System76 CEO blames Ubuntu flip-flopping for shift to Pop!_OS, talks up benefits of in-house OS development

In the Linux community, System76 is largely known for Pop!_OS, a highly-customised Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, that it ships by default on all of its Linux-based laptops and desktop computers. However, before Pop!_OS, System76 used to default to Gnome for its operating system needs. In a recent interview with Brodie Robertson on Tech Over Tea on YouTube, the System76 CEO and co-founder, Carl Richell, explains that the move was largely motivated by consistency, a polished desktop experience, and after-sales support.

Richell says that the move came shortly after Canonical announced that it would switch away from Unity as its desktop environment just a few short years after adopting it. He mentions that “change for users can be hard,” and big moves, like Ubuntu's 2017 switch from Unity to Gnome, can affect the user experience and break or remove features and software support that users depend on.

He goes on to explain that, while System76 had little involvement in the development of Ubuntu at the time, customers that bought hardware from System76 were likely to turn to their hardware vendor for support, so it made sense for System76 to develop its own operating system. Taking charge and developing Pop!_OS also helped System76 in a number of other ways. For one, it allows System76 to deliver features and user-interface changes that it deems essential to the workflows and use cases of its customers.

When talking about Ubuntu's other efforts, the interviewer mentions Canonical's focus on mobile and TV products, Richell responds by reiterating the importance of the desktop experience for the Pop!_OS development team, citing that difference in focus as another reason why System76 decided to instead start developing its own Linux distribution.

Ubuntu's desktop environment switch essentially gave System76 the perfect opportunity to start the development of Pop!_OS, which has become System76's default operating system. While the current version of Pop!_OS still uses Gnome as its default desktop environment, the company is hard at work perfecting Cosmic DE, its own home-brew desktop environment coded in Rust.

System76 is looking to release the first public alpha of Cosmic DE by the end of March 2024, and according to Richell, part of the goal of Pop!_OS is to provide a polished, unified product experience across the desktop and web, and to serve its customers with quicker access to new and essential features and hardware support.

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