elementary OS is MORE than a Linux distribution...
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I feel that elementary OS is at a specific point between a distro, and a full on platform, so let's take a look at the reasons why I feel elementary OS is more than just another Linux distribution.
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Pantheon is elementary OS's desktop environment. It might make you think about Mac OS, although in use, it doesn't have much in common with that system. It sports a dock, a top panel, and a set of applications, just like any other desktop environment. But there is something special here: Pantheon is mostly exclusive to elementary OS, and isn't really available anywhere else, with all its bells and whistles.
This is very peculiar on a Linux distro, since most of them use either GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon or MATE. elementary OS is basically the only distro, that develops its own desktop, and its own default applications.
Now Pantheon does use GTK, so they do depend on that technology, but they add plenty of widgets and elements through Granite, their own library, that allows them to offer guidelines to create elementary OS applications.
The AppCenter is elementary OS's app store, similar to GNOME software, or KDE's Discover. On the surface, it's just another graphical application install software, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve. Since elementary OS is based on Ubuntu, it allows you to install all of the software available in Ubuntu's repos, but elementary also adds its own repository with the elementary OS specific apps.
Developers that distribute their apps through the AppCenter can set an asking price for their work, which is already fantastic in itself, and doesn't really exist anywhere else on Linux. The most interesting thing here is that users can decide how much they want to pay for the app, from 0 to whatever they want. This lets users try an app, and pay for it later, or just reward the developer immediately for their hard work.
This brings us to the application ecosystem on elementary OS. There are almost 2 hundred apps that have been specifically developed for elementary OS, or at least using their guidelines. These are all distributed through the appcenter, in the "curated apps" list, and they are generally pretty awesome.
They're mostly single purpose apps, in true Unix fashion, but with carefully developed user interfaces, and generally look and feel super good. I often compare them to Mac OS applications, that tend to take advantage of every feature the OS offers, and I mostly rely on these to get my work done.
These apps rely on the elementary OS SDK. Well, SDK is a big word, since it's basically a metapackage that lets you get started quickly by installing everything you need to start coding your own elementary OS app.
elementary OS is also apart in the way it works: much like KDE Neon, it is a semi rolling release: the base is stable, using the latest Ubuntu LTS, but the desktop and applications shipped by the elementary team are updated all the time, like a rolling release would.
This means your desktop will keep evolving and changing, you'll get new features, bug fixes, and every improvement the team wants to bring you, as soon as it's ready. Compare this to Ubuntu or Fedora, where you're basically locked to a single version of GNOME or KDE until you upgrade to a newer release of your distribution, and you'll see how that might be an advantage.
You get the stability of a well tested base that gets security updates, and hardware enablement patches to let you use newer hardware, and you get new features every month. The elementary OS team does a great job detailing all these changes in their blog, in beautiful articles that list all the new stuff you get each month, it's always a great read.
So, elementary has its own desktop environment, its own appstore and pay what you want model, its own app ecosystem and SDK. What does it mean? Well it means elementary OS is a platform in itself. Developers can choose to develop for elementary OS, and not just for "Linux". This distro is in a unique position to ensure that its users get the most coherent and smooth experience possible.
The best thing is, developers that choose to code for the elementary OS platform are not locked in, they can just as easily release their apps for any other distro, thanks to flatpak or snap, which limit the risk of library incompatibilities.