That’s right. The Lunduke Journal is going to have its own, Linux-based, Operating System.
This project is being launched after lengthy discussions with a number of current (and former) developers of existing Linux Distributions, one hardware company, a non-Tech media outlet, many of you within The Lunduke Journal world, and even a lawyer.
While the official, public announcement — including the name, and many other additional details — is roughly a week or two away, I wanted to give all of you readers of The Lunduke Journal a heads up on what is coming and what to expect.
Because, doggone it, it’s all pretty exciting.
The Four Pillars
There are four key pillars for this new system:
No Politics — This system will not be taking any political stances, will not be implementing any discriminatory “Codes of Conduct”, and will not exclude people for their political views outside of the project.
Old-School — Adherence, as much as possible, to the UNIX philosophy of modularity and simplicity (Example: no systemd). A recognition that, sometimes, the old ways are better. This influences both the technical and visual design of the graphical desktop (Example: no Wayland).
Offline Friendly and Private — No mandatory Internet connection for installation or updates. No tracking, data collection, or “phoning home”. Ever.
Radical Terminal Experience — The best “out of the box” command line experience of any system.
This OS will be a safe haven. A system anyone can feel good about running (regardless of their politics). A system that is not constantly changing to use “the latest shiny thing”. A system that uses the best software (and best designs)… be they old or new.
One other thing…
This is not a one man project.
Developers from other existing (and past) Linux Distributions — looking for a system where they are not ostracized for their political beliefs — are on board, assisting with initial design and foundational work. And, in the coming days and weeks, all of you will have the opportunity to become involved as well.
The necessary development resources — servers, hardware, legal expenses, and the like — will be paid for entirely by The Lunduke Journal. (The system itself will remain free for all, with no paid systems attached to it of any kind.)
Luckily the initial resource needs are fairly reasonable.
In order to easily cover this, The Lunduke Journal will run a simple, one day subscription sale where all the resulting funds will be put into an account specifically for funding development needs of this system. (And, yes, the details of this account will be made transparent.)
Will this impact The Lunduke Journal?
Many of you might be wondering… what impact will this have on The Lunduke Journal?
And the answer is simple: The additions will be… extremely minimal.
The Lunduke Journal will continue to publish the exact same sort of articles and shows you’ve come to expect. No change, whatsoever, in the topics covered or the way in which they are covered. (Other than occasional articles and shows about the new system will begin appearing. Naturally.)
How can I get involved?
I know that many of you will have questions. Lots of them. Questions about supported architectures, technical details, organizational details, and the like. Some of those questions will be answered in the days ahead.
Likewise, many of you will be wondering how you can get involved.
Sit tight. There will be opportunities for testing, writing, graphic design, development, and numerous other roles (of varying levels of time commitment).
More details will be coming soon (including official servers, documentation, etc.) where you can join in the fun.
