RavynOS
Shares rank 58 of 87 operating systems by recommenders
Open-source operating system based on Darwin and FreeBSD code, appealing as a community-driven take on macOS, though critics note it is pre-alpha with a dated-looking interface.
Open-source operating system based on Darwin and FreeBSD code, appealing as a community-driven take on macOS, though critics note it is pre-alpha with a dated-looking interface.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 36%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Community-driven macOS-like vision
“It would be awesome using what is essentially a community-driven clone of macOS”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS” “The rayvnOS vision is something I could get behind.”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS” “as a Mac OSX replacement, it's quite jaw-dropping”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” Impressive progress so far
“as a Mac OSX replacement, it's quite jaw-dropping”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “What they have achieved is brilliant.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dated, Windows-like interface
“To me the screenshots look like someone tried to replicate macOS but failed.”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS” “Looks like: macOS window chrome with Windows 95 GUI controls.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “the GUI of this thing looks like ass and feels even worse”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” - Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS”
- Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source”
Pre-alpha, slow progress
“a prealpha for a 2021 project i might run far away from this”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “My bet is that is heavily vibe coded abandonware.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “Four years and still pre-alpha.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” No screenshots on website
“any desktop operating systems has to present itself with at least a single screenshot”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “Why not a single screenshot anywhere?”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” Feature claims seem superficial
“Literally the first two features listed on the website are "clean design" and "global menus"”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source” “it also falls into the "surface level" bucket”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 87 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
23 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“First, this will at best be source compatible.”
“My bet is that is heavily vibe coded abandonware.”
“a prealpha for a 2021 project i might run far away from this”
“At least it displays a logo...”
“It's safe, worked from previously apple owned darwin oss”
“What they have achieved is brilliant.”
“as a Mac OSX replacement, it's quite jaw-dropping”
“Literally the first two features listed on the website are "clean design" and "global menus"”
“It does look awful "elegant"”
“The wiki is impossible to read on mobile, due to the sidebar.”
“it doesn't actually exist”
“Looks like: macOS window chrome with Windows 95 GUI controls.”
“the GUI of this thing looks like ass and feels even worse”
“it also falls into the "surface level" bucket”
“Why not a single screenshot anywhere?”
“any desktop operating systems has to present itself with at least a single screenshot”
“Four years and still pre-alpha.”
“I disagree entirely when we have ravynos.”
“it looks like Window 2000/ME/98”
“To me the screenshots look like someone tried to replicate macOS but failed.”
“if macOS binary compatibility is not the goal, then there's no need for a Mach-O loader”
“The rayvnOS vision is something I could get behind.”
“It would be awesome using what is essentially a community-driven clone of macOS”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.