Peppermint, a new Linux-based operating system with a focus on cloud computing and Web applications, is launching into a private beta this week to a limited number of participants, and will open up later next month to even more. The OS is a fork of Lubuntu and uses some of Linux Mint’s configuration files, hence the name “Peppermint.” Unlike desktop-focused Linux distributions, running applications on Peppermint won’t require “installing countless numbers of software packages and reading wikis all Saturday afternoon,” reads the product homepage. Instead, users will run Web apps in their own windows via Mozilla’s Prism technology.
The idea for a Linux-based cloud operating system isn’t anything new. Numerous builds, including popular consumer-targeted brands like Jolicloud, gOS and even Google’s Chrome OS, are based on Linux kernels. What’s fun, though, is seeing how each flavor interprets what Linux cloud computing should look like.
In Peppermint’s case, the vision is more of a mashup of cloud computing and desktop computing than the others mentioned above. Its desktop environment is LXDE, an environment designed for cloud computing and lightweight computers like netbooks and MIDs (mobile Internet devices). Also included in Peppermint’s plans is the use of Mozilla Prism, a technology which runs Web apps as if they were native desktop software applications. A project from Mozilla Labs, Prism blurs the line between desktop and cloud as apps can run from a system taskbar or dock and they can even be configured to display alerts and status messages.
The Peppermint distro is being developed by Kendall Weaver, the maintainer for the Linux Mint Fluxbox and LXDE Editions, and Shane Remington, who works alongside Weaver as a developer at their day job at Astral IX Media in Asheville, N.C.
There isn’t much additional information about Peppermint at this time, and since it’s in a closed beta right now, we can’t get our hands on it yet. But those who are interested can follow the official Peppermint Twitter account or Facebook page to stay tuned for more details as to its public availability.
(Hat tip: ResearchBuzz)
