Guiding the future of Chainguard OS: Announcing the FUD Committee

Chainguard OS exists for one reason: to give our customers the world’s most trusted, secure, customer-centric foundation for the modern software supply chain.

Today, hundreds of organizations run Chainguard OS in production. It’s become one of the most trusted pieces of infrastructure in our customers’ ecosystems, and part of a solution that delivers stability and security at scale. Their businesses and missions depend on Chainguard OS, and we want to ensure that Chainguard OS users are the ones shaping its future. That’s why we’re announcing a customer-led steering committee for Chainguard OS and recruiting members starting today.

What is the Chainguard OS FUD Committee?

The Chainguard OS Fully User Directed Committee, or the Chainguard OS FUD Committee, will ensure Chainguard OS evolves with our customers’ needs at the forefront, rather than focusing on the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that’s often manufactured around purpose-built Linux distros. Behind the tongue-in-cheek name, there’s a serious commitment: the FUD Committee ensures that Chainguard OS will remain customer-governed, with every decision aligned with the long-term interests of its users.

The committee will include customer organizations of all sizes, industries, and geographies, with members from both engineering and security teams. Chainguard’s R&D teams will work closely with committee members to drive specific outcomes, including:

• Continuing to align our secure-by-default philosophy with the operational realities of high-scale production environments;

• Helping to define tomorrow’s standards and technical foundations to keep delivering trusted open source across use cases; and

• Serving as an advisory and oversight layer that represents the diverse voices of the community that Chainguard OS serves

By design, this structure ensures Chainguard OS evolves based on the real-world needs of our customers.

Shaping the future of Chainguard OS, together

The FUD Committee’s mission is to ensure Chainguard OS remains the world’s most trusted, secure, customer-centric foundation for the modern software supply chain. Committee members will serve as the voice of the user to help Chainguard make technical and roadmap decisions informed by real-world enterprise requirements and needs. Key responsibilities for members will include:

• Technical decision-making: Influencing the technical direction of Chainguard OS, advising and deciding on key technical paths to maintain flexibility and ecosystem compatibility. For example, this could include deciding whether Chainguard OS should continue to use the upstream APK client rather than forking to add additional functionality.

• Roadmap alignment: Aligning on upcoming features, architecture shifts, and package support.

• Strategic feedback: Providing early input on breaking changes, new security primitives, and distro-level optimizations.

• Ecosystem advocacy: Identifying emerging technologies or language ecosystems that should be prioritized for Chainguard OS support.

Together, this structure gives customers real influence, fewer surprises, and an OS that evolves intentionally. The result is a more stable, predictable, and trusted OS, guided by the users who rely on it every day.

Chainguard OS isn’t just infrastructure; it’s a commitment. Like any commitment that matters, it works best when it’s shared. The FUD Committee is how we make that partnership real by keeping users in the loop, making decisions in the open, and building trust into the process from the start.

Chainguard is recruiting members to serve on the FUD Committee. Get in touch if you’re interested in participating.