I have had "Love and Hate" relationship with Endless OS.
I installed version 6 in my Old Laptop and added all the Flatpak packages, I liked.
Version six seems to be better.
Without the standard Linux Desktop, I do not feel like using it on, a daily basis.
I do not like its root only file system.
The fact that, One cannot arrange applications, in groups is the downside.
What attracted me was its cellphone like front end.
Deleting applications is bit difficult.
It always wants to update its applications and that hampers installing new ones.
I prefer it on a USB stick but did not try it on a USB stick.
I posted the review on Endless OS on April 12, 2023, version 5.0.0, with a Rating of 10. I still standby that rating.
As of today, May 24, 2024, I have upgraded to version 6.0.0 on the same hardware minus the Python development apps(they were moved to another computer). The upgrade process was easy and simple. The Updates tab in the Endless App Center offered the upgrade to 6.0. Select the Upgrade button, be patient, select the Restart button, reboot. Now, I am at version 6.0.0. You can double check in the About section and CLI using "sudo ostree admin status".
I have been running version 6.0 for a few weeks now. It has been a stable and safe experience with Endless OS for over the last year. I am running the Basic edition without the education apps installed. The Basic edition ISO approximate 3GB in size is all you need if you are not in the Education sector.
I run updates on the Updates tab in the App Center on a daily basis. I run from the CLI "sudo ostree admin upgrade" on a weekly basis, for a sanity check. Endless OS is my daily driver.
I've had very good times with Endless, and this version accepts flatpak, including those from flathub.org. You do not need to install the full version, the base will be a good start for those not needing all the educational material.
I found it a bit more sluggish compared to Linux Mint. But a good distro for casual, non power users.
If you are a "get under the hood" command line "sudo" type, this isn't for you. Great for a laptop heading to the landfil. Running now on an 8 GB i5 WITH 8 GB memory and a 180 GB old SSD.
There were a few issues getting Endless installed at first. Getting past those annoyances, I immediately felt at home with the OS. I couldn't help making comparisons with MacOS. While different in many ways, Endless did seem to be a match in terms of ease of use. Actually I would say it more closely resembles a laptop version of Android.
I've tried a number of distros that have been either mediocre at best or a dismal fail. I was beginning to think Linux wasn't going to work as a replacement for MacOS. But for one brief moment it seemed Endless might allow me to make a fairly painless transition. THEN there was the absolute deal killer.
As others stated in their reviews, downloading apps is unacceptably slow. They just didn't make it clear exactly how bad the situation is. So let me break it down. A test download of 20 measly megabytes was taking FOREVER. After more than 30 minutes the install was at 18 percent. So it was going to be a 3 hour download for one tiny app. As if that isn't bad enough, you can only choose one install at a time. So with all the apps I needed to download I was realistically looking at weeks of babysitting installs one at a time. And then what about updates? I shut down the OS and that was it for me. Deleted.
If you don't need to add any apps this distro may work nicely for you. There's a second version available weighing in at 18gb with a "mystery grab bag" of preinstalled apps. Otherwise you're going to understand exactly where they got the name "Endless" for this OS. It seems to do with waiting for apps to finish installing. I would have been happy to be able to rate this distro higher than I did.
I have tried many different Linux OSes over the years on an old desktop, and I keep coming back to Endless because it just works with very little tweaking, includes easy installation of real Chrome, and is quite snappy on an older machine. I use and like Chromebooks too, and to me Endless is very similar in operation and benefits. My printer, which is often a problem on many distros, just worked instantly. My secondary storage drive just appeared and worked. My wifi just worked. Everything was good to go.
Cons: Not for power users, and since the interface is not like Windows some may find it takes a little learning time. If you are used to a Chromebook it will seem quite similar in many ways.
This Distro is mainly meant for education and offline usage, it comes with pre-installed encyclopedias, educational content, custom games and activities specifically designed for this OS, The "Hack" app for example where you can explore the OS, write code and have some fun.
Lots of additional educational content and many games are available in the App Center, it can be very interesting to explore for kids age 8-15. Although the App Center itself is slow and can hang for a while after install/delete (more on it later).
The read only root file system means you can't install anything outside of the App Center, and can't really break anything by your own actions, at least not without deep linux knowledge to know how to break it.
Now the bad parts.
