Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacement for Windows and macOS
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderSome of the comments here feel weird. Elementary OS has picked a specific niche, and its arguably the best distribution in it. It has a really well designed and consistent UI experience, and you can't break it. I think most of you just don't realize how difficult linux is for people who barely understand how to use a Mac or Windows machine. Furthermore, linux is a world where mainstream distributions still release with horrible UI experiences with numerous typography mistakes…
I fell in love with elementaryOS when I first learned about it c. 2013, and followed it closely (used to read commits weekly) for perhaps a year. It was one of the first open source projects I really loved. But I eventually went back to Ubuntu because I was newish to Linux and I needed something that Just Worked™, without the funny business. I eventually fell out of love with elementaryOS when the team seemed to double down hard on…
the os seems to be built on top of linux and gtk? can you really sell a linux distro? given it's gpl licensed?
Note here, elementaryos.org now redirects to elementary.io - the .org is nothing more than a redirect
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 687
- Total comments
- 514
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-02-14 | Elementary OS switches to a .io domain | fortytw2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2016-09-09 | Elementary OS Loki Released | aroman | 2 | 3 |
| 2017-01-18 | Elementary – A fast and open replacement for Windows and macOS | ergot | 4 | 0 |
| 2018-06-02 | Elementary OS | gamesbrainiac | 4 | 0 |
| 2018-10-16 | Elementary OS 5.0 Juno | arcxyz | 9 | 0 |
| 2018-11-16 | Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacement for Windows and macOSFirst breakout · Best thread | diggernet | 561 | 421 |
| 2021-08-11 | Thoughtful, capable, and ethical replacement for Windows and macOS | XCSme | 1 | 2 |
| 2025-10-11 | ElementaryOS – Thoughtful, capable and ethical replacement for Windows/macOSHall induction · Latest 20+ point return | donutshop | 104 | 87 |