Why SprezzOS?

Why run SprezzOS as opposed to another operating system? Why was the SprezzOS Project launched? This page will try to answer those questions.

What is SprezzOS?

• SprezzOS is an open/free operating system distribution,
• derived from Debian,
• making use of the Linux kernel (SprezzOS 1 will also support the FreeBSD kernel),
• and myriad userspace projects (many of them work by the GNU project),
• produced by the labors of the SprezzOS Project's sprezzadevs (as led by the HIC),
• sponsored by Sprezzatech.

What are the goals of the SprezzOS Project?

• To facilitate experimentation with new technologies conceived of by the sprezzadevs.
• To provide the premier distribution for power users (developers and administrators), servers, and clusters.
• To define a reference platform for Sprezzatech's hardware.
• To generate marketing exposure for Sprezzatech.

SprezzOS vs other Debian-based distributions

SprezzOS attempts to remain interoperable, and indeed largely built from the same source code, as Debian. Why run SprezzOS, then, as opposed to Debian (or one of its better known derivatives, such as Ubuntu)? SprezzOS diverges from Debian in three major ways:

Commitment to advancing computing

When and if it becomes necessary to either most efficiently support modern, powerful machines or older, less powerful ones, SprezzOS will prefer the first option.

• SprezzOS is not trying to make it a shiner, happier planet. SprezzOS will directly improve the lives of power users.
• SprezzOS does not make a major goal of attracting new users. SprezzOS will directly improve the lives of those users which seek it out.
• SprezzOS does not seek consensus. SprezzOS does not believe committees the best way to make decisions. SprezzOS is united behind the HIC's impeccable taste.
  • If the HIC makes bad decisions, the Project will become irrelevant. There will be other distributions. The big world will keep on turnin'.
  • SprezzOS seeks to blaze new, bold, and indeed controversial trails in the Free ecosystem, not to attract the most users.
  • There is serenity in Chaos. SprezzOS seeks the Eye of the Hurricane.

Pragmaticism

While SprezzOS development is and will always remain open source, we understand that plenty of fine content is not. SprezzOS will support closed content when it is judged the best available solution. This means:

• So long as it's legal for us to ship documentation, we will (no GFDL exclusion, etc)
• So long as it's legal for us to ship firmware, we will (no exclusions of distributable content, etc)
• When there is no satisfactory open source solution for a necessary component, we will ship closed source (we are not bound by the DFSG)

We passionately believe in the many societal benefits of Open Source. That said, we do not believe our users and members of the Free Software community best served by the negative reinforcement of significant holes in our distribution. We believe that Freedom of Speech and Free Access is perhaps even more important than Free Software, especially since users benefit from the former while only developers (or those with access to developers, or interest in becoming developers) directly benefit from the latter. This is debatable ad nauseam, but the right forum for this debate is not among the SprezzOS fora. If you want a DFSG-bound distribution, run one.

Beauty

SprezzOS considers aesthetics of both technology's presentation and its implementation of paramount importance.

• Bad taste, judged in the eye of the SprezzOS community and ultimately the HIC, is sufficient reason to exclude content from the Project.
• Some might call this Führerprinzip; we prefer "divine right of HICs."

Debian-based vs other Linux distributions

This can probably be better answered by the Debian Project's documentation:

• "Why Run Debian?"

In the Founder's opinion, having used Linux for 13 years and Debian for 11 years prior to launching the Project, Debian's APT provides the sanest way to manage software packages, the source used to build them, and their dependencies. Furthermore, their procedures were the most sensible, and their developer base the most technically elite.

Open vs Closed Software

Closed software is that burdened by restrictive licensing, including but not limited to:

• Unavailability of source
• Costs associated with acquisition or use
• Restrictions on modification or redistribution of source

The Debian Project's documentation is worth consulting:

• "What do you mean by Free Software?"