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EndeavourOS is a recent distro in the Linux space released back in July 2019 as a spiritual
successor to Antergos Linux, which was discontinued in May 2019. In function, EndevourOS is a
rolling release distro based on Arch Linux with a focus on delivering a beginner-friendly
pre-configured desktop environment to its users.
Over a short span of two years, EndeavourOS has amassed a respectable following. And with
the latest release, the distro has the Arch community hyped with a slew of awesome bells
and whistles.
Now, all things considered, how exactly is EndeavourOS making Arch more beginner-friendly
and accessible to new users? What’s the overall user experience? And what are the
features it brings to the table?
EndeavourOS Review: Key Features
Calamares Installer: Support for Online and Offline Installation
EndeavourOS removes the need to go through Arch Linux’s complicated text-based installer
in favor of the GUI-based Calamares installer. It’s much more user-friendly and offers
a pragmatic solution to installing your Arch desktop with all the necessary options bundled
in.
Furthermore, the EndeavourOS developers have customized the installer to include support
for both online and offline installation.
Offline Installation: Here, you don’t need to have an active internet connection during
the installation process. Also, the XFCE desktop will be installed along with EndeavourOS theming.
Online Installation: In this case, you will require an active internet connection. But
as a benefit, all the mirrors will get automatically updated during the installation. Also, you
will get to choose from 9 different desktop environments (including XFCE) along with the
EndeavourOS theming.
We have included a detailed installation guide of EndeavourOS in a later section to give
you a full tour of the Calamares installer.
Tons of Desktop Environments EndeavourOS officially supports 9 different
desktop environments, as mentioned below:
XFCE Mate
Cinnamon Gnome
Plasma Budgie
Deepin i3-wm
LXQT The lightweight XFCE desktop environment is
chosen as the default option, whereas any one of the other DEs can be picked during
the online installation. You get a completely vanilla experience of all the DEs without
any unnecessary customizations besides the light EndeavourOS theming.
Minimalistic EndeavourOS is a terminal-centric OS and one
of the most minimalistic distros out there.
It just comes with the necessary apps and packages that users will generally install
on their Arch PC. This includes basic drivers for sound, network, graphics, as well as Yay
support and a terminally operated AUR helper. Firefox browser is also bundled for your internet
browsing needs. And that’s it.
You get no extra apps and no unnecessary bloatware.
The distro hands you all the basic building blocks, which can be a bit of a hassle for
new users to install on a vanilla Arch system. After this, you are in full control of your
PC, installing apps and packages to create your own custom-made personal computer.
A Well Thought-Out Welcome App To further help the beginners and new users,
EndeavourOS comes with a rich Welcome app available both before and after the installation,
acting as an assistant to guide you through your journey of using the distro.
Before installation, the Welcome App gives you access to the Calamares installer and
the option to update mirrors, troubleshoot issues, and links to useful guides and tutorials.
Once the installation is complete, the Welcome is updated with new options to help you configure
basic settings. It also contains dedicated sections to share tips and tricks for effectively
using the distro and the option to “add more apps” like an Office suite, the Chromium
web browser, and so on.
Nvidia Drivers One of the major life-saving features of EndeavourOS
is that it comes with the non-free Nvidia drivers preloaded into the kernel. This is
super helpful for users who are using an Nvidia GPU on their system.
Installing the Nvidia drivers can be a real hassle, and to have them preloaded and automatically
installed during the OS installation is super convenient. There are also additional steps
for Nvidia Optimus users.
Friendly Community Another one of the major focuses of the EndeavourOS
project is on its community.
The EndeavourOS team has done a commendable job creating a platform where advanced Arch
users help Linux newcomers with all their questions and doubts.
You can reach out to the EndeavourOS community using any one of the following methods:
EndeavourOS Forum EndeavourOS SubReddit
EndeavourOS Telegram ARM Support
With the latest release of EndeavourOS, the developers have added ARM support. This makes
the distro a viable option for running on Raspberry PI, Odroid, Pinebook Pro, and Pine64.
In fact, the distro has already been tested and cleared for the following ARM platforms:
Odroid N2 Odroid N2+
Odroid XU4 Raspberry PI 4b
Note: Although the overall performance is smooth with little bugs here and there, it
should be noted that Arch Linux ARM is still unofficial and in its experimental stages.
EndeavourOS vs. Manjaro: Which is the better Arch-based Distro?
When talking about Arch-based Linux distros, one name always comes to mind – Manjaro.
And wouldn’t you happen to know it – it too prides itself on simplicity and is recommended
for beginners.
So this begs these questions – which is the better Arch-based distro? And which is
more beginner-friendly?
Well, to answer these, we must first get a quick idea of the key differences between
both distros. So let’s take a quick dive into that right now:
EndeavourOS uses AUR (Arch User Repository), Arch’s official software repository. Manjaro
doesn’t use AUR by default and instead has its own repository. This is to ensure software
packages and system updates are thoroughly tested for full compatibility.
The Manjaro GUI package/software manager integrates Flatpak, Snap, and AUR, all in one, making
it super easy for users to download the packages they need. With EndeavourOS, Snap and Flatpak
need to be installed separately – the distro only comes with AUR.
Manjaro comes with many pre-installed apps and packages like Steam, VLC, GIMP, Thunderbird,
making it an out-of-the-box solution. EndeavourOS only gives you the bare minimum apps to custom-build
your PC from scratch using the software you like.
EndeavourOS allows you to switch back to the “vanilla theme” for the DE with a click
of a button. This will remove the EndeavourOS theming. Whereas Manjaro is a heavily themed
distro, and it can’t be so easily removed. EndeavourOS comes with a preloaded Nvidia
driver, which is a godsend for users with an Nvidia GPU. With Manjaro, you need to install
Nvidia drivers for your system manually. Other than this, both distros are fairly similar
to one another.
So with all things considered, which distro is more beginner-friendly?
Well, if you are completely new to Linux, looking for an out-of-the-box solution, and
want access to cutting-edge software that comes with Arch, then go for Manjaro. However,
if you are already acquainted with the Linux OS but want to try out Arch, then EndeavourOS
presents a beginner-friendly option to easily install a close-to vanilla Arch experience.
The main thing to note is that even though Manjaro is Arch-based, there’s a lot of
things it does differently from Arch.
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