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EndeavourOS Apollo Comes with a Brand-New Window Manager
EndeavourOS Apollo brings massive improvements to the Calamares installer and introduces
a new X11-based window manager.
EndeavourOS is a user-friendly Arch Linux-based rolling release distro with some handy new
features that improve the user experience.
It fits into a similar-but-different niche as Manjaro.
Most readers may probably remember the Antergos Linux distribution, discontinued in 2019.
After that, a group of the older community merged efforts to create a new continuation
of that distribution, EndeavourOS.
Today, almost four months after the previous EndeavourOS Neo release, the distro has a
new update.
The developers have announced the new EndeavourOS Apollo update, which is currently available
to download and install.
EndeavourOS Apollo Highlights
We start with the fact that the Calamares installer has received massive improvements
with this release.
A fix has been added when Xfce and i3 are both selected for installation.
In the previous release, the issue of double-installed packages caused conflicts during the installation
of the desktop environments in combination with i3.
We continue by saying that status is now displayed below the progress bar during the online installation
processes to make it clear what is going on.
Moreover, instead of using LightDM + Slickgreeter as the default display manager, the EndeavourOS
Community editions now install with their own.
The display managers used LightDM + Slick greeter, Lxdm, ly, and GDM.
But perhaps the most significant change related to the Calamares installer is the changed
ordering of the desktop environments option and package chooser installation options.
Calamares now allows the user to select the desktop environment before proceeding to the
package selection page to install additional packages such as another kernel.
EndeavourOS Apollo is also shipping with a brand-new X11-based window manager called
Worm.
It is a tiny, dynamic, tag-based window manager written in the Nim language.
Worm supports both a floating mode and master-stack tiling with gaps and struts and has window
decorations with minimize, maximize, and close buttons in any desired layout.
Under the hood, for Btrfs installations, compression is now applied to the installed files.
In addition, if you want to run EndeavourOS, you can now check if Bluetooth is working
on your hardware; however, Bluetooth is disabled by default after installation.
On the application side, the eos-rankmirrors app received the addition of options.
For example, you can now prefer and ignore specific mirrors in the EndeavourOS-mirrorlist
by using the -prefer and -ignore options, which can be convenient and time-saving in
some situations.
And speaking of apps, we can’t fail to mention that EndeavourOS Apollo has gotten a few.
Perhaps the most striking, however, is the new EOS-quickstart app.
It assists you in selecting and installing the most common and useful apps on a newly
installed system.
On top of that, the Nvidia-ins is also a brand new app that is a rewritten version of the
existing nvidia-installer-dkms app.
In short, it is a command-line utility that assists you in installing the standard Nvidia
driver.
However, keep in mind that this tool is still in beta.
Among the rest of the news, EndeavourOS Apollo brings:
Firefox 99.0-1 Linux kernel 5.17.1
Mesa 22.0.1-3 nvidia-dkms 510.60.02-1
Of course, there are also numerous other improvements and bug fixes.
But, again, you can refer to the official announcement for detailed information about
all changes.
Download If you want a fresh EndeavourOS install, you
can get your copy from the project’s download page and create a bootable USB flash drive.
If you are already running EndeavourOS, there is no need to reinstall.
Just open the “UpdateInTerminal” app from the menu.
You would get all the latest packages and updates.
So, if you want to run the main-line Arch, EndeavourOS is absolutely the way to get going.
:: More ::
EndeavourOS Apollo introduces Worm, a new window manager, among other new features
Since EndeavourOS picked up the baton from AntergOS, the information arrives several
months apart.
The previous version was released at the beginning of December, but you have to keep in mind
one thing: it is based on Arch Linux and it is a Rolling Release, so these types of publications,
such as the release note de EndeavourOS Apollo, Are not necessary.
Arch Linux usually releases one ISO a month, other distributions like Manjaro may release
two a month or one in two months, they don't have a scheduled schedule, but EndeavorOS
takes things a bit more slowly.
And the new version, that is, the new ISO comes with new features such as Worm, a new
window manager.
It was created by its community, specifically Codic12, because it was looking for a lightweight
window manager that would work well with both floating and stacked windows, at the same
time that the windows had some decoration, buttons to maximize, minimize, etc.
The EndeavorOS team is proud that this window manager has been created under their umbrella.
EndeavourOS Apollo Highlights They have changed the internet check to not
depend on GitHub or GitLab and to avoid an internet connection error in countries where
GitHub or GitLab is blocked by using: internetCheckUrl: https://geoip.kde.org/v1/squid.
A fix when Xfce4 and i3 are selected for installation – This fix resolves the issue of double
installed packages causing conflicts during DE installation in combination with our i3
flavor.
