eXtern OS
eXtern OS
I reviewed it last year and it's a bit bulky, but definitely among the best.
Sounds great! Regarding privacy, particularly the IP address, many people seem to be unclear about its purpose. It's essentially the method computers use to talk to each other—between devices like servers and computers. For a connection to work properly, these systems need to have access to this info so data can be directed correctly. The key point is whether each device chooses to store this information in a database (which I don’t do with eXtern OS). I’m familiar with networking, so this feels like something openly visible on a machine. If I wanted to gather data, I’m not sure what purpose it would serve for me. I’m not some entity that could leverage it for targeted ads or anything similar; even regular visits are manageable now (thanks to recent updates for the App store). The only exception is my personal assistant project from years ago—a chatbot that operated on the server side. My current setup leaves this feature off by default, and you’re prompted to enable it during installation. For a good personal assistant, it should remember your preferences, like avoiding certain artists in playlists. I think this approach is interesting because it accounts for all these details when interacting with you. That’s why I’m aiming to replicate it locally. Not my goal is to generate profit; there are significant costs involved, especially with app store fees. As a university student, this matters too—especially if I want to use my limited free time wisely instead of working a part-time job. In the music player, for instance, support for streaming services like Spotify or Deezer will be added, which requires paying for accounts during testing. These small charges add up. It’s also optional for developers to create paid applications, and apps can be free or open-source as usual. I hope most will stick to the standard options. My preference for node.js apps comes from the fact that they’re built from the ground up to work as a mobile operating system—unlike Microsoft, which had to build around something else. I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially in the Linux community, but that’s okay. After all, Linux offers a wide range of choices. This is basically bringing my vision to life.
Creating the entire operating system at once sounds more efficient. It’s unclear if that’s feasible for desktops, but it could work better. Regarding system themes, GTK and Qt applications might cause inconsistencies, so it’s best to test them carefully.