy and practice exercise I put together during a leisurely afternoon.
I often immerse myself in developing one-click configuration scripts—something many Linux enthusiasts do—because manually customizing a freshly installed system to match personal preferences is quite tedious. Typically, it takes me at least half an hour to repeatedly adjust settings. Naturally, at Microsoft, I use Windows daily. I find that Windows' interaction logic is highly efficient; unfortunately, its shell tends to crash frequently, and it's filled with intrusive advertisements.
On the other hand, Linux's freedom allows almost limitless customization. In my spare time, I exclusively use Linux and write various automation scripts. My friends and I frequently exchange our automated initial configuration scripts. Being an Arch and NixOS user has consistently reminded me of the value of building from scratch while maintaining an awareness of past actions.
Creating a distribution turned out to be not particularly difficult. Indeed, every NixOS and Gentoo user essentially becomes their own distro creator, utilizing formal languages to precisely describe the desired system configuration and aiming for a nearly "stateless" personal device.
With this idea, I realized I could simply modify Ubuntu's official ISO, recompress it, and create a personalized distribution. Many criticized AnduinOS as involving minimal effort—essentially just changing a theme. But that’s precisely the effect I intended. I’m essentially just an ordinary Ubuntu user looking for a comfortable Linux experience in my spare time, nothing more. Interestingly, many others consider this minimal alteration an advantage, as AnduinOS explicitly identifies itself as Ubuntu in its /etc/os-release file. It is Ubuntu, intentionally avoiding introducing new concepts, leveraging Ubuntu’s extensive ecosystem and community knowledge.
Of course, I eventually delved deeper into Debian's build toolchain, like using debootstrap. AnduinOS's source is more like an integrative wrapper allowing users to insert their own logos, dconf configurations, and generate their customized ISOs. I’m proud it has a convenient builder that's relatively easy to maintain.
Thus, AnduinOS hasn't required significant effort from me—it’s a hobby project I tend to during my leisure time (many know my primary job is developing .NET applications). Curiously, my main job often remains unnoticed, while my hobby projects unexpectedly thrive. Ironically, my most starred project is a recipe.
I'm genuinely surprised and grateful for the community's acknowledgment and interest in AnduinOS. I suspect its "success" lies precisely in the minimal changes—it’s merely Ubuntu dressed in a Windows theme, and that piques curiosity. I recognize this success may be fleeting and should not make me overly proud. After all, I’m standing on the shoulders of giants; numerous significant problems have already been solved, and I’m merely packaging and integrating existing solutions.
Initially, I didn't even pre-install an app store, and many criticized this decision. Some people speculated excessively about my motives, but the truth was simple—I didn't need it personally. As I mentioned, this ISO was just something quickly put together for my own use, later shared casually with the community. It perfectly suited my personal needs, and that's all I wanted. Now, it comes pre-installed with Flatpak, aligning with my requirements. While Flatpak introduces its own challenges (like file access restrictions), it conveniently isolates applications whose behaviors I can't fully predict.
I’ve learned a great deal about package management through this project, notably that apt, rpm, flatpak, snap, and appimage all fail to perfectly solve dependency issues and reproducibility problems. I continue to hold Nix in high esteem. Perhaps, if I ever fully adopt Nix, I'll utilize it to create my own OS.
Many have asked why I don’t accept donations, how I profit, and if I plan to commercialize AnduinOS. Truthfully, I haven't thoroughly considered these issues. It's not my main job, and I don’t plan to rely on it for a living. Each month, I dedicate only a few hours to maintaining it. Perhaps in the future, I might consider providing enterprise solutions based on AnduinOS, but I won’t compromise its original simplicity. It has always been about providing myself with a comfortably themed Ubuntu.
Amid the unpredictable global dynamics, I often feel I could lose my job anytime due to constantly changing U.S.-China relations. However, losing a job doesn't greatly concern me. As an engineer, the worst outcome would be spending a few months practicing algorithmic questions for job interviews. Additionally, AnduinOS might allow me to offer enterprise technical support or develop custom hardware—there are always opportunities to generate income. Some venture capitalists have expressed interest, but I've generally declined, reiterating that this is merely a hobby with no commercial future.
