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Review: GLF OS Omnislash Beta
Quoting: DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. —
While trying out GLF OS I tried to keep in mind that the release I was using was a beta snapshot, not a polished, final product, even though the developers say, "Although we still qualify it as a 'beta' version due to lack of hindsight, it is fully functional. This success is the result of incredible teamwork, which together has transformed GLF OS from an ambitious project into one that is poised to deliver on its promise: to become the most accessible distribution for beginners and anyone wishing to switch from Windows to Linux."
Their celebrations are, in my opinion, premature. GLF OS does have some nice features. It is fairly responsive, it can switch between roles in minutes, it has a great front-end for Flatpak package management, and the Standard edition comes with lots of gaming software. The project is fulfilling a lot of its goals with this first beta. I also appreciate that the team is trying to use Nix to automate software updates with the option of rolling back changes from the boot menu. I tested this and we can, in fact, revert to a previous "generation" of packages from the boot menu, which is great.
However, as with many first releases and development versions, GLF OS still needs to be tested and polished further. The project's live mode has a weird video bug that its parent doesn't have, its copy of Nix vomits errors and fails to install new packages (while NixOS handles manually installing new packages without any problems), and the GLF-specific applications are not well explained or documented.
Most of these issues are not deal breakers and I like a lot of the approaches demonstrated by GLF. However, most elements could be made just a little more user friendly, especially since the team claims to be targeting beginners. Beginners need clear explanations, documentation, an installer that doesn't lock up, maybe the launcher for Easy Flatpak on the desktop panel, and a welcome window to explain where things are. This is a good beta, but it is still a beta and not quite ready for people migrating from other operating systems.