this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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To clear it up I am referring to just the kernel. You can set anything you'd like as PID 1 so we can have a non-unixlike userland. For example, some users set their kernel to boot directly into Emacs, without an init system.

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[–] Scoopta 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Define what you mean by non-unix like? Android is Unix like, it hides it from the user but the NDK is still a Unix like API, all devices have a POSIX shell /system/bin/sh installed which can be accessed via a terminal emulator app or using adb. The filesystem structure is different than most systems but there's still a /dev, /etc, /bin, and /proc. Not to mention one of the most unixy designs being the fork() call which android uses as the basis of all app processes. What I mean is Android has a parent process containing all the basic stuff an app needs called zygote which is then forked to become an app processes when an app is launched and then the rest of the app stuff is loaded into that new process, an exec to fully replace the parent is not done. That's a very unixy design decision that isn't usually available on other systems.

Technically speaking if we're going by the hides it from the user perspective then the steam deck qualifies to the same extent. It's hidden until a power user doesn't want it to be

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sorry, looks like I did not do my research. We can scratch Android off as an example then.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

What do you want? Everything Linux is Unix like

[–] refalo 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I assume they mean non-Xorg/wayland, but I really don't know for sure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

When I think "unix-like" I think, "everything is a file, configurations are human-readable, executables do one simple thing and combine to perform complex operations"

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago (4 children)

me reading your comment: 😪 Can I just get a non-MS win10 alternative that isn't exactly like moving to a new country requiring I learn a new language and culture?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

No. Because your vendor has locked you in and conditioned you for so long. They intentionally make this transition difficult. But once you've done it once, it's easy to do it as many times as you need.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

It's not as hard as moving to a different country, really. What the comment described was quite technical internal working of an OS, neither of which does really concern you as a user.

If you simply want to switch to Linux, use some beginner friendly distro (Linux Mint, Fedora etc.) and you're done.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago

Sure, just install Windows 11.