I have an old NVIDIA graphic card - GeForce 770 and Wayland driver is not available for this card, so I often had freezes and graphical glitches, for example in Anki, the hardware acceleration was not working either. But switching to Xorg at login manager didn't help, maybe because it was not using the proprietary driver? It's hard to tell, because you can't really use apt to install anything, and nvidia was not found in the App Center. I think the hardware detection and driver installation could be better.
The OS does not include any DNS filtering or parenting control by default so the 'bad' sites are fully accessible.
Endless OS 5.0.4 (May 2023) still doesn't support black theme in Gnome. Gnome itself is very limiting, I had to write configuration to .profile (which you can do since it's in a user home folder not the root fs)
Because you can't install anything which is not available in the App Center if this OS is broken for you out of the box it's very difficult to fix it, even if you know your way around other, traditional linuxes.
For some reason some apps were not available for me in the App Center - vscode(ium), vim, emacs. But I could find and install them from the flathub site, after which they started to show in the App Center.
App Center is too slow and buggy, it takes ~3-6 second for search. No availability to install with right click from the list of found apps, you have to go to each app page and install from there, but it takes ~5 seconds per each page load.
----
If you don't have an old nvidia card and want to explore the pre-installed apps in an Offline setting it can be OK'is choice, for anything else I would not recommend it.
I am a Linux noob. I installed Endless 5.0.2 Basic edition on a HP with a Ryzen 3 AMD CPU, Raedon GPU. 1 TB hard drive and 8 GB RAM. Endless installed on a single partition with read-only root file system with no issues. Most Linux distros will fail to install non-free firmware. Endless did the install PERFECTLY !!!
I installed the following software from the Endless App Center: Brave, Firefox and TOR browsers. Darktable, GIMP and Shotcut for media production. PyCharm Professional and VScodium for Python development. All these tasks were completed WITHOUT using the terminal and CLI commands.
Endless appears to be running smoothly and stable with the listed software installed. I setup Automatic Updates and Endless updated everything to the current version. Endless appears to target beginners, home and noob users. It is a CROSSOVER Linux distribution. If that is what you want, I encourage you to try it!
i tested endless os 5.0 some days ago, i think it has simple and nice look, beautiful themes and icons.and it is easy to use, it runs very smoothly on my old computer.
but it should improve its installation guide.i have used ubuntu and linuxmint over ten years, but i dont know how to install endless os.maybe i should make a clean hd partition before i run the installation guide.
and this is another opinion, it would be better for endless os to add the software repositorities choose tool.users need a faster server instead of the default one.
I got Endless OS pre-installed on my acer aspire in Oct 2018. I was Ubuntu fan then and installed Ubuntu 18.04 in dual boot in Nov 2018. But gradually I started liking it over Ubuntu and switched completely to Endless OS in 2022.
Although Gnome 40 and 41 had arrived Endless OS continued with Gnome 3.8 and I was anxiously waiting for Gnome 40 or 41.
Now I could update to Endless OS 5.0.0 with Gnome 41.3 on Wayland.
I am very happy with the new version with great features like gestures and multiple wok spaces.
In one word, whether you are a beginner or not : don't go into this...
In more words...
This distro doesn't correctly target ANY audience.
The pro's are : the minimalistic installation (in terms of "click's") and the desktop, which is quite good with custom GNOME extensions.
2 points for that.
The con's are everything else, but I won't say everything here.
Just some example :
- I want to install Endless as a beginner, so NEXT TO Windows... I accept to... what, ERASE the disk ? No no...
- As and advanced user, I want to choose BTRFS instead of EXT4, so I accept to ERASE the disk and... ok I can't choose anything..
- I need gocryptfs package, which normally is in Ubuntu. APT doesn't want to install it... ok. Vault (from Flatpak) can use it, so I try to install Vault, maybe it will detect the dependency of something. Vault tells me he doesn't have any backend, I have to install gocryptfs... ehhhh... so Vault (from flathub) is installable, but unusable.
So, the installation is not good, the usability is not good...
---
And ABOVE ALL : I read some comments here talking about the "revolution" of read-only filesystem... but no !
First, beginners (the target audience of EndlessOS) don't care about read-only...
And then... if you want a operational read-only (and infintely reproducible by the way), go to NixOS, the best project with read-only filesystem and a huge repository !
The way read-only is implemented here is a pain... no way to install with APT, which is strangely present but unusable. Oh I can do anything I want but through a custom toolbox or podman container... super ! Even in Fedora Silverblue, you have a rpm-ostree command...