Community Editions now install with their dedicated display manager – Instead of using
LightDM + Slickgreeter by default, Community Editions now install with the best DM option
for the chosen window manager.
The DMs used are: LightDM + Slick greeter, Lxdm, ly and GDM.
Different order of DE option and package chooser – Calamares now allows the user to choose
the Desktop Environment first, before going to the package selection page to install other
packages like another kernel, etc.
This has been done to provide a better description of each option and to prevent the user from
installing the system without a desktop environment using the online installer.
Fix for Firefox to install when not chosen.
Qogir's icons and cursor are used in the Live environment and offline installation of XFCE4
– They have previously used the Arc icon theme.
The Qogir icon and cursor theme is also available in the EndeavourOS repository.
New info button for custom installation – The button leads to a manual to add some scripts
for a custom installation.
Custom EOS modules rewritten for better Calamares integration – Pacstrap and cleanup scripts
have been rewritten for a smoother experience.
When using a custom user_pkglist file, those packages are now displayed on the netinstall
page so you can confirm what will be installed.
Toggle log button inside Calamares – This option has replaced the terminal window that
used to open simultaneously behind the Calamares window, to read the progress during the installation.
Now when you click the Toggle log button, the information appears inside the Calamares
window which, when disabled, shows the slides normally.
During online installation processes, status is now displayed below the progress bar to
make it clear what is happening.
Bluetooth is enabled in the Live environment – ​​You can now check if Bluetooth is
working on your hardware if you want to run EndeavorOS, however after installation Bluetooth
is disabled by default.
They have created a new Bluetooth button that links directly to your wiki on the installed
system.
Compression is now applied to installed files for btrfs installations – In previous versions,
compression was only applied to files after installation
Various fixes and improvements.
Interested users can download the EndeavourOS Apollo ISO from your download page.
As for existing users, everything included in this ISO will already be installed if they
have updated the operating system by any means.
:: More ::
EndeavorOS 22.1 Apollo released with Worm WM, and more
EndeavorOS founder Bryan Poerwo announced the release of EndeavorOS 22.1 Apollo.
Check out the news and see where to download the distro.
Endeavor is an Arch Linux based distribution that is considered a continuation of Antergos,
a system that was recently discontinued.
The development team emerged from Antergos developers and community members.
Now, EndeavorOS founder Bryan Poerwo has announced the release and general availability of EndeavorOS
22.1 Apollo as the newest ISO snapshot of this Arch Linux-based GNU/Linux distribution
for the masses.
What's New in EndeavorOS 22.1 Apollo
Yes, Apollo landed, four months after EndeavorOS Atlantis and three and a half months after
EndeavorOS Atlantis Neo, full of installation process and live session improvements in an
attempt to attract more users to this popular Arch Linux based release - distribution release.
First of all, let's talk about the great features of EndeavorOS Apollo which is powered by the
latest and greatest Linux kernel 5.17 series and Mesa 22 graphics stack series.
This is the best combination you can get right now if you want next-gen hardware support
and gaming performance.
Also new in this release is the addition of a new window manager called Worm and developed
by a member of the EndeavorOS community.
Written in Nim, Worm is a lightweight window manager for X11 that supports floating and
tiled modes.
Bryan Poerwo said that:
“Codic12 decided to develop this WM to satisfy their need for a lightweight window manager
that works well with floating and tiled modes and has window decorations with minimize,
maximize and close buttons in any desired layout and that can be run in a semi-embedded
environment . like the [Raspberry] Pi Zero.
It implements most of the important bits of the EWMH and ICCCM specs, so most applications
should work fine.”
Additionally, new installations of EndeavorOS will now have the FirewallD firewall enabled
by default, a new graphical utility that allows users to select and install the applications
they need, as well as a command-line tool that helps NVIDIA GPU users to Install the
latest NVIDIA graphics driver, including legacy 470 and 390 series drivers.
Talking about new installations, EndeavorOS Apollo brings a much improved installation
experience that lets you install Xfce and i3 graphical environments, installs EndeavorOS
Community Editions with its dedicated login manager, adds a new Info button for custom
installations, and zips files into Btrfs installations .
Of course, Calamares, the default graphical installer for EndeavorOS, has received a number
of improvements, and there are also some fixes around mirrors so you can install the distro
faster.
Download and try EndeavorOS 22.1 Apollo This distribution uses the development model
known as the Rolling Release, which means that existing users will receive these updates
from the same operating system, and will be for life.
For those who need to do a fresh install from scratch, the EndeavorOS 22.1 Apollo ISO image
can now be downloaded by going to the distribution's download page .
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