Introduction

"We don't consider simply adding or removing a few upstream applications, modifying the language, wallpaper, or adjusting the application layout to be a genuine version update of an operating system. We aspire that every major version update contains a wealth of features truly needed by users and innovative content to push the boundaries of what a Linux desktop distribution can achieve, making it as powerful as commercial operating systems like Windows and macOS."

— Liu Wenhuan, Founder of the deepin Community

On August 15, the internationally renowned open source community deepin held an online event themed "Born with AI, Remarkably Different," officially releasing the open source operating system deepin 23. This release brings significant updates, including the new DDE Vision, AI For OS, the "Linyaps" application ecosystem, and the "deepin IDE" integrated development environment.

"In the past 20 years, deepin has achieved significant innovations and breakthroughs in the field of open source operating systems. We have not only led the development of domestic open source distributions but also demonstrated forward-thinking in the transition to independently developed desktop environments," said Zhang Lei, Chairman of the deepin Community, in his opening remarks.

As a gift for the community's 20th anniversary, deepin 23 has undergone three years of development, with over 200 product optimizations and new features, 9 version iterations, 51 internal tests, and 8 self-developed development tools. Every innovation has been aimed at making deepin 23 better.

Root Community Growth, Full-Stack Independent OS Development

To truly control the development, upstream community leadership, and supply chain security of the operating system, the China server OS root community, represented by the Euler community under the OpenAtom Foundation, and the China desktop OS root community, represented by the deepin community, were established in 2022.

A Linux OS root community is one that builds its OS from the Linux kernel and other open source components, without relying on upstream distributions, and has significant contributions from external individuals and companies. The first step taken by the deepin community was to build a new repository independently and develop tools based on the deepin root community, making it easier and more effective for developers to contribute. These efforts are collectively known as "independent upstream" within the community.

As the first distribution based on the root community, deepin 23 has achieved independent modules at every level of the OS, providing superior development tools for global open source enthusiasts.

deepin 23 is equipped with the Linux 6.6 LTS kernel, and from the repository to the application layer, the OS core components adopt many self-developed solutions:

The independently built beige-23 repository uses independent selection and update strategies, with refined maintenance for over 8,000 core packages, significantly enhancing system stability and security. It also better supports new hardware and architectures like ARM64, RISC-V, and LoongArch64.

At the service layer, deepin developed the AM application management framework, which not only facilitates more detailed resource and permission control at the application layer but also implements a unified scheduling strategy, solving the previous chaotic resource management and background process issues while leaving room for future expansion.

At the SDK layer, the DTK universal development framework, developed based on Qt, meets the needs of developers for "one-time development, multi-platform and multi-architecture reuse," improving development efficiency. It has undergone six version iterations, over 110 updates, and nearly 200,000 lines of code have been submitted. It has been ported to over 10 Linux distributions. In 23, more than 40 native applications, such as the browser, music player, and email client, were developed using DTK.

At the desktop environment layer, the first globally popular DDE led by a Chinese community has undergone a comprehensive upgrade. The new taskbar, launcher, and more personalized themes, while retaining V20 user habits, significantly improve system management and user interaction. The display format is meticulously designed to maintain a unified style and rhythm, ensuring smooth and coherent visual transitions during different operations.

At the application layer, deepin provides a comprehensive native application development matrix:The deepin IDE, which integrates AI capabilities, supports various software and hardware architectures and programming languages; it offers a complete set of basic functions for one-stop, multi-scenario development, achieving vertical security from underlying services to upper development tools, truly ensuring independent development control.

• The comprehensive automation testing framework "YouQu," led by UnionTech, stands out with its easy environment deployment and powerful features. It supports various automation testing scenarios, including UI, WEB, interfaces, and command lines, significantly improving testing efficiency and quality, bringing unprecedented convenience and efficiency to development and testing on Linux.
• The Linyaps package management tool, which began in 2017 and has since been donated to the OpenAtom Foundation, effectively solves the compatibility issues caused by strong dependencies in traditional package management systems and the security issues caused by loose permissions through its strong cross-distribution support. Currently, Linyaps has seen rapid growth, with over 400 developers contributing more than 2,000 Linyaps applications, of which over 1,000 have been listed in the deepin 23 App Store.

