BcalcOS is built on Devuan.
Devuan is a Linux distribution derived from Debian but with a different approach to system initialization and system management. Devuan’s primary goal is to provide a Debian-based operating system without systemd as its required init system, giving users and distributions greater choice over how the system is initialized and managed.
Debian → Devuan → BcalcOS
Why Devuan for BcalcOS?
BcalcOS uses SysVinit rather than systemd. Devuan provides the foundation that makes this possible while retaining the familiar Debian package ecosystem and apt package management.
This gives BcalcOS a traditional Unix/Linux system architecture while still benefiting from the large body of software, packaging, documentation, and hardware support that has developed around Debian and its derivatives.
The effort to maintain Devuan is, frankly, significantly greater than that required for BcalcOS.
What Does Devuan Provide?
Devuan provides much of the underlying operating system, including
- the Linux kernel and core system components
- system libraries and utilities
- the
aptanddpkgpackage-management system - a large collection of available software packages
- hardware and device-management components
- security updates
What Does BcalcOS Add?
- a custom installer
- BcalcOS Welcome Center
- several custom applications and scripts
- unique configuration and branding
- repository with selected 3rd party software
- Brave Origin as the default browser
- XLibre as the display server
TL;DR
BcalcOS is built on Devuan because we want a Debian-based Linux foundation with SysVinit and the freedom to make our own system-level choices.