I had the same experience as the last guy, mostly bad.
My test laptop is a multi-boot machine, with grub.
I wanted to install it on a vacant partition, but not wipe the hole 1GB drive.
So I powered down and started over, but because I used the persistence, it wouldn't let me choose to start over.
No choices.
To start over, I would have to wipe the USB and reload the ISO.
I'm used to gnome 40, 41, 42, & 43.
Don't know what you call that version of gnome, and I couldn't get it to do regular Gnome.
I went to Command line in APT, but it wouldn't let me install much.
I tried to install regular Gnome, but no luck.
The EOS has potential, if you would work on the Installer.
Debian has an easy to use installer, why don't you use a tried and true installer?
Ubuntu, has a great installer.
With the Ubuntu installer, I choose the Something else option.
Then I can do anything I wish with a Partition.
I have already wiped Endless OS off of the USB Flash drive and moved on.
Good luck EOS, I'll try it in another year or so.
For me, right now I use Manjaro Gnome Minimal load, and install anything else I need with pacman.
I used to use Ubuntu, but with their Snap, Snapd madness, I aborted on Ubuntu.
I'm still looking for a minimal Debian Gnome 41+ OS.
Thanks,
Terry
Excellent desktop. Very Rich content. Very beautiful looking desktop. Easy to use.
Endless offers many tools+apps to wide variety of users.
Endless makes Linux shine like a crystal for everyday users.
It is obvious that developers put big effort to impress ordinary user with their first contact with Linux. They have done a very good job. Bravo!..
But... There is downside to this distro. Installing a new software package is endlessly slow... OMG!...
Is it because the distro is using ostree structure? Software package installation takes all its shine away.
I guess it is better to use Endless full iso (16GB) which comes with a lot of apps that you will need readily available in your desktop.
Im actually using version 5 and its amazing. Easy to install, easy to use, it auto updates and its an immutable OS(core system files are read only) so you dont have to worry about having issues. Installing apps with Flatpak is as easy as a single click, and the basic install for me was the better choice as you can also use it as a live media session if you just want to try it without installing. Under the hood its still pretty much Gnome and it has all the typical settings but no Gnome tweaks and no real way to change the appearance or use other themes. That said it has a beautiful desktop that is very quick on older hardware. All my printers, wifi and laptop dock were seen and installed. Installing is so easy anyone can do it and their choice of apps even with the basic version is excellent. It wont take you long to adapt to the interface if you havent used Gnome before and for mobile, social media or online multimedia its an excellent choice.
I would avoid the larger isos that caqn go as large as 17gb as they have a lot of apps you probably wont use and can install later.
Even the basic install is 3.3gb so if you have a slow connection its going to take awhile.
For mainstream/new Linux users this is an OS that will just work and allow you to do more and not have to fiddle with the OS.
Definitely an OS for those who want to crossover from Windows and have a seamless experience.
Advanced users will probably hate this OS as there is no apt/apt-get and Flatpak is your only option. Being immutable you cant fiddle with this OS and have to accept it for what it is and work with it. One of the best OS experiences Ive had in quite some time, try it.
Installed EndlessOS on an older computer for use by young children in a library. The great thing about this is the amount of educational software that can be preloaded, as well as a few games. They just work, even without internet access.
For this specific application, EndlessOS has been great. Having followed Endless since the beginning, it is well known that one of the original intentions was to make the OS usable even if there was inconsistent or no internet access available. Mission Accomplished!
While not the perfect distribution for EVERY application out there, it served a need for our library. The price was right, and it has been well received by the young kids that just sit down and start using it.
My god what the heck are these people doing in Linux now days? Who would download and install a telemetry tracker and general eyeballs-looking-over-the-shoulder distro?
Gnome in this seems cute, and so does the bootup, but that's about it. Read noly file system? Okaaaaayyy...
Very resource heavy.. my gosh we've gotten past this in Linux (and even Windows) long since. Please.
For some it must be fine as it sits around 50 something in the Distrowatch PHR list. Have fun...
