End4 Distro ?

[pragnyanramtha]

What would you like to be added?

i think it would be great to convert this into a fully functional linux distro, omarchy has already done this and had great success.

yes ! i do realize that these are technically dotsfiles, but i at this level they feel like much more.

since a distro is just a collection of specially curated packages + dot files to govern the packages + Linux kernel + other stuff. (or at least i think so )

here is what i propose: take the arch iso, strap it with hyprland + these dotfiles and other dependencies and packages, package it all into a end4 iso, serve it users.

the hardest part of using arch is the installation, maybe its better to make a interface during initial boot from external drive which can help in installation + users can explore the OS before installation ?

How will it help?

dramatically improve the popularity of end4 dots.

Extra info

No response

[clsty]

Not interested. Maintaining a distro is way much harder than dotfiles installation.

However I'm not against the idea if anyone would like to pack this into a distro themselves, as long as they follow the license (GPLv3).

[reakjra]

Wouldn't a distro need the whole management of the drivers, disks, boot, setting base stuff, BIOS/UEFI, etc. etc.? As far as I know even Calamares is a YAML hell. That looks intimidating.

Plus, I think the main scope of distros is their own branding and a wide range of choices in the installation process. EOS practically cover most of the vanilla Arch (plus xfce, i3, etc. own themes), so why bother if end-4's illogical impulse is dedicated only to hyprland and you can simply manage the installation with a script?

[end-4]

I agree with clsty. I want to engineer the desktop experience, not the distro. I quit NixOS for this reason.

Omarchy's success is mostly marketing (the guy who made it was already popular). I wouldn't just take that as an example

There must be distros that ship these dotfiles... if you know any, I can add them to the wiki

[pragnyanramtha]

Understood, @end-4 @clsty , you are right, maintaining a full GUI ISO/Repo infrastructure (drivers, Calamares config, updates) is huge burden.

However, I am interested in bridging the gap for newer users who find manual installation daunting, mainly the (arch install process)

here is what the i am thinking of...

A TUI that can easily setup arch + install end4

1. Get the user online and ready without scaring

If Offline: Launch a simple TUI menu (for wifi , just a iwctl wrapper).
Update Self: Once online, some script in background updates the system and the base repo.

2. The archinstall Wrapper (modified version)

basically a prettier intaractive tui archinstall with some options taken into the advanced options section, but the user will have access to important things like disk partitioning and stuff.

3. end4 installer ( chroot script )

chroots into the new system and installs the end4 dotfiles by directly pulling from the main repo.
driver setup ?

4. verification ?

check if it runs ?

---

i think i can make a lighter version of this but modified to end4's needs ?

https://github.com/omacom-io/omarchy-iso

[clsty]

i think i can make a lighter version of this but modified to end4's needs ?

Sure thing if you'd like to. If it works out then we can consider adding the link of your repo to the doc site.

[Blade04208]

You know, I've been thinking for a long time about building some ISO and/or some ISO maker that allows you to install any distro, any DE and possibly any dotfiles AIO, if i ever get around to that project I'd probably include these dots as an option

May do so when I finish my other projects

[end-4]

Since we already decided we won't handle this and just mention distros that bundle the dotfiles, I'm closing this issue

[clsty]

#3450