Endless OS 5 released today.

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crosscourt
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

Post by crosscourt »

Just put it in my Lenovo M700 and it runs very well. No issues with detecting hardware. I may be putting it on a few more systems but need a way to clone it. Will try Clonezilla or systemrescue next to see how it goes.
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crosscourt
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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Neither Rescuezilla nor Foxclone can clone Endless, even though they report successful cloning. This is an older system, e6440 so the bios isnt an issue.
Resource usage is around 1gb, similar to Zorin and the system is very snappy overall. Ive already shown the OS to a couple of friends and clients and they are going to give it a try. Should be able to gain some additional test info once they have been using for a time and also on different types of hardware.

So far Im with wove as I like it enough to switch to it as my everyday OS. I want to thank wove for posting this thread and making me aware of this unique product.. Hopefully we can share our experiences and tips along the way. Bin might want to look at this for his wife as an option. For those of you who use it and like it, please post reviews over at www.distrowatch.com in the Endless OS section by usingg the search engine in the top left corner of the website.

Ill post back with reactions from the others and Ill also probably be adding this to the charity distro roster for the donated machines we give out.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

Post by wove »

OSTree installs for reasons I do not understand just can not be cloned. I use Gnome Backups (Deja-Dup) to make backups. These backups work fine to restore the system they backed up, but they can not be used to move to a new install. And I have no idea why. The USB installer can be used live and you can create accounts, install flatpaks and use it as a regular normal OS on any hardware you plug it into, but if you do run the installer, it will only install a fresh system, no accounts or data created on the USB will be moved to the install. I assume that is just the nature of ostree builds.

Fedora SilverBlue and Kinoite are OSTree builds and behave the same. Being Fedora (rpm) based they get much more frequent and larger updates. I have came to prefer Endless, because of the slower and more polished update cycles. Both rely on flatpacks and they are updated fairly frequently. Both Fedora and Endless OSTree builds use the same tool chains, so one can use both Endless and Fedora documentation to manipulate the OSTree. "def-ostree install -application" will do a layered installed of the application on the OSTree. I use "dnf-ostree install virt-manager" to allow me to use virtual-manager to work with VMs. You can also install Homebrew for the same purpose.

Podman is used to create virtual environments for background tasks, and works very similar to the "linux subsystem for Linux". My next trial with Endless is to use podman to run a NextCloud instance in the background. The idea being that whenever I have Endless up and running on the desktop, I will also have a NextCloud server running in the background. That will allow me to repurpose my raspberry pi.

Bill Atkinson who designed and developed the original Mac UI said in an interview years later, that the hardest part of creating a desktop environment is in creating one that is approachable to new users, while being discoverable enough for the new users to become advanced users. A very difficult task to pull off. I think Endless is doing a really decent job of moving down that road.
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crosscourt
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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Thanks for the heads up on the cloning issue. I typically create a single install drive and move it among my systems when I need or want to. I dont care to use a USB to move from system to system partly due to performance issues. Its also tough if you want to increase the size of your drive as you cant clone to the new drive either.
Im typing on EOS right now and it happily did a small app update at first boot to GUI. Ive enjoyed the Fedora media writer app, very nice. I like the app ring as I call it on the desktop and being able to move apps at will with the mouse roller and also include them in the utilities and work boxes to save space. The dock at the bottom, being able to access it even when online is really helpful. The system monitoring app reminds me a lot of cpu-x but looks a lot better. Agree with your last statement in your post as it is difficult to create a DE that can attract new users and still allow for their growth.
This is the first time Ive been on Gnome in quite some time but the overall workflow and ease of use is excellent. Dont really need to customize it further but would really like some options for dark themes across the range of apps and screens. Maybe that will come in time.
I also got rid of LibreOffice at 749mb and replaced it with OnlyOffice at 279mb. I actually prefer FreeOffice but its not offered in Flatpak it appears.
App limitations arent too daunting but its a very different feel from what Im use to.
Im off to do another install of EOS for now and will report back on how my experience with EOS progresses.
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wove
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

Post by wove »

Endless OS 5 can use Gnome Shell Extensions, many of which I used to customize the look and feel of the Gnome DE. You can gain access and control of Gnome Shell Extensions by installing "Extensions" app from the App Store. Dconf Editor is another app in the App Store, what allows for making changes to the stock Gnome DE. Dconf Editor is similar in use to Windows regedit and just as user friendly:) It does allow for a great deal of tweaking to the UI.

I think Endless prefers that you keep what they provide and provides little Information about tweaking. Endless 5 is just a modified Adwaita theme on Gnome 42(?) so any information you pick up via Gnome documentation or other sources can be used to also customize the Endless OS 5 UI.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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EOS 5 is using Gnome 41 presently I believe. and its also using Wayland. Thanks for the tip as I was about to look to see if extensions was available in the app store. Having used Zorin I was hoping there would be some options. Not really going to tweak heavily right now but down the road I want to customize it more.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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The saving grace is that installing EOS is very quick and Im typing on the second install I just finished.
I got some feedback from three of the users I had shown EOS. Two are advanced users and one is a senior user, and all like EOS. The advanced user users said it was lightning quick, easy to navigate and ideal for everyday/mobile use. Senior user found installing and using a breeze and will probably continue using it. They will give more specific thoughts later as they use it more.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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Third install went fine and its happily running on my Lenovo M700. Received another message from a friend whos running EOS and his wife took an immediate liking to it and is running it on her laptop.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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So far I have only been able to run in a VM. What I found is that there is no 'container', or whatever those things are called on the gnome desktop, for applications. I installed a couple of things and the only way I could launch them was to go back to appstore and open. I installed the extensions app but the ones I tried to use wouldn't load. All very puzzling.
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Re: Endless OS 5 released today.

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Havent had that issue with apps. Ive installed quite a few apps and they all show up on the desktop by just using the mouse roller to scroll through the app ring. I click on the app and it opens with no issues. Not all extensions will work but some do as ive been playing with it. The desktop includes two app boxes so you can group apps, one is work and the other is utilities. I dont have a lot of apps installed so right now on my desktop I only have 8 apps showing other than the boxes but the second page of apps works fine. At one point though by scrolling the mouse I had probably 10 apps on the second page of the app ring. My most used apps I pulled down to the dock which is handy and can be visible no matter what Im doing. Some apps when you drag them down to the dock may not show up immediately but after a reboot they do show up.
EOS has customized the desktop heavily so its not precisely like the standard Gnome desktop but still offers some of the features.
Wove has been using EOS longer so he may be able to answer more of your questions but Im surprised you had issues.

On a side note, I really like Fedora media writer app.
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