this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2026
293 points (99.3% liked)
Linux
67794 readers
678 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I welcome the change. PostmarketOS doesn't really roll off the tongue
No, but it was a helluva lot more obvious what it was. I guess I understand their reasoning, but it's yet another obscure name among the innumerable ones out there already.
Do you really think anyone would see the name "postmarketOS" and right away think this is a Linux distro for phones? Perhaps the "-OS" part gives it away that it's some kind of OS, but so are a lot of projects that end with "-OS".
For example: ReactOS, RedoxOS, ChibiOS, MicroOS, TempleOS. Can you really look at any of these names without knowing beforehand and tell what it is about?
GrapheneOS doesn't instill the same view either. I think post market was better fit than this more obscure name.
I did not say people immediately get that GrapheneOS is a secure phone OS just from the name. Adding "OS" to its name does not make it less obscure.
What even was the idea behind the original name? Was “Postmarket” meant to evoke aftermarket, as in an OS you install to replace the original OS that came with your device?
Basically, yes, but also not quite no. Market products offer you an initial baseline experience. Aftermarket products offer you an enhanced "better than the average" experience. Postmarket (or postconsumer) products are a de-growth mechanism by which you extend the life of your initial purchase beyond its planned obsolescence. There used to be a really great paper on creating circular economies that accounted for how in the reduce-reuse-recycle cycle our capitalist society has placed all emphasis on
recyclewhen that's supposed to be the third order option behind reduce (consumption) and reuse (by extending the life of the products you already own) but I can't seem to find it anymore, but that paper was where the PostmarketOS name came fromi remember reading the abstract from that paper, so i'm sure it exists
TIL, thanks!