2023-06-27 13:08:53
On, 27. June 2023, Ralf Hersel
If I had to sum up the current situation with the Arch derivatives in one sentence, I would put it this way: everyone is against Manjaro; trotz archinstall the distro hopper mainstream doesn’t really dare to approach the original arch; everyone loves EndeavorOS. That is a very short view, which one can gladly contradict. Since our last EndeavorOS presentation was over a year ago, it’s time for a very quick look at the current version of Cassini Nova from May this year.
Load the ISO image here Download and try it in a virtual machine. After booting into the live environment, you will see an Xfce desktop that greets you with this welcome app.
After clicking on ‘Start the Installer’ runs squid off, where you can choose between an offline and online installation. Offline there is only Xfce as desktop environment; the online option offers these desktops: no desktop, Xfce 4, i3-wm, KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, Mate, Budgie, LXQT, LXDE. Ext4, btrfs and xfs are available as file systems. I chose GNOME and ext4. There is not much more to say about the installation; it is very simple; every student can.
While the installation process is running for you, you can Article by Dave McKay read where he describes why he switched from Manjaro to EndeavorOS. In it you will learn, among other things, that Endeavor is much closer to Arch than Manjaro. Endeavor uses the Arch repositories, while Manjaro, as a curated rolling release, holds Arch’s cutting-edge packages for a few weeks before ending up in Manjaro-stable.
After reading the last paragraph, your test installation of EndeavorOS should be complete. If that’s not the case (like me), you might be wondering what’s the difference between Arch and Endeavor if they both use the same repos. We already got to know one difference: Calamares as an installer. But there is more.
This is how EndeavorOS presents itself immediately after the installation restart. I think it’s good when a distro takes the trouble to write a welcome app. This is a blessing, especially for beginners or those who are switching to Arch Linux and have not yet come into contact with it. However, I doubt whether such users know whether they want the mirrors of Reflector or EndeavorOS updated.
I chose the Endeavor mirrors, had all the system updates done and set up the update notifier. The Welcome app offers a lot more than you are used to from similar greeting applications. Here you can see all tabs:
Here is not messed up, but padded. The Welcome app is self-explanatory when you click on the first tab About Welcome clicks With the update notifier, you can set whether and when the operating system should look out for package updates.
There’s even a dry-run (operation test) and status bar, as shown in the screenshot to the right.
Of course, Pacman takes care of package management. In the Welcome app, however, there is an “Add more programs” tab. There you will find a compilation of about 50 popular applications from different categories:
The three remaining buttons on this tab just link to the corresponding catalogs on the Arch Linux wiki. EndeavorOS lacks comprehensive graphical package management (like Manjaro’s Pamac). Flatpak support isn’t pre-installed either, but that’s not a problem. As soon as you install the first Flatpak from Flathub.org, Flatpak support will be installed on request.
The EndeavorOS team has not made any changes to the GNOME desktop environment. GNOME extensions are not installed. It only comes with a single background image and (besides Adwaita) the Qogir theme.
Conclusion
EndeavorOS makes a good impression on me. The Calamares installer is even easier to install than Manjaro and much easier than the Arch installer. With its wealth of information and tools, the Welcome app is an asset, especially for those new to the Arch world. Opinions can be divided as to whether a distribution should make adjustments to the desktop environment. I would have liked a little Endeavor feeling in the GNOME desktop.
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#EndeavourOS #Cassini #Nova #Kurztest