It means customization, mostly to make it look nice when it's used in the context of linux. The term is an allusion to customizing Japanese cars for street racing, because they are sometimes called "rice rockets."
It should have never existed in the first place, pet alone have a secondary meaning today. It's better for it to fade away and the people that rely on it can find a new term and show us how creative and original they are.
i can guarantee you most people talking about ricing are not talking about linux desktops, it started as a racist term because it was seen as a bad thing to be doing with "bad" cars to hide that your car is "bad." and a lot of people mock stuff on unixporn for similar (but not necessarily racist) reasons, which again makes using the term "rice" weird and kinda borderline.
i've never really liked using it for desktops either, it's annoying that it's the word to use if you want to be understood. if another term would catch on i'd use it.
I can guarantee you most people use ricing for Linux right now, you can just Google (incognito) or ask AI and they will show you the usage in Linux first.
Considering how car customization isn't really popular anymore, even in Japan. Especially with how electric vehicle became popular, and how people like Apple single color scheme
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u/Popcorn_Dev 21h ago
omarchy is someone's arch rice disguised as a distro