My 5 favorite open source operating systems that aren’t Linux
My 5 favorite open source operating systems that aren’t Linux
https://www.zdnet.com/article/my-5-favorite-open-source-operating-systems-that-arent-linux/
Publish Date: 2026-04-27 22:00:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Although Linux is the king of open-source OSes, there are options.
- Here you’ll find a few open-source OSes to toy around with.
- Don’t expect any of these to be viable options for daily use.
When you think of open-source operating systems, most likely only one option springs to mind: Linux.
That makes perfect sense, given that Linux is the most popular open-source OS on the planet (and starting to catch up with non-open-source OSs).
Also: Ready for a Linux laptop? I recommend a Tuxedo to beginners and pro users alike
But Linux isn’t the only open-source game in town. In fact, there are several open-source options that you can try. I found five in particular that are interesting enough to share with you, including four that reimagine an operating system from the past and one built by a single developer (take that, Linus).
Let’s see what there is to see within the realm of non-Linux open-source operating systems.
1. Haiku
The first time I tried
Haiku was two-thousand-two
It was in alpha.
Decades later, Haiku has finally reached beta. Yup, that’s one slow development process. What attracted me to Haiku was its slight resemblance to the Afterstep Window manager that I once used and loved. Why the resemblance? Haiku is a reimagining of the late BeOS, inspired by NeXTSTEP (which in turn inspired AfterStep).
Besides the nifty UI, the craziest thing about Haiku is that it installs in seconds. On top of that, you probably won’t find an OS where the apps run as fast as they do on Haiku. The trade-off is that you might not find the app you need. The good news is that there’s the Haiku Depot, where you can install plenty of apps (even the likes of LibreOffice).
Also: You can use Linux 7.0 on these 7 distros today – here’s what to expect
Another cool feature found in Haiku is the Deskbar, which gives you quick access to minimized applications…
