Table of Contents
In my previous post, I spoke about running Linux and how it may not be for everyone, pointing to myself as someone who has Linux installed on their laptop, but not being used their day-to-day operating system, also known as a distro, on their desktop. However, I did not go into which distro I am currently using on my laptop, having written in the past about using Linux Mint. In this brief post, I’ll go into which I left Mint, where I went to, and then why I’ve now landed on EndeavourOS.
Leaving Mint
When I last wrote about Linux on my laptop, a mid-2011 MacBook Air, I was using Linux Mint, and I was relatively satisfied with it, but as I became more adventurous and confident with computing and using terminal emulators, I wanted to push myself to try something more challenging.
Manjaro
I’ve always been interested in Linux Arch, but warned away due to it being too complex for the average user in casual conservation with others. However, there are off-shoots which purport to be more user-friendly, while still based on Arch. When I decided to make this change last year, the most popular option was Manjaro, and I did initially find it more difficult, but happier with the choice over Linux Mint.
However, my installation began to slowly feel like it was degrading. I had constant issues with upgrading and updating, needing to spend extensive time fixing errors regarding PGP keys. It also just slowed down and became buggy doing mundane tasks, often crashing when things became too much for it.
A few months ago, when looking into fixing all these, or perhaps wiping and starting again, I often saw people online remark along the lines of “why are you using Manjaro when you should be using EndeavourOS?”
EndeavourOS
I looked it up, and it did seem many had moved on from Manjaro to EndeavourOS. As I was going to wipe my laptop anyway for a refresh, I thought I didn’t have much to lose when it came to trying out EndeavourOS. I nervously decided to try out KDE Plasma as my desktop environment, unsure if my old laptop could handle it, but was pleasantly surprised that I have yet to face any issues with sluggishness!
EndeavourOS is extremely customisable, and I was able to set Atkinson Hyperlegible as a system-wide font, change all my icons to the gorgeous BeautySolar, and use Rosé Pine colours, as well as Rosé Pine cursors.
Regarding applications, I did have to mash together the AUR, AppImage and flatpak to get all the applications I wanted, but they work quite seamlessly and haven’t caused me issue so far.
Overall, EndeavourOS is stable and enjoyable whenever I am on my laptop. Using it primarily for writing, coding and web browsing, I am quickly able to do all these things in a wonderful setting tailored to me. As with most Linux distros, it does not treat me as a child, unlike macOS which gets upset with me if I try to install certain indie software or wish to customise something - EndeavourOS is a significantly more pleasant experience. If my favourite and important applications were available on Linux, I would move my daily operation to EndeavourOS as I like it so much. One can only hope more software developers create applications for Linux!
Tags: Setup Linux WeblogPoMo2024