Rudra Saraswat

About me

Hi, I’m Rudra Saraswat, a 14 y.o. tech nerd who loves to develop for Linux, maintains a homelab and uses Ubuntu and Arch. I’m an official Ubuntu member and the Creator and Project Leader of Ubuntu Unity (an official Ubuntu flavor), blendOS, Ubuntu Web, UbuntuEd, Gamebuntu and the other projects listed in the Projects section below. I love playing the musical instrument Tabla and I’m a Tabla Graduate (Bhaskar). I also love swimming, playing Lawn Tennis and Snooker.

Social

My Projects

Refer to The Register’s article at https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/04/rudra_sarsawat_ubuntu_projects/ for a brief overview of my projects.

No. Project Name More Information
1 blendOS Description: blendOS is an operating system that supports applications from Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian, Fedora and Alma/Rocky Linux, as well as Android apps through the F-Droid and Aurora Store (though you can also install the Google Play Store manually), and web apps in Electron through the blendOS web store (with support for native APIs being added in the near future).

blendOS’s website: https://blendos.co

Some press coverage of blendOS:
https://youtu.be/vKVjGo0cE74
https://youtu.be/97mBlvqQdsk
https://youtu.be/v2PAz1HTOK0
https://youtu.be/tzUtcPEVnZY?si=zmHw8WLfXpQfCUYC
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Ymi3W_qc4&t=524s
https://9to5linux.com/blendos-2-is-already-here-and-supports-android-apps-out-of-the-box
https://news.itsfoss.com/blendos-v3-released/
https://alternativeto.net/news/2023/7/blendos-v3-bhatura-released-with-seamless-integration-of-multiple-software-options-and-desktop-environments/
https://www.muylinux.com/2023/07/07/blendos-v3-bhatura/
https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Arch-Based-blendOS-Features-Cool-Trick
https://linuxformat.com/linux-format-304.html (magazine)
2 Ubuntu Unity https://twitter.com/ubuntu_unity
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2020/05/12/a-surprising-new-remix-of-ubuntu-2004-revives-the-unity-desktop/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Unity
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-unity-relives-canonicals-creativity-and-brings-back-one-of-the-best-uis/
https://9to5linux.com/canonical-accepts-ubuntu-unity-as-official-ubuntu-flavor-starting-with-ubuntu-22-10
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-Unity-22.10-Official
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ubuntu-unity-22-04-linux-desktop-distribution-productive-elegant/
The original Ubuntu Discourse thread
3 Ubuntu Web https://twitter.com/ubunweb
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/linux-finally-has-an-impressive-cloud-like-os-in-ubuntu-web/
https://www.makeuseof.com/ubuntu-web-chrome-os-alternative/
4 Unity7 https://9to5linux.com/unity-7-6-desktop-released-as-the-first-major-update-to-unity7-in-6-years
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/01/ubuntu_unity_desktop_updated_after/
 https://9to5linux.com/unity-7-6-released-for-public-testing-as-the-first-major-update-to-unity7-in-6-years
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/ufj0b8/unity_is_back_first_major_release_in_6_years/ (top trend on r/linux when I released it, with 120k requests on the release day)
5 Unity for Arch Unity 7.6 ported to Arch Linux.
https://9to5linux.com/you-can-now-install-ubuntus-unity-desktop-on-arch-linux-heres-how
https://unity.ubuntuunity.org/blog/unity-for-arch/
6 una This a client for the MPR or makedeb Package Repository, which is analogous to Arch Linux’s AUR but is for Ubuntu/Debian. Repo is at – https://github.com/AFK-OS/una/blob/main/README.md
7 Gamebuntu https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2022/01/31/linux-gaming-gets-a-big-boost-from-a-12-year-old-ubuntu-developer/
https://twitter.com/gameonubuntu
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/gamebuntu/25544
8 Modren https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/modren-a-modern-linux-store/
https://twitter.com/RudraSaraswat1/status/1523706921349713920
9 Ubuntu Remixes This project allows for the creation of new Ubuntu-based distributions. Ubuntu Unity, Ubuntu Cinnamon and Ubuntu Web Remixes use it. ( https://gitlab.com/ubuntu-unity/ubuntu-remixes)
10 UnityX This is the future successor to Unity7 – https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/restarting-unity-development-in-2021-progress-report/20217
11 UbuntuEd https://twitter.com/ed_ubuntu
https://9to5linux.com/meet-ubuntued-20-04-an-educational-ubuntu-flavor-for-kids-schools-and-universities
12 lol This is an alternative server for Ubuntu Snap Store – https://youtu.be/rGgmwcdxr88

