head to head · open source
operating-system vs linux-android
operating-system has 7,626 GitHub stars, 1,332 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. linux-android has 3,845 stars, 282 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 98% (7,626 vs 3,845 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; linux-android is written in Shell under MIT. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, linux-android 7%. operating-system was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-assistant), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| operating-system | linux-android | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.6K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 282 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick operating-system if
- You weight community size — 7.6K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick linux-android if
- You want the linux-android feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and linux-android fits your workflow better
About operating-system
Home Assistant Operating System Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Apps. Home Assistant Operating System uses Docker as its container engine. By default it deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container. Home Assistant Supervisor in turn uses the Docker container engine to control Home Assistant Core and Apps in separate containers. Home Assistant Operating System is not based on a regular Linux distribution like Ubuntu. It is built using Buildroot and it is optimized to run Home Assistant. It targets single board…
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About linux-android
Repurpose Your Old Android Phone Turn any old Android phone into a Linux desktop or a smart home server — no PC, no root, no cloud. Just Termux. Created to accompany a YouTube video walkthrough. Timestamps are referenced in the video description. Pick your path You can run both on the same phone — they don't conflict. Watch the full build ▶ Repurpose Your Old Android Phone — full walkthrough — every step in this README, on video, with timestamps in the description. Requirements Hardware Android phone with an arm64 (64 bit) processor 3 GB+ RAM recommended (4 GB+ for KDE Plasma) 5–10 GB of free storage (more if…
read the full linux-android overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or linux-android more popular?
operating-system has 7,626 GitHub stars and linux-android has 3,845. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and linux-android free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and linux-android under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and linux-android?
operating-system is written in Python and linux-android in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, operating-system or linux-android?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,626 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose linux-android if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.