Endless 4 is a big improvement compared to the previous version. Based on Gnome desktop but surprisingly snappy and fast compared to other big distros out there (Ubuntu, Mint, Elementary...) , polished, very easy to use and everything based on flatpak, therefore almost every wanted software is available, I am not lacking of anything since I installed it months ago. I installed the basic version as I don't need all the educational softwares. I'll stick to it for the time being for my basic computer usage
Very good surprise! Endeless Os is easy to install and use with little or no effort. Ideal for the whole family, in the simplest way possible. You can't change the decor but you don't care because Endeless is pretty. Here, it's simplicity and fun :)
The good:
- The extension they use for GNOME is at least serviceable
- I like the idea of immutable root filesystems, even if it's a bit before it's time
- Ability to "star" files in the filesystem was a nice touch
- Flashy boot animation
The bad:
- Silly Christmas game is first thing in the taskbar after Software
- Another game is preinstalled which is just cruft to be removed, along with a ebook organizer or something
- Install only allows you to format a drive to install, no choosing partitions
- Based on Debian bullseye which is not bad but not the latest and greatest, but since you can't upgrade you dont get updates (no bug fixes)
- The GNOME experience while somewhat interesting actually makes the experience much worse with no activities overview (unless it's hidden away somewhere)
- Really strange choice of languages (English US, then Ghana(?) and Irish?) and a scary looking user agreement not usually seen in Linux distros, and it wasn't really all that readable on the screen, and then you have the big ask for telemetry data... not good.
Overall I came expecting very little and was still underwhelmed. Now that I have learned about the read only filesystem some things make a bit more sense, but it's not something I'd consider running on a daily basis.
After hopping Distros for long time now, i settled with EOS two years ago. At first try one might think it's a little bit limited, but that's not true if you take a look under the hood.
1. It's based around Flatpak with no other way of installing software. Might sound limiting, but you can use Podman to run any Distribution alongside and have them running the software you need.
2. The Root Filesystem is Read-Only and based on OSTree (the first mainstream Linux to do so). Yes you can't do any changes to the core files, but that a great thing in the end, as you get a atomic operating system which also can't be changed by some malicious software or by accident. Additionally, thanks to conforming to the XDG standard, most things can also accomplished user-wide via configuration files in your home directory.
3. It supports NVidia cards OOB with either the proprietary driver for supported cards or nouveau for older ones.
4. The UI is built with some GNOME Extensions which add useful features, making your device a real workhorse.
5. It's completely open source, even the build tools are available over at Github
6. There's a great community where Endless employees also participate and give helpful advice. Additionally even if the Distribution is company backed, they are open accepting pull requests after discussion.
No to this distro, lots of tracking involved- like Ubuntu and Zorin have that I didn’t want, need or ask for, but that seems to start becoming normal in some Linux distros. My thoughts with having Chromium installed as default is uncomfortable because it’s still from Google and is the base for Chrome, which has its own privacy and tracking problems and Google being a monopoly, selling customer’s information, just nonetheless is not ok with me. I don’t know why Linux is slipping lately and a lot of people are looking the other way. I’m worried Linux will turn into Windows with all the heavyweight extra crap that a lot of distros have by default when there are better, more viable options instead- systemd for example is not good.
The only good thing I can say about this distro is-
The preinstalled wallpapers are nice, but I’ll just copy them and put it on another distro.
Supper fast, very secure and works like a charm!!!! My daily driver, beating contenders like Ubuntu, MX, Arch, Gentoo and Solus. Great work Developers of Endless!!!!!!!!!!
"App Center" functionality is barely usable, cannot uninstall most bloat. No trash barrel to delete bloat. Location services and other telemetry ON by default.
Resource heavy, slow desktop experience on a 4th gen i5 with 8GB ram.
Interesting concept, wish it lived up to it. Focus on gamification over usability. Most educational apps it's packaged with are available elsewhere, do that instead.
I ordered a brandnew notebook with no operating system.
Endless was preinstallt, i guess they pay for that.
I gave it a chance.
First show stopper is the end user licence agreement.
I read it very carefully, every word! how can anyone
Interested in linux accept this? its tracking like android.
Second it behaves like android. One can use apps.
I couldn't install most of my preferred programs.
There is no freedom like other distributions.
Finally i installed another linux distribution.
For beginners i recommend linux mint.
Advanced user should be happy with debian.
I really liked it. The layout was great. Then I watched a video that gave me serious concerns about endless and tried to install another distro. I discovered my computer was trapped in Endless land!!!
In the boot menu, Endless installed both its operating system, and something else. I couldn't install another distro on my computer until I tried a rescue distro first, which finally freed me.
Low rating for trying to keep my testing computer and privacy concerns.