Sessions and streams

  1. I was interviewed by Kailash Nadh, CTO of Zerodha at IndiaFOSS Conference held in July 2022 (https://youtu.be/ehKZh5DJ0yk?si=-lmhd3hy8B9IfBuj, https://twitter.com/FOSSUnited/status/1547233569143398400).
  2. Gave a talk on immutability and atomicity in Linux distributions at IIT Mandi on Sep 9, 2023 – https://events.canonical.com/event/35/contributions/283
  3. Gave a talk on immutable Linux systems at IndiaFOSS 3.0 in Bangalore on 29 Oct 2023 (https://youtu.be/rLV1mAkh5zo?feature=shared, https://indiafoss.net/2023/conference/schedule?day=2, https://indiafoss.net/2023/confirmed/e3f2ab10b7)
  4. Sponsored invitee at the Ubuntu Summit 2023 to be held in Riga, Latvia on 3-5 November 2023
  5. Sponsored invitee and speaker at the Ubuntu Summit 2022 held in Prague, Czech Republic on 7-9th November 2022 – https://events.canonical.com/event/2/contributions/88/ , https://events.canonical.com/event/2/contributions/108/ , https://events.canonical.com/event/2/contributions/136/
  6. Interviewed by the Linux Magazine in their November 2023 edition (Issue 276/2023) – https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2023/276/Distro-Walk-blendOS#article_f3
  7. Sponsored invitee and speaker at the Ubucon Asia Conference held in Seoul, South Korea on 26-27th November 2022 – https://2022.ubucon.asia/sessions/unity7_dev_contrib/
  8. I kicked off Ubuntu’s events at FOSDEM (one of the biggest open source developer events in Europe) in Feb, 2022 and gave talks on my projects ( https://twitter.com/ubuntu/status/1489361109912064000).
  9. I was a Speaker at last year’s Ubucon Asia Conference (https://2021.ubucon.asia/sessions/hacking_on_unity7_and_unityx/).
  10. I am a host on Ubuntu’s official channel – Ubuntu OnAir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9M9xcRtvvA, https://twitter.com/ubuntu/status/1468315151086624768).
  11. I was interviewed by niccolove of the KDE Plasma team in May 2022 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc6gGs2kM4c
  12. I was interviewed by Destination Linux Network’s Front Page Linux in July 2020 – https://frontpagelinux.com/news/linux-plusplus-issue-21/
  13. Attended the DebConf 2023 at Kochi (Sep’2023) – https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/a-teenagers-passion-for-open-source-operating-systems/article67291812.ece

