qsl Is it supposedly designed with the same principles in mind (basic computing at the forefront)? Why move from heading Solus to this? What problem is this attempting to solve?
I don't think that it is quite that simple.
In 2020, Doherty, commenting on the Serpent OS project, said "In a nut shell, this is not ‘Linux for the masses’. This is a project setting out to use Linux as Linux should be. This will in turn help us to build a significantly advanced Linux distribution that is both modular and optimized for modern machines …", and pointed to an OS/DE that was "fully stateless", packaged applications in "containers only", created a "mixed source/binary distribution", "was Clang/LLVM built at all levels" and so on, and noted that development would take "a distro-first, compatibility-later approach", allowing the team to "incorporate all of the more sensible design improvements in Linux distribution design over the last decade or so". In a nutshell, it seems that Doherty is determined to undock the distro from traditional technologies that he believes have been holding Linux development back.
I have no insider knowledge, but I suspect that Serpent OS will more likely be closer to Clear Linux OS (an Intel project in which Doherty played an important part at the conception level) than Solus. I'm not at all sure where the Serpent OS project is headed, but it seems likely that Serpent OS will be neither focused on the "masses" (Solus) nor the enterprise (Clear Linux OS). It might turn out to be nothing more than a catalyst, a framework for Linux distributions that leave behind the kruft that Doherty believes is holding Linux distributions back, a conceptual framework on which future Linux distributions can and will be built.
I became interested in Clear Linux OS because of the stateless, modular, container-based architecture of the distribution rather than because Clear Linux OS optimized Intel hardware (who cares, really, for desktop use) and I had hoped that the Clear Linux desktop would develop along those lines. It did not, and, as I half-remember from when I looked at the disto 12-18 months ago, Intel was moving away from further desktop development, electing to use stock Gnome instead. Given Intel's focus on enterprise and cloud-based servers, I won't be surprised to see the Clear Linux desktop be scaled back going forward, becoming a front-end for Clear Linux OS rather than a half-baked desktop distro.
I'm interested in Serpent OS for the same reason that I was interested in Clear Linux OS. I have been thinking, in a non-technical way, about a fully modular OS/DE design for a long time, and I suspect that Serpent OS is intended as a "proof of concept" of that design architecture. Whether or not the "proof of concept" will develop into a useful distro for desktop use on a scale with established distros, or serve as a catalyst for future development by others, I don't know and can't predict.
In any event, Doherty, after a series of distractions (full-time employment, multiple family illness issues, and a move back to the UK) has returned full-time to Serpent OS development after a lengthy hiatus. Reading the Serpent OS blog, it looks like essential infrastructure elements are now in place, more or less, and we might see an alpha (or maybe pre-alpha) distribution within a number of weeks/months.
Kevinsotovalle Ikey Doherty founded both of these distributions, but which would be better? why? its advantages?
That will depend entirely on how Serpent OS develops. Check back in a year or two.
