As of March 20, 2025, the Linux distribution previously known as Serpent OS, created by Ikey Doherty, has officially been renamed to AerynOS. This change marks a significant shift in branding, aimed at appealing more to new users by addressing the potentially negative associations of the original name.
Ikey Doherty explained in a recent blog post that the name "Serpent OS" was chosen somewhat hastily and did not reflect the inviting nature desired for a modern, innovative Linux distribution. With the new name, pronounced like "Erin," AerynOS is intended to represent a more appropriate identity for the project’s goals and community.
Despite the name change, AerynOS remains under active development, and users can expect continuous improvement as it does not yet have a stable release. The renaming also accompanies exciting new features that enhance the overall user experience, such as:
- A revamped system installer, supporting full disk wipes and dynamic partitioning.
- Automation of package updates.
- Enhanced rollback management.
- Disk handling functionality implemented with Rust.
- Fractional scaling enabled by default.
AerynOS will continue to feature the latest GNOME desktop environment, although support for the COSMIC desktop has been temporarily paused.
For more information about AerynOS, you can visit its official website at aerynos.com or check the documentation site at aerynos.dev. You can also follow the development progress on its GitHub page.