News coverage of my projects

No. News source Articles
1 Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2022/01/31/linux-gaming-gets-a-big-boost-from-a-12-year-old-ubuntu-developer/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2020/05/12/a-surprising-new-remix-of-ubuntu-2004-revives-the-unity-desktop/
2 Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Unity
3 ZDNet https://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-unity-relives-canonicals-creativity-and-brings-back-one-of-the-best-uis/
4 TechRepublic https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ubuntu-unity-22-04-linux-desktop-distribution-productive-elegant/
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/linux-finally-has-an-impressive-cloud-like-os-in-ubuntu-web/
https://www.techrepublic.com/videos/ubuntu-unity-brings-back-one-of-the-most-efficient-desktops-ever-created/
5 The Register https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/04/rudra_sarsawat_ubuntu_projects/
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/01/ubuntu_unity_desktop_updated_after/
 https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/26/ubuntu_unity_and_ubuntu_cinnamon/
https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/04/unity_trinity_desktops/
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/19/less_mainstream_xbuntu/
6 Phoronix https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-Unity-22.10-Official
7 Linux for Everyone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYjTxM9K05s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAbD99Zk2Jc
8 Destination Linux Network (Front Page Linux) https://frontpagelinux.com/news/linux-plusplus-issue-21/
9 The Linux Experiment https://youtu.be/ugAB_ug9MZg
https://youtu.be/EM_xsIFKaXc
https://youtu.be/3zfNFSi1Pag
https://youtu.be/CRTPfLOnoRU
https://youtu.be/e-Ymi3W_qc4
10 Lunduke https://youtu.be/PToujSBlvJ0
11 Distrotube https://youtu.be/rGgmwcdxr88
https://youtu.be/HhWGaz4VMGM
12 MakeUseOf https://www.makeuseof.com/ubuntu-web-chrome-os-alternative/
13 Slashdot https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/11/22/0226213/ubuntu-web-remix-distro-offers-firefox-based-chrome-os-alternative
https://m.slashdot.org/story/399332
14 DistroWatch https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=showheadline&story=14552
15 9to5Linux https://9to5linux.com/canonical-accepts-ubuntu-unity-as-official-ubuntu-flavor-starting-with-ubuntu-22-10
https://9to5linux.com/unity-7-7-desktop-environment-promises-redesigned-dash-and-panel-widgets
https://9to5linux.com/unity-7-6-desktop-released-as-the-first-major-update-to-unity7-in-6-years
https://9to5linux.com/you-can-now-install-ubuntus-unity-desktop-on-arch-linux-heres-how
 https://9to5linux.com/unity-7-6-released-for-public-testing-as-the-first-major-update-to-unity7-in-6-years
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-unity-22-04-lts-released-with-flatpak-and-flathub-support-new-default-apps
 https://9to5linux.com/meet-una-a-full-featured-mpr-aur-fork-helper-for-debian-and-ubuntu-based-distros
https://9to5linux.com/gamebuntu-1-0-launches-with-a-complete-redesign-to-let-you-install-only-what-you-need
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-unity-20-10-officially-released-for-the-raspberry-pi
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-unity-remix-20-04-unofficial-flavor-sees-first-stable-release
https://9to5linux.com/unityx-10-desktop-environment-makes-great-progress-now-features-a-new-sidebar-design
https://9to5linux.com/hands-on-with-ubuntu-unity-20-10-on-the-raspberry-pi-4
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-unity-21-04-released-with-new-unity7-theme-linux-kernel-5-11
https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-unity-22-04-1-released-with-the-latest-unity-7-6-desktop-environment
16 It’s FOSS https://news.itsfoss.com/unity-7-7-dev/
https://news.itsfoss.com/unity-arch-linux/
https://news.itsfoss.com/unity-7-6-testing/
https://news.itsfoss.com/unity-remix-official-flavor/
17 WebProNews https://www.webpronews.com/ubuntus-canonical-throws-its-weight-behind-the-unity-desktop-again/
18 Liliputing https://liliputing.com/2020/11/ubuntu-web-remix-is-a-linux-distro-that-puts-firefox-front-and-center-chrome-os-alternative.html
19 Full Circle Magazine https://fullcirclemagazine.org/2021/01/29/full-circle-magazine-165/
20 OldTechBloke https://youtu.be/DNOVqJhAF9Y
21 Fossbytes https://fossbytes.com/ubuntu-web-remix-20-04-1-first-stable-version-of-chrome-os-alternative/
22 MuyLinux https://www.muylinux.com/2022/12/28/unity-7-7/
https://www.muylinux.com/2022/05/02/unity-7-6/
https://www.muylinux.com/2021/10/18/ubuntu-unity-cinnamon-remix-21-10/
23 LinuxInsider https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/distro-delights-new-release-mania-forking-kde-windows-in-a-bottle-176540.html
https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/feuding-developers-dueling-distros-make-linux-lineage-revival-legendary-176620.html