I've also noticed criticism labeling AnduinOS as malicious, claiming it spies for the Chinese government. I find conspiracy theorists impossible to communicate with, as conspiracies are unfalsifiable by design. Nonetheless, since the source code is openly available, users can compile identical ISOs themselves. Embedding backdoors would be irrational and easily exposed.
Certainly, AnduinOS is very new, immature, and maintained solely by me, leading to understandable concerns about potential abandonment or unresolved bugs. However, considering my stable lifestyle and the modest maintenance effort required, I intend to continue supporting it. If sponsorship or corporate cooperation emerges, perhaps I could even dedicate myself full-time.
Interestingly, the engaging story of AnduinOS demonstrates that an OS maintained casually in spare time may hold more attraction. Precisely because it’s a hobby—not commercial—there's no incentive to incorporate undesirable elements. My primary goal is simply to maintain this original intent.
Thanks to everyone for your support!
Felicitaciones es sistema que buscaba ya que usado Linus, quería ver un sistema tan sillar a Windows en todos ya lo voy usar una maquina de prueba para luego dar una opinión más concreta 👍👍👍👍👍
congratulations for the distribution, simple, light and working even on dated machines ! - I will continue to use Windows (10) for so many reasons, Adobe suite over all.... I wanted to use Linux to start settling on a new OS because really Windows (11) I find it has demands not compatible with my thinking ! - 7/8 year old desktop or notebook still do its dirty work and I don't want to trash them before I have to !
So I hope you will continue to maintain this distribution, even if you intervene little in the changes, after all, it already works well as it is, the less you stuff it the better... after all, what is not there is not broken !
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
It is the most light-weight Linux that I have ever seen, only occupies 4.xGB of my SSD. Yet it has higher CPU temperature (in other words, low electricity power efficiency) relatively to KylinOS, Linux Mint and Deepin Linux. I wonder if this higher CPU temperature has something to do with that current Ubuntu is optimized for newer generations (12th or later) of CPUs. Could you also make a distribution that is optimized for older CPUs such as mine Intel i7-3537U, which was launched at 2013? Last but not the least, thank you for this great slim OS.
I saw your OS and thought that it was really cool how you turned GNOME into having a windows-like workflow, with similar keybindings. I spent maybe five minutes trying to replicate the style of AnduinOS on EndeavourOS(Plasma) so I can have a sort of "AnduinOS" but in a rolling-release fashion!
Hello, And thank you for your distribution, which is very easy to use for a Windows user looking to replace Windows 10. But it would be very useful if you integrated Wine (like Zorin OS or Wubuntu) to be able to install the Windows applications used on Windows 10. Sincerely,
谢谢编译,正在下载。
Muito obrigado pelo AnduinOs, me atendeu perfeitamente! Que ótimo trabalho altruista fez! Saudações do Brasil!
Nice distro. Very written post. I hope you don't take it personally the concern about any Chinese distro because of your government. I don't trust my government either. Hope you can keep maintaining the distro.
Que grata surpresa! Parabéns pelo empenho, vou utilizar a versão principal para dar vida ao meu Macbook Air 2013. Vou postar a minha experiência futuramente. Não pare com a distribuição e aceite as doações, você merece! Quem sabe não alcance o sucesso do Mint e do Zorin como distribuição destinada a novos usuários.
I like it. I seed torrents of the current version in multiple languages in order to save you some bandwidth.
Very cool project
AnduinOS got world attentions very fast, Great! I really love what you're doing for Linux with One man OS.
Keep Up the great work Anduin, Cheers man!!
What is the name from?
what a brilliant distro. almost perfect for my usage. heres what wud make it perfect. well for me anyway..
brave browser instead of firefox onlyoffice installed usb format tool installed maybe a few more wallpapers. appimage support too
but brilliant anyways.. hope you continue and make a lts version with above suggestions if you do ill throw you £100 to your paypal :-)
you should put a donate button on the main page. this distro will explode soon