This is somewhat false advertising. This is not an operating system in the sense of being a new kernel. It looks like it's a set of build tools for building a Linux distribution.
An operating system is not defined only by its kernel. It's kernel + APIs + user land. If one of those components is changed radically, it's indeed a new operating system. That's why Ubuntu and Debian are distinct, even if both are based on Linux.
You're correct. Debian and Ubuntu are technically different operating-systems. Due to the similarity of 'operating-systems' built around the Linux kernel they're typically referred to as 'Linux distributions'.
In the context of software development, if you tell someone you're developing a new operating-system you're probably going to conjure up images of writing a new kernel. If you tell people you're developing a new Linux distro, this is closer to what they'll imagine.
Exactly. It is yet another Linux distribution added into the list of many, but specifically tied to AWS. But the magic word that changes everything is something called 'Rust' but not what you actually think it is used for in terms of implementation when first looking at the HN title.
> ...a new Linux-based open source operating system that we designed and optimized specifically for use as a container host.
Even the points made for creating this distro was really for stripping out the unnecessary software in a default Linux distro install and to also increase the startup time for the essential userland processes and optimizing the OS from any possible bottlenecks and security pot-holes.
It's a shame really that it is built on top of Linux rather than an actual new Rust operating system by Amazon. I'm not sure why I would use this particular one if it is based on Linux while it also promotes another lock-in opportunity for AWS.
This is true. Android is a good example of where the line between a Linux distribution and an outright OS blurs. I'm not convinced that this really affects my overall point all that much though.
