After having to resolve a bunch of issues I was facing with Manjaro – a Linux distro based in Arch Linux that I kept using for many years without the need to change it – a few days ago, the moment had finally come, and I knew it was time to search for my next distro.
While there’s nothing I love more than testing and using new Linux distributions, I’m only doing that with laptops that I have kept for testing and developing purposes. I still have a desktop PC running Windows 11 and Manjaro which I use daily for my work and my projects.
Manjaro was the only good Linux distro I could find at the time which was based in Arch. I mean, who doesn’t love the AUR catalogue, right? The distro’s just beautiful, and it works. It has its own set of problems, and it’s not perfect, but it will get the job done. But after upgrading my PC with more RAM and a newer graphics card (the Nvidia RTX 2060 with 12GB VRAM), I started having screen flickering issues.
Searching online for solutions didn’t help. I kept re-installing the whole operating system again and again, starting new topics in various forums including Manjaro’s community. No one could find a solution for my screen flickering problems, and I got tired of trying to make it work. So I’ve started searching for alternatives.
Spoiler alert: It wasn’t Manjaro’s fault, but Nvidia’s drivers. After a while, I had screen-flickering in both Linux (using various distros) and Windows 11, which the company fixed after months of having the report opened on their GitHub page.
Ubuntu-based distros are good, but not that good
Don’t get me wrong, I love Ubuntu and Debian-based distros. They’re beautiful, easy to use, and most of the time include all the apps you’ll need out of the box. But Debian-based distros aren’t Arch-based, and that’s my biggest problem.
I love the AUR catalogue, and I can’t see my life moving away from it anytime soon. And while Arch may not seem like the stablest Linux distro out there, I haven’t had any problems with it all those years. After taking a look at the most popular Linux distros on DistroWatch.com, EndeavourOS was the only distro that started to attract me.
And while Arch-based distros aren’t as popular for their stability, for me they always worked better than Debian or Ubuntu-based distros. Debian-based distros are known for their stability and reliability, while Arch-based distros are known for their customizability and rolling release model. Which I find weird having used various distros over the last 15+ years.
There is no definitive answer to which type of Linux distro is better for you. It depends on your personal preferences, needs, and goals. You may want to try out different distros to see which one suits you best. But for me? Arch-based distros are always my first and top choice.
Downloading and installing EndeavourOS is fun
Discovering EndeavourOS wasn’t so difficult. It keeps being at the top of DistroWatch’s top Linux Distros; and for all the good reasons. It’s fast, beautiful, and comes in many different flavours, and it’s Arch-based. What more could a man ask from his operating system?
The first thing that I noticed with EndeavourOS’s ISO files was that there weren’t any download links for specific flavours. I mean, I love XFCE, but I wanted to try KDE Plasma and customize it until it was unrecognizable.
When I found out that EndeavourOS provides the option to choose the flavour from the installation wizard itself, it kinda made my day. Maybe my month. Okay, it made my whole year a lot better and more exciting! Who wants to download multiple ISO files so they can test more flavours?
So I went and downloaded the latest version of the operating system, knowing I only needed one ISO file to install and test all the available flavours. Awesome! I went and installed EndeavourOS’s KDE Plasma and started testing it.
The pros of using EndeavourOS
Installing EndeavourOS has nothing to do with Arch’s installation, which takes a lot of time to install, configure, install a flavour, and start customizing it. EndeavourOS can be installed like many other Ubuntu-based distros and Manjaro itself, just by using the installation software that is provided, known as the “Calamares” installer. Unlike other distros, EndeavourOS has the best installation software, making it easier than ever to install the operating system and include or remove many of its functions.
The ISO file is less than 2GB, and uses the Arch repositories and the AUR, which means you can access a large and up-to-date collection of software packages. But you’ll have to manually download and install Pacman using the terminal. It also includes helpful custom tools, such as Yay for installing packages from the AUR, MHWD for installing drivers, and the Welcome app for accessing information and utilities.
What’s even better is how lightweight and fast it is, and it comes without any bloatware that you’ll have to remove after installing the operating system, as it only includes the necessary packages needed to run the Linux distro and most of its functions.
The cons of using EndeavourOS
Having a Calamares installer is making the installation process easier than ever before, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have to spend time customizing your distro. First, it may require more knowledge and experience to set up and maintain, as it follows the Arch philosophy of DIY and KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). It may also lack some pre-installed software or utilities that are common in other distros, such as a graphical package manager or a Bluetooth manager. But you can install them manually.
And while EndeavourOS may have bugs or issues due to the rolling release model and bleeding-edge software updates, I haven’t had any problems with it whatsoever. I’ve been using EndeavourOS for more than a month now, and it’s stable, fast, beautiful, and free of clutter; exactly what I was looking for in a Linux distro.
My experience os of this moment using EndeavourOS
When starting to experiment with a new Linux distro, one of the most important things that I’ve learned is that every user’s opinion can change from moment to moment while using the operating system. So making big statements at the beginning is not always the best idea, and I am always looking at spending as much time as I can to test everything, from the bottom to the top.
My first day with EndeavourOS
Downloading, installating and configuring how EndeavourOS was a pretty fun and exiting experience. I had to reinstall the distro after a few hours playing with it and doing a whole set of different customization changes. Those kinds of customizations mostly break an operating system, but I know this and I am keep doing it to see how “far” I can go with customizating my distro. I have now set it up based on my own personal preferences, and for the time of being, it works like a charm.
My first week with EndeavourOS
A whole month has passed using EndeavourOS. First things first, I had no problems using the distro, which is always a good sign. What I hate the most is the way you have to update the system, and other users that I recommended the Linux distro told me the same thing; It’s bad, it’s really bad. And while you can use Pacman to keep things updated, they should make their updating process a whole lot easier for new users.
I’ll keep updating this article from time to time, reporting any issues I may have experienced during my time with EndeavourOS, and what I like and hate the most.
Have you ever used EndeavourOS? If so, what is your opinion about the operating system, and which one do you use as your daily and default Linux distro? I’d love to hear about your experience with EndeavourOS or other Linux distros.
