Well, blendOS pitches itself to be the ultimate distro-blend.
blendOS is a new project by Rudra Saraswat, known for Ubuntu-based remixes, and Ubuntu Unity in particular (which is now an official Ubuntu flavour).
I would say the project has a pretty accurate name for what it wants to achieve.
But, how does blendOS aim to be a replacement to all? What is it all about?
blendOS: Not Just Another Linux Distribution
blendOS is an Arch-based distro which supports every type of app package.
If you have read about carbonOS and Vanilla OS, you should have a good idea about some common points among such distros.
One of them being, immutability, meaning, the core/base of the operating system remains unchanged, giving you an enhanced security, and simpler, and reliable updates.
Similarly, blendOS has the following key highlights:
Immutable operating system
Support for multiple package managers including apt, dnf, yum, pacman, and yay
Multiple desktop environment support
Flathub Store as a desktop app
blendOS uses Jade GUI (the installer from Crystal Linux) to provide a seamless installation experience. And, the Flathub store can directly install apps, and not download flatpakref files, as one would expect.
To make all distribution packages work, blendOS uses its package manager blend.
You can still use pacman from a shell through an Arch container.
Additionally, it supports, T2 macs, i.e., Intel Macs made after 2018. So, if you want to experiment on a device that you already have, blendOS should work with it.
🚧
As of now, the project is at its early stages of development.
Some immediate changes expected include:
Distrobox to be replaced with its implementation using Podman
A new GUI configuration tool, with support for managing overlays and containers
So, yes, what you see right now is subject to change. However, it is still something that sounds exciting.