I have had "Love and Hate" relationship with Endless OS.
I installed version 6 in my Old Laptop and added all the Flatpak packages, I liked.
Version six seems to be better.
Without the standard Linux Desktop, I do not feel like using it on, a daily basis.
I do not like its root only file system.
The fact that, One cannot arrange applications, in groups is the downside.
What attracted me was its cellphone like front end.
Deleting applications is bit difficult.
It always wants to update its applications and that hampers installing new ones.
I prefer it on a USB stick but did not try it on a USB stick.
I posted the review on Endless OS on April 12, 2023, version 5.0.0, with a Rating of 10. I still standby that rating.
As of today, May 24, 2024, I have upgraded to version 6.0.0 on the same hardware minus the Python development apps(they were moved to another computer). The upgrade process was easy and simple. The Updates tab in the Endless App Center offered the upgrade to 6.0. Select the Upgrade button, be patient, select the Restart button, reboot. Now, I am at version 6.0.0. You can double check in the About section and CLI using "sudo ostree admin status".
I have been running version 6.0 for a few weeks now. It has been a stable and safe experience with Endless OS for over the last year. I am running the Basic edition without the education apps installed. The Basic edition ISO approximate 3GB in size is all you need if you are not in the Education sector.
I run updates on the Updates tab in the App Center on a daily basis. I run from the CLI "sudo ostree admin upgrade" on a weekly basis, for a sanity check. Endless OS is my daily driver.
I've had very good times with Endless, and this version accepts flatpak, including those from flathub.org. You do not need to install the full version, the base will be a good start for those not needing all the educational material.
I found it a bit more sluggish compared to Linux Mint. But a good distro for casual, non power users.
If you are a "get under the hood" command line "sudo" type, this isn't for you. Great for a laptop heading to the landfil. Running now on an 8 GB i5 WITH 8 GB memory and a 180 GB old SSD.
There were a few issues getting Endless installed at first. Getting past those annoyances, I immediately felt at home with the OS. I couldn't help making comparisons with MacOS. While different in many ways, Endless did seem to be a match in terms of ease of use. Actually I would say it more closely resembles a laptop version of Android.
I've tried a number of distros that have been either mediocre at best or a dismal fail. I was beginning to think Linux wasn't going to work as a replacement for MacOS. But for one brief moment it seemed Endless might allow me to make a fairly painless transition. THEN there was the absolute deal killer.
As others stated in their reviews, downloading apps is unacceptably slow. They just didn't make it clear exactly how bad the situation is. So let me break it down. A test download of 20 measly megabytes was taking FOREVER. After more than 30 minutes the install was at 18 percent. So it was going to be a 3 hour download for one tiny app. As if that isn't bad enough, you can only choose one install at a time. So with all the apps I needed to download I was realistically looking at weeks of babysitting installs one at a time. And then what about updates? I shut down the OS and that was it for me. Deleted.
If you don't need to add any apps this distro may work nicely for you. There's a second version available weighing in at 18gb with a "mystery grab bag" of preinstalled apps. Otherwise you're going to understand exactly where they got the name "Endless" for this OS. It seems to do with waiting for apps to finish installing. I would have been happy to be able to rate this distro higher than I did.
I have tried many different Linux OSes over the years on an old desktop, and I keep coming back to Endless because it just works with very little tweaking, includes easy installation of real Chrome, and is quite snappy on an older machine. I use and like Chromebooks too, and to me Endless is very similar in operation and benefits. My printer, which is often a problem on many distros, just worked instantly. My secondary storage drive just appeared and worked. My wifi just worked. Everything was good to go.
Cons: Not for power users, and since the interface is not like Windows some may find it takes a little learning time. If you are used to a Chromebook it will seem quite similar in many ways.
This Distro is mainly meant for education and offline usage, it comes with pre-installed encyclopedias, educational content, custom games and activities specifically designed for this OS, The "Hack" app for example where you can explore the OS, write code and have some fun.
Lots of additional educational content and many games are available in the App Center, it can be very interesting to explore for kids age 8-15. Although the App Center itself is slow and can hang for a while after install/delete (more on it later).
The read only root file system means you can't install anything outside of the App Center, and can't really break anything by your own actions, at least not without deep linux knowledge to know how to break it.
Now the bad parts.