"It is worth noting that the deepin root community played a vital role in the release of deepin 23, with many new features and suggestions coming from community partners. We firmly believe that open collaboration is the core driving force behind deepin's development," Zhang Lei said. The development of deepin 23 has been accompanied by China's stride towards technological self-reliance, and deepin has always been at the forefront of each evolution in the open source OS field.

Multi-Architecture Support, Compatibility with Multiple Domestic Chips

A strong community culture and robust developer support have propelled the deepin ecosystem into a phase of rapid development. Recently, CPU manufacturers like Intel, Loongson, Phytium, and XuanTie have all announced their compatibility with deepin 23, making it the first open source desktop OS to support all mainstream general-purpose computing architectures, including X86, ARM64, LoongArch64, and RISC-V. This means that deepin's global users can experience deepin 23 immediately, and it also indicates that the deepin community is becoming a core force in China's efforts to strengthen its technological independence.

The deepin community, with its 20-year history, is one of the largest and most active open source OS communities globally, with a significant international following. The community has over 5.4 million users, nearly 3 million of whom are overseas. Since its founding, it has won more than 60 domestic and international awards, including 41 international, national, and industry-level awards, and over 20 provincial and ministerial-level awards. Its downstream commercial distribution, UnionTech UOS, has been installed on over 6 million devices in China.

The community has always adhered to the principles of user-centricity and innovation, setting numerous groundbreaking milestones in Linux history, such as the first Chinese Linux community operating system, the first Linux desktop environment led by a Chinese community, and the first Linux application store in China. With the participation of numerous Chinese technology companies, the deepin community is poised to produce more disruptive innovations, effectively promoting the dual-cycle development of open source technology both domestically and internationally.

AI Empowerment, A Glimpse of the Next-Generation OS

Since UnionTech launched UOS AI in 2023, it has been continuously validated and iterated in the upstream community edition of deepin. It can be said that deepin 23 was built with AI empowerment from the ground up.

As the first Chinese open source OS to integrate large models, the well-known overseas magazine Linux Magazine has highly praised deepin: "deepin has already integrated AI into the desktop OS, beginning to challenge Microsoft's Copilot," and "this may just be the beginning of deepin 23's AI integration."

Since UOS AI began empowering deepin, it has supported more than 20 natural language command calls for OS settings, over 40 usage scenarios, and has adapted to more than 60 applications at the application layer. At the chip layer, it supports domestic mainstream CPU chips and both domestic and international mainstream GPU chips like NVIDIA. At the large model layer, it offers open interfaces that support all OpenAI interface formats, allowing users to adapt their own specialized models based on their needs.

At the launch event, Tian Jun, Senior R&D Manager of Open Source Technology at Intel, shared Intel's platform support and the latest AI PC developments on deepin. The deepin Intel SIG group provided concentrated support for the latest Meteor Lake and deepin's deep integration. As an important component of the Intel Ultra platform, it brought unprecedented performance improvements and rich feature support to deepin.

"Through the collaborative computing of CPUs, NPUs, and GPUs, deepin 23 can handle various practical AI applications, especially local inference capabilities. The high throughput and graphic processing power of the GPU, the low-power specialized AI algorithm capabilities of the NPU, and the low-latency logical computing power of the CPU together form deepin 23's strong AI computing power," Tian Jun said.

Recently, the national office application WPS also announced the progress of their joint AI office solution development, with the personal version of WPS Office For Linux, based on deepin 23, set to be available in the deepin App Store in late August. Users will not only experience the three flagship WPS products integrated with AIGC in this version but will also benefit from the functional interaction between UOS AI and WPS AI in building a local personal knowledge base.

"Reflecting on the birth of modern computing, we have always strived to create computers that can understand humans, and now we are entering a new era. Just as Moore's Law drove the information revolution, the expansion law of deep neural networks will drive the intelligent revolution," Zhang Lei said. Looking ahead, deepin will accelerate the integration of AI and the operating system, from AI FOR OS to OS FOR AI, leading the innovative development of open source operating systems.