Linux distribution based on Arch Linux
EndeavourOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. EndeavourOS uses a rolling release schedule. As of 27 January 2024, the most recent release is 01-2024 ("Galileo Neo").[2]
EndeavourOS features the graphical Calamares installer capable of installing the Xfce, KDE Plasma, GNOME, MATE, Cinnamon, Budgie, LXQt, LXDE desktop environments and the i3 window manager. KDE Plasma can be installed without an Internet connection.[3] Additionally, there were "community editions" providing the window managers QTile, BSPWM, Openbox and the EndeavourOS exclusive Worm, as well as the Sway Wayland compositor. These were discontinued starting with the "Galileo" release due to a lack of maintainers and were officially removed with the release of the Galileo ISO on November 20, 2023.[4][2]
EndeavourOS began as a successor to Antergos, a discontinued Linux distribution also based on Arch Linux.[5]
Background
EndeavourOS began as a continuation of the Antergos Linux distribution, a distribution itself based on Arch Linux, a general-purpose Linux distribution. In May 2019, Antergos' developers abruptly announced that development on the project would cease; a moderator of Antergos' forums discussed the idea of maintaining the community on a new forum. The idea received support from within the community, and within a day other Antergos moderators joined the project. Development on EndeavourOS quickly began, with the team planning to create a distribution that would be close to Arch Linux with the convenience of a GUI installer, while leaving GUI Pacman wrappers such as Pamac from the out-of-box installation. The first release was in July 2019.[6]
Installation
EndeavourOS uses the Calamares system installer. While EndeavourOS was originally planned to ship with Cnchi, the net-installer used by Antergos, technical difficulties resulted in the adoption of an offline installer based on Portergos, a Linux distribution also based on Antergos, as a stop-gap until the issues could be resolved later in development.[7] After the official launch of the distribution, the EndeavourOS team began to develop a Calamares net-installer, which was expected to release in November 2019,[8] but was delayed to December.[9] The net-installer offers multiple desktop environments, window managers, driver and firmware packages, and kernels during the installation process. The net-installer also allows the user to perform an offline install with the default KDE Plasma[2] (formerly Xfce)[4] desktop themed with EndeavourOS branding.[10]
EndeavourOS features a graphical installer, unlike the distribution it is based on, Arch Linux, where installation is typically performed manually through the command-line tool pacstrap. As such, EndeavourOS is typically marketed as a beginner-friendly alternative to Arch Linux. As the distribution is based on Arch Linux, it provides most upstream features as-is.
EndeavourOS provides access to the Arch User Repository (AUR), a collection of unofficial community-maintained source packages shipped by Arch Linux, by default through the yay package manager.[11]
Magazine
On September 11, 2019, EndeavourOS announced that they will release an online magazine, called Discovery, to give their users some background information on Arch commands and to inform them on new packages to explore. The magazine was launched in November 2019.[12] It was later discontinued in April 2021 due to a lack of writers.[13]