I have an old NVIDIA graphic card - GeForce 770 and Wayland driver is not available for this card, so I often had freezes and graphical glitches, for example in Anki, the hardware acceleration was not working either. But switching to Xorg at login manager didn't help, maybe because it was not using the proprietary driver? It's hard to tell, because you can't really use apt to install anything, and nvidia was not found in the App Center. I think the hardware detection and driver installation could be better.
The OS does not include any DNS filtering or parenting control by default so the 'bad' sites are fully accessible.
Endless OS 5.0.4 (May 2023) still doesn't support black theme in Gnome. Gnome itself is very limiting, I had to write configuration to .profile (which you can do since it's in a user home folder not the root fs)
Because you can't install anything which is not available in the App Center if this OS is broken for you out of the box it's very difficult to fix it, even if you know your way around other, traditional linuxes.
For some reason some apps were not available for me in the App Center - vscode(ium), vim, emacs. But I could find and install them from the flathub site, after which they started to show in the App Center.
App Center is too slow and buggy, it takes ~3-6 second for search. No availability to install with right click from the list of found apps, you have to go to each app page and install from there, but it takes ~5 seconds per each page load.
----
If you don't have an old nvidia card and want to explore the pre-installed apps in an Offline setting it can be OK'is choice, for anything else I would not recommend it.
I am a Linux noob. I installed Endless 5.0.2 Basic edition on a HP with a Ryzen 3 AMD CPU, Raedon GPU. 1 TB hard drive and 8 GB RAM. Endless installed on a single partition with read-only root file system with no issues. Most Linux distros will fail to install non-free firmware. Endless did the install PERFECTLY !!!
I installed the following software from the Endless App Center: Brave, Firefox and TOR browsers. Darktable, GIMP and Shotcut for media production. PyCharm Professional and VScodium for Python development. All these tasks were completed WITHOUT using the terminal and CLI commands.
Endless appears to be running smoothly and stable with the listed software installed. I setup Automatic Updates and Endless updated everything to the current version. Endless appears to target beginners, home and noob users. It is a CROSSOVER Linux distribution. If that is what you want, I encourage you to try it!
i tested endless os 5.0 some days ago, i think it has simple and nice look, beautiful themes and icons.and it is easy to use, it runs very smoothly on my old computer.
but it should improve its installation guide.i have used ubuntu and linuxmint over ten years, but i dont know how to install endless os.maybe i should make a clean hd partition before i run the installation guide.
and this is another opinion, it would be better for endless os to add the software repositorities choose tool.users need a faster server instead of the default one.
I got Endless OS pre-installed on my acer aspire in Oct 2018. I was Ubuntu fan then and installed Ubuntu 18.04 in dual boot in Nov 2018. But gradually I started liking it over Ubuntu and switched completely to Endless OS in 2022.
Although Gnome 40 and 41 had arrived Endless OS continued with Gnome 3.8 and I was anxiously waiting for Gnome 40 or 41.
Now I could update to Endless OS 5.0.0 with Gnome 41.3 on Wayland.
I am very happy with the new version with great features like gestures and multiple wok spaces.
Excellent desktop. Very Rich content. Very beautiful looking desktop. Easy to use.
Endless offers many tools+apps to wide variety of users.
Endless makes Linux shine like a crystal for everyday users.
It is obvious that developers put big effort to impress ordinary user with their first contact with Linux. They have done a very good job. Bravo!..
But... There is downside to this distro. Installing a new software package is endlessly slow... OMG!...
Is it because the distro is using ostree structure? Software package installation takes all its shine away.
I guess it is better to use Endless full iso (16GB) which comes with a lot of apps that you will need readily available in your desktop.
I had the same experience as the last guy, mostly bad.
My test laptop is a multi-boot machine, with grub.
I wanted to install it on a vacant partition, but not wipe the hole 1GB drive.
So I powered down and started over, but because I used the persistence, it wouldn't let me choose to start over.
No choices.
To start over, I would have to wipe the USB and reload the ISO.
I'm used to gnome 40, 41, 42, & 43.
Don't know what you call that version of gnome, and I couldn't get it to do regular Gnome.
I went to Command line in APT, but it wouldn't let me install much.
I tried to install regular Gnome, but no luck.
The EOS has potential, if you would work on the Installer.
Debian has an easy to use installer, why don't you use a tried and true installer?
Ubuntu, has a great installer.
With the Ubuntu installer, I choose the Something else option.
Then I can do anything I wish with a Partition.
