Uncomplicated Arch Linux: EndeavourOS Mercury released
EndeavourOS offers an easy way to install Arch Linux. Now EndeavourOS Mercury brings the desktops & software up to date.
The EndeavourOS project has released a fresh installation image for its rolling release distribution and named it EndeavourOS Mercury. The installation medium provides a fully functional live system with KDE Plasma 6.2.5 and the Linux kernel 6.13, which has a browser, media player, file manager and other tools on board. The graphical installer Calamares can set up the system not only with Plasma, but also with a number of other desktop interfaces and other customizations on the data carrier. Gnome, Xfce, Mate, Budgie, Cinnamon, LXQt, Lxde and i3WM are also available, which are installed in their current versions from the Arch repositories.
From Cinnarch via Antergos to EndeavourOS
Since the software of EndeavourOS comes largely from the Arch repositories, it is an easy way to install Arch Linux. Arch provides brand new software, but with its command line based installer offers little help with installation. The EndeavourOS Linux distribution makes it more accessible with its graphical live system and installer. It follows in the footsteps of Antergos: this distribution was initially launched under the name Cinnarch to make Arch Linux accessible to a wider audience.
The distribution first appeared under the name Antergos in 2013. However, the developers discontinued the Antergos project in May 2019, whereupon the EndeavorOS project was formed from the community to fill the gap. In August 2019, the first version of EndeavourOS – was released, at that time still only with an Xfce desktop.
EndeavourOS Mercury comes with the latest software, including Firefox 135, the Linux kernel 6.13, Mesa 24.3, Xorg 21.1 and the Nvidia driver 570.86. The new ISO image is intended to solve problems with BIOS/legacy boot and now also has a memory test for EFI. The desktops have all been given a standard dark theme, the Xfce theme is now more similar to the default configuration. A number of errors in the installer should now be fixed.
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Simple installation
The ISO image for 64-bit x86 systems of EndeavourOS Mercury offers an English-language live system with KDE Plasma desktop and the Calamares graphical installer. The boot menu also contains a menu entry for booting with Nvidia drivers. The installation can be carried out both offline and with an Internet connection, although in the first case only KDE Plasma is available as a desktop.
In online mode, EndeavourOS can also set up Gnome, Xfce, Mate, Budgie, Cinnamon, LXQt, Lxde or i3WM as a desktop instead. The software selection differs depending on the desktop installed, e.g. many KDE applications are installed on the hard disk with Plasma. Whether the old X11 or Wayland is used as the display server depends on the desktop selected during installation.
Gnome, for example, is automatically set up as a Wayland session by default. While many Linux distributions slap a fully assembled system onto the hard disk, Calamares still allows you to select or deselect specific desktop packages during the EndeavourOS installation. However, this is not a concert of wishes: there are no desktop programs to choose from.
Lean software selection
In any case, a fully configured Linux system with the most important tools is available after installation. The system settings of the desktop interfaces and a series of EOS scripts, which can be called up via the Welcome dialog, are used for further configuration.
EndeavourOS only pre-installs a few programs, a browser, image viewer, media player and text editor are always included, a mail client or office package must be installed later. EndeavourOS relies on the command line for software management: New packages and updates are added to the system with pacman. The AUR wrapper yay is included for installing software from the AUR.
A little convenience
The Linux distribution makes life easier for users with a handful of scripts: they can be started at the touch of a button in the simple welcome dialog. For example, the EOS QuickStart Installer makes it easier to install popular applications, offering a handful of programs for each software category for installation at the click of a mouse. The system and its applications can be updated using the eos Update script. Here you will also find buttons for changing the screen resolution, the background image and the login manager.
EndeavourOS Mercury provides a sensibly pre-configured Arch Linux system that can be easily adapted to your needs. Linux beginners will probably miss a graphical package manager.
(lmd)