I have already wiped Endless OS off of the USB Flash drive and moved on.
Good luck EOS, I'll try it in another year or so.
For me, right now I use Manjaro Gnome Minimal load, and install anything else I need with pacman.
I used to use Ubuntu, but with their Snap, Snapd madness, I aborted on Ubuntu.
I'm still looking for a minimal Debian Gnome 41+ OS.
Thanks,
Terry
In one word, whether you are a beginner or not : don't go into this...
In more words...
This distro doesn't correctly target ANY audience.
The pro's are : the minimalistic installation (in terms of "click's") and the desktop, which is quite good with custom GNOME extensions.
2 points for that.
The con's are everything else, but I won't say everything here.
Just some example :
- I want to install Endless as a beginner, so NEXT TO Windows... I accept to... what, ERASE the disk ? No no...
- As and advanced user, I want to choose BTRFS instead of EXT4, so I accept to ERASE the disk and... ok I can't choose anything..
- I need gocryptfs package, which normally is in Ubuntu. APT doesn't want to install it... ok. Vault (from Flatpak) can use it, so I try to install Vault, maybe it will detect the dependency of something. Vault tells me he doesn't have any backend, I have to install gocryptfs... ehhhh... so Vault (from flathub) is installable, but unusable.
So, the installation is not good, the usability is not good...
---
And ABOVE ALL : I read some comments here talking about the "revolution" of read-only filesystem... but no !
First, beginners (the target audience of EndlessOS) don't care about read-only...
And then... if you want a operational read-only (and infintely reproducible by the way), go to NixOS, the best project with read-only filesystem and a huge repository !
The way read-only is implemented here is a pain... no way to install with APT, which is strangely present but unusable. Oh I can do anything I want but through a custom toolbox or podman container... super ! Even in Fedora Silverblue, you have a rpm-ostree command...
Im actually using version 5 and its amazing. Easy to install, easy to use, it auto updates and its an immutable OS(core system files are read only) so you dont have to worry about having issues. Installing apps with Flatpak is as easy as a single click, and the basic install for me was the better choice as you can also use it as a live media session if you just want to try it without installing. Under the hood its still pretty much Gnome and it has all the typical settings but no Gnome tweaks and no real way to change the appearance or use other themes. That said it has a beautiful desktop that is very quick on older hardware. All my printers, wifi and laptop dock were seen and installed. Installing is so easy anyone can do it and their choice of apps even with the basic version is excellent. It wont take you long to adapt to the interface if you havent used Gnome before and for mobile, social media or online multimedia its an excellent choice.
I would avoid the larger isos that caqn go as large as 17gb as they have a lot of apps you probably wont use and can install later.
Even the basic install is 3.3gb so if you have a slow connection its going to take awhile.
For mainstream/new Linux users this is an OS that will just work and allow you to do more and not have to fiddle with the OS.
Definitely an OS for those who want to crossover from Windows and have a seamless experience.
Advanced users will probably hate this OS as there is no apt/apt-get and Flatpak is your only option. Being immutable you cant fiddle with this OS and have to accept it for what it is and work with it. One of the best OS experiences Ive had in quite some time, try it.
Installed EndlessOS on an older computer for use by young children in a library. The great thing about this is the amount of educational software that can be preloaded, as well as a few games. They just work, even without internet access.
For this specific application, EndlessOS has been great. Having followed Endless since the beginning, it is well known that one of the original intentions was to make the OS usable even if there was inconsistent or no internet access available. Mission Accomplished!
While not the perfect distribution for EVERY application out there, it served a need for our library. The price was right, and it has been well received by the young kids that just sit down and start using it.
My god what the heck are these people doing in Linux now days? Who would download and install a telemetry tracker and general eyeballs-looking-over-the-shoulder distro?
Gnome in this seems cute, and so does the bootup, but that's about it. Read noly file system? Okaaaaayyy...
Very resource heavy.. my gosh we've gotten past this in Linux (and even Windows) long since. Please.
For some it must be fine as it sits around 50 something in the Distrowatch PHR list. Have fun...
Endless 4 is a big improvement compared to the previous version. Based on Gnome desktop but surprisingly snappy and fast compared to other big distros out there (Ubuntu, Mint, Elementary...) , polished, very easy to use and everything based on flatpak, therefore almost every wanted software is available, I am not lacking of anything since I installed it months ago. I installed the basic version as I don't need all the educational softwares. I'll stick to it for the time being for my basic computer usage
Very good surprise! Endeless Os is easy to install and use with little or no effort. Ideal for the whole family, in the simplest way possible. You can't change the decor but you don't care because Endeless is pretty. Here, it's simplicity and fun :)
The good:
- The extension they use for GNOME is at least serviceable
- I like the idea of immutable root filesystems, even if it's a bit before it's time
- Ability to "star" files in the filesystem was a nice touch
- Flashy boot animation
The bad:
- Silly Christmas game is first thing in the taskbar after Software
- Another game is preinstalled which is just cruft to be removed, along with a ebook organizer or something
- Install only allows you to format a drive to install, no choosing partitions
- Based on Debian bullseye which is not bad but not the latest and greatest, but since you can't upgrade you dont get updates (no bug fixes)
- The GNOME experience while somewhat interesting actually makes the experience much worse with no activities overview (unless it's hidden away somewhere)
- Really strange choice of languages (English US, then Ghana(?) and Irish?) and a scary looking user agreement not usually seen in Linux distros, and it wasn't really all that readable on the screen, and then you have the big ask for telemetry data... not good.
Overall I came expecting very little and was still underwhelmed. Now that I have learned about the read only filesystem some things make a bit more sense, but it's not something I'd consider running on a daily basis.
After hopping Distros for long time now, i settled with EOS two years ago. At first try one might think it's a little bit limited, but that's not true if you take a look under the hood.
1. It's based around Flatpak with no other way of installing software. Might sound limiting, but you can use Podman to run any Distribution alongside and have them running the software you need.
2. The Root Filesystem is Read-Only and based on OSTree (the first mainstream Linux to do so). Yes you can't do any changes to the core files, but that a great thing in the end, as you get a atomic operating system which also can't be changed by some malicious software or by accident. Additionally, thanks to conforming to the XDG standard, most things can also accomplished user-wide via configuration files in your home directory.
3. It supports NVidia cards OOB with either the proprietary driver for supported cards or nouveau for older ones.
4. The UI is built with some GNOME Extensions which add useful features, making your device a real workhorse.
5. It's completely open source, even the build tools are available over at Github
6. There's a great community where Endless employees also participate and give helpful advice. Additionally even if the Distribution is company backed, they are open accepting pull requests after discussion.
No to this distro, lots of tracking involved- like Ubuntu and Zorin have that I didn’t want, need or ask for, but that seems to start becoming normal in some Linux distros. My thoughts with having Chromium installed as default is uncomfortable because it’s still from Google and is the base for Chrome, which has its own privacy and tracking problems and Google being a monopoly, selling customer’s information, just nonetheless is not ok with me. I don’t know why Linux is slipping lately and a lot of people are looking the other way. I’m worried Linux will turn into Windows with all the heavyweight extra crap that a lot of distros have by default when there are better, more viable options instead- systemd for example is not good.
The only good thing I can say about this distro is-
The preinstalled wallpapers are nice, but I’ll just copy them and put it on another distro.
Supper fast, very secure and works like a charm!!!! My daily driver, beating contenders like Ubuntu, MX, Arch, Gentoo and Solus. Great work Developers of Endless!!!!!!!!!!
"App Center" functionality is barely usable, cannot uninstall most bloat. No trash barrel to delete bloat. Location services and other telemetry ON by default.
Resource heavy, slow desktop experience on a 4th gen i5 with 8GB ram.
Interesting concept, wish it lived up to it. Focus on gamification over usability. Most educational apps it's packaged with are available elsewhere, do that instead.
I ordered a brandnew notebook with no operating system.
Endless was preinstallt, i guess they pay for that.
I gave it a chance.
First show stopper is the end user licence agreement.
I read it very carefully, every word! how can anyone
Interested in linux accept this? its tracking like android.
Second it behaves like android. One can use apps.
I couldn't install most of my preferred programs.
There is no freedom like other distributions.
Finally i installed another linux distribution.
For beginners i recommend linux mint.
Advanced user should be happy with debian.
I really liked it. The layout was great. Then I watched a video that gave me serious concerns about endless and tried to install another distro. I discovered my computer was trapped in Endless land!!!
In the boot menu, Endless installed both its operating system, and something else. I couldn't install another distro on my computer until I tried a rescue distro first, which finally freed me.
Low rating for trying to keep my testing computer and privacy concerns.
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